So, despite all my good intentions, I have not managed to write a single post for ages. I've thought of any number of things to write about while walking with the dogs - and then failed to write about them. I couldn't quite work out why this was happening until I realised that it was due, in part, to the fact that I hadn't been taking my camera with me. A magnificent spring and I wasn't bothering to record it.
And then I realised that I hadn't been taking my camera because I wasn't venturing far, no zipping around this beautiful county as I had in previous years as soon as spring arrived (petrol at crazy prices, energy still not quite what it was, etc etc). Who, I wondered would want to see photos that had more than a ring of familiarity about them? Which is crackers, of course. Each day, each minute, each moment is different - as is each spring.
This week I gave myself a good talking-to and set out on the familiar track with newly-opened eyes.
It helped to have such delightful companions (this week's guests):
the elderly Westie
the youthful Patterdale Terrier
the splendid Flat-Coat Retriever - a veritable canine Mark Spitz
and his girlfriend the little lurcher-collie cross
and not forgetting the dear Edinburgh Boy.
Looking down, the riverbank is a two-mile carpet of celandines:
and one - yes, just one - small clump of wood anemones, which flower for only a few days
Looking up, a last glimpse of skeletal trees before they burst into leaf
The track home reminds me of France but, for once, I don't have my usual springtime itchy feet. This year it's just very good to be here. And to be well.
