OCTOBER BITS AND PIECES

This week I have decided not to stress about only posting once a week. It really is all I can manage and, though I miss more regular contact with all my bloggy friends, I just can't do it with everything else going on. I hope the future holds less stress and more time for blogging but for the moment, I hope you will all understand. 

The last week has seen a shocking change in the weather. I realise I haven't felt cold since March and this morning, when I marched out at 7.00am with no gloves and only two thin layers under my fairly insubstantial coat, I was actually shivering. I'm not ready for this at all and had to go scrabbling about in the cupboard to find a hat and gloves for later. Tomorrow is Guy Fawkes and I'm kind of hoping OB has forgotten.....no mention of it yet. If we stand on top of Kestor on a clear night, we can see  fireworks for tens of miles. 

It's definitely a bits and pieces post. As I went through what I had to show for a week, it was sadly lacking.....so......

Fungi have been in evidence for weeks but I haven't taken many very good pictures. I quite like these though. Nice Beech nut on the top of this one....

The wet weather has meant the lichens are flourishing after a our long dry summer. No Devil's matchsticks yet but they should appear soon.

I've been walking past this smallish rock very close to Kestor for over fourteen years now and, since we moved up here six and a half years ago, on an almost daily basis, and I have never noticed how like a Dartmoor pony the black section looks:

Diamond:

Smudge:

Halloween pumpkins in Chagford last Friday:

Perky sheep:

There is an enormous amount  of flocking going on at the moment. Hundreds of Wood Pigeons fly out of Gidleigh Wood onto the moor every morning and, more recently, they've been joined by crows, allowing me to indulge in some fabulous collective nouns. Other than the most obvious murder of crows, they can also be a cauldron, congress, cowardice or storytelling with a loft, kit or dropping of pigeons. 

In the morning, the sun from the East casts a shadow of the moor onto the trees in the valley:

Today the deciduous grasses looked bleached in the sun:

The last two days I've managed to spot the Golden Plover flock, or should I say the congregation, stand, band or leash of Plovers:

Jack cast a nice shadow this morning:

Every time I climb the hill and see this view of our house, I can't believe how lucky we are:

As I started to run, well....jog home this lunchtime having seen black clouds approaching from afar, I disturbed a large bird in the long grass with beautiful pale markings and a wingspan of about a metre or three and a bit feet. As it turned in flight I realised it had the flat face of an owl (just the one, not a parliament or stare of them). Talking to our neighbour and looking at pictures, I'm now sure it was a Short Eared Owl. I've rarely seen any owl, let alone one so close up. Because I was coming at it fast.......ish, I was only a few yards from it when it took off. Very exciting. 

Right, time to get stuff ready for the morning and finish writing a draft letter to GOSH about various bits and pieces, in the absolute belief that they will reply and we will get an answer. Brilliant. So, until next time, here is a rather strange picture of toothy Snippet and flying eared Jack. Have a great week everyone. 

SUBTLE COLOURS

Looking through yesterday's photos,which were taken in my favourite kind of stormy light with a hint of disappearing sunshine, I thought how beautiful the colour palate was and how close it was to the contents of my wardrobe. Nothing I own is as beautiful as this, but I realise that, on the rare occasions I shop for clothes, I gravitate towards all these colours. Some of these photos look like paintings I think. Today, I managed to go out just as it started raining and an hour later, having been battered with sleet, snow and rain, I tiptoed back over the cattle grid as the sun came out, DRENCHED. No photos at all; just a very wet camera case and its worryingly damp contents refusing to focus or shut down. Oh dear. Anyway, here are those lovely colours....

I know only the rain is in focus here but I love it. These next two are of the foal that looked like a calf when I first saw it....

I came across this lovely little patch of lichen and moss coexisting:

This lichen had been pulled up, possibly by the high winds, or more likely a stray hoof, so we can see its stunning underside. I didn't realise how beautiful it was until I blew it up at home:

Jack found yet another sheep horn:

On our way home, the calf pony and friend snoozed in the sun :

Later that day, I took this of one of my neighbours' other Bengal cats, hiding in their greenhouse, which was pretty much destroyed by the storms a few weeks ago

How do you get your son to sit on a bike to check which wheel and frame size he needs without him guessing he'll be receiving one for his up and coming birthday? This is the problem we face this weekend. OB is currently obsessed, in the way he often is due to the Aspergers, with his Rubik's cube. It goes with him everywhere and he has been memorising incredibly complicated algorithms so he can solve it. These he finds on Youtube clips of middle aged men describing each move in terrifying detail. It makes my head spin but better an obsession with a Rubik's cube than most other things. His ticks have been really good recently which is a relief for everyone, particularly him obviously. They'll be back, but the respite is hopeful for the future. 

Today, Jack decided to destroy one of the two toys he came with from his previous owners. There was stuffing everywhere and Snippet decided to join in. This was taken on my phone, as was the little film afterwards of them searching the tussocks for rodents in the rain this afternoon. I'm afraid, now I've found I can pop these little phone films in, you're going to be inundated with them. Apologies in advance.....so, until next time, here they are. Have a great weekend if I don't manage to post for a few days.