Friday 27.4.2018

Icy April showers most of the day - with the odd deluge thrown in - but by five o`clock the clouds were rolling back, the sun shone, the skylarks serenaded us up the road and by the time we reached the woods the evening chorus was in full swing.
Cool and fresh, it was a "Persil" evening,

light and shade and......

..... #to-everything-there-is-a-season......


the coos are oot.

Nuff said.

Wednesday 25.4.2018

Out early, a perfect clear and cool Spring morning, dew still on the grass, geese, yellowhammers, skylarks, peewits, oystercatchers and even a woodpecker tapping away in the middle of the woods. Looks like we got the best of the day which has since got very April: showers, sunshine, showers, sunshine, showers etc etc
Much of this last week or so has been the same. Yesterday it was hail one minute and warm sun the next. Thankfully the daffodils, having bided their time,survived the snow and are at their very best just now

Impossible to believe that only a fortnight ago, to the day, two families gathered for a rather special wedding in a very special place -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%9Eingvellir

Bobble hats and big coats to the fore, E & G plighted their troth against a backdrop of mountains and rivers


and then it was off for pizza, a traditional Icelandic Wedding Cake (kransakaka marzipan ring cake, originally from Denmark & Norway)

and - of course - a dip in a hot tub (and a swim in a cold lake for those who like that sort of thing.)

Apart from that memorable day the week was taken up with swimming - what swimming! - rambling round Reykjavik,including the graceful stunning cathedral,climbing hills and taking in the landscape, poised for the arrival of Spring....in fact the snipe arrived that very week presaging the change of season.

Once home(and flying in over the Highlands made me realise Scotland is home - as it should be after nearly 30 years here!)

it felt appropriate to beat the bounds of our own little patch:

and check up on some of its residents.

And of course, always important to check that Bennachie is still there so a few days later we did just that.....and glad to say all was right with the world.

Phew...long post....that early morning walk seems a long time ago...time for a preprandial stroll round the boundaries......

Sunday 1.4.2018

An irresistible sparkly morning so we were off first thing(if you can call quarter to nine on a Sunday morning first thing), the bluest of blue skies, a suggestion of white cloud bubbling up on the horizons and icy air which nibbled round the ears on the way up the road but was ineffectual in the woods with the sun creeping up and getting warmer by the second.

We took an extra loop (the loop-less-travelled?) to extend the joy of the morning and as we came back down the road the peewits put on an extra swirl and dive, obviously just for our benefit.

Not a bad way to start the new month and encourage the arrival of spring, just like these beautiful daffs- a present from my lovely friend and neighbour who just became a grandma....again!

If it stays like this we may have to go out again later. :)