B is for Ben

........Vorlich, bathed in glorious sunshine under a cloudless Blue sky.

The walk this morning was fabulous. The air temperature was below freezing so I was well wrapped up, but as I proceeded to walk up the hill at the start of the walk I began shedding layers as the sun quickly warmed me up. Pockets of snow hung crisply over decaying bracken and hummocks of heather; footprints of days ago were still preserved in sharp castes. The air scrunched and crackled as I continued up the path until the trees parted and there were the hills, basking in sunlight at last, beneath a cloudless blue sky. This was the first time since the recent snow arrived on the hills that I had been able to get a good view of Ben Vorlich, one of the Munro's, sitting majestically at a height of 985m/3,231ft. Previously it had been hiding coyly beneath an opportunistic cloud or bathed in heavy grey mists which have frequently enveloped all the hills.

Then this afternoon I met the newest member of my extended family - a beautiful baby boy, just a week old.