WetWetWet

We have had SO – MUCH – RAIN!!!

 

I have never seen the river as high as this at the ford.

When my son got married, in October 2008, the newlyweds left the church in a horse and trap and drove across the river here. The water would have covered their knees, sitting in the trap, if they had attempted it on Friday when I walked over the bridge in the rain.

And then the sun came out

and the heath was looking all rusty and glorious.

From cave dwellers til now – is it “ART”?!Icy weather to come apparently – I wonder if this will turn into a skating rink.

What is the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Winter Woodland Walk

It has been so wet for so long and some of the woodlands near me are looking particularly lush and mossy – elves and fairies peeping out from behind every tree and fern.

To give everyone in my daughter’s family a much needed break from the rigours of home learning, I have taken two of my grandchildren out for a ‘keep-your-distance-walk’ a few times.

Little Miss M and Master R love to draw and grasp every opportunity, so when they found some chalk on the ground ….

This is one of the cyber characters that inhabit Master R’s imagination

and then – throwing the chalk at the tree to make marks was a good game too – who could make the highest mark, how far away could they stand and still hit the tree?

(Yes I did knit the bobble hat 🙂 )

And something to melt any Granny’s heart – a card from Little Miss M

She had made one for both of her Grannies. Awww! ❤

You might remember that Little Miss M and I are walking 500 miles together – You can go to this link to see a wonderful walk we did in March 2019.

We did not add many miles to our total last year (I wonder why?!) but we are both determined to do more this year.

Our total to date is 133.5 miles, only 366.5 to go!

Have you been able to go out for any walks this week?

Rainbows!

Yesterday magic.

Just after walking under blackening skies

and being drenched with icy rain and pelted with hailstones

the sun came out

and created magic.

The first photo was taken by my lovely walking friend – and that’s J in the last photo. Such happy memories of a multitude of walks over the years – and this one was right up there in the top 10!

As is this one back in July 2019

❤ Have you found some magic this week? ❤

Wednesday Walk

This photo is being entered in Cee’s Photo Challenge: Diagonal Lines

I took it on a walk this afternoon. I went for a walk ‘with’ Cathy.

We walk together even though we are miles apart.

Past the field to the woods

where the blubells are just coming into flower

Cathy and I enjoy nudging each other to get out there, enjoying this beautiful Spring.

Spring?

On Thursday, a brief break in the relentless rain saw me donning my wellies and making a dash for it – catching a walk in the sunshine before it disappeared again.

Gorse in the hedgerows is always a cheery sight.

I walked straight out across the fields and looked back towards my house across the very soggy land

But I am so lucky compared with the thousands of people who have had their lives disrupted by the floods.

Then, into the woods

I can’t quite explain the sheer joy of seeing sunshine slanting through the clumps of hazel, it made me feel like a woodland sprite skipping over sunbeams.

Look!

Bluebell shoots!

And the sky went all bluebell too

with catkins!

My whole being was soaking up all this light and joy, making up for months of grey, wind and wet.

Peeping through the trees at the fields looking so green in the sunshine

and of course the obligatory photos of lichen – I am so fascinated by this stuff – I am convinced it holds secrets and answers and healing properties as yet untapped

Moss is nearly as fascinating

but doesn’t hold the magic of lichen.

I do hope you have been able to catch some sunbeams in your neck of the woods.

North Dorset

On Wednesdays, after school,  I take my granddaughter Miss E to her Gym Class. In the winter I am happy to sit for the two hours with crochet and a flask of tea, listening to podcasts on my iPad, but yesterday was such a lovely evening, I dropped her off and drove on for about 10 minutes and went for a walk.

 

Is this a Six Spot Burnet moth?

Joining Cee’s Flower of the Day.

Silent Sunday

Swan Sunday

We had a magical family day out yesterday at Abbotsbury Swannery.

Feeding time for swans is at 12 noon and 4pm

Children are able to go and feed them too.

There were masses of breeding pairs to see

and cygnets – awwww!

There are Go Karts, a Maze, a Quiz, a Playground and a very good restaurant, which all makes for a very good day out.

And – Little Miss M and I added 3.2 miles to our total – 75.2miles completed – target 500 miles

The Tor

‘We will walk 500 miles’

Today Little Miss M and I reached 60.8 miles of our 500 mile goal.

