Tuesday, August 21, 2007

The Rumbling Kern


rumbling kern
Originally uploaded by wherethewolvesare
Sorry for my absence, but unlike the summer, at least I did return.

Just got back from our holiday, in Northumberland. We had a farm cottage just yards from the sea, near Howick and by a 'feature' most wonderfully called, on the OS maps, 'The Rumbling Kern'. I've no idea what a kern is, presumably it's a rocky cove, but each night we fell asleep to the rumble of the waves hitting the rocks.

Most surprising, with the way that this 'summer' has been, was the fact that we didn't get a single spot of rain all week. I'd like to say that all the rain we have had this year was good for the garden, but in all honesty, I've seen less wild and garden flowers this year than I can ever remember. I read in the papers that conkers were being reported in July and this pretty much backs up my observations that autumn started at the end of May!! If anyone's in any doubt, they should feel the chill north wind that's been blowing through here for the last couple of days.

The wildlife highlight of the hol was when we visited my mum, who lives near Hadrian's Wall, for a couple of days on the way home. Driving to Alston, to take the kids for a ride on the steam trains, an osprey flew alongside us for a good minute or so. Looking like a large ragged-winged gull, maybe it was on it's way to nearby(ish) Kielder Water, maybe Africa, with this crazy summer, who knows?

1 comment:

Gretel said...

Welcome back!I wondered where you'd got to. Rubbish summer all round, blight, rust and general sickliness in the veg patch.