Deep in the Haunted Forest

Very Deep

As I write this I've just got the house back to myself. Roam went back to London at the beginning of last week. Forrest went back to Leeds this evening. It suddenly feels very quiet indeed. Forrest and I have spent the day doing a final de-clutter and clean before the house goes on the market this week. It's way too big for me on my own. And way too expensive to heat when it's as cold as it's been this weekend. The big problem is that the place has so much storage that it's always been easier to stash things away rather than throw them out. I've been chipping away at the task for a good few months and have now got to the point where, for the first time, moving actually seems fathomable. With being so busy at work the timing is terrible but it just needs to be done.

Today proved to be another wonderful day for photography. I went running on the moor, choosing a route I've done many times but, like yesterday, I found some new photo opportunities. I also took some very pleasing shots of familiar subjects and views too. The forecast was for fog but the moor was clear first thing. I was a little disappointed but remembered how it had bubbled up from nowhere under similar circumstances a few weeks ago. And that's just what happened. As I climbed higher the mist and fog rose up with me, to the point where it felt like it was pursuing me. It was all very dramatic. It was also bitterly cold, with a very hard frost on the ground. After stops to take pictures I had to run hard to generate enough heat to warm up my hands.

It was a hard choice to make as to what to blip, but in the end I was seduced by this shot, taken at the top of Panorama Woods which nestle under the moor on the west side of town. I've always felt these woods to have a primaeval feel to them. They are very ancient, and facing north, always seem rather dank and gloomy. The mist today made it even more eerie than usual.

Thanks so much for all the love for yesterday's Solitary Tree. I had a strong suspicion that blip was going to prove popular. These winter trees have a very strong, even universal appeal. Thanks for the endorsement ... and plunging me even further into blip debt.