Misty river

River Bela, Dallam Park, Milnthorpe.

The thaw has been underway since the early hours of Sunday night, the moisture in the air forming transient mists which drift and cloak the landscape. This was late afternoon after the sun had set, the River Bela has thawed after being frozen solid at this point on Sunday.

We returned home from Derby yesterday afternoon. I hadn't taken a single photo all day, so there's no possibility of a back blip. I can't help thinking this was defiance at a subconscious level, proof that I am not a helpless slave to blipping. We shall see.

But anyway the need to blip reasserted itself today, I spent a happy hour watching the fog drifing over Arnside Tower farm, the tower occasionally emerging above the mist only to be enveloped again seconds later. I have posted a couple of pictures here of the farm together with one taken on the estuary at Sandside this afternoon.

The journey to Derby on Monday was almost over before it started. It snowed, then rained in the morning, and this froze onto the tarmac leaving a veneer of ice with a slush topping. I made the mistake of taking the shortcut down the steep lane that ends in a T junction with the descending Briary Bank road. I took it slowly in second gear, but as I braked at the end, nothing happened and picking up speed, we slid out of control onto Briary Bank. It was good luck that no-one else was daft enough to try and drive in those conditions, and as we arrived sideways and pointing downhill I was able to drive away unscathed.

We made it to Derby 4 hours later. There we were treated to another magnificent Christmas dinner with my sister and family. It was a short visit, but it was lovely to see everyone, albeit briefly.