Bracken

Perhaps we should christen this little Highland cow Bracken, the colour of his coat blends so well with the russet tones of the autumnal fern around him. He's growing up, six months ago he had just been born. It is three months since I last blipped one of the Highlands, their field has become infested with ticks and I have been avoiding it for the sake of Gus. But when I saw this one in the bracken, I simply had to take a shot of him. Gus was given a ticky check several times as we went through the pasture and bracken, and fingers crossed, he has been spared any of the little biters.

It was windy on the Knott first thing, with clouds racing across the sky, and light shafting on to the landscape below like searchlights from an alien spaceship. It was a little more sheltered where the cows are in the lea of Redhills Wood.

Later we went to Ambleside, my old boots are falling apart and leaking like sieves. So I've bought a new pair, which hopefully will be both comfortable and waterproof (a combination I have never yet achieved), and will be suitable for winter walking in the Lake District with Gus. And Gus has a new coat too for the colder days, and he tried it out for us on the estuary walk when we got back.

Now we all wait to see what the stormy night brings.