Spring freshness

Despite the air being decidedly chillier today, the sun was still able to bring a welcome warmth to wherever it touched and the white clouds merely added a focus to the bright blue sky.

The joy of walking around here is that there are so many routes to explore and paths to take where you can enjoy different views and never get bored. This afternoon I took a quicker route to the top and was immediately struck by the difference from when I had last taken this path. The freshness of the new foliage simply sang out to be photographed - and so I blipped it. In a few weeks time the greenery will be just that - green. Now, however the freshness is palpable and totally special.

You can see in the foreground some of the newly sawn timber from where trees which fell during the windy spells during the winter months are now being tidied up. This is going on all over the wooded area, which is fairly extensive, and while much of the smaller branches are being left for insects to forage and hide in, the larger pieces are gradually being sawn, stacked and then removed.

Bruce and Cara had a wonderful run and always enjoy a slight deviation in route especially as this one brought them into a close encounter with two deer, a buck with his doe. I did manage to take a couple of shots of the pair as they bounced away out of view but unfortunately the pictures were not really well focussed, so I couldn't use them.

I am going up to the Inverness area tomorrow, until Monday, as the tenant in my son's house is leaving and I need to check inventories etc. and, most importantly, do some spring pruning of the shrubs. I will be staying with one of my sisters-in-law and am not sure if I will be able to blip from there, although I hope to take photos both days. I am looking forward to the trip and just hope the weather stays dry as the views on the drive up are superb.