Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Friday 31 December 2010

2010 . . . slip sliding away

Christmas is over and the snow's all gone . . . 2010 is fading into the fog as we slide into a new year . . . and a new decade!

Our end of year walk wasn't a crisp, frosty white one that makes the cheeks glow instead we had to be content with muddy tracks and puddles. Cliff is leading a walk for a local walking group at the end of February, so it's high time we got out there to reccy the route; this is an area between Cambridge and Saffron Walden which we haven't explored before by footpaths.

We set off into the melting distance down a Roman trackway.


Passing a burial mound, much reduced in height over millennia but still a mysterious presence in the misty landscape.


The hedgerows are still heavy with indigo sloes, clearly we're not on a Sloe Gin maker's patch!


Rose-hips splash the hedges with vivid red – do birds eat rose-hips?


On the edge of a little copse, a small orange teddy bear is perched in a tree – is he yours?


Along straight grassy tracks between fields of rape, the distance dissolves away.


Dipping down towards the dark woods that look like a back-drop for a pantomime – Little Red Riding Hood perhaps? or The Babes in the Wood?


There are deer in the woods; we've seen their track in the mud, heard twigs snap and the leafy woodland floor rustle. We have not seen them. They are watching us.


Our way back to the car has to be via a path over open arable fields, clay-rich mud, claggy, heavy on the boots and pulling on the leg muscles. Six and a half miles is more than enough for me – time to go home for tea!


However you see in 2011, have fun!

Happy New Year!

Celia
x

15 comments:

  1. I'm quite glad that the fog is gradually lifting here, but it looks as though you had a nice walk despite it. Not sure I could manage 6 and 1/2 miles! I hope the teddy is reunited with his owner soon. Have a good new year and a peaceful and prosperous 2011.

    Su

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  2. Oh! We used to regularly walk around that area when we could still put the small ones into backpacks. We must take them out there again - but not while it's so muddy I think!

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  3. You must have been six inches taller when you got home Celia! Nice walk though. Happy New Year, John

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  4. That looks like very hard going.
    Wishing you both a very Happy New Year.

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  5. Just a thimbleful...

    What a lovely walk! Happy & Healthy New Year with lots more lovely posts.
    I don't seem to be able to get George's quiz to you - your email is 'no reply'. There is still a month before it is due back!

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  6. A truly beautiful walk even in the misty damp. Thank you for taking me along - if no one loves the teddy I shall adopt him!
    Happy New Year x

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  7. Celia,
    That looks like a beautiful walk even if you did bring half of it home on your boots! Knowing the weather in February you have probably done it in similar conditions so you'll know exactly what to expect next time around! Have a great New Year. Lesley

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  8. Looks like a lovely and interesting walk. Birds round here seem to leave the rosehips until they go soft and gooey. (That's how they manage to sow wild roses in amongst your shrub borders!)

    Happy New Decade!

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  9. Thank you for the walk so much to see and ponder despite the dreak misty weather.
    Happy New Year
    Jo

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  10. maybe foggy, but still lovely! after that blizzard parts of connecticut got just a few days ago, the snow is now melting away---it was 40F for new years' eve in new york city! enjoy a busy, prosperous 2011.

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  11. Celia, looking forward to spending more time "visiting" with you in 2011! Thank you for taking me on your walk with you! Happy New Year!!!

    Mary

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