New dawn

Starting the year with good intentions, getting up early to see the dawn, and posting a blip after an absence of 8 months.  I renewed my membership on New Year's Eve, this year I have to make more of an effort.  Last year I managed only 7 blips all year, a little more that £5 a blip.  But at least it will have made a small contribution to the continued existence of this wondrous website.

Here is my favourite ash tree that sits prominently in the hedgerow at the top of the scarp or cliff.  A small flock of sheep is silhouetted against the horizon.  I did the circuit that I usually do the other way round several times a week, it's a wet, muddy boots special at the moment with all the rain we've had, though the rough toad-rich grassland on the scarp slope does its bit to slow down the flow of water to the flatter ground below.

It was a good weather day to start the year after so many overcast and wet ones in recent months.  I went to see the farmers in the afternoon to see if we could recover any bricks from the big rubble heap that might be usable in the renovation of the old house and repair of the boundary wall that was knocked down before Christmas for the second time in three months.  But they have mostly been too damaged in the demolition of our outbuildings and their transport to the farm where they will find a new use in tracks and hardstanding.

The intention this year is to reestablish more of a presence here, I may not maintain a continuous year of blips, but I will aim to blip something every day if only from the back catalogue.  Which means I have already slipped up on my intention, as I was unable to post this last night as C was using this computer, desperately trying to finish off her accounts for the last financial year.  I do miss this place when I'm not here, and I lack the focus for taking photographs.  Mostly last year I just used the phone which is so much easier to carry, but does have its limitations. So I shall have to get used to carrying several kilos of camera and lenses again.

The backblips as they are posted will give an update on what we were up to during my absence after that last blip of the Gift of Gus.  Still missing our beautiful boy.

I shall be renaming this journal shortly to something more appropriate to our new abode. 

Happy New Year!