A JANUARY ... GOLDEN DISPLAY.

Well what a lovely surprise today has been after all these last weeks of seemingly almost perpetual wetness. We've been lucky here compared to so many places in the U.K suffering from varying degrees of wind and water chaos, some of the images on the news have made us realise how lucky we have been lucky living up a mountain in South Wales.

Yes my winter weather clothes have been daily drip drying after trogging the dog and damp dog towels have been a daily experience, at least he wears the same coat each day.

Last night as it rained, all be it lightly, the windscreens of the cars were freezing quite fast and so to wake this morning to cheerful bright sunlight, was a very pleasant surprise.

However, I also woke up with a migraine which basically wiped out the first half of the day whilst my migralieve tablets took their time to work and the dog was eager to be out.

Late afternoon and the skies were looking promising so off we headed to a walk just down from where we had parked up by the old church and headed down the aptly named Shady Lane which even with the now winter bare trees can be a multi shadowed bridleway. Last year it was cleared and made into a proper bridleway suitable for riders to actually ride their horses along it. Being a down hill, rather steep slope, it had acted like a gutter and any rain swept leaves and stones down the slope and had narrowed it to the point that it was difficult to even walk down on foot. What a change now though, wider and easier for both the dog and I to enjoy as well as local riders.

On this late afternoon the sun was highlighting the colours in the January landscape and it was just delightful.

 Yes the air was winter crisp but there was no need for hat or gloves and plenty of scope for photographs. The skeletal tracery of the trees framed moments of sky and the nearly half moon suspended in the blueness of the expansive and rapidly, colour changing sky.

 The whole landscape was bathed in the deepening sunlight as the minutes passed by.
A rose gold sun was beginning to set and the effect on the vista was almost magical.
One of the ponies in the field below me seemed to have a whole new sun golden coat.

 As we progressed further along the fence beside the right of way the sun was setting
and on the horizon across the valley I saw the wind turbines that I visited the other day.
They stood out starkly against the dramatically striated sky their blades silhouetted starkly, showing just above the winter leafless trees and due to no wind, were not turning.

 Also in stark contrast to the last of the to the days wonderfully fire bright display these leafless beech trees were still clinging on their seed cases and creating wonderful patterns.

 As we headed back to the car with the sky speedily darkening with the last red shades
I espied these sheep quietly grazing, in the quiet of early evening I could clearly them munching the grass. Time to head for home and get warmed up and my own roast dinner.

A lovely way to end what has been an illuminated January day.