Grouse

Or should that be 'grice'?! One of the many oddities of the English language! Surprised that they stayed around long enough for a photo.

A walk late this afternoon with MrM, the first proper outing for my new walking boots. Up past Humbleton Hill and on to the moors, then down along St Cuthbert's Way and through the Common. My favourite local walk. Had hoped for a few shots of the heather in bloom, but most of the flowers were well past their best, and a rusty brown.

On starting out we had originally intended to do the Humbleton Round, a shorter walk, and to have home-made pizza when we got home. The dough was ready and waiting. But it was nice weather and good to be out, and we decided to go a bit further, though it would take at least 30 minutes longer. What we failed to take account of was a whole hour spent taking photos and looking at things along the way! Parasol mushrooms, wild goats, birds, grouse and, best of all, a red squirrel munching on hazel nuts. (Couldn't resist posting an extra - a fuzzy shot of the squirrel taken from a great distance with 60x zoom. Far too late when we got home, so MrM dashed down to the fish & chip van with minutes to spare before it closed! Pizza tomorrow...