SIGNS OF LIFE

But not as many as there were yesterday before this insufferable laptop decided to delete all my lovely frog and lichen pictures. I'm getting really upset with its life of its own. Time to dig a mouse out of a drawer and deactivate the touch pad. Whether that will solve the problem of hovering over something and it pressing virtual buttons that you don't want to press, I don't know. Anyway, enough grumping. I followed yesterdays footsteps today, but the frogs I had photographed had finished spawning and disappeared today. Not surprising but they are all at it and the spawn is gathering in every available puddle. Some may have to be rescued and moved as some of the puddles will dry out if there's a dry period. This is a fraction of what I saw today:

I haven't seen Betty or any of the other mares and foals for weeks. The occasional little group of vaguely familiar ponies appears for a few days and then goes. Some are in foal but not many. I'm really hoping Betty and the rest of them come back nearer foaling time. They will have to be named by letter rather than number this year so I don't get confused. Here are a couple I saw today a couple of miles away from home:

Eating the lush greens in the stream

My lichen passion had reached the point of searching for a comprehensive tome for identification. Not easy to come by I can tell you. The one I want is ridiculously expensive so I may have to just stick with the on-line sites which are pretty good, but not exactly portable. I'm finding http://www.britishlichens.co.uk/ the best but I haven't done very well with these I saw today (and yesterday!).

I can't identify this one.....time for i-spot

Cladonia Bellidiflora

Cladonia Polydactyla I think

Cladonia PleurotaI I think

Another one for i-spot

Cladonia Pocillum I think

I've been trying to photograph a Dunnock that has been visiting the garden for a few weeks. It kept flying off every time I managed to focus and never comes to the bird 'table'. This picture isn't great but at least I've got it at last. I haven't seen one up here at all until now so I'm really pleased.

These sparrows look like one of those wooden toys with the swinging ball underneath that makes them peck:

And a rather lovely Chaffinch with a mouthful of seedy porridge:

My viola are still flowering: 

And the Columbines are beginning to spring into life:

Snippet enjoyed today - lots of rodents making noises under tussocks of grass: 

I'll leave you with Kestor at sunrise the other frosty morning. awe-inspiring and a reason to get up and out early. Until next time..........

HOW DO THEY STAY UP?

Walking over towards the edge of the evil Fernworthy Forest below Thornworthy Tor, I was struck by sections of the wall that encloses the Tor that appear to being held up by magic, given the weather they have to endure. Below is the wall I was walking along in context, followed by close ups of the sections that I consider miraculous. I hope you like dry stone walls; if not you may be asleep by the end of this post.

Thornworthy Tor above the wall

Stretching away to the North

I think they're absolutely beautiful. Anyway, we are snow and rain free today which feels like another miracle. Here are another few pictures from today....

Interested sheep 

Thornworthy Tor

Crow....

And finally, I'll leave you with this beautiful Kestrel that flew over me last weekend which I forgot to put in the previous grumpy post. Enjoy your weekend. It's just started raining....argh - I spoke too soon! Until next time...

