Not the Apocalypse

just spring.

Weird weather today. Windy and chilly; one minute brilliant sunny, the next second slate grey sky; the next hail; then a snow flurry...

Spring.

It's quite chilly; colder than it was in February's weird warm patch, and the wind is very blustery, pushing even the big high cumulous clouds fast across the sky.

Normally (or I should say, "so far") our weather comes from west to east, with the wind off the Irish sea pushing the clouds down from the Welsh hills five miles away. But I've noted that it seems to be reversing itself as the spring gets going.

I went out for a long long stomp yesterday up as far as the sandstone ridge of which the most prominent part is Beeston Crag. Cheshire, despite its idyllic rural atmosphere, is a little...well...flat, for me, raised as I was in the mountains.

The little cottages and crofts up there in the hilly bits are lovely, nestling between the streams and rocks and the lanes even windier than usual.
But the wind that one hardly notices down here on the flat bits really screams up there and one is grateful for the lee of the hills. Was very grateful for the Norfolk tweed shooting jacket Uncle Mike gave me. It's a bit like wearing a space suit, completely water and wind proof and very snug. What one wants when spending four hours out there Looking At Things.

Made friends with a very nice horse. He stood quite still nibbling the buttons on my jacket while I petted his head. Next time, I'm going to take my camera and a couple of carrots.

I saw so many little woodland creatures yesterday that I realized if I'd had an airgun, the freezer could have been filled with rabbits, pheasants (yes I know it's illegal) and wood pigeons. Every time I saw the cute little hippity-hoppities, I thought the same thing...if only I had a gun.

Found what can only be a badger sett too. The holes were much larger than the bunny holes under the hedges and it was obviously a fairly extensive system in a little hill in a woody bit. I thought of buying a webcam and setting it in a tree to see what we could see.

I was going to venture out again today to see if I could gain the Sandstone Trail and make some headway on it, but for some reason the Spirit of Frobisher is not with me today. I think I'm going to jar the syrup, put the fire on and see if I can make a bit of Scotch broth, without burning the house down.