Thursday 15.04.2021

 At last, days in a row with actual warm sun and no wind - well, not what is called actual wind around here - just a light chippy little breeze to stop complacency. And of course there are still plenty of frosty mornings and nights.

All of which helped with the air of celebration on Tuesday, the day of the Second Jab.  Aware it doesn`t confer invincibility but it felt a bit like it and obviously called for a quick canter up Mither Tap in the glorious afternoon sunshine (after the obligatory ice cream which is always awarded after vaccinations, for the very brave.)

Started out from the Rowantree car park which affords a slightly gentler slope towards the tops (no good pushing it on this first foray this year) but affords good views of the goal almost as soon as you get above the tree line.

Reassuringly, and not really surprising, the views are still there and especially splendid on such a beautiful day, adding to that feeling of  being, at least, temporarily, bulletproof. Inhaled deeply and counted blessings.

The general euphoria - and continuing sunshine - prompted us to take a different route back  - straight off the tops towards the Bennachie Centre but then taking a longer path back through the wood, 

as always getting that particular pleasure of looking back at a hill climbed.

We are, and so far have been, very lucky to live where we do.

Monday 12.4.2021

 On the back field early this morning: larks a-larking, the bleating of new born lambs, golden gorse.... and absolutely baltic temperatures..........mid-April in northern climes. 😊

Sunday 11.4.2021

 Out early on a beautiful morning though no sign of any warmer temperatures yet: the roads with a pristine thin carpet of snow, blue sky but still plenty of clouds about, promising more showers.

Trees with delicate brush strokes of white, 

some looking poised for those warmer temperatures.

The birds were in full throat, notably a thrush and, further on, a robin, serenading the rising sun at the very tops of the trees. It was necessary to stop and listen for a minute or two and watch the robin whose breast feathers glowed vermilion as the sun caught them.

Back up on the road, the sun, though warmer by the second, hadn`t managed to melt the snow

and our footsteps were still engraved on the surface.   

Friday 9.4.2021

 Barmy times, barmy weather. We`ve walked in warm sun, blizzards, rain - sometimes all in the same hour.

Yesterday in defiance of forecasts and gathering cloud we set off in the afternoon, into the teeth of an ice-cream-headache-inducing wind which was tempered a little in the woods, and came back predictably a little damper than when we`d started out - the forecast correct on this occasion.

Today that same heart attack wind still tried to blow us back down the road as we headed out mid-morning but at least the sky was a cheerful blue and the clouds were scudding overhead too fast to stop and drop anything on us. 

Once in the woods it was peaceful and warm in the sun: yesterday there had been more grass than snow, this morning there was once again a light dusting of the stuff from overnight showers.

And it was shapes that caught the eye this morning: curves, 

more curves............

...............triangles..........

and straightlines. 

Sun still shining as we returned but there have been blizzards this afternoon: all it`s possible to predict at the moment is the unpredictability.

Monday 22.3.2021

 Another irresistible early morning: sun, blue sky, crisp air, sharp frost. Caught the sheep still napping as we went up the hill 

but in the woods the birds were wide awake and proclaiming loudly that the day was well underway and where had we been?  

By the time we were coming back down the road, that persistent cold wind we have had for the last few days had sprung up again, the sky had clouded over and it felt perfectly justifiable to light a fire. The edges of the days - early or late - so often seem to be the best parts, especially at this time of year.

 

Saturday 20.03.2021

 A quite different morning - a perfect spring equinox morning in fact. Where the rising sun found the damp, slightly frosted grass there were wraithlike swirls of mist - steam? vapour? or haze even, as in 

          "a slight obscuration of the lower atmosphere, typically caused by fine suspended particles".

Settle for wraithlike swirls probably, all very atmospheric and quite beautiful with the birds singing from the tops of the trees and that early morning light full of the promise and optimism of a new day. Not forgetting the catkins of course. 😊

             

Friday 19.03.2021

 Genuine scotch mist at seven o`clock this morning, chilly with a mithering wind from the north but in the woods it was still, the trees were bearded with luminscent lichens, 

and mosses sat plump and happy in the damp air.

Dripping trees and bird song the musical background to the trek....

...and we were warm by the time we got back but with no sign of the cloud lifting the fire has now been lit.........catkins notwithstanding it`s still very early spring!