November 9th 2010

Well here we are in November so soon…the clocks have gone back for winter so it is now dark at around 4.30pm. No more trips to the garden after work. All the little monsters have now hung up their Halloween costumes and bonfire night came and went rather like a damp squib. I heard a few fireworks but nothing like the 1812 overture some years bring. Drove to the Lake District over the weekend and took the road down from Keswick to Windermere. (This is one of my favourite roads in the National Park.) It takes you past Thirlmere, Rydal Water and Windermere The colours this autumn are rich and vibrant with high yellows and polished ochre bronzes. Simply stunning and I got the feeling I might never see it so wonderfully coloured again. I could live here and every day would be another chapter in the continuing episode of Lord of the Rings. The Lake District is a magical place. No more so than the Highlands or mountains of Wales are but they are pretty remote and not easy to get to from here.

Garden is now settling down for the winter. The new pond is full (and overflowing,) I’ve chosen the next trees to trim and got my fleece and hay ready to cover the tender plants against the frost. That’s going to be Sunday work from here on in.

News is mostly the pantomime, cyclical financial stories (it bad, no it’s good, no it’s bad again,) or new lows in violence against people. One gets the feeling that the news misses lots of the grim stories and instead seems obsessed with the endless talent shows and soap operas rather than news. If you ask people they tell you they don’t want doom and gloom all the time but it seems to me that some of the media is pandering to the lowest common denominator all the time. Am I a grumpy old git or what?

Check out these websites

http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/keswin_f.html

Alamo Car rental have just voted the route from Keswick to Windermere the 3rd best route in Europe beating the legendary Amalfi drive which only merited 12th place!

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=A591