Swindale - remote, wild and beautiful

Last week we had a few days away - we keep having these mini escapes and they are rather addictive! The weather was a little damp at home (we 'joke' that we live near Mordor* as it is usually overcast and driech a lot of the time) and although we need the rain, the urge to get out drives us to pack the van and head off. We stopped at Glasson Dock for a walk and lunch before heading up to Swindale a remote valley in the eastern side of the Lake District.
 

And it is remote.

There are a couple of places to park both big enough for several cars so we tend to choose the quieter. This time we used the one further up the valley. We arrived late in the afternoon as folk were leaving and after we'd eaten we donned boots and took Willow for an evening wander. It does feel isolated and wild and forgotten. There are houses along the valley, a number we think are privately owned homes with a couple of working farms - we suspect they are tenanted farms from the water authority with the RSPB very actively involved.

We discovered a nature trail that we'd not known about and gave that a gentle try - it was getting dark and we (well - me) didn't want to get to far out on an unknown path and have to stumble back when the light was failing. So I ushered back a reluctant husband and dog to the main track and we headed back to the van for a hot brew and to pour over the maps to see more about the trail for the next day.

After breakfast we set off with flasks of tea, nibbles, dog biscuits and cameras and re-joined the new trail - which was a delight! (especially to a dog who discovered revolting things to roll in - I was SO cross!) The path followed the now 're-wiggled' Swindale beck which had been straightened 160 years prior and within six months of returning the beck to it's original state had filled with salmon and trout and natural gravel banks, eddies and deep sections have given space for nature to return. The wild flowers and insects were lovely to see and (despite a stinky dog) we loved heading up towards the head of the valley.

We met a few folk about - a woman checking on her Dalesbred ponies (which were beautiful), a group of RSPB blokes checking on the terrain and a couple of lovely older chaps who were just resting for an early lunch just before heading up for the tops. They were chatty and fully of joy for the area. They pointed out a waterfall we had spied and encouraged us to check it out - and so glad we did!

There were multiple pools and drops each the more lovely or dramatic and I was tempted to shed my boots, roll up my jeans and dangle my feet in - I made it as far as my toes - it was definitely chilly mountain water! However a small, stinky and sweaty dog threw herself in with glee and swam and paddled until she smelt sweet again! Happy dog (happy me!)

The falls were the furthest point of the trail so we crossed the footbridge and returned back down the valley on the other side. This was more treed - so cooler but also boggier, can see why it is used by the water authority as a collection point for water. A bit of skipping over mud and forging through shoulder height bracken was called for but it was still a delightful walk.

I want to go back and do it again.

The one small thing that irked me - something that still makes me tense up - I'll explain. 

A quick back story - Willow is afraid of men, not all, but something triggers a reaction. 

A voice, a stance, a smell, a look - something makes her react. We are working through it and with patience and time I think we will get it to a stage where she will be wary rather than reactive.  A couple a weeks ago I had an incident with a man who despite me asking him to step back and his wife telling him to do the same, invaded both my space and Willow's and she tried to both be protective of me, of her space and her need to hide really rattled me and obviously her.

On this lovely trail, we met a family of four, mum and dad and two teenagers. 

And their puppy Archie. The dad was in charge of the dog - let me rephrase that - dad was holding the lead and had absolutely no control. The pup leapt up at us, charged at Willow and as before despite me saying please keep your dog away - he just let his dog bounce on its hind legs trying to leap on to Willow, I retreated and (this is where I can feel my hackles rise)  he...followed.... being dragged by the pup.

It was his teenager daughter who stepped in and sharply spoke to the dad before he stopped, and like the previous man's wife - I made a point of thanking her - but this is where I feel my blood boil - why do they think they know better, why do they not listen when I ask them to give her/me space? 

It is not all men - but it is always men.

And to change the subject - here have a picture of our lunch in the van 🌞

* - Mordor is a reference to a place in Lord of the Rings - always covered by tempestuous clouds and grey skies

In which walking, gardening and friends feature

Yesterday was absolutely delightful.

We met up with some of our favourite people who we don't see nearly enough. We met at their new home and wow what a lovely house they have. Willow, who can be a little shy, very quickly settled and soon wandered around as if she owned the place!

We had lunch in their garden and were surrounded by butterflies, bumbles and could hear a frog croaking in the little water feature.  We all stopped mid mouthful to listen 😊they were delighted - they've been trying to encourage wild life into their space which had been a barren gravel only 'garden' when they took it over and now it is filled with perennials, climbers, pots and planters in the most delicious shades of blues, whites and lime greens.

We walked after lunch and although we do know the area, it was lovely being taken around and shown around 'their patch'. Willow decided that she definitely liked walking and playing ball here.

