9 November 2018

Drat!

"Drat!" is a very mild expletive that I sometimes use when things go wrong. I guess it's better than using more earthy Anglo Saxon expletives that could easily cause offence to those of a sensitive or prudish disposition.

There were a few "drats" yesterday when I went out for another circular ramble in the nearby Peak District. 

As some of you will have deduced from the many photographs I have taken on my multitudinous country walks, I am very much a fair weather plodder. I don't mind snow or ice but I need to see blue sky and sunshine to illuminate my pictures. This is why I keep a close eye on the local weather forecast.

However, yesterday the weather people got it wrong. Instead of sunshine broken by occasional clouds, there was a grey blanket overhead - like a big grey quilt smothering the earth and sucking colour and shadow from the world around me.

I abandoned Clint by the roadside in the village of Calver. He was not too unhappy as there was a foxy yellow Mini in front of him. "Haven't you gone yet?" he hissed as I slammed his tailgate shut and set off with left boot following right boot over and over again like a drumbeat.

I had taken the precaution of bringing  my oversized blue cagoule with me - the perfect item of outdoor clothing for making a memorable fashion statement.. However, in spite of occasional bouts of thin drizzle, I managed to avoid taking said item from my "Converse" rucksack.

Through woods and across fields, over stiles and along narrow Bramley Lane with not a single vehicle passing by. Then over the Bakewell road and up an ancient track to the moors above Calver and Stoney Middleton where hummocks and holes and random historical clues speak of the days when this plateau was exploited by lead miners and quarrymen.

It was pretty frustrating to be out in that grey day knowing that beams of sunshine would have created so many photogenic scenes for me to capture with my Sony bridge camera.
By an old gateway I noticed a squared block of limestone sitting on a rough plinth and  embedded in its top surface there was an old iron plaque with two words engraved - "Ruby's Chair". Who Ruby was and why she needed a "chair" like this I have no idea. Internet research has proved fruitless. I guess that on a sunny day the views from Ruby's Chair would be most splendid but as I say, yesterday was not a sunny day.

From Black Harry Gate, I marched two miles down the valley of Rough Side that merges with Coombs Dale and before too long I was crossing the A623 road and plodding back to Sir Clint of Calver. 

Near the traffic lights there is a coffee shop called "Insomnia" and after stepping inside,  I treated myself to a large latte and a ploughman's sandwich which I enjoyed while seated at a corner table. Simultaneously, I  consumed another chapter of the book I am currently reading before heading home once again. This is life on the wild side - close to the edge. Well, Longstone Edge maybe.
Another horny sheep baring her teeth at me

19 comments:

  1. Much as I enjoy sunshine when it is there, sometimes I appreciate the more dramatic sky- and landscapes the clouds can bring even more. As long as I don't get soaking wet, I love a good walk in almost any type of weather - provided I have a nice warm place to return to afterwards, with the prospect of good food and drink.
    In fact, some such walk might well be on the cards for me this weekend; the forecast is for a break in the mostly sunny weather we've been having for months and months, and I'll be at O.K.'s.

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    1. It is always sunny when you are with OK!

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  2. That sheep looks like Martha Raye!

    My photography teachers always said, "Do not use weather as an excuse not to take pictures. Good photography can be done in any weather." I try to shoot no matter what weather I encounter, though admittedly I rarely do it in pouring rain!

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    1. I accept that it is possible to take good pictures in gloomy weather but it is much easier to take good pictures in good weather. As I see it, a play without lighting would be disappointing no matter who the playwright was.

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  3. I have found that trusting the weather forecast is not always the smartest thing to do. Another lovely walk!

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    1. Are you saying that I am a dumbass Ms Moon?

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  4. That sheep's earrings are very trendy, one yellow and one green.

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    1. Why don't you get some yourself Sue? But be careful when walking through a field containing rams.

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  5. I do worry about you on your own out there in the wild, you hear so much about walkers getting caught in the bad weather.
    Briony
    x

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    1. Thank you for your concern Auntie Chardonnay but I think I will be okay. This isn't The Arctic.

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  6. I like overcast and rainy weather, and I like pictures taken in such weather as well. (The grayness is kinder to my eyes.) It's good we are all different, yes? Something for everyone.

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    1. Most photographers are like me. They prefer sunlit subjects.

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  7. Life is not always sunny and like Librarian I enjoy the drama of the other views. Your picture of Ruby's Chair is a beautiful one that shows a depth you might not otherwise see.

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    1. Thank you Bonnie. It was about the best I could do on such a day.

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  8. Isn't retirement wonderful ?? tony is off to town to purchase a new camera today. A Fuji TX3 mirrorless camera to be precise. We are planning a trip to Norway next year and he is very keen to learn all the features before we go. We should get some spectacular photos there.

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  9. my mildest expletive of choice is damn

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  10. Drat it. You live on the wild side!

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  11. There's always Photoshop!

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  12. I rarely comment but need to tell you how much I enjoy walking the countryside through your blog. I don't get out much these days (full-time caring for my very elderly mother), so it's wonderful to walk beside you and see through your eyes. Thank you.

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Mr Pudding welcomes all genuine comments - even those with which he disagrees. However, puerile or abusive comments from anonymous contributors will continue to be given the short shrift they deserve. Any spam comments that get through Google/Blogger defences will also be quickly deleted.

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