We walked up Glastonbury Tor – can you see that pink speck nearly at the top? That is Little Miss M (6) racing ahead to get there first.

What a glorious day it was with magnificent views

stretching far and wide……

looking back at the town of Glastonbury

and from the top

so good to stand together when I finally got there!

looking back at how far we had come

We were with my daughter, Miss E and Master R. The children were touchingly concerned about the modern carvings, but enjoyed the “love heart” as it had not damaged the stone

Having enjoyed the Spring sunshine, the breeze and the views it was time to go back down

with many others enjoying the climb

some leaving tributes or prayers in the trees

On the 85 minute journey home, Miss E (11) was a bit bored and invented Car Yoga to keep herself and the rest of us amused – with demonstrations of the Eyebrow Pose, the Upward Dog and the Squash-the-Person-Next-To-You Pose – Happy Days!

Click on any picture to see it full screen.

Joining Son of a Beach’s Which Way Challenge

 

Dalby Forest: 1

One of the best days in Yorkshire was when Cathy took me on a favourite walk of hers in Dalby Forest, to the Bridestones, you can see a map and description here.

We climbed up through the woods

and were both in awe of the colours, especially the larches

Which are particularly gorgeous this year

I can just imagine one of Kate Davies’ designs knitted in the colours above

My hair used to be the colour of that bracken! Seems like another life entirely.

We arrived at the top where the Bridestones are.

Now this stone is referred to as the Pepperpot, but to me she was an old lady, maybe the wise old matchmaker calling Coooo-eeeeeeeee, down the valley

this is her view

A little further along there is an Elf’s tunnel, I had to squat right down low to get this picture, a 3 year old could just about walk through it, and elves of course.

now down into the valley

where we could hear a squawking bird

With a wonderful free App on my phone ‘Chirp’ I could identify it as a Jay, then we saw the Jay flitting through the trees, sounding very perturbed about something – like this

looking back

and nearly back to the car now

Oh what a fabulous walk.

Click on any photo to see it full screen.

The day was not over    ………

off we went to see Rachel Whiteread’s Nissen Hut …………

 

 

Walktober

Inspired by Eliza’s post, I set off with Miss E, Master R and Little Miss M to record our walk yesterday, a glorious October morning.

This Autumn is truly deliciously spectacular.

Little Miss M reminded me to put Strava on so that we could record our distance to add to our target of 500 miles.

This is one of our favourite walks and we have been doing it since they were all babies, but it has been a long time since we were here  ….

….. imagine their delight when they spied the river and remembered the swing!

Miss E was first to get there

But of course they all had a turn  I think we could have stayed there all day

whilst they explored in their own inimitable ways

walks are never dull with this lot!

But we had to cover some ground if Little Miss M and I are going to reach our goal – onward.

and upward.

Whilst they were looking at the cows and chatting together I went up ahead

wait for us Granny!

There is something magical about sunken lanes lined with old knarled trees, contorted by their history

is this one a camel?

or a hare?

Fairy fungi everywhere – we had to look up the name of this one – Fly Agaric

and do you think this one might be the rare: Iodine Bolete

It looked the perfect home for an evil elf!

At the top of the hill we found coconut-scented gorse flowers to nibble and were treated to some glorious views

Here we sat for a drink and a snack. We all thought of three words each to describe our walk so far, and as we walked on the children composed little poems using the words – it all got very giggly as they created weird and wonderful rhymes.

And then we found ourselves in a prickly gorse tunnel where the path had become overgrown

I was hoping it would end and we would come out on clear path so we battled on for quite a way getting stabbed with prickles and feeling like badgers in the undergrowth. We sent Master R ahead to see if there was light at the end of the tunnel – but no – we had to turn back and make our way back the way we had come.

Our batteries fully recharged by the wonderful views, the sunshine and that blue sky

Oh the joy of autumn sunshine through trees and walking the sunken lanes.

Happy sigh!

Back to the car and Little Miss M and I checked Strava. We had added 2.4 miles to our total. We have now done 54 miles – only 446 to go!

I hope you enjoyed scampering along with us.

