Hello, readers! Long time no speak. Things have been busy in the Smith clan. We recently decamped to North Yorkshire (basing ourselves in Giggleswick, near Settle) and had a fabulous time celebrating Linden’s birthday.

We had sun, rain, sleet and snow on Linden’s birthday, but otherwise we were very lucky with the weather.

I was struck by the variety of landscapes the scenery had to offer. We travelled through many different vistas (by land, train and in my case, a bit of running). Here are a few shots to illustrate.

This was the Coach House, where we were staying in Giggleswick. I like the way I managed get the sheep lit by the dying sunlight.

The view from the backdoor. The dry stone wall leading to the Coach House seen above pointed to the poignant copse of trees in the other direction.

This was the view looking towards Settle from the car park.

Ribblehead Viaduct, with Linden in the foreground. We’d enjoyed a journey on the trainline across it a few days prior.

One day, we drove up to Malham Tarn. This view was being observed by someone else, parked up, having a drink from their flask. I imagine it was a regular haunt, and I can understand why.

These daffodils at Whalley Abbey were planted very uniformly, contrasting with the ruined abbey.

More daffodils in a foreground – this time at the amazing Fountains Abbey. The drive to get there was rather scenic too. Linden enjoyed walking through the grounds.

I loved this view looking down the valley, back towards Dent.

Looking down the valley from Kingsdale Head. I liked the river and roads meandering down the valley in tandem.