Its been great to have Hector home again.
The week has gone by quickly. Busy busy.
On Friday I had a short haircut. The lovely Stacey comes to the house to do it and I love the result. I feel like a new woman.

My car has been playing up a bit. When its cold it stalls easily and then won’t restart. What causes that??

I’d won £100 in a village draw so spent it on me; in the online sales at East and Sahara. A quirky top from Sahara – reduced from £125 to £37! and a waterfall card from East that I got for £20 and used to be £85! Good deals, and I am thrilled with both.

Frank and Kate joined us Friday evening for drinks and nibbles and lots of chat. Time always flies when we’re with them. I deserved a hangover but didn’t have one when I got up on Saturday – after a very nice lie in.
When we got up it was thick freezing fog and we went to Coombs Wood for a crunchy walk in the trees. It was so quiet, so still, cold and lovely.

Rosie had muddy feet so Hector kindly did the honours cleaning her up.

My favourite shot of the morning is this one of Hector walking through the wood along the track towards the road.

He’s home!

I got this screenshot from the online flight tracking – in real time – as his plane passed over the Millennium Dome in London.

Hectors flight passing over London on FlightTracker.

Frank stepped onto the sofa where Rosie has her snuggly rug and got up close to her and went to sleep. We have affinity. Its taken almost six months, but I know wed get there.

The rest of the week has been both busy at home getting stuff done – even cleaning smelly gunk from drains and drainpipes. I enjoyed a couple of such days Back to work on Thursday and very busy. Am very glad that this evening Hector will be setting off home again from India – to get back some time tomorrow afternoon. Can’t wait for him to get back!
Thanks to my old friend Paul Jackson I know that ITV Border Weather used one of my pics for their weather forecast on 19th. I found the forecast on ITV Player and this is a screen shot of it. Always a thrill to have an image used by the media!

So, my few days off while H is away and my planned chores. I painted the back porch – only took 2 hours and by 1pm I had picked up Kate and we were heading up to Talkin Tarn for a walk. Kate hasn’t been well – flu – so we took the level easy path. It was lovely out. Clear, crisp and frosty. Even the drive there and back was lovely.
Rosie met lots of others dogs and only really ran away once… bless her. Kate and I were sitting on a bench at the tarn side and we didn’t see a little dog come along, and when Rosie did she shot up onto the bench and tried to hide behind us. What a wuss – especially as the other dog was even smaller than her. Bless her!!
We came home a different route (wrong turning) and thought the little church at Cumrew was worth a look. And so it was. Up on the Pennines next to us, that rise steeply from the village, they were buying the heather stubble The flames must have been huge if way in down in the valley they seemed large.

Hectors taxi ride to his office in India is a bit different to at home isn’t it!

Indian transport - Hectors ride to the office from his Hotel

Indian roadside - Hectors journey to work

Whipping chill wind and freezing clear weather were perfect for a twilight trip to Castlerigg Stone Circle – just me and Rosie Posie. Hector working in India is baking in 30 degree heat! Its his birthday today so I am having a Cobra beer for him this evening.

Rosie was so cold and shivering – even in her fleece jacket – that I took her back to the car and stayed a little longer taking photos at the circle alone.

In such perfect weather and light conditions it was a joy to spend the twilight hour at Castlerigg Stone Circle.

It was very cold though and the freezing wind chill was biting.

The conditions were perfect for taking pictures. I hope they are worthy of some others I see of Castlertigg that are really stunning.

When I loaded up the photographs I felt I had caught the colour and detail in the these stones ok. The setting sun gave them a warmth that you don’t see at any other time of day. Not one image has had a single bit of manipulation – which is unlike me as I often adjust exposure or curves or saturation.

It was difficult seeing Hector head off to India for a work trip. I did get upset. Silly eh? He got there ok. A couple of mishaps – like his taxi not being there at the airport and later losing his room key, but he says his room is really nice – more a suite really. Its also very hot there. 30 degrees or so. I know he’s working there but I hope he gets to enjoy the perks! Its his birthday today and I hid his card in the lining of his case.

Hectors room is VERY nice….

The night he was flying I went down to Windermere to spend a great evening with Chris and Fiona – always a pleasure. Rosie Posie stole the limelight of course. I didn’t sleep much waiting for H to call to say he was there ok.

The next morning was clear, bright and hard frost – in other words – gorgeous. I spent the morning with Jane (Sis) on Windermere lake shore at Galava, Ambleside. Stunning and emotional views and calm atmosphere. So perfect. PERFECT. The light was amazing and I took literally hundreds of photos.
Afterwards we walked to Mums for chocolate cake and chat.
I got home feeling calm and happy.

A slideshow of my photos on Flickr:

And the ones I like best….

Work has been busy since going back after New Year. For Hector especially. And he is now on his way to India for work. Seems such a long way away. Had tears as I drove away from the station after dropping him off.

Its been mild this winter so far, so much so that there are some daffodils flowering in the village and our snowdrops are poking their heads up in the garden. Lenten Lilies too are flowering under the shrubs. Lovely.

Rosie is a great comforting company poodle! She and I are loving our walks and she is gaining in confidence all the time.

One week old Tootsie’s kittens, originally uploaded by Fi in Eden.

I’ve been revisiting pictures of the lovely time we had with Tootsie’s kittens and how wonderful those 10 weeks were. Frank Cat who we kept has been a delight. A wonderful experience to see them arrive and watch them grow and go to live with wonderful people who I know well.