Taken this morning this picture shows one of my favourite flowers.  I just love poppies, I hope you do too!

One minute it was raining, then hailstones, then the sun came out!  At that point I decided it was time I went for my walk.  What’s that expression, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing?  On with the big coat then, well, the wind is rolling in from the north west and it feels like it’s only 7 or 8 degrees.  I remind myself that it is only 8 weeks until the longest day, the summer solstice!

Anyway, I’m off for my walk.  Walking is such great exercise not just for physical benefit but for clearing the head.  I recently hurt my back, the third time this year, and it has been difficult to establish a routine.  However after a couple of weeks on medication and rest my physio suggested it was time to stop taking the tablets and to get moving again and to walk at least twice a day for 30 minutes each time.  I’ve been doing just that for a week now and at last I’m feeling so much better.  I’ve just increased the 30 minutes up to 40 minutes and I shall now be striding out for longer with each walk.

Of course it hasn’t been as straightforward as hurting my back, for in March my dear mother passed away and I’m still trying to come to terms with that loss.

I put my head down and walk like this until I move away from the main road and the traffic.  Then it’s into the lane and I slow my pace going up the slight incline.  On either side of me the rain is still dripping off the trees and into the puddles and I feel my mood change.  I push my hood back and my depression is swept away by the wind.  It’s time to start making plans again.

I recently began a course to learn about woodblock printing.  It only lasted for a couple of days but it was amazing in that I have rediscovered my passion for working in the Arts.  In my early years I had always loved the work of the artist Piet Mondrian and I decided that I would like to produce a woodblock print along the lines of one of his paintings.

Black borders or grey borders?  I’m still not sure and although my technical abilities are at this stage still those of the amateur the joy of learning is still there.  On top of that I really must buy myself a decent camera and learn how to use it properly.

Since the beginning of the New Year I have been reading about the steps I should be taking to increase my fitness after hurting my back.  Part of my plan is to start walking regularly, something I used to do everyday when I was in full time employment; I walked in my morning break, at lunch time and regularly walked to and from work when the weather was reasonable.  However since retirement over a year ago my routines have changed.  For sometime now I have only been walking occasionally; this had to change and so for a few days now I have been building up my fitness with morning exercises AND going out for a walk everyday.  It hasn’t been easy but not because I’m not motivated but because the weather here has been so very poor.

However I have set myself a goal and even though the wind has been blowing since early morning and it has been raining AGAIN I did leave home to stride along some of the local lanes.

On these islands of Britain and Ireland there are many ways to describe a walk.  Today’s walk wasn’t a bimble or a dander or a doddle or even a soodle; I have heard that if I were a Scot I might say that I was spangin’, walking vigorously.  Way to go!

I decided to go out after all; I can’t stay indoors for too long! I’m glad I did for although it was raining hard when I left home it had eased off by the time I had reached my first destination. I wanted to take a look at Campbell’s Lock and see how our new lock gates were bearing up under the strain of all the water that should now be flowing from the summit of the Newry Canal. I am part of an organisation involved with the re-establishment of that canal and earlier in the year with the help of our volunteers we had installed two new locks enabling the re-watering of a four mile section of the canal.  I wasn’t disappointed! The lock gates however had been opened to allow the heavy flood of water to pass through quickly and so help to reduce the risk of the canal overflowing.

I jumped back in the car and drove back towards home but stopped off at Knock Bridge to take my walk to Moneypenny’s Lock. It’s only a short walk so if the rain had come on again I wouldn’t get too wet.

By the time I returned to the car the sun was just appearing in the western sky, very low of course, but very welcome. Isn’t it good to know that we have passed the Winter Solstice!

Yes! That’s my shadow on the far bank rising from the water. My spirits are lifted again!

Happy New Year to all who pass this way!

Today, 22nd December, at 4.49 GMT, it will be the shortest day & the longest night of the year, and so at that precise time in the northern hemisphere, the sun will appear to stand still. Our ancient ancestors celebrated this time with bonfires and stories, and probably many a glass of sweet ale because from this day onwards the days would be lengthening and the natural world in which they lived would begin to grow and flourish again.

So, in a similar fashion, today I will raise one or more celebratory glasses to the sun, and just like our ancestors, I will welcome the return of the light into our lives. It would be good if you also joined in this celebration…………..good Yule to you all!

If you walk alongside the Newry Canal to Moneypenny’s Lock you will find a garden designed specifically for bumblebees and other pollinating insects.  This is how it looked the other day when I dandered along the towpath.

It is great to know that this once derelict scrap of land is now a magnet for bumblebees!  All done by volunteers!  All done with love!

I can’t believe how much I love this landscape!  I’m here on a short break and I just want to hold on to these views for ever!

This is the River Wharfe by Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire.

The yellow centres of these first flowers remind me of boiled eggs!  Good enough to eat and if in a day or two the flowers droop I’ll know that a bumblebee has passed  this way.