Wednesday 21 September 2022

Wednesday 21.09.2022

Two or three perfect September days. About to change of course but this morning it was warm with just enough cooling breeze to make for perfect walking. We went a bit further than usual, discovering little gems buried in the grass 

and checking out some roadside blackberry bushes remembered from years ago but unfortunately not offering much up today.
Nevertheless, the rest of the walk was one of those where you just want to keep on going over the hills and far away......trees reflecting the morning light, circles of mushrooms which seem to emerge and then disappear in the space of 24 hours, birds quietly acknowledging the downturn of the year (or at least it sounds like it!) and that unmistakeable scent of autumn - a little smoky, a little earthy.

Yesterday was interrupted by work but Monday  - an historically momentous day of course* (though not because it was staging the "greatest event the world has ever seen" - get a grip Mr Speaker.🙄)  actually started off  crisp and chilly but then, as a blanket of high grey cloud was slowly pulled across the sky, it became milder and milder - and very very still.  Occasionally we just stopped to listen. Perhaps the world had paused after all for the "great event".

*R.I.P. Your Maj





  

Friday 9 September 2022

Friday 09.09.2022

 Definitely that time of year: a beautiful September walk on Wednesday afternoon where the stage was being set with all the right props.







Since when it`s been crashing thunderstorms, drenching deluges and all enveloping mists. British weather is the best.


Tuesday 6 September 2022

Tuesday 06/09/2022

Back on home territory after three weeks of gadding and working. The walk in the woods yesterday spoke unequivocally of autumn....different smells, different sounds, misty, still relatively warm, rowan berries a startling crimson this year, blackberries, the wild raspberries all but over, leaves beginning to turn, golden straw bales sitting on the stubble (which always reminds me of this book) 


This morning the seasonal mist has descended again, a far cry from the heat wave down south last month: truly brutal during the Boomtown Festival, near Winchester, where it was all about finding shade and water as well as the usual craziness............

On to Beautiful Days in Devon, where it always rains, except it didn`t, apart from the quite heavy downpour just as we arrived. The sunshine was friendlier than at Boomtown, as it was at Shambala a week later - the ultimate laid back, family friendly festival, a fitting end to the "season".  
(N.B. Check out  https://festivals.oxfam.org.uk/volunteering/stewarding to find out how to attend all these events for nothing but a little of your time)
And then with time to myself after all that...a little wander northwards through the beautiful Galloway countryside, calling in at Ardrossan to watch the Arran ferry manoeuvre in and out of the harbour - note to self, a trip to Arran now on the to-do list)


A couple more contemplative hours spent staring out at the view from Largs, the warm sunshine making it all feel very exotic,


 and finally on to a beautiful patch of Renfrewshire.
A walk in the morning,

across to Edinburgh, looking as wonderful as ever, for a gig 
as well as the perfect light snack before we started.  

Credit to https://guildfordarms.com/, just round the corner from the gig venue (http://www.thevoodoorooms.com/) for the best smoked mackerel pate 👍)

So here we are. Back home. Thunder rolling gently round us as we sit on this hill in the cloud so a long walk may have to wait (dogs hate thunder even more than I have come to). Time to start planning more adventures maybe.