SHOULD HAVE STAYED IN BED

I should have known things weren't going to go well today when I opened the curtains to find the white stuff back in abundance. Not too deep and with what looked like a crumble topping from a recent fall of ice balls. I wasn't feeling great in anticipation of a two and a half hour dental appointment to prepare for a bridge/crown combo costing me a significant slice of my paltry savings. Snippet's early morning poo walk showed the snow to be manageable slush, so I decided to take the car while Origami Boy and partner went to school in the Land Rover. Halfway to town, my mobile rang and screeching to a halt, I answered to a very apologetic dental receptionist saying my procedure had been cancelled. About turn, cursing loudly, and home to finish painting the landing where we had mended a hole in the ceiling and stain blocked the water marks from a four year battle with infuriating and inexplicable ingress. All went well until I washed my brush and, without thinking, wiped it on what I thought was my painting trousers, forgetting I was wearing a rather nice long cashmere mix cardigan. Not so nice any more with its white emulsion streaks that had dried by the time I realised what I'd done. A glance out of the window while cursing loudly again raised panic as I noticed it was snowing again and I needed to get the car to the cattle grid onto the moor about half a mile away so as to avoid it being snowed in again. Quick change into non-painty clothes and a sprint to the car with Snippet. Two minutes to the cattle grid and a swift three point turn.....or not, as I found myself stuck in mud blocking the drive of the owners of the bungalow. More cursing as the wheels spun and a strange smell filled my nostrils. Half an hour later, having scoured the surrounding area for dead bracken and twigs to pack under the wheels and after a lot more cursing, I managed to back out and crunch the car into a low lying rock. More cursing. I parked, reversing off the road with more strange smells coming from the engine. Time to walk Snippet back. What could possibly go wrong? Within two minutes, I was crouching behind a gorse bush trying to shelter from an ice-ball blizzard. The word 'hail' doesn't cover it. Still near the road at this point, I was suddenly aware that a car was cruising past with its driver looking at me askance, clearing making a lavatorial assumption given my squatting position. Great. On-wards through sudden sunshine and upwards into gale force winds.  Bracing but manageable until a huge gust caught me off guard causing a stagger into a boggy puddle. Phew; just below the top of the welly but sadly, the back-draught suction effect as I pulled my foot out, caused me to crash forwards into the snowy long grass, scratching my head on a stray gorse branch. Loud cursing. Trudging up and over the hill into even stronger winds, I could see another blizzard coming fast. And there it was, sand-blasting my face with those ice-balls with nowhere to hide this time. My decision to run was misguided as I stumbled over the rough ground. Yes - down I went again, sliding on the ice-balls like ball bearings. At last, having heaved myself up again, I got to the bottom of the hill where the trees shelter me from both wind and horizontal flying ice-balls. How sweet - the few ponies sheltering here are neighing at each other I think to myself. Back home for a cup of tea and a well deserved slice of cake. An afternoon of ironing and trying to make Lasagne with the frozen bolognese sauce I forgot to take out of the freezer early enough, chipping at it violently to little effect. Time to take Trigger his hay before the school bus arrives. Ah - that neighing I couldn't quite trace had been him. The field is a mass of churned up hoof holes and slither marks in icy mud where he has been galloping about in his excitement. I give up. 

Here are some pretty ice puddles from yesterday though....

But these are from today....

These next two show how directional the snow had been in the night, sticking to the side of the trees, not resting gently on the tops of branches:

Here comes another blizzard!

Gorgeous Robin....

....and our delightful Mistle Thrush who is now a regular visitor

What can I say; it's not been the best of days but I've had worse. Hope your day was better! Until next time, here's Snippet with a stick in the snow......

NORTHERN SPOTTED OWL AND A SNOW BUNTING ON DARTMOOR

Second drawing in a week.....what's going on? Therapy I think and cancelled stuff allowing an unusual amount of free time. Am so enjoying using pen and water colour again. The reference photo for this was very kindly given by Kate in the USA at:

http://chroniclesofacountrygirl.blogspot.co.uk. 

Clearly this is not a native British breed which made it even more interesting to do. Anyway, hope you like it. I'm having HUGE problems printing the magpies. The close meshed pen work just disappears into a mass of black bleeding ink and loses all subtlety. I think I need to ring the paper manufacturers and see if they have any advice. I can't afford too many more mistakes at £1.00 a sheet!

It's been SO windy here but that's incredibly difficult to express through photography as nothing that might flex in a photogenic way can survive out on the moor, The grass is already flattened and the gorse bushes just wag a bit. Any trees out there are already sculpted into wind induced shapes so, I present to you:

WIND EXPRESSED THROUGH THE MEDIUMS OF DOG FUR, PONY HAIR AND PUDDLES 

I was nearly blown over on a number of occasions and came back feeling like my eyes had been sand blasted. It's a bit better today and no rain! 

Just before I go, I went to make a cup of tea earlier and saw a flash of white in our little Rowan tree out of the kitchen window. I looked closer and realised it was a Snow Bunting! I rushed to get the camera, turned it on, zoomed in and pressed the button. Unfortunately, in my haste and excitement, I didn't manage to focus and, as a result, am publishing possibly the worst photo ever taken. However, because of it's distinctive colour, or lack of it, I thought it worth putting in. Not sure it would stand up in court but it was there - honestly. They've been seen in Cornwall too apparently..... 

Until next time, have a lovely weekend and here's Snippet again looking ridiculous in the wind....