The Valley of the Squinting Windows

My dishwashing view

Today’s kitchen sink drama is brought to you by The Horses in the Back Field; brightening quarantine since 2020.   A frolicking weeks-old foal makes a fine backdrop to dishwashing and a distraction from drudgery. Interesting to note how adept equine babies are at wrapping their mammies round their little fetlocks. This one nuzzles his […]

Day 14 in lockdown – the mountains still stand

IMG_3825 (2)

Somebody stopped the clock. Regardless of the growing chaos in the world, the sun continues to shine in our little corner of it. The weather is glorious, in fact. The blossom is out on the trees, the garden is bursting into life and the birds sing loudly from dawn until dusk.    The days stretch […]

Snow day

img_5185

The 9 year-old was, in his own words, ‘outraged’ at the scant covering of snow here at home last weekend. While friends in England were ‘enjoying’ blizzards we barely had a dusting, despite living at nearly 700 metres above sea level. No chance of a snow day from school on the horizon and simply not […]

Winter on the way

20170108_132817_pano

As seems to be the way, autumn has been glorious here in Asturias and the good weather has persisted right into January. Last Sunday 8th January I made the most of the infinitely clear skies and sunshine and got out with friends for a big hike in the mountains. With 800 metres of ascent and […]

Treehouse

sweet chestnut tree in Asturias

One of the many things I love about Asturias is that vast swathes of deciduous woodland adorn so much of it. Beautiful to look at, especially in autumn when they put on an extended fiery show, they also provide wondrous places for hiking and great opportunities for foraging. And if you happen to be a […]

A late autumn weekend in the Picos

20161210_171402-effects

When you live in paradise the temptation can be to stay put but every now and then the urge to stray a little further afield still sneaks up on us. It doesn’t have to be very far, there are plenty of spectacular places to visit within just a couple of hours drive and, let’s face […]

A bench in Asturias

20160707_115145_HDR[1]

    I walk past this bench most days. It sits on the side of the road, just above my house. Sometimes it has a collection of old folk on it passing the time of day and resting on their peregrinations. Other times, like today, it sits alone, dappled in sunlight, inviting rest and contemplation, […]

Silent Sunday

IMG_3202.JPG

Linking up to My Sunday Photo for the first time. Hopefully the first of many. Click the badge to find lots more fab Sunday photos…

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

At the foot of Quiros crag

I remember how my mother used to scold me for ‘putting the heart crossways’ in her whenever I gave her a fright. While I *knew* what she meant, I didn’t really know what she meant until after I had my son. There is nothing quite like the knowledge that your child is in pain or […]

Silent Sunday

IMG_1855-0.JPG