The Lakes, Day 9.

 Although it was another damp day we enjoyed a walk around our local woods. We had some lovely light and wonderful wet wood smells: mulchy and composty.

The Lakes Day 6,7 and 8 The Rain Comes

 After a couple of days pottering waiting for it to rain, it finally arrived today, although it cleared later to give some beautiful light and we were able to sit outside with a cup of tea. Our visit today was to Holehird Gardens just outside Windermere. The Lakeland Horticultural Society's hillside gardens, it includes a great variety of specimen trees and shrubs, extensive rock and heather gardens, alpine houses, a walled garden, herbaceous borders and stream gardens. Well worth a visit. We had been in July for Heather's birthday and were keen to return in the autumn. It was so different three months later with wonderful colours. Yet again, I was taken with the succulents and alpines and wonder if that is what we should concentrate on in our greenhouse; food for thought.

Later, in the dusk, we walked up the lane to look for the barn owl that we had seen hunting over the fields previously. No luck, unfortunately, but the sunset was well worth going out for. The aurora alert went up to red and stayed there all night. Despite several forays outside even in the wee, small hours I had no luck. Annoyingly it was seen countrywide and even more annoyingly from the sea front back home.

The Lakes, Day 5. Leighton Moss Birding

 As usual, we had an excellent day at Leighton Moss and the birding was good with 39 species including greenshank, marsh tit and great white egret. An added bonus was buying some new binoculars for my Christmas present.

Chaffinch

Chaffinch

Goldfinch in moult

Blue tit

Goldfinch

Bearded Tits on grit tray

Bearded Tits on grit tray

Cormorant

Cormorant

Pintail

Snipe

The Lakes Day 4. The Dales Way

 What a fantastic day. We woke to a beautiful autumn morning and were quickly packed and away up Ashes Lane, The plan was to join the Dales Way as it leaves Stavely and continue to Bowness. After climbing for a mile or so we were able to look back at the Kent Valley. We could pick out the location of our site and, later, both the Whinfell Ridge and The Howgills as well as Cunswick and Scout Scar. We were both surprised at the toughness of the walk; there was a lot of climbing, but, as we continued, views of the Lakes opened up: Coniston Old Man, Crinkle Crags, Bowfell and The Langdales with Scafell and Great Gable peeping through. To the east were Fairfield, High Street and the Kentmere fells. As we sat high up enjoying our Christmas cake and cheese, there was absolute silence; civilization seemed a million miles away.

We were both well ready to descend into Bowness and delighted to find that the Dales Way ended at a fine hostelry: 'a cosy inn of our sort'. It would have been rude not to call in. After some food and rehydration we wandered down to the pier to catch the bus up to Windermere where we shopped briefly (and expensively at Booths) before continuing by bus to the site. The bus experiment and our new bus passes worked a dream.