This morning was cold, frosty and sunny, my favourite kind of weather. I love a nice hard ground frost, dry and crunchy underfoot, it feels properly wintry. When John got back from dropping the kids off at school he said "Shall we go out for a walk?" and I looked at the piles of washing around me, the beds waiting to be stripped, the vacuum cleaner standing there idle, and said "Yes, let's." We drove up to Otley Chevin* which is about 25 minutes away and has become a favourite place as you feel you are much further away from the city than you actually are. We walked a shortish, circular route for maybe an hour or so. Oh, it was just breathtaking. The path takes you through woodland then up along an open rocky area (escarpment?) which offers amazing views north to the town of Otley, then back through more trees. I love to be in the woods in the winter and see the bare trees silhouetted against the sky, like blood vessels, arteries and capillaries.
My apologies if some of these photos look familiar - we visited this place with the kids a few weeks ago, on an even colder morning, and I used images from that walk in my last two posts. But I think that today's views of the misty Wharfe Valley and that light (that light!) between those trees earn their place here and deserve another look. There are sometimes perks to the strange, temporary situation John and I find ourselves in, where we are both at home during the day, and this walk was one of them.
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Thank you so very much for your lovely feedback on my new header, and for your words of support and encouragement. I am lucky to have you as readers! I fully intended to show you some works in progress today as I have been busy stitching and crocheting, but I got sidetracked. Tomorrow - tomorrow I will!
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* Otley is so named for the nearby town, and Chevin is an old British Celtic, or Brythonic word for a ridge of high land.
Your new header is lovely - just so you know in case I didn't say before! The pictures from the woods are lovely, and it is good that you are making the most of your current unusual situation! xx
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. Funny to think in a few months time I will be posting wintery photos and gazing at your summery ones xo
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely walk and great photos.
ReplyDeleteOh I love your photos!! So beautiful!! The top one reminds me of a stained glass window!!
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you took this walk together. Long walks are good for couples. Your photos are beautiful and I can see why you enjoy walking here. You made the right choice with regard to housework. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful place to spend some special time together :) xx
ReplyDeleteReally lovely photos, Gillian! It so nice to spend time alone (without the kids) with your husband. It sounds like you had a really great morning!
ReplyDeleteYou made the right decision: housework never goes away and will always be waiting so it's better to grab these moments while you can. I love the photos of the sunlight coming through the trees, particularly the middle one. x
ReplyDeleteGorgeous photos as ever Gillian! It's so nice to have proper winter weather :-)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. Have a super rest of a week x
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. The drive to work as the sun came up over the frosty Yorkshire countryside was stunning
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos. Nowhere better on a cold and frosty morning. Jacqui xx
ReplyDeleteLove your wood shots, with the sunlight peeking through, perfect. x
ReplyDeleteCan feel the crispness of the air just by looking at these beautiful photos x
ReplyDeleteHello Gillian
ReplyDeleteSuch amazing photo's and how lovely to be so spontaneous and to just go ! Life is for living !
Kate x
I don't think I could ever tire of such lovely images :) x
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos, how lovely to be able to go off for a walk like that on an ordinary morning. The shots looking through the trees are stunning. I love winter trees too, they're so striking. And it's always wonderful to have great views on a walk. A real tonic for the soul.
ReplyDeletewhat a lovely walk and grandios photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletehave a nice day,
love and hugs regina
Wow some seriously breathtaking photos you took there Gillian and in fact one of them most certainly needs a frame around it!! It looks like a beautiful place to walk and like you I so use to love the frosty and crisp ground when I used to walk every day. There is something so satisfying to feel and hear your connection with the earth as your feet bring some kind of music with every step. It is days like this that the washing and everything else can wait and it seems that you have made the very most of a beautiful day. xoxo
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely walk, especially as you seized the moment and just went! Your photos are great!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photos Gillian, the one with the light shining through the trees is gorgeous! I love your new header too - perfect! xx
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely walk - the light has been amazing here too for the last couple of mornings. Heavy frost and bright sunshine burning away the mist.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I really should make more time to just go for a walk - the 2 of us. Somehow "stuff" seems to get in the way too often. x
That's what to do. Go for it. Grab every moment,every opportunity. And thank you for sharing it with us, breathtaking indeed.
ReplyDeleteMy family took a lovely winter woods walk on Sunday - a great winter day here. Sun, cold - but not too cold, and a fresh dusting of snow. Add in one adorable little babe, an orange sled, 4 crazy Corgis, and a handsome husband, and I was a happy woman! Those of us who live near a beautiful area of nature like this are very lucky.
ReplyDeleteThose are wonderful pictures! It would have been sad to miss those views. I think that #5 is just wouahou!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving the new header too - and your attitude to postponing the chores and making hay (or walking!) while the sun shines.
ReplyDeleteI noticed the other day (it's only just hit me) how lovely the shapes of bare trees are. Then I realised some people can actually identify trees just by their shape. Probably a good thing to get a library book out on one day...
S x
Absolutely lovely photos. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos, looks like we've both been enjoying the Great Outdoors in the sunshine! Chrissie x
ReplyDeleteOh I love that you went to the Chevin! When I lived in Bradford my friend from Pudsey would take me there, it was really beautiful although I never saw it like this, it's wonderful in the frost :-)
ReplyDeleteadore picture 5. We were talking about 'God rays', whilst in the car on a long drive. You know the ones from the clouds in paintings, straight lines in shafts. love it.
ReplyDeleteand catkins! *squeal* they mean spring is on its way. Hooray. Thank you. Lovely pictures. delightful
A wonderful walk - beautiful photos and that light was fantastic! I love your new blog header too.
ReplyDeleteLovely, lovely photos! I especially love photo number 5-so beautiful! Thanks for sharing them with us.
ReplyDeleteMarion x
I love your photos ... the light coming through the trees is just beautiful ... and how lovely for you two to have the opportunity to have an impromptu walk on a frosty morning ... you are lucky ... Bee xx
ReplyDeleteThat first image is an absolute beaut!
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful photos Gillian and somewhere we've not visited before in spite of living only 30 mins away!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful photographs. I also love a properly crisp winter's day. We don't seem to have had many of those yet this winter. Otley chevin is a lovely place, seems much further from civilisation than it actually is.
ReplyDeleteGillian, the photos of the light shining through the trees are so stunning!!! You should frame them. x
ReplyDeleteVery wise of you to have shunned that housework. It all gets done but we don't always get the opportunities to go out and breathe in that fresh air and enjoy such stunning views.
ReplyDeleteLisa x