I’m joining Robin at Breezes at Dawn for her annual Walktober Gathering

Cliffs and Bluebells

Continuing our bluebell walk in West Dorset …

we decided not to walk up to Thorncombe Beacon, but could see others enjoying the view

a perfect day for a paraglide

Click on any picture to see it larger.

We climbed the hill and over the stile

to see yet more spectacular views to the East towards Portland

and as we turned inland, Westerly views towards Devon

(Click on the link for other  good walking routes along the coast path.)

We took time to smell the blossom in the hedgerow, I think this is a wild plum

we must return in September to find out.

Through the gate, with a look over our shoulders at that glorious scene, saying farewell to the sea we continue

onward through more bluebell woods

to marvel at the way the light plays through the trees,

joining Cee’s Flower of the Day

and no matter how often I see it, my heart never fails to skip and dance when, standing in deep shade,  and spying a shaft of sunlight bathing a patch of bells in silver light

Magic all around us

A time to stop and breathe and notice how all the senses are tingling with pure joy, blessings counted, smiles exchanged between friends and for at least the hundredth time we say how lucky we are to live here……

 

Bluebell time

Last Sunday I met a couple of friends for a bluebell extravaganza of a walk!

The path took us through deep dark woods

Joining Cee’s Which Way Challenge

and lighter glades where the light was stunningly, beautifully, softly, frothily romantic

I took so many photographs, it has taken me all week to choose which ones to share( they certainly won’t all fit in one post).

We stopped at Down House Farm

and sat out in the garden

for a delicious lunch of Bubble and Squeak, eggs and bacon, all local produce and drank apple and ginger fruit punch

after that we headed out to the cliffs and wide open views towards Portland

 

Oh what a joyful day, the sun shone, the air was sweet, the sky was blue, our batteries were well and truly recharged …..

to be continued …………

 

Silent Sunday

Shadow

remember

sweet scents of childhood

in green lanes

~

Join Cathy and me in our One-a-Week Photo Challenge,  by leaviing a link in the comments

and

Ronovan in the weekly Haiku Challenge. This week’s prompts: SWEET and SCENT

The photo is of Master R, taken in summer 2016 at Kingston Lacy, one of our favourite places for a day out.

 

Pond

Week 14 of our One-a-Week Photo Challenge: POND

click on any photo to see it larger

Back in the darker January days when frost dusted everything with magic, Miss E and I went walking with our cameras. Miss E was given a camera for Christmas and she was keen to get some frosty shots. We went to Thorncombe Woods and headed for the pond.

chagrin felt at school

healed with home education,

love, joy and freedom

Joining in with Ronovan’s weekly Haiku Challenge, prompt words:

CHAGRIN and JOY

~

Do you recognise the bobble hat? – I made one for each grandchild last year, but trying to get a decent photo of all of them was like herding cats

Cute though!

I’ll be away from the computer for a couple of weeks. Cathy will be holding the Photo fort over at Nanacathy, leave a link on her One-a-Week Photo Challenge posts and I will include them in the April Round-Up. Thank you Cathy and as Cathy says:

“Happy Snapping”

😀

Historical

a light breeze blowing

primroses growing by trees

busy buzzing bees

~

and  Bentley

Combining our One-A-Week Photo Challenge: HISTORICAL,

Ronovan’s Haiku prompts: BREEZE and BLOW

and

Cee’s Which Way Challenge

My sister, Bentley and I went for a really good long walk at Badbury Rings last week, an Iron Age Hill Fort, near Wimborne in Dorset. Another walk towards my  17 for 2017 target.

I am always trying to catch Bentley unawares as, like most dogs, he doesn’t like having his photo taken

We walked round the ramparts, across the top and then round the back of the Rings

Spotting plenty of ‘Which Way’ scenes to photograph

Breeze, blow, Bentley with branch, Badbury, bees, boat and barn (and later on, back for blanket, a brew and banana cake)

This willow was a-buzzzzzzzzzzzzzin with bees, both honey and bumble. We tried for ages to get some good photos, but failed, imagine a loud and constant hum accompanied by birdsong from the woods beyond.

The boat had seen better days and was probably home to many little creatures

The barn, festooned with ivy,

another wildlife haven.

