Whatever the weather it’s always a real treat to spend time in nature and immerse ourselves in the landscape.
This is one of the viewpoints along the trail from yesterday’s long post A Walk in Rosehall Forest. You can see a different section from the trail under drier, and colder, weather conditions in New Horizons.
With love from Eivor, Pearl and Xenia xxx
Photographs by Xenia Tran, edited in lr.
Camera: Panasonic Lumix FZ200, Settings: f/2.8 – 1/200 s – ISO 100, f/2.8 – 1/160 s – ISO 100 and f/4 – 1/160 s – ISO 160.
As we near the end of 2018 we are reflecting on a very special year, both in terms of gratitude for the people we have known and lost, and in gratitude for the love of those who are still with us.
The first months of the year were colder than normal and even the beaches saw ice and snow. Eivor and Pearl enjoyed running in the snow and were happy to snuggle up in front of the fire when we returned home.
On a relatively mild day near the end of January I wrote ‘When Nature Gives us Poems‘, a poem that became the most popular post created on this blog during 2018. An edited version of the poem appears in our book, Sharing Our Horizon, alongside the photograph of the cormorant and seals you can see in the collage above.
Our Spring was warm, in so many ways. It was lovely to walk in the hills and mountains again, breathe in the scent of pine. The beaches were still empty, with plenty of time to run and play or pause to meditate, enjoy the silence.
‘Happy Place‘ became our most popular post in the Spring. Little did I know when I created the post, what a happy place it turned out to be. The cold Winter had just left us and the long-lasting heatwave of Summer was still a month or so away.
Our Summer was the hottest we have ever experienced since moving to the Highlands. The heatwave saw wide open beaches with a sea that was retreating further and further away. The rivers were running low, some of the lochs ran dry. There were many forest fires. We found our shade in the forests of the North, a few rivers still sparkling with water. We saw salmon leap. We saw Eivor leap. ‘Toys‘ became one of the most popular posts in the Summer.
We were blessed with the most beautiful Autumn colours along the shores, in the forests and in the mountains. Early October also saw the publication of Sharing Our Horizon, our first collection of poems and photographs especially created to help raise funds for animal rehoming shelters. Our post ‘Our Book is Here‘ was the most popular post we created during the Autumn months and the second most popular post created on our blog during 2018. A very big thank you to everyone who helped to share the news, bought the book and posted a review.
Autumn also saw a very powerful Hunter’s Moon, sparkling in a clear night sky. When we walked towards the beach the following morning it looked like a ‘Moonscape‘.
Our new Winter has just begun. We enjoyed a mild Christmas with family and friends and look forward to what the new year has in store.
A big thank you to all our followers and blogging friends for your love and support during the year.
May your New Year be filled with peace and blessings.
For our first annual review on our sister blog Tranature please click here.
It is almost two years ago that Mark Woods had to make a difficult decision. Walnut the whippet was eighteen years old and had been increasingly unwell. He wanted to take his faithful friend for one last walk on his favourite beach. In a simple Facebook post he invited other dog walkers to come along if they wanted to say goodbye to Walnut. The post was shared and shared. When we saw it on Twitter we shared it too.
Hundreds of people turned up. Children walked up to Walnut to stroke him and say goodbye. He was hugged, time and time again, while Mark held him in his arms. Walnut’s eyes were full of love. Every now and then he looked up at Mark and licked his face, as if to reassure him.
autumn gathers
her blanket of comfort
around our hearts
I don’t usually do book reviews, but this book just blew me away! Like me, many of you followers are dog lovers, Haiku writers and a great many are photographers. This book has it all!
Xenia shares her Highland journey through the seasons with two adopted whippets, a poet and a camera! Beautifully presented in ebook and real book, 60% of the net profits each year will be shared with re-homing charities, what more could you want. Christmas is coming!!!
Whippet Wisdom - a Highland Journey 
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