Looking up through a snowy birch , Craigellachie Nature Reserve, Aviemore A sky this blue has been an unusual sight for us this winter! These trees are a great physical example of how we should be energetically, with their crowns open to the light, and roots deep in the earth. Its a great daily meditation […]
Solitary Pine, Monadliath mountains, near Aviemore An old gnarled pine, an outlier above the natural tree-line, on the moorland of the Monadliath mountains. I love these ‘natural bonsai’ pines, shaped by the ferocious weather conditions. As ever, adverse conditions are character-forming, our suffering can become beauty when viewed from a different perspective… “It’s like you […]
Sun and snow at midwinter, Aviemore No, it hasn’t snowed… the days have been warm, mild and rather gloomy, and I’ve not been out with the camera, so here is an image from midwinter three years ago. I really appreciate snow, when it comes, for brightening up our dark winter days. This week’s quote – […]
Melting snow on Forsythia Snow melting on Forsythia blossom, taken in my garden this morning. Yesterday there was an inch or two of snow in the garden first thing, although it soon melted once the sun broke through the clouds. The hills are looking the whitest they have been in the entire winter, it definitely […]
A spring snowstorm sweeps across the forest, Monadliath mountains I love the grainy texture in this from the snow clouds, as they swept in across the forest, and the misty effect disappearing into the distance. It doesn’t look very springlike, I admit, but that is what this week has been all about – lovely warm […]
Snowy pines at sunset Its been a lovely warm weekend, definitely feeling on the edge of spring with crocuses and snowdrops out in the garden. However, here’s another one from last weekend’s walk in the forest. This is taken at sunset, as the suns rays were directly horizontal onto the tree trunks, coming from the […]
Sun, clouds and fresh snow on the Monadliath Today: a celebration of the elements. We had an inch and a half of fresh fluffy snow when I awoke this morning, the first we have had here in the Highlands since December. It has been an unusally snow-free winter for us, at least judging by the […]
Pine trees looming through thick mist and snow, Strathspey I took this a couple of years ago during a really hard winter spell. It was hard work breaking trail on skis through deep fresh snow, up the trail to the forest edge. I loved how the shapes of these big pines started to appear through […]
Soft snow on birch branches, Craigellachie lochan, Aviemore I liked the tracery of these branches with their reflections, as the loch surface rapidly snowed over. Imbolc, or St Brigid’s Day, will be on Wednesday 1st or Thursday 2nd Feb (different traditions give different dates). Traditionally it marks the beginning of spring, falling approximately halfway between […]
Cairngorms from Rothiemurchus forest This image was taken at this time of year two years ago when it was minus 14C, towards the end of a long ski through the forest, with the snow catching the afterglow colours from the sunset. This week, the recent snow and ice has stripped away and its been comparatively […]
Moon at the stone-circle tree Winter has come. After an incredibly stormy week for us I awoke to a half inch of snow this morning, and ice everywhere. I took a walk out on the moor this afternoon, to get my feet in the snow, and went out to the ancient stone circle (actually a […]
Hare Tracks in spring snow, Monadliath mountains An image from this week last year, with deep snow and a surface of hoar-frost crystals sparkling and shimmering in the sun – perfect back-country ski conditions. Hares had made tracks all over the moor on the edge of the woods, I loved the play of light and […]
