Seeing the wood from the trees

I was up bright and early to be ready for today's walk. I had decided to do part of one of my favourite walks and see how Arth coped with it. (For new subscribers, Arth is my right knee.........please don't unsubscribe just yet!) I left the car at Steel Rigg and did 8 miles of my Crags and Loughs walk.

The sky and the water in the loughs were brilliant blue. There were fluffy white clouds. It was very dry underfoot, apart from some boggy bits. (The family of 4 from Hawaii were going to struggle with their totally unsuitable footwear on Hadrian's Wall Trail.) Larks sang and soared. Orange tips flew. The cuckoo flowers have been in bloom for a couple of weeks, but today I heard my first cuckoo of the year. Perfect.

I planned to blip a cuckoo flower (Lady's smock) until I saw these fruiting bodies of a moss on an old wall. I love the almost abstract effect created by using a shallow depth of field. The wind was blowing strongly as well.

The walk was completed with only a bit of grumbling - treated with a large ice pack and then a hot bath.

The birds are singing in the garden and I'm about to make a leisurely evening meal.

I'm very, very lucky to be able to enjoy all of this.