Foggy Fields of Gold and Orange

Happy October, and a foggy early morning visit to one of my favourite places, the Geobern farm near Rosetta in the Lanark Highlands. It was fortunate that we visited yesterday rather than today. It is raining heavily this morning, and the wetness will continue for several days to come.

The farm is a remote and happy treasure tucked into a fold of the rolling fields in Lanark with a magnificent old farmhouse in Lanark vernacular style, a network of pioneer barns and granaries, miles of fields and splendid rail fences, amazing vistas everywhere, particularly at sunrise and sunset. I never tire of looking out over the highlands from a place near one of the old rail fences, and I do that often.

Geobern is open for visits in October: organic produce and maple syrup for sale, farm animals large and small for visiting, a corn maze, rides in horse drawn wagons, scarecrows, pumpkin fields (and vast arrays of pumpkins), stories, tours and all sorts of crafts for children and their small fingers - the farm treasures small human spirits, and it always welcomes them with open arms. That is perhaps something of an anomaly in this day and age, but the Highlands have always pursued their own path and journeyed by their own lights, and children are loved, cosseted and indulged here. The Great Pumpkin in the third image is actually a huge round bale of hay which has been dressed up in an orange tarpaulin and given a painted face, just for the children.

Although it is raining, we are donning our oilskins and wellies and are off into the woods and the hills. It is cold and wet, but I really need to be out in the wilds today - the great trees are tugging at my senses this morning, and they are calling me home.