I thought that Tom and I would be get some rest/R&R before the festive holidays - I thought wrong!
No rest for the wicked but lots of lovely guests to make up for it.
The rains finally came - and then before we knew it we were already rueing our rain dances. It rained, and it rained, and it rained and we had fog, and mist and more rain. We thought the sun had moved to another continent, that the blue skies had been turned dirty and all we got was grey - different shades of grey.
We all got wet: the dogs, Tom, myself, all our various guests. It didn't help that we went looking for orchids in the marshes and it rained as soon as we got out of the car but we were nothing if not determined :) Shoes took turns to be dried under the Dover stove but somehow despite everything i have just said, we must have had some breaks as we did get some washing done and dried. I guess when I think about the 2 weeks leading up to Christmas Day I think of grey wetness.
And then on Christmas Day, things started to clear. Wispy tendrils of blue apperead in the sky and we all turned to look at it. And since then, the colours of the rainy season have been magical: the hundreds of shades of green - greens so intense it hurts a bit to look at it. The golds as the sun brushes the still dripping tree tops. The silver of the insects as the sun lands on their damp wings. The bronze of the damp soil and the fierce blue skies piercing the clouds. And we got some broody skies, and some pretty big storms :/
On the 1st I took the hounds on one of my favourite walks: towards the big rocks, and the views and skies were simply amazing and the sunset at the end of New Year's Day was spectacular.
And then today on my run, I started in the rain but it stopped after a kilometer or so. The sun came out and the light was perfect. I was so blown away by the beauty of it that I had to stop and admire what was being offered. A perfect semi-circle of a rainbow rose from the valley below me and tipped into the valley ahead of me. The pot of gold was mine for the taking but I couldn't be rushed from the sight of it. I kept telling the dogs: "Look at that", "LOOK AT THAT!!!" and they were running around headless wondering what on earth they were supposed to look for, and then it disappeared.
An amazing start to the New Year :)
We wish you all an amazing New Year, full of love, fun and adventure :)