Snoozing Pheasant at Firwood 

Evening sunshine www.firwoodhouse.co.uk 

Evening Sunshine, Happy Valley 

The Cheviots as seen from Happy Valley, Northumberland 

By the Carey Burn, Happy Valley 

Happy Valley Again

I know I have already been down Happy Valley but I did promise some pictures of the Bluebells - see photographs. I have also published some photographs of the hills around Happy valley. It was such a lovely evening and everyone in my Bed and Breakfast, www.firwoodhouse.co.uk were still out and about, that I couldn't resist the walk.
Glen and I set off but this time I did remember the camera. I know the Northumberland light is not the best at this time of evening for a 'point and click' like me but I still think we have managed to capture some of the feeling of peace and tranquility. Glen is getting better at sitting and staying sat while I click away - not easy for a young dog when the rabbits are bounding by him in droves! We were a lot longer than planned and really quite hungry by the time we got back to Firwood.
Michael had the fire lit in the resident's lounge, just to add a bit of coziness to the proceedings and we both stood in the lounge window and watched the birds at the feeder - Coal tit, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Long tailed Tit. Nuthatch, Robins, Greenfinchs, to mention but a few. The pheasant (more on him later) was picking up the bits falling to the ground and all was right with the world.

Not Such a Good Photograph of Blubells in the Evening Light! 

Bluebells in the Evening Light, Happy Valley, Wooler, Northumberland 

Wild Flowers by Carey Burn, Happy Valley, Wooler, Northumberland 

Holy Island

Holy Island, or Lindisfarne, is bocoming a very visited place at the moment. At our Bed and Breakfast near Wooler, www.firwoodhouse.co.uk nearly everyone who has stayed with us, has gone to see the island. You have to be aware of the tide times, A) so that you can get across safely and B) so that you can get back! Basic stuff you might think but it is amazing how many people don't take notice and either get stranded on the island until the next change of tide, or even worse, get stranded on the causeway and have to be rescued!
At Firwood, we are only just over a half hours drive from Holy Island and on a day like today, a very nice drive at that.

Well, it's that time of year again. Lambs are bounding, birds are nuzzling and nesting and the bluebells in Happy Valley are just about to burst into hazy blueness. It's a lovely walk from where I live in http://www.firwoodhouse.co.uk , just right at about one and a half hours with a stop for water game with Glen (see picture!). The only thing is, I didn't take my camera this time and haven't yet got a picture of the bluebells but I will try to rectify that as soon as possible.

I do find it difficult to hang on to one very energetic 20 month old Border Collie and take award winning pictures. However, the other side of it is that I would feel very guilty about going for a walk without the dog. Anyway, as much as I love walking in the hills and valleys of the Cheviots, as a woman, I feel strange wandering alone, so the dog, or dogs, (we do have two, Levi is nearly 15 years old so doesn't tend to come on the longer walks now).

Happy Valley was named by the Victorian ladies of Middleton Hall, the estate of which Firwood used to be part of. It was a favourite circular walk of theirs and it probably hasn't changed that much. Setting off from country lanes, passing into woodland alongside a tumbling small river - which swells quite dramatically after rain, and into the valley, sides clad with greenery and flowers from gorse, Hawthorne, bird cherry, etc. It opens out to join the larger Harthope Valley which, if you want to walk that far, takes you to the base of the Cheviot itself. The ladies (and me, if I am short of time), turn back, up the steep road to leave Harthope Valley and then down, back to Middleton with it's collection of stone built cottages and farm buildings, park-like fields and natural pond with ducks, coots, woodpeckers and red squirrels. A very nice place to be.

Mad dog in the water