And I have to leave you with what must be my favourite photo at the moment, Moss and the lady who's garden I work in on a Tuesday. There is a ball down there 'somewhere' and they were discussing (as you do with a ball obsessed dog) how to retrieve it!

This week has been filled with things to do from our jobs list including getting solar panels up on the roof - we are trying to work towards a carbon zero home - not easy for an old house but we will do what we can, all the climate news is definitely scary and we need to act.

glimmers

 Three gentle moments during a rather unexpectedly cool and damp day.

That one moment my back is turned and a small finger sized yellow courgette suddenly becomes a huge baseball bat of a thing!  Fortunately the yellow variety stay tender and sweet even when rudely oversized and almost marrow like!

The ballcock from zinc water tank - discovered by a dog who insisted on carrying it around with a silly look on her face - precious.

And a sigh of relief as I hear the water barrels filling up.

What little things have made you smile today - go on share, let's spread the gentle joy of glimmers.

'och aye the noo'

 A Scottish mini holiday - yes please!

What a lovely few days we have just had. We went up in our van, staying with my brother and SiL, where we parked up on their drive and used the van as our accommodation. They have a traditional one bedroomed Scottish farm cottage so being able to use our van makes so much sense.

It was also the first time Willow met her 'cousins'. Two boisterous Labradors, one yellow and the other fox red. There was definitely one or two argy-bargy-snarly moments as they sorted out the pecking order and our nearly 2 year old little shy rescue dog firmly put her self second with the 5 year old Lexi at the top and 2 1/2 year old Freya (the biggest) at the bottom. Who would have though it!

Once the pack formalities were sorted, the rest of the holiday was a mad dog filled few days as they ran wild in the fields, hurtled around the woodlands and swam in the lochs. Well, the Labradors certainly swam at every opportunity, Willow decided paddling was the way to go😄

We talked into the wee hours, ate far too well and celebrated a birthday with so much cake!

It was really good to go up and I was a little sad to leave but we are returning sometime soon which I am really looking forward to.

These little micro-adventures are definitely good for the soul (may be not the waist line though😄)

PS Willow definitely suffered a little PHD (Post Holiday Depression) and I have been told that the Labradors seemed to be looking for their little pesky Welsh cousin. 

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?

 Just back from a day out working - I feel very dusty and rather weather beaten and desperately in need of a shower - well, I feel to need a mug of tea first and may be some lunch ..... hmmmmm decisions decisions decisions!

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments, it confirms that blogging is a far kinder and friendlier space in the tinterwebs. I'd sort of slipped over to IG coz of the whole 'vanlife' thing especially as our youngest son is about to set off for a stint in his converted landie. He and his partner are off to Spain meandering around, living off grid and exploring for the summer.  And since February, we'd been pretty feral in our own van travelling all around the north of the uk. IG seemed a good way to find out interesting things and to share lovely adventures however as I mentioned yesterday I was saddened how quickly I discovered the shallowness of the majority of IG users - not all - please don't get me wrong, I have found and met up with some lovely folk. But also IG itself seems to have programmed to pit the users against each other and have to fight hard to be seen - I do not have that level of neediness to constantly make content / videos / follow a 'hook' / play a trending track or follow a viral trend .... 

A couple of weeks ago we went to East Riddlesden Hall (Keighley) and watched an open air production by The Duke's Theatre Group. We loved it - not the first time we've spent a glorious summer's evening in a field full of people with picnics whilst bats fly over head and there is a stage full of thespians doing amazing things - this time it was Romeo and Juliet and it was really good. 'Romeo' had the best head of hair ever (and he knew it! He was cruising the audience leading up to the performance selling programmes and he tossed his heavy fringe like a Shetland pony tosses its mane!)

Leaving the performance at the end of the evening was rather a magical ending to a lovely production as the gardens were filled with twinkling lights -  we do enjoy these evenings, we take a small picnic of tea and biscuits or cake as we have already eaten by the time we get there and sipping a brew and chewing on a buttery shortbread whilst Romeo was breaking his heart over the fair Rosalind then falling instantly in love with Juliet, is rather good.

Silly question time ... Have you heard of / eaten American Breakfast Biscuits?

They are basically a type of scone but made with only three ingredients.  Tinned coconut, self raising flour and sugar. I tried them for the first time last night and although they are not quite scones they were tasty and a good vegan alternative.

So - one tin of coconut - mix the liquid and solids til it is a lovely creamy consistency, add two flat tablespoons of sugar, then sift in 325gms SRF, mix well. If a little wet, add flour until a gently soft dough, flatten slightly, use a scone cutter and bake at 220 for about 10 - 14 minutes. They rise to a soft 'bread roll' type shape and eaten warm with rapidly melting butter running down your fingers is rather yum indeed!

