In which a song gets stuck in my head and we meet some silly sheep!

S'funny how a song from a long time ago can resurface and then become entwined with 'the now'.

On Friday whilst we were out walking in Wensleydale - we came across an old flagstone pathway and all I could hear in my head was this ... We're on the road to nowhere by Talking Heads.

  

 

 I stopped counting when I reached 500 flagstones and I'd only walked about half way... 

I wonder how many man hours were involved building this path?

The boys are on half term and we are trying to fit in as much as we can between the weather fronts, driving lessons, extra tuition and exam preparation, volunteering, transporting boys to and from  friends/girlfriends/jobs - not sure how we will fit it all in!

During the same walk, Himself suddenly stopped, 

waved his hand to slow us all down and go into 'stealth mode' 

(after years of walking together, we have developed a form of non communicative communication -  a mixture of whistles, hand movements and body action).  

What had Himself spotted?  

We all stooped down, changed our pace and slipped quietly forward.

Ahead, on the fallen log ...

I dropped down further and pulled up the camera... 

Himself had spotted a 'nest of lambs'

curled up in the hollow of a fallen log

in the last rays of the sun ... 

I could not believe my luck

as I snuck closer - the lambs watching all the time.

 

I could hear the others quietly taking photos behind me.

The lambs only moved when one of the mums baa-ed.

They stood up, stretched their little legs and tottered off,

leaving us with smiling :)

We followed them as they pottered along the pathway towards the small flock of ewes. The lambs were in no hurry. We all reached the ewes together - it seemed silly not to bring out the camera again.

This ewe was licking my fingers :)

 These girls followed us for a little way ...

 Such a friendly little family.

Hopefully we'll get out an about again during this week - I rather enjoyed this jolly out - I would love to be able to repeat it!

 

Remember those basil and cheese breads?

The eating of those breads in sunshine - what better way to spend a Sunday?

What a lovely day - the sun was warm (the breeze a little chilly!) and the views sublime. Having parked up we wrapped up warmly and set off up on to the moors, following rough grassy tracks through limestone ridges and tussocky pastures.

The terrain we walked through had many huge balancing rocks which were fascinating and strange 'beings'. Perched on smaller rock they appeared weightless and floating. They're not glacial erratics as they are the same rock as the surrounding terrain, however they must have been lifted by glacial action from further up the valley and deposited here as the ice melted. True erratics would have been of differing rock.

Ingleborough - still with slabs of snow on it's tops.

In the far distance is Marble Steps Pot - indicated by that very small triangular shaped woodland on the horizon - we were heading there.

As were approached, it felt odd. The clump of trees seemed to act as both marker and shield for what we where about to discover...

...Marble Steps Pot. A limestone cave system which goes down to a depth of over 400 feet below ground. Himself and the boys went down as far as the sunlight could reach then vanished from view.

 Not me -*shudder* I do not do underground *double shudder*. I have marked where Himself is, and he continued down until he disappeared into the dark tunnels.

Fortunately all three re-emerged into the sunlight and I could breathe easily again. We left just as a group of potholers arrived, togged up in hard hats and roped together ready to explore the murky depths.

No - I'll stay in the sunshine thank you muchly!

The strangely dimpled black stones, worn by millennia into waves and hollows, influenced the name - Marble Steps Pot.  

Up and over a tussocky and sheep covered dale and down into a valley where another pot hole was explored - what is it about boys and deep holes that make their mother's chew their finger nails to the bone!?

To keep my heart still and my hands busy. I concentrated on my knitting - which although a simple pattern needed me to count and think and not notice as the earth swallowed my children up without even thinking.

Another pot hole - required more inspection, more explorations.

The final gem, after walking for some miles, was this unassuming little shepherd's hut. Which, on closer inspection revealed a small red sandstone arch quietly sheltering within.

Toby's Fold -  A movable (now static) art installation by the land artist Andy Goldsworthy celebrating sheep folds from Dumfries down to it's present site - it is an interesting read - follow this link HERE

When I sat down in the car and removed my boots, I felt both a sense of relief at the end of the walk and a sense of satisfaction and enjoyment from our day out. I was tired but it was a good tired!

Baking bread

Went walking on Sunday,

needed to take 'nibbles'.

Had a yearning to make bread.

 The house filled with the tangy scent of yeast.

Then basil pesto.

Followed by that heavenly scent

of freshly baked bread.

 Job done - ready to wrap up,

ready for my walk!

...And this is where we had second breakfast ....

In the great tradition of Pooh bear who didn't mind what time of day it was 'elevenses', nor did we.

Let me start at the beginning... once upon a time ...

It all started at 6.30am on a Sunday morning. (yes I did say 6.30am AND Sunday AND morning in once sentence) we all got up to get Youngest to a pre-arranged meet-up with friends who were spending the day at an adventure/paint-ball/woodland/teenager type get together. 

I'd decided that having got up that early, 

we might as well keep going and spend the day in the South Lakes. 

(Although when the alarm went off - I did question my sanity). 

Bleary eyed we ate our (first) breakfast before jumping into the car for our respective adventures.

However, once we'd reach Arnside and despite the mists and cool air, 

I knew we were in for a lovely day. 

We parked alongside Jack Scout Hill, took in the view, tied on our boots and set off. 

I love the majestic silent strength of the yew trees that cover the flanks of the hill.

There were many, many old stumps alongside the pathways, 

ancient reminders of trees from years gone by.

Along the way we discovered a huge den which Eldest was drawn to.

While I inspected the adjacent wood stack,  the differing bark, 

the scent of the sap, the colours of the raw wood.

We dipped off the hill down to the estuary edge, 

took in the scent of the salty air and the sound of gently lapping water.

We found ourselves a bench on the promenade, sat down and watched the sun appear .... and this is where we had second breakfast .... hot cross buns and coffee. Bliss. As we sat and munched, a number of elderly promenaders bumbled past and greeted us, wished us a happy day, asked what we were doing, smiled or waved and pottered on - it was so sweet and so gentle.

Eldest, wiping the crumbs from his face, 

turned and asked 'should we have our lunch now?' 

So we did.

This is for  Tess of 'Driftwood'.

Finally, after eating our lunch rolls and slurping the final bit of our coffee, 

we left the village and turned back up on to the hill, 

following a path up a gorse filled rough slope.

We stopped at a small copse of Scots Pines and gratefully sat in their shade.

We were quite surprised at the warmth of the sun and decided to watch the view appear 

as the clouds cleared,

revealing far distant hills covered in snow.

We took photos and chatted 

when Eldest said 'Should we finish off our lunch?'

So we did....! 

We joked about our double breakfast and double lunch we'd had, 

as we cleared up and set off for the summit of our little hill. 

We had chosen to leave reaching the top to last, allowing the day to clear, 

and as we stood and admired it all - we had to agree, it had been the right thing to do.

Below us was a farm which I took first with a normal setting with my camera....

then with a setting called 'toy town'... amazing.

Behind the farm is a 'Bastle' which is a fortified farm house, 

we decided that once we'd got off the hill, 

we'd drop off our haversacks and take just the cameras for a closer look.

 On the track to the farm, we turned and looked at the hill we'd explored. 

Just look at all the beautiful blue sky!

 Photos taken (many) we returned to the car, happy, sated, ready to return.

One last look of the estuary and the sky.

It was a really good way to spend a Sunday

making me ready for

Monday :)

Hope you had a good weekend,

filled with sunshine

and love

and 

beautiful blue skies

xxx