more walking and some other stuff that's on my mind

Today I was persuaded by the big three to clamber through the undergrowth to see the secret gate. It's a nice gate, not very functional as it is only held in place by half a hinge and some barbed wire.

Getting to the gate is no mean feat....you have to walk upstream, over trees, through hanging ivy, slippy-slidey through mud. I didn't take my camera, which turned out to be a wise move, as I fell over a couple of times.

The secret space is really very enchanting. I have no idea whether it is ours, or whether we are trespassing. The secret gate leads through from ours, but backs on to a neighbour. It's got some gnarly old trees with ivy hanging down. I half expected to see a dinosaur poke it's head out from behind a fern. There was also a huge white stone, about three feet in height and two in width...looked like marble. I consulted the Rock Hound, and think we will try and chip a bit for testing. I think we might collect a few samples and have a rock fest soon.

We added to our skull collection (have I blogged about this? That we found a pig skull in the hedge?) The new skull is, I think, a sheep. I'm not sure this is a healthy thing to collect, but there is a degree of fascination/ horror (depending on who you are.)

There was also the discovery of a slate in the stream bearing chisel marks. Whether they are from the barn conversion six years ago, or from a longer time ago, we do not know. Initially the children thought they were fossils, so interest in this fizzled out pretty rapidly.

I was quite melancholy at the end of Summer, watching all the trees and plants hibernate or die....I wasn't even sure I would like living here in the Winter. I thought it would depress me, or rather I feared it would depress me...how's that for tying yourself up in knots? Being afraid of being afraid.

Happily, this is not the case.

When the rain has been falling for what feels like weeks at a time, we all get a bit fidgety but my investment in waterproof outfits for all has proven a good buy. Even if some one chooses to sit in the stream, they still don't get a wet bottom. Of course there has been some wardrobe malfunctions where tucking in hasn't been successful, and Eb especially seems to fill a welly up with boggy water on a regular basis, but he doesn't seem to mind.

It feels like Winter never really arrived. I spied Snowdrops in the hedge today, and lots of spikey bulb shoots all over the banks. Even some of the furry buds on the trees have burst a couple of green leaves...I hope they know what they're doing.

There still hasn't been a really good frosty day for going to the beach. I had this plan from the beginning of Autumn to visit the coast and see if the sand crunches or the sea freezes. I wanted to eat chips and drink tea whilst wrapped up in winter woollies on the sand. Truth is, if the freezing day does arrive, there's a good chance I'll wimp out of the slightly scary drive anyway.

That is something I still think about on nearly every journey. I don't have a four wheel drive yet, so when the rain is lashing down or the wind is going crazy, and I know I have to go out, I spend at least ten minutes peering anxiously out of the window and thinking of the hair pin bends and steep hills I'm going to have to navigate.

This is one of the many things that distinguish me from the locals. I know they all think I'm mad, that I pander to the ponies, talk to the dogs and stop traffic to rescue some one else's escaped hens. This is fine and I accept that I will probably always be the oddball English down the lane.

I was prepared for snow. Some time back I stocked up enough to last six weeks. As there hasn't been a single flake we are eating our way through the supplies...so don't be surprised if a tonne of the white stuff is dumped on us overnight!

Pig skull....sitting outside the front door now, which just confirms our weirdness to the locals, but just where are you supposed to store a skull, I wonder.