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Monday 30 July 2012

At last a proper walk! - oh and another kingfisher painting!

It seems such a long time since I last went hill walking due to one thing and another - including the ridiculously wet and windy summer we're having - don't get me wrong I'll go walking in all weathers, rain, sleet, snow, howling gales, the lot but I have to admit I was getting a bit tired of getting an absolute soaking EVERY time I went out! ......  Saturday at last we got out for a proper mountain walk up on the Carneddau in Snowdonia,  a fantastic walk along the ridge from Pen yr Ole Wen to Pen yr Helgu Du, taking in Carnedd Dafydd and Carnedd Llewelyn en route.

I just love these Welsh mountain names and like to know their meanings.  Pen yr Ole Wen was always translated as Head of the White Light although it has more recently been translated as Head of the White Slope - which would make more sense - the Ole being derived from goledd meaning slope rather than golau meaning light.  Pen yr Helgi Du is a wonderful name for a mountain meaning Hill of the Black Hound and sits next to my favourite mountain name Pen Llithrig y Wrach - Slippery Hill of the Witch (though some translate it as Hill of the Slippery Witch - even better!!!)   Not sure where the black hound or the slippery witch come from originally but I don't care - just love those names and they just roll off the tongue in Welsh. Apologies to those of you out there who may use google translate to read my posts  - you won't have a clue what I'm talking about!!  

Anyway off we went on our walk, the weather looking good - for a change - although it wasn't to last, when we got onto the ridge proper the heavens opened and we had torrential rain together with bitingly cold winds - it's July for goodness sake!!!!! It was like this for well over an hour but when the rain finally stopped the wind soon blew us dry!! Despite the downpour and the fact that I had forgotten to pack my waterproofs we had a great day - it was just so good to be up in the mountains again!

Here is a selection of photographs from the walk - when it wasn't raining!

The beautiful Cwm Idwal seen from the climb up the front of Pen yr Ole Wen - the car park and buildings below give it some scale


looking down into the Nant Ffancon valley a typical flat bottomed valley

Everyone's favourite - the magnificent Tryfan

Looking towards Pen yr Helgi Du which we didn't climb as we were so cold and wet we decided to head back down to the valley

One of the Carneddau ponies which roam this area

Carneddau pony
for more photos from this walk see Gary Jones's blog here

and last of all for fellow art bloggers who want to see a painting here is another kingfisher I painted today using the inktense blocks I bought on Friday - I'm loving the vibrant colours they give!

Another go at painting the kingfisher in flight from Chrissy M's amazing photograph

24 comments:

  1. it was a great day... despite the soaking.... great photos! x

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  2. Your love of the hills and the wildlife is evident in your remarks. Love the photos and even more the painting.

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    1. I'm glad that comes across Mick and hoping to get out into the hills more in the next few weeks, glad you like the painting too, thanks for dropping by!

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  3. Wow! Your photos are gorgeous! What an incredible place to walk! Love your painting, too!

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    1. It is a beautiful place to walk, the views are spectacular, I feel very blessed to live so near, glad you like the painting too!

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  4. Fabulous views, Sharon! Love the kingfisher too!

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  5. Hello Sharon:) What a wonderful perspective, great! And the photos of the horses are also very beautiful (to paint!). Gary's photo's are beautiful :) Your kingfisher is beautifully painted. Especially the wings drew my attention. Exellent!

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    1. Hello renate, I'm glad you enjoyed the post, take care x

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  6. I like walks, but not on rainy weather. This summer is my nightmare... always rains so I don't really get out much. But reading your post and looking at the wonderful pictures of Gary, kind of changes my mind. You are both very talented, Sharon! Love the colors of your kingfisher!
    Warm regards.

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    1. Konstantina, I never used to like walking in the rain and cold but if you have the right clothes which keep you warm and dry it's fine! Give it a go, thank you for the lovely comments, take care x

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  7. Lovely photo's from your walk, a spectacular area. Sorry you were disappointed at Ken Bromleys but, I reckon seeing a Kingfisher makes up for it..... :-)I saw two on the day I took the flying photo and also recall that the day was not the best ~ and they made up for it! It was actually a couple of years ago now and I have never seen any at such close quarters since...:-) Lovely work as always

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    1. Seeing a kingfisher definitely made up for it Chrissy and I've enjoyed painting yours again since, after seeing just how fast they fly it makes me appreciate your photo even more!

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  8. Oh, I love them!! Especially the close up head photo, so beautiful, I will be watching for the painting to follow!!

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    1. Haha Maria - I knew you'd like the horse photographs! - Gary took loads of these ponies and there are more of them on his page if you take a look, the link is in the post above, have a lovely day x

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  9. That opening picture is stunning Sharon.
    I must get back to Wales soon; beautiful countryside and wildlife.
    I love your Kingfisher painting. A bird that manages to escape my lens most of the time.

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    1. I'm very lucky to live there, and if the photos here inspire people to come then all the better! I'm not surprised they're difficult to photograph seeing how fast they fly! Thank you for popping by and commenting, great to see you here

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  10. All of them are beautiful and at the end with fabulous painting of the Kingfisher.

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    1. Hello Bob, thank you for dropping in and for your lovely comment, love your blog, take care

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  11. Beautiful, love the kingfisher ! :-))

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    1. Hiya Anna! It was so good to get out in the mountains again, it's been a long time, see you next week for the Horseshoe!!! Fingers crossed for the weather!!! xxxxxxx

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  12. Wonderful images of a favourite place of mine to visit.. Tryfan has some lovely memories for me.. climbed it and did Adam and Eve with my 10 year old son (he's now 27 and about to make me a Grandad). The Kingfisher is fantastic.

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    1. Did you jump the leap of faith then Andrew! That gives you the freedom of Tryfan - not that I'd ever do it - can't even climb onto Adam and Eve never mind jump between them! It is a wonderful mountain and I never tire of going up there - thank you for your comments on the kingfisher, much appreciated and glad you like it, take care

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I love hearing from you, thank you so much for leaving a comment - I will always try to leave a reply and pop over to visit your blog if you have one - although sometimes I may be slower than others, have a wonderful day xx