The more uninteresting the post the more catchy the title has to be.

There are hills up there in the grey.

After all the storms last week the forecast for today was dry and milder. My walking pals didn’t believe me and declined a short trip. How right they were. It was raining most of the morning but by lunchtime the skies had brightened. I was determined to get a walk of a few miles in as next week I’m going into hospital for that toe operation.

Hadn’t been out long before the greyness descended once more. Nobody else was seen on what is normally a popular circuit on local lanes, maybe the dogs refused to venture out.

‘Mile Lane’ Grey with a bit of green.

Drizzle set in to make everything appear even more miserable. Not much was visible so I was focused on my own inner world [toe operations!!] and on the ground to avoid the puddles.

Probably because of my limited vision a highlight of the walk was the sweet aroma of silage feed coming from a barn on route. Childhood memories of life on the farm.

The trees also drew my attention with their barren branches.

As I made my way home through the village the shops were closing on what had been a busy Xmas shopping day but now the street looked shabby and depressing. The miserable little Xmas trees doing little to brighten the place. At least my neighbour’s garden shone brightly in the gloom.

Talking of Christmas trees I’ve just returned from The Holy land and was in Bethlehem just before the famous tree was decorated. On the flight home we met the Christmas Decorators from Liverpool who had been doing the work!!  Watch the videos —

Will post on the Israeli trip soon – a land of contrasts and contradictions.

I can hardly believe that only a couple of days ago I was swimming in the Med off a lovely beach at Tel Aviv with the temperature 27 degrees! No wonder I’m feeling grey today.

Gordon Beach, Tel Aviv.