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. :)

Sunday 25.3.2018

Still a Westerly and cool but much gentler and it was hats off in the woods where the light was gentle

and the shadows long.

Curtains of rain on the horizon and dramatic clouds overhead, two pairs of peewits on the freshly ploughed fields and bird song echoing round the much quieter woods. Not holding any breaths just yet though: a white Easter is forecast.

Friday 23.3.2014

Pelted rain all morning, easing to spots and spats by the afternoon driven on a strong, unfriendly wind which side-swiped us all the way up the road and was ridiculously cold considering it was a westerly. In the woods the trees thrashed about, creaking and squeaking as they rocked backwards and forwards, the sound of the wind in the branches like an angry sea, drowning out all other sounds.

Patches of blue in the sky, the occasional burst of sunshine, the rain still spitting at us - could almost have been April Showers....except for that wind, which continued battering us all the way back, past singing gates and keening telephone wires until we arrived home, windswept indeed - and very satisfied. :)

Wednesday 21.3.2018

A strong, cool buffeting wind as we walked up the hill but noticeably milder than the bitter temperatures of late which one way and another seemed to have paralysed normal routines.
Today though the larks had re-emerged and there were the first peewits...a true sign of the year turning.
And though the snow - at first anyway - can be beautiful on a bright sunny day, it`s easy to forget how easy on the eye are the greens and browns and greys:

Still some snow on the hills and the distant mountains

but it felt like winter was on the run today.

Still, snow brings adventures and there have been good gigs and other walks....but they will have to wait just now, bed calls.

Wednesday 21.2.2018

A late afternoon in late winter: preternaturally still, the odd whimsical puffy cloud in a clear blue sky.

Nothing stirred in the woods,the proverbial pin would have been heard for miles if it had dropped,and as the sun went down the air grew colder, the light refracted and reflected

and we practically crept down the hill so as not to disturb the serenity.