It’s been balmy and sunny and spring-like this week. The temperatures have risen comfortably above freezing and the skies are blue. Suddenly the long, snow-filled winter seems a distant memory. Lambs are playing in the fields, and snowdrops and crocuses are blooming freely.

To celebrate this heady shift in the seasons, we took off to a neighbouring valley today. There we scrambled along the river that winds through woodland until we reached the old mill. Then we left the water behind and climbed up through the trees and onto ‘the tops’.

We shed our coats as we walked and basked in the unaccustomed sunshine. When we lost our way, we really didn’t care. We were buoyed by the warmth and the light and that primeval soaring of the spirits that comes each year with the first scent of spring.

Wherever you are today, I’m wishing you blue skies, too.