GROUND & SKY.

This morning I drove up the mountain road to let my charges (chickens) out for the day.

Having watched the news about Hurricane Sandy which has been really quite horrendous

I feel that here ... we, in comparison have little to moan about as regards local weather.

As I scattered the wet mash (cooked food) and layers pellets and corn it was lovely to see them clucking and pecking and being most un-photogenic it has to be said but at least they and I were very lucky compared to so many folk in The U.S.A. who have had to deal with weather abnormalities that have been far more to have to cope with than we have here.

But local is what I know best and whilst across the United States aircraft were grounded,

here the skies were full of con-trails. They may look like clouds but they are formed by aircraft flying the busy airways that cross our country to land who knows where.

Meanwhile back at ground level ... a view across the local landscape, grass and old stone.

It may seem hard to believe now, but these remnants of locally sourced stone were once dwellings for a few hardy folk. Water and coal had to be gathered from the valley below and as for survival in the long months of winter, the conditions were unbelievably bitter. I know folk whose relatives lived here and their stories about life then are quite amazing. They had no easily accessible water, no electricity, no vehicles back then and very few other families for miles around and as you can imagine conditions in winter were harsh.

But, at least they, like me would have watched the changing of the seasons and maybe taken some delight in the ever changing skies that are so much a part of this landscape.