brave colours

Spent today travelling to Cumbria to visit a friend and ex colleague whose husband, also a friend, is sadly very seriously ill. Not surprisingly given the character he is, he is being very stoical about his situation and talks easily and openly about his passing...which of course frees everyone else up to do the same.

The journey down by train took me through wonderful country, the Lake District over to my right as I headed south. I love that train line, from Carlisle to Leeds taking in the old Carlisle to Settle line. The architecture of the Victorian railway stations is beautifully preserved and the names are somehow so resonant, Armathwaite, Langwathby, Appleby...the colours on the way were still quite muted, the day overcast initially, sun at lunchtime, snow on the high tops, a warm grey in the worked stone walls that run in straight and even lines across the fields and hills..very early lambs just beginning to put in an appearance.

This wee shot, taken in my friends' kitchen, is of a macaw feather...their neighbour breeds them and I like the boldness and vibrancy of the colour as it sits against the gifts of plants and flowers - brave like Bill .