The Crazy Lady In The Lane

Joss the dog is slow and creaky these days.  Some days the moors are too big a stretch.  So we mooch about close to home.

This morning, we lingered on the steep lane above our house.  Shooting shadow pictures.  Greeting the snowdrops who’d just woken like so many Sleeping Beauties.

Eventually, Joss settled in the middle of the rutted tarmac to chew a stick.  And I flumped down beside him.  We sat there for ten minutes or more, cosied up to one another, revelling in the signs of spring.

Until finally, a worried neighbour appeared at the top of the track and shouted down to us.  Did we need help?  Had one of us collapsed?

No.  We’re fine.  We’re just a crazy lady, listening to the birds, and a dog whose bones yearn for the sun.

Composer At Work

I am so loving having a piano (my piano!) to play on again.  And in order that I play with a purpose, I’ve challenged myself to compose a new piece of music every week this year.

I’m not sure how feasible a challenge that is.  I’m a novice composer and am still figuring out my process.   I suspect it may take more than a week for pieces I truly love to come into being.  But, to be honest, if I get half way to my target I’ll be more than content.

Besides, I don’t currently have any means to record my music so I carry it in my head.  Which may pose a problem by December! 

But I’m giving it a go regardless.  And so far, so good.

Delicacy Revealed

The snow is deep and crunchy as meringue.  Greenery skulks beneath.  Silhouetted against the blanket of white are dainty stalks and tiny seed heads, their delicacy usually lost against a busy, colourful earth.  Now they’re thrown into relief, the star turns in this monochrome landscape.

The Hills

There’s a challenge passing its way around Instagram at the moment: five shots in five days on a given subject.  I was tagged by @photoeng and the subject she gave me was hills.  The picture above was the first I came up with.  Big hill, little people!

The second showed the nature of the hills round here – gently rolling with moorland on top and fields below, divided by dry stone walls.

The third picture was a fun representation of August, when the flowering heather and tall spikes of rosebay willowherb clothe the hills in pinky purple.

Picture number four explained that our gentle hills belie just how high up we actually are.  So high that often – particularly at this time of year – the clouds and earth kiss.  And when they do it’s pretty breathtaking.

The final picture was the view from our window yesterday – hills lying under a respectable covering of snow – before vast amounts more fell overnight!

The Small Stuff

Happy Saturday!

Here’s to a weekend of noticing the small stuff….the tiny treasures along the way.