Light at the end of the tunnel.

It is raining today.

It is that 'Scotch Mist' type of drizzly rain which properly soaks you to the skin. It has filled up the small stream at the back of the house and best of all, it has melted much of the snow.

You cannot see the top of the hill. The hill is clothed by a low cloud like a ballerina in a gray tutu and has vanished almost completely. It emits an etheral feeling and it is easy to imagine the Roman soldiers keeping watch at the top.
This area once had a large Roman camp and the outline of their community is still evident, especially the aquaduct system they cut out of the hill.
You can still walk along the roads they built which go as south as Braco and up through the hills to Aberfeldy.

The area here is timeless and the Romans would easily recognise where their camp was as the hill and surrounding area have never changed much in thousands of years.
There is evidence of the very earliest farmers when the sun hits the hill in a particular way and illuminates areas which were ploughed over and earth walls to keep animals in or out.

The hill has stood as a sentinel at the foot of the glen and has protected the farm from the very worst of the wind ever since the first house was built here. It has easily shouldered deep snow, strong winds, baking heat, herds of deer and sheep. She sometimes turns a deep shade of pink when the heather comes into bloom and the sun sets it aflame at the right time of year.
She has blueberries and myrtle growing in the marsh areas and a solitary rowan clings tenaciously to a rock almost at the top.

Although she drifts in and out of view today, you know she is there. Constant and solid.

I am going out to look for the first sign of snowdrops today as it is the first time in a very long time that the view from the farmhouse has changed from white to green. The sad old lawn has taken an awful battering and the melted snow has revealed all the hidden shrubs and perennials which should have been deadheaded in autumn.
The garden is saying 'Look! I have been dormant and frozen but am past the deepest sleep!".
The turn of the year has happened and we slowly tune into synch with the changing season. The days are a tiny bit longer and a small seed of optimism germinates in our souls.

Spring is not far away.