Lovely!

What a nice note to find when changing a room after guests leave!

Spring - beginning at last!

Last week was DRY!! (mostly)

We heard the first curlew of the year;

have had our first sighting of the Tawny Owl;

and seen hares chasing each other across the fields.

Snowdrops are beginning to fade, crocus are flowering and daffodils by the roadside are starting.

And it's just the start of the lambing season around here!

Unseasonable flowers

Here we are, at the beginning of February and we have a number of unseasonal flowers out. Aubretia seem to have some flowers  almost all year round. Until very recently, Gazania were in bloom & as the photos show, a "pink" and kaffir lillies and Calendula.  Elder bushes are already sprouting leaves and Pulmonaria are in full bloom. We only saw our first snowdrops recently and our first crocus a couple of days ago. daffodil bulbs have six inches growth. Only hope there isn't a really cold snap to hit everything back.

Day Out

Lovely day today. 

Promise of showers from the 'Weather Channel' didn't materialise.

Clapham Beck was boiling & the falls by the church were spilling with white water after all the rain we've had recently.

Drove over to Settle with a friend staying from America & then on to Malham, over the moors. Good views of Malham Cove from distance & close up. Malham heaving with walkers - always a very popular spot.

Thence over the hills into Littondale & Wharfedale. Rivers full & waterfalls white & visible from afar. Upper Wharfedale is part of the Tour de France route - it'll be packed in July!

Turn left towards Hubberholme, the lanes get narrower, the road wetter. Must have flooded recently. Lovely little Dales Church at Hubberholme with pews by the Mouseman, tucked into the hillside.

Up the hill, pass the last hamlet & over the hills to Hawes, glimpsing back at a magnificent view of Ingleborough, dark against light sky, prominent nose facing west & with a cap of cloud, rays of sun slicing through the clouds to the east. Aaaarrrghh! why didn't I bring the camera?!

Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes. Presents for friends down south and a quick run back, via the Ribblehead Viaduct, just as a train was coming over it - a good day out!

October & November

Late October & November have seen warm & pleasant days, mixed with sometimes heavy showers, rainbows & spectacular sunsets. 
















Now in late November the weather has turned colder and as a result of several frosty mornings, the farmers are busy emptying their slurry tanks over the fields. Not a day to put the washing out if you want it smelling sweetly of fresh air!

We have been treated to some wildlife treats:

• a stoat, running down the wall in Cow Pasture, next to us
• a woodpecker going about its business in the sycamore in the same field
• our own private murmurations of starlings of countless numbers
• flocks of lapwings, feasting on the fields
• a kestrel inspecting us at low altitude
• the resident bank vole scuttling around in the undergrowth

Yellow Irises and a Barn Owl

The yellow flag irises are out down on Newby Moor, the SSSI that covers much of the valley below us. 

Patches of ground in the lowest lying areas and along the beck sides, and in the wonderfully sunny weather that we have had these last few days, they look magnificent!

A few days ago, we had offered to collect an arriving guest at Clapham station at about 6pm. As Di drove back with our guest, Jack and I walked back along the road - about 3miles & normally taking about 1½hours ('cos of all the interesting smells that have to be checked!)

Out of the corner of his eye, I caught a glimpse of a bird, not sure what it was, so stopped & waited for it to show again.

Over the next  hour a barn owl hunted across the moor, returning three or four times to the apex of a ruined barn, 
well away from the road.

These are distant photos, taken at maximum zoom. The 'one that got away' was the one where the owl was heading straight for me, face-on, 30, then 20 yards away....
            ....but Jack & I were in the middle of the road with a tractor bearing down on us, less than 20 yards away. "Oh, ***!"

Thank You!

A few days ago we received a couple of "Thank You" letters. It's always a pleasant surprise and nice to receive.
One was from one of three lovely ladies, away on their annual get-together, off walking by day & filling the house with happy chatter whilst in.
The other letter was from "Country Walking" magazine, who say that we have been recommended by one of their team or by a reader as a welcoming and lovely place to stay.

So, to both - a big "Thank you" from us