I've been abscent from my blog for a little while, trying to take a few days out during the Easter break. The wonderful weather we had prior to the holiday period has been replaced by 'snow' and rather chilly conditions. But we have managed a couple of days high on the moors in both south and north yorkshire. This southern shot is above Ladybower reservoir in the peak district, we trecked across bleak moorland to be rewarded with these amazing views.
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| Views over Ladybower reservoir |
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| Ashford-in-the-water |
We tried to call for tea at our favourite peak district tea room 'Hobbs cafe' above Monsal head, but alas it was still closed, so we headed down to Ashford-in-the-water, to a lovely tea room there.
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| Linton village in the Dales |
Our Northerly jaunt in the Yorkshire Dales started out at Linton, where there was (luckily for me) a watercolour exhibition on. I bought an original from a lovely lady called Patricia Jones. Her work was beautiful and she had some unusual and striking black and white art that sort of reminded me of etchings. They were quite atmospheric, dark moody skies against limestone buildings. (see below)
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| Malham moor |
Out up on the moors it was quite a contrasting scene to the green down in the village, there was still quite a bit of snow about in deep drifts. We had wonderful views once again though, even though it was a little cold. We only saw 2 other groups of walkers, not many brave souls out up there.I like hearing the sound of nothing but the birds and possibly a few sheep! The birds we saw were Lapwings and Curlews, both of which have quite haunting calls, especially the curlew, which warbles a lonely tune. The lapwings were in courtship mode, doing their twisting and twirling displays and calling pee whit, pee whit. I tried to record it, but you can only hear the wind. No decent photos of them either as they are rather shy birds, you will have to make do with my book version!
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| looking to Great Whernside |
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| Original watercolour,of Tan Hill |
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| Lapwing |
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| Favourite Tea Room at Hebdon. |
Our day ended very nicely at our favourite tearoom at Hebdon. The old schoolhouse. Always such a lovely treat.
I will be back soon with some artwork. All is still very busy. I've been working with some lovely people lately on exciting new projects.
Lovely photos of the moors, Julie. Beautiful clouds! Interesting to see the bird illustrations: the upturned crest of the lapwing and the downturned beak of the curlew. The watercolour you bought is beautiful and dramatic with its colouring.
ReplyDeleteAll looks just lovely from over here, especially the snowy parts! I really like your newly acquired art, very appealing! :))))))
ReplyDeleteFabulous post- I could just feel the bracing wind, hear the lonely call of the curlew. A lovely cuppa to revive oneself and to reflect after a few hours in nature is always THE BEST! I also love the new art piece. A nice April day, in every sense.
ReplyDeletePS-The Lapwing look like quite a cool birdie- I love the crazy head crest! One day, I'll make it a point to see them in situ.
Thanks folks for your lovely comments,you're all over the water there! It's funny sometimes doing the walk, you don't always appreciate it, especially on the uphill bits...but thinking back after, you realise how nice it was. I loved the solitude of it, those birds and their songs echoing around. The lapwing is a crazy bird, flipping and turning quite low to the ground at times.
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