Sunday 24 April 2016

Sunday 24.04.2016

On the rare occasions I decide not to take my camera (or a hat for that matter) nearly always regret it. Thus it was as I cycled/walked the six miles to the bus this morning on my way to Aberdeen. Beautiful morning and missed a stunning pic of Bennachie, a striking blue-grey silhouette in the distance as I headed for the bus stop. Though of course sometimes it`s just better to see it, enjoy it and remember it. And I didn`t miss the hat.

Hey-ho. Took both hat and camera with me later on as we set off round the woods but by then everything had gone grey and not very photogenic. :(
However, we were compensated by the plaintive cry of a curlew as it floated across the sky, one of the most ethereal sounds there is.

And as for that book....
....read it! You may never see the world in quite the same way again.

Friday 22 April 2016

Friday 22.04.2016

Sweet and sour, hot and cold, very warm sun between showers of hail and perishing wind. So forget all that "hullo clouds hullo sky" Fotherington-Tomas stuff,





we practically cantered round just to keep warm. There were certainly the scents and sounds of nature that F-T loved, bird song and dramatic skies



but it was also good to get home, out of the wind, looking at it from indoors.

My mission this evening is to finish this:


but beware - it is a truly dangerous book. :)

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Wednesday 20.04.2016

Watched as the clouds drifted into a clear blue sky as the morning wore on but they were high and white and wispy round the edges.

By the time we got into the woods the sun was properly warm and you could smell the grass growing. We strolled, basking in it and enjoying the ""swete breth" of Zephyrus". It all felt a bit dreamlike.


Sunday 17 April 2016

Sunday 17.04.2016

Work more than walk this morning but the best kind of work, on top of our hill collecting brushwood, some for the woodstove, some for the next bonfire, larks ascending and a snow covered mountain in the distance to gaze at when a breather was required.

Later, and we seem to have slipped into evening walks without even noticing, it was the skies that put on the best show yet again.

In this changeable weather layers of white and grey clouds constantly shift with an occasional gash of blue appearing briefly before being covered over again.




Mind when the sun came out it had some warmth in it.........

......not really enough warmth to require a paddle though.....

Wednesday 13 April 2016

Wednesday 13.04.2016


Well, indeed. A squirt of blue in the sky, a suggestion of watery sun behind the low, dark clouds and a cold, cold northerly wind. Had it rained...it would have snowed.
At least it makes for stimulating walking weather because you have to keep going at a lick or freeze. :)

And if the sky was uniformly grey today, yesterday evening it put on a spectacular show. It`s not often worth stopping the car to take pics but I think this time it was worth it.

Sunday 10 April 2016

Sunday 10.04.2016

Waited until it stopped absolutely p***ing down (all morning) but it meant there was plenty of time for Bob Harris and his Sunday show - broadcast in the small hours but available at a more civilised time on demand. Always a good listen - he never plays a bad song - but especially good today, compiled as it was in celebration of his 70th birthday tomorrow. Bob Harris! 70!

Eventually there was a pause in the deluge so we launched ourselves into the grey and trotted round the woods, soggy under foot but the air was still and the bird song clamorous, seeming to bounce off the low clouds and echo through the trees.

Odd little sculptures glowed through the decreasing light as the rain started to come down again,







more of a "shoure soote" than an out and out downpour but the daffs always look a bit melancholy in the rain.



And now the clouds have rolled right in, shrouding everything in a little mystery. :)

Friday 8 April 2016

Friday 8.04.2016

A smorgasbord: smooth cigar-shaped white clouds, puffs of smoky-looking clouds, warship-grey rain-laden clouds, bursts of warm sunshine, glimpses of blue sky......and really quite cold though not winter cold, no over-trousers or thick jackets required.

Blooming cold down south this time last week despite the sunshine - an unreasonable way for the weather to behave but Bristol is a busy place and there`s always ways to keep warm. :)



Warmer the next day - down by the River Avon......


and even managed breakfast in the sun and a stroll round the city before heading north, via a couple of days in the Cotswolds, including time spent with my favourite budding artist.....

Watch this space. :)