And a final picture of a happy dog from Saturday - we'd been for a lovely walk before heading home and she had thrown herself down with a happy huff and promptly had a power nap - silly girl.

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

By William Shakespeare

(from Romeo and Juliet, spoken by Juliet)

O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name.
Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy:
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? It is nor hand nor foot
Nor arm nor face nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O be some other name.
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name, which is no part of thee,
Take all myself.

Talk about into the deep end ....

Yes, it does seem like I have been missing in action and I suppose to a certain extent that is true. I've not written anything here since the 1st May - is it really that long ago?

So, instead of trying to fill you in with EVERYTHING that has been happening, I'll just give a few snippets.

Hi - my name is kate although I also go by the alias hawthorn and yes I do choose to write them both with lower case initials. I also prefer to write in pencil and when I have to be all 'grown up' and use a pen and unless legally required - I refuse to write in black. (school related trauma here!)

I love taking photos.

Last week were were up in the lakes on paddleboards - Himself has been cogitating over the last couple of years about them and when I let slip I wanted to get out and get back to wild swimming (something I did for years until I came to the uk) he took that as the nudge HE needed and literally 48 hours later we had SUP boards and all the accoutrements required. Talk about being swept up in the moment.

The first couple of sessions - learning to paddle board in the rain and trying to teach a dog how to be a safe passenger without panicking all whilst trying to negotiate a swell on the sea .... were not the best and probably poorly judged.

But we have persisted. Although I still feel apprehensive as we cross the lakes with very deep dark water below me, the sense freedom it gives my headspace has been worth the angst leading up to each set off.

The turning point from fear and uncertainty to tentative joy was when quietly sitting on board, with the dog whilst surrounded by puffins, guillemots and razor bills at Flamborough Head. It felt I could reach out and touch the sky.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from that moment - I was still too on edge to stop concentrating on the board to wrestle my cell phone out of my buoyancy jacket - my hands would not let go of the paddle. 

Apart from my own gentle pride (relief ?) that I am finally getting less apprehensive, my delight is in how Willow has blossomed. When we first had her, she was very water-aversive - not even trotting through a puddle out on a walk. We had been carefully introducing water into all walks but not really having much success. Until now. Despite falling in several times, having to be hauled out of the sea, out of Coniston Water and Ullswater - she now leaps onto the boards, plays in the shallows, will actively choose to walk into a river for a drink or a wallow if she is hot. We are so pleased.

So - I am back. 

If you have read this far, thank you. I had been tinkering with instagram and it didn't  quite hit the mark, it seemed very 'I'll follow you if you follow me' only to be unfollowed almost immediately. Felt very shallow and self serving.

With that - I shall leave you with a sunset - we've seen some cracking ones this year - hope you have too xx

Zombies and swallows

 Waking early and stumbling out of the van dressed like a zombie dog mum is not one of my finest hours however, the fresh blue skies, the crisp air screaming down to the bottom of my lungs and the promise of a hot brew on my return, makes the first morning piddle walk for Willow (NOT me!) worth it....

Clasping said promised brew, now fully dressed and feeling a little more human having fed Willow who inhaled her food with one undignified dog-slurp, I'm savouring the scent of toast being made.

The breakfast view is amazing. It might not be to everyone's taste, but to us - the marshes rolling gently down to the estuarine tidal reaches of the Lune with the historically interesting village of Sunderland Point perched on a small spit of land just across the waters - is enough to fill our hearts. 

The vastness of the skies and the drifting of whispy clouds fills my eyes as I stare at birds flitting across my view. I am watching out for barn swallows - we'd heard a tantalising warbling trill and started to scan the skies. The males arrive first by a few days - they are identifiable by their longer tail feathers - then the females appear. 

Shelducks, ravens, wood pigeons, egrets, black headed gulls, martins, mallards and the much anticipated swallows fill the skies and marshes in front of us and we find it difficult to tear ourselves away for our walk... but pressed by Willow, we do.....

I want more gentle adventures like these.

With thanks to Himself for letting me use some of his photos - in particular the final one - which is an absolute corker and he is rightly proud of ❤️

Willow and Barry

I never meant this blog to turn into a 'What Willow did next' waffle but it seems this is another post about her 🐾😆

As I type she is lying on my feet which although rather sweet is incredibly uncomfortable, however I would rather she did that than be curled up in a corner facing away. We've only had her three months and although there are still 'teething' problems she is settling in and finding her feet and her place in her new pack.

What triggered this post was a rather important appointment - although Willow would disagree.  She went for a pre-spey check up at her veterinary surgery. Oooh scary stuff.  Poor girl thought we were going for a walk when she threw herself at high speed into the car  however, when we obviously did not pull up at her FAVOURITE PLACE EVER (until the next favourite place - it changes....) but in a rather austere tarmac carpark her body language changed instantly.

