Much of this last week was spent at High Snab Farm continuing the hedge-laying. I still have a few more days to complete that before the sap starts rising with the early growth. If we ‘cut’ the stems too late, the plant will lose too much fluid and will weaken or die. We also don’t want to be disturbing a hedge when birds might be nesting in it. This has been a big job but it shouldn’t need repeating for another 10–15 years.
Early last Sunday morning Jan and I set out canoeing on Derwentwater in glorious conditions. It was mirror flat calm for most of the morning which is longer than usual. We had Reiver with us and we stopped at a few landing sites around the lake where she was able to have a walk and sniff around. She can then think she has walked right round the lake without too much effort! Between stops she sleeps in the bottom of the canoe on my feet as we paddle on.
I had a camera with me and managed to capture a few pictures of the birds we encountered. The cormorants can often be seen in the Calf Close Bay area – indeed the name Calf Close is derived from the Old Norse “skarv” meaning cormorant.
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| Cormorants |
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| Heron |
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| Greylag and Canadian Geese |
In the afternoon we went for a walk to the secret valley. There are still places in the Lakes where you will see very few people and can just enjoy being alone. So we have our secret place but I’ll leave you to enjoy finding your own. A good start is to look at an OS map for parking areas where people begin a walk and just walk further than they do. It is still easy to get away from hordes of people. Enjoy your exploration!
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