RIVER MITE (31/03/10)

Today the weather is awful, cold and an appalling mixture of sleet and rain. Not picture taking weather so these are some from yesterday. It wasn’t much better then. We called at the station on our way home, luckily this locomotive was ready for it’s days work. The effort to keep these clean and polished never ceases to impress me.

    The River Mite.

I don’t know what payload this can pull but there is seating in the carriages for over a hundred people, not bad for a fifteen inch gauge engine.

Even the lambs are wrapped in their plastic macs.

They don’t seem to be affected by the cold, the rain is what poses the danger.

It is spring, despite evidence to the contrary.

I have a good excuse to stop in today as I’ve been inundated with requests for a tutorial on the method used to create fiery text. Inundated is perhaps overstating things. I have one request and on a day like today it’s all I need.

  

HAPPY EASTER (30/03/10)

Here’s wishing you all a very good weekend.

Perhaps not the most appropriate card but had to play as the weather here is disgusting. I hope it’s better where you are.

Looking again ‘Restraint’ ought to be my middle name!!

All the very best.

 

GOT WET FOR NOTHING (29/03/10)

We arrived back in Ravenglass yesterday, got sorted out by which time it was too late to do much other than cook tea and have a stroll down to the seaside. Nothing at all about other than half a dozen Black Headed Gulls.

Decided to go looking for Heron and frogs this morning so off we set in a cold wet drizzle. I could here Woodpeckers but failed to locate them. We watched a Buzzard land in a tree but couldn’t find that either. Something had to give and a little light relief was provided by this Blackbird.

 

   She thinks she’s clean, I suspect this water put more on than it took off.

Lambing is in full swing here, poor wee mites it’s freezing.

               However things are moving in the right direction, this Primrose is bravely brightening it’s little corner of the world.

                So are these ‘Haven’t a Clue’ ones.

                And these ‘Haven’t a Clue’ twos.

                 We eventually arrived at our destination, needless to say no Herons and no frogs. It was worth the trip I always enjoy reflections and Molly enjoys a paddle or today a swim as she misjudged the depth, not that it has to be very deep for her to be out of hers.

               We just got back to the truck and drying off was interrupted by this magnificent machine. It didn’t stop so this is the only photograph, pity I could have passed a happy hour in it’s company.

The weather guessers are predicting heavy rain and possibly snow for tomorrow, we’ll see. If anyone can help identify the plants I would be grateful.

 

SPRING IS SPRUNG (27/03/10)

We were greeted today by the sun streaming in through the bedroom window. What a difference it makes. Off out before breakfast in case this was merely a transitory phenomena. It wasn’t, we made the thirty minute round trip for the paper and milk without getting wet. So it’s out with the old……………………..

And in with the new……..

Maybe not quite but they are doing their best. Definitely not Wordsworth standard but as good as we are going to get round here as tomorrow it’s back to Ravenglass. I’m missing the sea.

We wandered back by way of Ullswater or the path next to it for you pedants. I may be blessed but hopefully not that blessed, bearing in mind next weekend.

  Thrilled to bits, my first lamb of the year. the first live one anyway. A couple of days ago I was saddened to find a dead one. Not still born as it was clean so a hyperthermia case due to the consistent torrential rain. This one is grand.

And so is mum. If you come any closer there will be trouble!

       It will soon have dozens of peers to play with. Almost worth hanging around for.

Place Fell from the van, a grand view to devour breakfast with. Not a very productive week here in Patterdale but enjoyable despite the weather.

NOW’T LIKE A DROP OF RAIN (24/03/10)

Having enjoyed such a long period of dry weather this week has been a bit of a shock to the system with frequent heavy showers.

Sick of getting soaked every half hour I begged the key from the estate office and gained entrance to the saw mill. The pictures could be better but it was an enjoyable hour or so in the dry.

   The saw itself is of timber construction with cast iron fittings. The table moves with a silky action difficult to credit after at least a hundred years.

    

  The power is provided by this water turbine built locally in Kendal by Gilkes and Co. Ltd. this was installed along with a dynamo in1926. The later was removed around ten years ago. The turbine draws water from Grisedale Beck and has a head of around two hundred feet.

      So wet has it been that the bark on the Chile Pine is flowing downhill.

THE DEER HUNTER (25/03/10)

Today a determined effort to see the Roe Deer. This time we managed some photographs but not without some serious creeping about. The professionals refer to it as stalking I believe. Funny how language changes, both creepy and stalking now have connotations that I would prefer not to be associated with. How about Deering? Anyway it was out with the Sherlock Homes head gear or would have been had I thought to look for one and off into the undergrowth.

       This image can’t even be described as soft focus, no focus more aptly describes it. So preoccupied with beating each others brains out they took little notice of us. A bit early in the year for this carry on, maybe it was a dispute over a particularly tasty bit of lichen.

They are getting used to both me and the dog this one let me get around fifty feet away before it decided enough was enough.

This one is braver still and cheeky with it. Were it a rifle and not a camera it wouldn’t stick it’s tongue out at me.

He decided to hop the fence into the Hall gardens and quite a high fence it is at around five feet. Hope nobody notices or my name will be mud.

Off he goes. I’ve worked out that though they move very fast they don’t go far. It enables one to circle back round down wind of them and have another go. Kept us amused for an hour or so.

As for Molly all this heel and shsh! Well, exhausting it is……………………..

         The weather is pretty grim, my own fault for celebrating the rain last weekend. The trouble is when it starts it doesn’t know when to stop.

FRIENDS ARE BACK (24/03/10)

To be more accurate we are back but no matter they seem  pleased to see us

                                         Three or four Bluetits.

                                           Dozens of Coaltits.

                                           The Nuthatch is much tamer. Due to the wind I could only unwind the awning a couple of feet or so. He appears quite unperturbed.

                  The Pheasant gratefully collecting what the others throw away.

                             As is the Grey Squirrel. I’m undecided about this one as it does seem to have ear tufts and isn’t very big.

 

                           These are going to become the bane of my life this week. Either moving at the speed of light or perched bobbing tantalisingly out of range.

I am also getting Great Tits and Chaffinches at the feeders but they are unusually shy.

 

THE FURRIE GLEN (23/03/10)

Well here we are back in Patterdale, a pleasant relief after the hell of Windemere. Not hell, that’s being unkind, it’s just different. Amazing how different considering it’s a days walk or an hours drive away.

   Psychedelic, possibly. Fairies, well, no fairies but there should be Grisedale Beck  is a wondrous place. The above image is straight from camera. If you believe that then you believe in fairies!!!

                            The entrance to enchantment.

   Heart shaped light, the Victorians knew a thing or two when it came to landscaping. Knew a little about making money as well.

 

 

   

 

 

 The way out. Plenty of water in the beck and so there should be it never seems to stop raining for more than ten minutes at a time.