Then back home for delicious cake made for us by my lovely niece

who was very happy to receive her Dorset Hedgerow Blanket

She is at Uni studying to be a vet in Glasgow, so it will be nice to have something from home to snuggle under in the evenings, even though it is now officially Spring.

Happy Spring Equinox one and all!

~

Cathy and I would love you to join us in our One-A-Week Photo Challenge, just leave a link in the comments to your Historical Photos, current or archive all are welcome.

For up and coming subjects go to the Photo Challenge Page.

~

“Happy Snapping”

 

Fence

caught my eye

in the fading light

treasure found

~

Our ‘One-a-Week’ Photo Challenge Prompt this week is FENCE

Ronovan’s Haiku Prompts are EYE and FADE

The mitten on the post must have been there a while as it was green with algae. Since starting to do beach cleans, I see all litter and dropped items in a new light. They are all potential art materials with a human back story. It did feel slightly weird taking it from it’s post, but I am pretty certain it’s owner is not likely to return for it. It will go with other found clothing I have and see what art work it might inspire.

The top of the fence post is a little world of its own

The photos were taken on a walk from Nine Wells towards Solva (Pembrokeshire) along the coastal path.

 

I was walking from the treehouse as the sun was going down.

There was no wind and I stood to watch the sunset before returning

to the cosiness of my nest in the trees.

What fences have you found this week?  Leave a link in the comments below, we’d love to see them.

Gate

footpath flows along

hard to tear myself away

from this special place

~

This is my entry for our ‘One-a-Week’ Photo Challenge: GATE

and

Ronovan’s Weekly Haiku Challenge: FLOW and TEAR

and

Cee’s Which Way Challenge

~

The 10 minute walk down the valley from the treehouse that I was staying in, leads to the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, which you can see making its way towards Solva, going right past that Iron Age Hill Fort. The gate is to keep the grazing ponies in, this side of the gate.

 

More tales from the Treehouse:

To get to the public footpath from the Treehouse one needs to wiggle down through Elizabeth’s garden. The footpath runs from the National Trust car park near the road, straight down to the sea.

The treehouse can be seen from the path. More agile walkers have obviously chosen a quicker route by sliding down the bank.

Soon one enters the ancient unmanaged little piece of woodland

with the music of the stream beside you turning the walk into a dance

until you get to the ‘bridge’, which is tempting to cross, to follow in the fairies’ footsteps.

Hear the sound of the stream in this post……

Creatures pop out to say hello

and there are artful lichen arrangements on nearly every branch.

After passing the serenity of the old Millpond

you pass through a gate

and catch your first sight of the sea

Each time I walked that path, I stopped here and just noticed the change of atmosphere from an enclosed cosy woodland walk to this …….. the promise of that feeling of opening up, of expansion, that the next few steps will bring …… the moment of transition, I find there is power in that moment.

And then …. ooof!

Breathe deep, what a view.

The GATE in the very first photo lies just to the left, around the curve of the hill.

People used to live in this valley, you can still see the ruins of an old mill, and then further back in time, our ancestors, maybe even my ancestors, lived on the hill fort – what a place to live.

I had the valley more or less to myself for a whole month! what a feeling! I woke each morning with a smile on my face, not quite able to believe I had given myself this wonderful treat.

~

Next week’s Photo Prompt is

HAPPY

~

I’m really looking forward to your ‘GATE’ photos, please leave a link in the comments.

 

One hour Autumn walk

My friend and I walked from Bere Regis car park, through woods,

up to and along Black Hill

past old quarries

past sun-shiny gorse bushes with dense spiders’ nests

along the ridge

down into deep dark sunken lanes

and leafy paths thick with leaf mould underfoot and dappled light ahead

through the village of Shitterton.

(Joining in with Cee’s Which Way Challenge)

The footpath goes between those two cottages.

and into the Drax Arms for my birthday treat, a scrummy Sunday Roast – Thank you lovely walking friend! ❤ (my birthday is on Friday, 11th)

Rounding off the excursion with the obligatory visit to the church, which is huge and full of amazing wooden carvings and this rather sweet sign by a gravestone

A boy named Joy! How delightful.

Home to a glorious sunset …

….. time to light the fire.

Wishing you all a snug evening. ❤