Andre ,one of our local farmers, has a flock of yearling Herdwicks in the field at the moment.

They are all a matching dark brown in colour, in contrast to the normal whiter Swaledale and other sheep he tends to graze here.

Strong sunshine on Rose Cottage and the Vicarage.

There's a heavy frost on the grass and plenty of molehills in the corner of the field next door.

The wider view once more as the light increases.

The paddock seems to be a bit of a frost pocket . . . but we knew that all along.

The pond is clear of ice as it is running water and this is the first frost for quite some time.

It's been a mild winter so far with very few morning frosts and no snow . . . almost as unseasonal as the intense heat of early summer.

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After breakfast the morning continued to grow into one of those lovely winter days.

We had an early lunch and headed out for a walk.

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Must bring a bucket and a mop next time . . . or get the council to clean it !

The road is no better . . . but that's not going to change as they seem to have have abandoned the old Mosser Road

and presumably downgraded it to a "green track".  Still that keeps (almost) all vehicles from using it.

The view through the woods across to Watergate Farm on the edge of Loweswater.

To our right on the way up is a 'warmer' view . . .

the bracken covered slopes of Darling Fell through the winter larch trees.

The aim today was to enjoy the sunshine but of course the winter sun is low in the sky

so sets behind Carling Knott casting the lake into premature shadow.

In fact the sun has hardly shone on the fields around Hudson Place Farm by the look of it.

On this side of the lake the shadows of the trees have protected the roadside frost low down in the field

but some of the grass will regain the sunshine before too long as it emerges from around the other side of Burnbank Fell.

As we climb up the Mosser Track we walk into that sunshine just below Jon's Seat.

	- - - o o o - - -   The dogs stop for a photo and for their usual dog treat which Ann invariably gives them when she reaches this point   Who knows, they may have rushed up to the seat just to look for "the box she keeps them in".   No chance, they are in a bag in her pocket and will only reach the chair when she does.     - - - o o o - - -

Watergate Farm is clear of the trees now that we've climbed up the track.

Looking across to the far side of the lake just makes you feel a few degrees cooler.

The streaks on the lake are the wild birds swimming on the water.

The larger one could presumably be a swan, one of two that live on the lake.

In fact a few minutes later and with the larger lens on the camera, I can see it wasn't a wildfowl after all !

Before I swap the lenses back I took a look at Mellbreak, which was my original plan anyway.

Low down on the right, just above the shadow, you can see the gentle traversing ascent to the middle of the double-topped fell.

To its right is Hen Comb with Starling Dodd in the background.

Into the shadow once again as the sun drops faster than we climb.

Behind Dylan is the summit of Darling Fell which this path skirts at a slightly lower level.

Dougal has found himself a toy . . . which turns out to be an old, decaying sheep's horn . . . great !

"Put it down . . . drop . . . it smells terrible."

The path climbs across the side of the fell heading for the top of Crabtree Beck.

As a consequence it gains quite a reasonable amount of height and the views improve accordingly.

Zooming in on the newly emerged view down the length of the Buttermere Valley.

There are two lakes in the valley, Crummock and Buttermere, divided by the fields below Buttermere Village itself.

We were being watched by a flock of Swaledales but young Dougal is being very good.

His sheep (or should we say non-sheep) training is going well and his recall response to a call or whistle is excellent.

A bag of treats and a well behaved older sibling helps a lot of course.

That big lens is called into play again as I catch a photo of High Nook Farm and the new bridge below it.

It looks smaller from up here than it did close up in our recent report

Downhill slightly now as we head for the Crabtree Beck Valley that emerges between Darling Fell and Low Fell.

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Like all good theatres or cinemas, if the performance is expected to be longer than normal

we give you chance for an intermission and to grab an ice cream or a Christmas chocolate before we move on.

Part two follows on the next page

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