Running into the cold wind on Rodborough

At last I am feeling the holiday mood and was delighted to find that my last shopping trip to Waitrose was a pleasant event with good will in the air and fewer people than I had imagined.  I had a coffee there and a rare bacon roll after I'd finished gathering the last minute essentials, all of which I'd found quite easily.

The light had been glorious all morning and the crisper air didn't worry me at all.  When I returned home at about 10-30am I suggested that we go up onto the common for a brisk walk which suited Helena's mood as well.  I drove us up to the same car park I went to a couple of days ago when I'd blipped the redwing as it sought berries in the bushes and shrubs on Rodborough Common.

We walked westwards towards the scarp slope of these steep Cotswold hills where we could look out towards the River Severn and the Forest of Dean.  The air was really clear so that we could see the houses dotted on the hilltops beyond the river where the sun was shining strongly, although we were under grey clouds.  

There many walkers, most of whom seemed to have dogs, and KI enjoyed photographing the escapades of various dogs as they met and chased and played with each other.  We spoke with several people and all commented on the weather and clear light.  We didn't dawdle as Helena got quite cold but we had time to take pictures.  My choice is of this view of a group of young runners who seemed to be training together as they ran back and forth on the top of the common.  I liked the way they were illuminated by the sunshine against the brooding grey cloudy background.

Once we got home we had a tasty brunch of smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on fine rye bread with a glass of crisp dry Sauvignon Blanc to start the holiday with!  I have some wrapping to do and think I may get in the mood by putting my iTunes library into shuffle mode and see what comes up.