Natural highs and lows

One afternoon, a couple of days ago, a lull in the gales tempted me outdoors for a spot of gardening. Muscles which hadn't been used in several months were cajoled into action as I pottered about in the mild air, spurred on by some actual sunshine. Between bouts of activity, I wandered around the garden collecting fallen cones from a neighbour's trees, the afore-mentioned gales having distributed the empty cones far and wide.  A few brave plants have emerged from the ground, their flowers adding splashes of colour here and there. Crocus Daffodil Dwarf Iris Some cones Lupin leaves and dew drops A Hellebore I'm not certain that we knew we had The object of the exercise, however, was to backfill the hole we'd dug a year ago, when we thought that the front garden would be the location for a pond. Remember this photo from Spring 2024?  Spring 2025 Excavating activity will presently begin in the rear garden. Meantime, when the weather's dreich and we're stuck indoors,...

Looking back at the last six or so weeks, what with staying in whilst being unwell and then being stuck indoors due to the wintry weather, yesterday was a blessed relief. The sun put in an appearance, the wind dropped, pavements were ice-free, puddles had dried up and I went out without a coat on. It was just so pleasant to be able to get on with stuff outdoors. This morning we had to be up and about as Megan was carrying out her monthly WeBS count for the BTO (Wetland Bird Survey). High tide was at 10.30am and I was tasked with dropping her off at Ness Point so that she could spend a couple of hours working her way around Stromness harbour to Coplands Dock, before being collected again and home for lunch. I had to nip outside in my dressing gown to capture this pre-dawn shot The view south from Ness Point, with the clouds seemingly anchored to Hoy High lighthouse on Graemsay I must admit, the staving off of cabin fever through the medium of live web cams of African wildlife was becomi...