Gone was that eager 'let me at 'em' look on her face as she immediately became a cringing scaredy little piece of red rag and could not get closer to my legs if she tried. I can not fault the kindness and gentle understanding by the staff as I explained about this little whimp and her rescue history. You never saw such relief on her face as we left and she could hurtle back into the car!

However, I did promise her we would go to the playing fields before we returned home and as soon as I parked up she squeaked with joy. We were there a lot later than our usual visit so the grounds were empty and it was just us. I decided no training today - too much for an already fried little Willow walnut brain and we went straight into play - you could see all the tension lift off her shoulders as she sprinted around in huge circles around me, blasting out all her pent up nervous energy and stress.

Just as we'd almost completed a rather whirlwind circuit of play and ball chase, one of Willow's little buddies and his dad landed. As we get to meet more folk with her, she is gently getting used to other dogs and people and we've had a very positive breakthrough with her making tentative steps to being interested in actually 'saying hello' to people. 

This particular pairing of dog and dad are rather sweet, both getting on in years and a bit rusty around the edges, the dog - who I have been told his name but each time I don't quite catch it is something like Tooby or Dobby or Scooby or Dooby or something like that and his dad is called Barry. Now, Barry has a life well lived face, with time and work etched on his skin and a gently rough northern voice. He chats quietly about his life - it seems he has spent it entirely in the village including his school days, living not that far from where I do and yet we have never met before. I now know he has a neighbour who is a musician and he can hear him practising whenever he is home. He has a small garden and loves it only breaking off to bring Scooby/Tooby/Dobby well you get the idea, up for his daily potter around the fields.

Today the dogs ran around us as we chatted, well... Willow trotted with a typical rangy collie trot while Tooby/Frooby etc barrelled along on little old Jack Russell legs as he tried to keep up.

Barry and Blobby/Tooby/Tubby/Toby (whatever) usually shuffle around half the field then return to the car, Today Willow tired out Booby/Moody/Jooby etc fairly quickly then we all wandered back to the cars. I was glad that Wills had already had a good stretching run and play and was ready to return. 

As we waved each other off Barry said 'See ya luv, good speakin' wi ya'  made me wonder if he doesn't always get the chance to chat to folk.... Willow and I shall keep an eye out for Barry and Booby/Pooby/Who-bee - I better find out what the dog is actually called!

Not quite back to square one but ...

Could we have bettered our day out yesterday? Well we were going to have a good try and having moved the van further into the Lake District, found a quiet spot with a goodly selection of pathways radiating outwards in all directions - just perfect!

Boots on, lead clipped, lunch box and flasks filled with a route planned, the three of us set off again. Our walk yesterday - gently came up to over seven miles for us and probably loads more for Willow and today was going to be similar. 

The first bit was lovely, we walked past a little tarn (Wharton Tarn) which seemed to have attracted loads of bird life so Willow was on her long lead, she is still unproven with stock or wild life and I want to be able to haul her back quick-smart if something should happen.

The path then went up and over into a series of farmed fields, although regular keep your dog on a lead signs, there were thankfully no 'bull in field' or 'ewes with lambs' about but again, Willow was on her lead. 

Finally we found a route where she could come off, a wooded area with deer fencing and it gave my arm and hand a rest while she happily snuffled and trotted back and forward on little fast collie feet.

Our path took us above Tarn Hows and despite the sharp chilly breeze, the light and the view were wonderful. We dropped down on to the circular path that follows the edge of the Tarn. This is where things went from lovely to not so good. 

People. Kids on bikes. dogs - on leads - off leads. Prams. Trampers. Mobility scooters and a very overwhelmed Willow.

She went from a reasonably well-behaved-on-a-lead dog to full on stressed steam train, pulling so hard that she was choking herself, I had to hang on for dear life. In spaces where there were small gaps between visitors I would walk her back and forth to bring her 'back to me', trying to reconnect but she was not having any of it and so I had to admit defeat and we frog marched (or dog marched) around at a rather unpleasant gallop.

We got off the path at the first possible exit but it soured the rest of the walk as Willow took nearly all of the return trek to 'come down' off what ever stressed planet she was on. It was like we were back at the very beginning again and it was awful.

Not only did she completely give up all the on-lead progress we'd made, she returned to her previous bad behaviour, trying to steal food, snatching from hands, not listening, not staying or sitting when commanded - her little mind had been fried by too much peopling and we just had to put up with it until we returned to the van.

Once back, it took her a bit to decompress and she eventually fell into a rather twitchy sleep. Now home and in her familiar routine she's come back to earth however we are gently but firmly having to start again. By the end of Monday she seemed to re-find herself and today we have our calm (well calm-ish whirling dervish dilly) collie, happy with her cranky cat and her bed and toys. 

We still have work to do......🐾🐾