Sunday 22.12.2019

Turned into another delightful winter`s day as we set off up the hill just after lunch, the sun already on its way down,

Neeps for the sheeps

and the neeps after the sheeps have been at them. :)

Nature`s art,

long shadows and gentle light

as we tiptoe to the end of the year. Happy Yuletide.

Saturday 21.12.2019

A mellow, mild, calm solstice. Silhouettes and drifting cloudscapes in the gloaming on top of the hill.

Earlier, we cycled to a neighbour to give them a Christmas card and present: it felt like a good way to mark this shortest day in such benign conditions.
And so the Yuletide begins.

Friday 13.12.19

Yesterday first thing on the top of our hill there was sunrise in the east,

moon-set in the west

and,later in the day, another of those quiet winter walks under blue skies.


This morning it is raining and gloomy and the words "pathetic fallacy" spring to mind. Only one way to go now........

.

Tuesday 3.12.2019

A perfect early winter`s day which had us setting off in a sprightly fashion around midday. Layers of high creamy cloud through which the pale sun (still with a smidgin of warmth in it) cast a soft light across the fields and between the trees.



The air hardly moved and the birds were taking full advantage of the gentle atmosphere, much chirruping and flitting about amongst the trees (I hesitate to use the word playing) and string after string of geese overhead - I`m sure there are more than usual this year.

Most of the deciduous trees down to their bones now and casting shapes against the sky......definitely time to make a start on the Christmas cards. :)

Sunday 24.11.2019

A dreich day, damp air and soggy ground. Nevertheless, we squelched around the woods which had its own particular beauty on a day like this: tiny glass baubles decorating the trees; lustrous lichen; reflections caught in puddles and the last few leaves just hanging on.

Mist draped across the hills in the distance, rendering everything slightly our of focus, and the still air sent the raucous cries of the crows and sudden distinctive alarm calls of disturbed blackbirds echoing around and over the trees. As we turned for home it grew greyer and greyer, turning the woods into a place of mystery, shadows playing tricks on the eyes. A deer ventured out from the trees to graze but soon turned tail when it realised it wasn`t alone. Magical.

Thursday 14.11.2019

Early morning perambulation with the dogs to the top of our hill just now and what drama in the skies and the landscape. Snow overnight, not a thick white blanket but enough to give a satisfying crunch underfoot. In places it looked as if the snow had been shaken out across the fields through a large sieve, while the tops of fence posts had carefully sculptured little caps and large lumps had been jammed on the spikes of the gorse.

The rising sun was colouring the snow a pale pink while in the sky opposite a white moon hung above a dark grey cloud. Large columns of smoky cloud swirled away to the north while the next batch of snow looked as if it might be on its way from the south west. The visible sky was a startling blue, the air was crisp and the dogs scampered around like puppies. Not a bad start to the day.
The camera is currently "mislaid" but being without it reminds you that sometimes it`s better simply to enjoy the moment.

Tuesday 05.11.2019

Good to be back from peregrinations, not to say perambulations, south of the border, including taking high tea courtesy of Jane Austen in the City of Bath which I shall mainly remember for....chimneys!

All those poor housemaids up pre-dawn to light all those fires.....




At the other end of the scale the high tea meant we all ate far too much but in a nice touch, what we couldn`t manage we were able to take home for later.

Friendly, knowledgeable staff made it an instructive and enjoyable visit though sadly there was no sign of Colin Firth.On the upside, dressing up like one of Ms. Austen`s characters was not obligatory.



Welcomed back by three or four days of persistent heavy rain, the kind of weather that seems like it will never change. However, change it did today, still showery but with enough gaps to allow us to head for the very soggy woods where the gloomy light enhanced the autumn colours and shapes, and drenched tree trunks looked like they were cloaked in black satin.

And all to the soft,spellbinding musical accompaniment of drips and splashes which it was necessary to just stand and listen to for a while.

Welcome home indeed, 29 years to the day yesterday that we arrived "up here" and a good move it has proven to be.

Sunday 20.10.2019

Walking the same ground day after day can make you quite philosophical: it may be the same ground but it never actually is. Morning and evening, dry and wet, clear and misty, summer or autumn. And didn`t Brian Cox say that you`re never in the same place twice anyway, as the earth is moving all the time, if infinitesimally, on its cosmic journey. Phew!

Meanwhile, in the woods this afternoon, as it began to grow gloomy (and this time next week will be even darker at the same time) autumn still hasn`t taken over completely.
Beautiful carpets of leaves in some places but still plenty of green.

We`re still at the handover: bales still to be collected, neeps in one field, an empty field opposite, the potatoes already lifted........

and over it all, behind the frequent squalls of rain, a rain.......blob?

Wednesday 9.10.2019

Another good drying day. Noticeably more fungi in the woods this year:all different shapes and sizes, these tiny little white ones carpeting the ground under the pine trees

though obviously the faeries had something to do with these.

Trees just on the turn and later, as the sun set, more of that unique autumn light.

Tuesday 8.10.2019

At last a lovely autumn afternoon after monsoons and gales. A slow meander round the bounds, gentle light,

the familiar landmarks

and happy dogs, surveying their territory as well as wreaking havoc on the small mammal population.

Monday 23.9.2019

Autumn equinox. The weatherman just announced rather dolefully that "the sun has now sunk into the southern hemisphere". There was no sign of it first thing this morning - dreich (wonderfully descriptive word) but mild. We were shrouded in cloud which made yesterday`s trip up Oxen Craig seem timely although in fact by the time we got to the top the cloud had blown in on a brisk wind and the sun was already fading away.

It was completely different in the surrounding woodland, remarkably peaceful and mild and still very green.

We sauntered rather than strode, going at old-dog`s pace (although I noticed she came down the hill at a brisker trot) but that meant more pauses to take in the view that was available before we got up into the cloud.

Back down in the woods, watched over by the trees,

and with old-dog pausing to sniff every blade of grass the thought came that walking-a-bit-more slowly does no harm every now and again.

(And have just noticed the cloud`s cleared and the sun has made it. Reassuring. Maybe beat the bounds later.)


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