Saved by the Woods

I have always said that I don't like walking in woodland but the fact that we have a network of paths in the adjacent Dunrobin woods has made a huge difference to our existence. With light snow falling daily, followed each night by a sharp frost, the narrow roads, along which we need to pass in order to access our more open walks, have become dangerous underfoot. We're also unhappy about sharing them with vehicles which are, not infrequently, driven too fast for the safety of pedestrians.  So we have been forced into the woodland.

I've enjoyed it, particularly when the sun appears and its low-angled light picks out the muted winter colours, mainly russets and browns and forest greens. The lack of leaves also means that the views are much more open so we can see further, not that this has helped us....

....spot any of the shier inhabitants of the woods.

We've also been able to enjoy the lochans - not that this is a word used locally - some of which have turned out to be far bigger than we had expected. We've been surprised that nothing has broken the ice on them, particularly this one which usually has mallard on it.

On today's walk we passed the entrance of Dunrobin Castle with its weird collection of turrets and spires. The only car in the car park had snow on its roof suggesting it had been there since yesterday. I wonder what it cost to turn the castle's heating on, or did the residents just draw the heavy curtains, huddle around an open fire, and keep warm with a dram?