Spring is in the air at last!

The new season has started and we visited the lodge for the first time this weekend.

The last snowdrops are giving way to the first daffodils.

Things started as they had ended in January - Friday night saw torrential rain and the by Saturday morning the beck was swollen and rushing past at a frightening rate!

By Sunday morning though things had changed and waking up to some sunshine I decided to go for an early morning walk with Suki up past Dubs reservoir. This one of her favourites as she can run off the lead along the top as the sheep are normally safely behind the walls. Striking out at 8 in the morning the weather down the valley looked quite ominous with dark clouds brooding over High Street and Ill Bell.

Looking in the other direction towards Windermere though the picture was altogether more bright and optimistic.

Walking along it struck me that it’s been a while since we’ve heard so many sheep. I think they were all concentrated in a few spots as the farmers had been out on their quad bikes leaving fodder for them.

Suki never seems very interested by them – even when we come across the ones that have strayed onto the paths. This is something of a relief as lambing will be starting soon, along with the reports of angry farmers with shot guns and little sympathy for dog owners who let their pets get too near their sheep.

I on the other hand love looking at sheep and find the noise that make curiously relaxing.

A bit further on we saw our old friends the Highland cattle. I think these are the same ones that we sometimes see on the field over the beck from the lodge. Now Suki is very interested by these.

I wonder what it is about the two species of animal that provokes such a different reaction in dogs.

By the end of the walk the morning had brightened up and we had our usual beautiful view of Lake Windermere.

As tonight is supposed to be the worst storm for many years I was probably quite lucky to be able to enjoy such a lovely walk today. It shows that sometimes you have to seize the moment to get the best out of the Lakes.