rain | northumbrian : light

Rain and wind …

Posted on February 20, 2022 by northumbrianlight

And nothing much else this week. Some days I was reduced to photographing the neighbours i.e. the sheep. It was so bad today, they deserted the higher ground and have probably found shelter near the trees. Other days, I was either in Hexham or walking near Fourstones. Golf and motorcycling seem a distant prospect. On a positive note, the first 100 books (Golf in the Wild – Going Home) have been sold or shipped to retailers.

The lovers at Hexham Pant on Valentine’sDay

Parallel lines – the crossings near Fourstones Papermill Co. Ltd.

In spate – the Tyne at Haydon Bridge.

After the storm – a thorough wash and blow dry.

Nun shall pass – Hexham Abbey.

Bulrushes – between Warden and Fourstones.

An awful day (today, Sunday 20/2) – the field is saturated, the sheep are in hiding and I have not ventured beyond the front door.

Another week gone by …

Posted on December 12, 2021 by northumbrianlight

I don’t know how long I will keep this up, but there is an improved chance now that I once again have access to the classic editor. For this I must thank https://babsjeheron.wordpress.com/ who pointed me in the direction of Katherine Wikoff’s post on this subject. Many thanks to both.

In the manner of Garrison Keillor, it has been a quiet week at Beaufront Woodhead. Snow fell heavily last Saturday night such that Sunday dawned bright and very white. Most had melted by Sunday night. Monday remained bright but cold and then the dismal weather set in for three days. Astonishingly on Friday, my first round of golf since November 11th was played up the coast, at Warkworth, under clear blue skies. Normal service was resumed on Saturday. Yes, the English are obsessed by weather.

This is the collection of images posted daily on Blipfoto:

Sunday 5th December – A bright Sunday morning – the first snow of winter

Monday 6th December – Sunburst over Hexham on Monday evening

Tuesday 7th December – A dismal day outside I started playing around with Adobe Photoshop Camera. You see al this before you press the shutter on the smartphone.

Wednesday 8th December – On another thoroughly miserable day, our near neighbours in their very damp woolly jumpers.

Thursday 9th December – Out for Christmas lunch with friends, this is another smartphone + Photoshop Camera image using a reflections preset.

Friday 10th December – The Miracle that was the trip to Warkworth Golf Club. The view from the edge of the 5th fairway.

Saturday 11th December – normal service is resumed – a very bleak day.

In other news, I finished another proof read of Golf in the Wild – Going Home – the third in as many weeks. It’s a slow process but worth the effort – I am still hopeful for publication before the end of January.

You don’t need a weatherman …

Posted on March 28, 2017 by northumbrianlight

climate (n.)
late 14c., “horizontal zone of the earth,” Scottish, from Old French climat “region, part of the earth,” from Latin clima (genitive climatis) “region; slope of the Earth,” from Greek klima “region, zone,” literally “an inclination, slope,” thus “slope of the Earth from equator to pole,” from root of klinein “to slope, to lean,” from PIE root *klei- “to lean” (see lean (v.)).

Whatever the climate might or might not be doing, in these parts, it has certainly been changeable. From bright, cold March sun through heavy snow, to biblical rain and out the other side to hints of summer, we have had it all these last seven days:

… bitter March landscape

… high water

… lonesome highway

… winter returns

… beneath Hexham Bridge

… bring me sunshine

Northumberland, Personal, Photography, Weekly Photo Challenge, Writing

Sunshine after rain

Gallery | Posted on August 5, 2014 by northumbrianlight

Walk out of our drive, turn left and the road heads down the hill towards Beaufront Castle. The road zig-zags left, then right, then left again before passing the castle lodge. Another turn left takes you to the only opening in the high hedges which leads to a field of cut hay. Turning left again, the road zig-zags right before the field with the longhorns and then straightens up at the back of Sandhoe Hall and our nearest postbox. This was the short walk we took on Saturday after a day of torrential rain – everything was still drenched but a harsh, bright sun pierced the trees turning forgotten corners of nature into star turns:

(click on the images to enlarge)

Dismal Day

Posted on June 24, 2014 by northumbrianlight

After a relatively long dry spell, the weather in the northeast turned this morning. Even the sheep have taken to sheltering under the trees. There maybe something else going on though. Having lived in the same place for nearly twenty years and observed the habits of our nearest neighbours, it is surprising how the different generations do exactly the same things, year after year; just like sheep I suppose. For instance, lambs and ewes alike will bury their heads in the folds of a tree trunk for minutes at a time – it only recently occurred to me that they are probably nibbling at the bark, not sulking. Something to fill the hours on a rainy day:

(click on the image to enlarge)

Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreshadow – expecting rain

Posted on August 3, 2013 by northumbrianlight

This is a view of Beaufront Woodhead Farmhouse looking east as storm clouds foreshadow rain above the chimneys and birds take flight.

The building is listed and even gets a brief mention in Pevsner’s The Buildings of England – Northumberland Volume 15 – on page 161: “Picturesque farmhouse of several C18 dates, with lots of reverse stepped gables. Its complicated nature (it has five separate elevations) probably results from the sequential rebuilding of an older house”.

The left hand part of the structure, windowless at the rear, is most likely a conversion of an original fortified bastle house:

(click on the image to enlarge)

Travel theme: Motion

Posted on July 9, 2013 by northumbrianlight

As someone who owns a back catalogue that includes hundreds of racing cars in motion, this week’s Travel Theme should have been simplicity itself. However, that seemed too easy and the link with travel tenuous although my teenage obsession with fast cars certainly took me on many an interesting journey. Consequently, I have opted for something involving two wheels and two legs in motion, this photograph taken on a particularly wet day in Bologna. I wonder what the conversation is between the two subjects – “Give us yer brolly mate!”…..or the Italian equivalent: