Sunday 30.12.2017

Watched the day slowly deteriorate from cold but bright to dreich, windy and....just as I was finally ready to go - wet. Never mind. No such thing as bad weather just the wrong clothes. Up the road wearing enough layers to impede the walking pace but glad of the hood which mitigated the force of the icy wind. But then - lo! - it stopped raining, and by the time we made the woods nature was laying on another wintery light show, blue hills,

blue skies,

and on the way back down, a finale to end the year, though taking the pictures involved a lot of walking backwards.......not sure if that`s symbolic or not.....



As for resolutions? Same as always: a work in progress(see Labels).
Happy New Year!

Friday 29.12.2017

Middle of the morning, cold, still, grey and it was easy to imagine that
"the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve are dead days, when spirits roam beneath the surface of our lives..........a strange, a quiet interlude, somehow outside the rest of the year, outside time itself." **

Later it snowed again, very gently. The night arrived early but there`s enough candles to light up all the dark corners and ward off those spirits, or at least encourage them to stay outside.

**

Wednesday 27.12.2017

Early out, almost before sunrise - which is quite late at the moment so not much of an achievement - stomping round the woods in the snow....very pretty....

and of course seasonal. :) xx

Friday 22.12.2017

Longest shadow on the shortest day.....

....or was that yesterday, never quite sure. Wind`s blowing quite hard now but this afternoon all was still and mild and in the woods very mellow, a quiet winter afternoon made for contemplation. One more morning of work tomorrow, a swift trawl for sprouts and then home for a (very) long weekend.
And relax.......

Sunday 10.12.2017

Crystal light,

champagne air, a proper winter wonderland after a couple of days heavy snow.
We crunched up an icy road

then into the woods to trudge across the snow.




Tangled silhouettes,

crow-caw piercing the icy stillness, branches weighted down with snow across our normal path,

and that winter light!

And all after a brilliant Lemon Tree gig last night: thank you Tide Lines and the excellent Skerryvore
www.tidelinesband.com
skerryvore.com

Thursday 7.12.2017

Magnificent walking afternoon yesterday -bright and breezy after a forecast of wet and windy. The light on an early winter`s day
very special......



.....something to do with there being so little of it maybe: we were back indoors next to the fire by quarter to four.


Storm Caroline has now blown in and we`re awaiting snow - maybe - depends what the BBC means by "northern Scotland".

Sunday 03.12.2017

The cold snap got colder, the usual end-of-November snow and ice swept in and attempted to paralyse everything at the beginning of the week and just as swiftly...swept out.
This afternoon was grey and relatively mild, very little breeze but the air delightfully fresh and with the snow gone the grass looked particularly green...it`s easy to forget how easy on the eye it is.

Meanwhile, as well as getting out for a walk, the day has been quite productive - the smug-ometer set to 11 : 50 lengths of the pool first thing, Christmas cake made and mincemeat all bottled...or should it be "jarred". Got the Christmas cards out too. Just got them out and looked at them but hey - it`s a start.

Sunday 26.11.2017

The cold snap continued so a walk up Bennachie with friends was curtailed at Little Oxen Craig for fear of being blown off the very top and sliding too hard downwards on the ice.




Breathtaking views, long shadows and beautiful wintry light was a reminder just how lucky we are to have this mountain so close.


Raining now though...and more forecast...November eh?

Saturday 25.11.2017

Winter arrived for a quick recce: three o`clock this afternoon almost too late but we set off anyway on an icy road into the teeth of a brain-freezing wind that would have knocked over a small child.

The woods as always offered respite with the snow squeaking under our boots as we tramped round. Back down the hill and by then it felt like we were at sea: grey light, wind-blown trees crashing like surf on rocks and twinkling lights beckoning in the distance.
Weather at its most exhilarating.






Edinburgh - and Glasgow - meanwhile at their most Christmassy....two gigs in the latter ( Deep Purple doing a quick burst of "I belong to Glasgow" and "You tak the high road" in a nod to that city) and a long overdue reunion with friends in Auld Reekie. Warms the cockles of your heart....though getting the wine to the right temperature tonight in these conditions is something else.

Sunday 17.11.2017

The days shorten and winter beckons but though it`s now mostly about the winter silhouettes,

the colours of autumn linger in some places.

Meanwhile it`s been a few days of gigs courtesy of https://festival2017.co.uk/

Jazz, Blues and a very interesting talk on beer....
https://www.petebrown.net
Who`d have thought it.

Back to work tomorrow...then more gigs...it`s sometimes hard to keep up.......

Wednesday 1.11.2017

It was all about the colours,

the skies,

and the autumnal landscape as we set off not long after 2 into a cold, head-clearing wind.

For weather it beat Sunday which was a day of fierce squalls. We waited for them to blow over but in the end went anyway, got wet and a bit cold, wobbled through the last, very dark part of the woods but as we emerged were greeted by a beautiful silver three-quarter moon which seemed to have appeared out of nowhere with the express purpose of lighting us home. One of those magic moments.

Friday 27.10.2017

Late afternoon walk after an extra day at work. Set off just after four into a blustery wind which only stopped battering us once we were in the shelter of the woods.

Mushrooms popping up overnight,

beautiful colours and light

and long, long shadows.

Later the sky put on a spectacular show

with a rousing finale.

Clocks back tomorrow night so it felt like a fitting way to mark the end of post-work walks.