Thursday 30 September 2010

Thursday 30.09.2010

Apres le deluge yesterday, a stunning autumn day so dog and I grabbed the last hour or so of sunlight after work and took off round the woods - nothing like being back on home territory. Completely still evening, glorious colours and woody smells. Demain, encore le deluge, with gales thrown in. Hey ho.

Tuesday 28 September 2010

Tuesday 28.09.2010


Last walk with the spaniels and Ms Dachsund.
She is in fact a miniature Dachsund (as well as that and the standard variety there is also a type known as kaninchen which means rabbit which I`m trying hard to visualize and may have to check out on Google). Far from being after small hapless furry creatures she was probably looking for badgers so definitely not to be messed with.
Not sure rambling is the right word for the garden if it implies overgrown. It is well kempt and tended but full of nooks and crannies and big climbing trees you could sit in all day.



And there aren`t any red and white spotted mushrooms: I thought I saw some when I was looking out of the window but it may be it`s just the sort of garden that ought to have them. Lots of other mushrooms though and one very strange patch of papery grey ones I`ve never seen before. Must ask my fungi expert friend.

Sunday 26 September 2010

Sunday 26.09.2010

It was going to be two short walks today but once we set off this morning it was a case of keeps-walking-because-why-would-you-stop: blue sky, warm sun,slightly damp air enlivening the mosses and lichens and strange and amazing fungi, not to mention the leaves turning all the autumnal colours there are.



The spaniels splashed in every available puddle, the dachsund carefully skirting the biggest ones but not averse to diving into the undergrowth to scrabble about after some hapless little furry creature.


We pretty well toured the whole estate but if it stays like this may go out again later.....or even explore the garden properly. There have to be trolls under that bridge.

Friday 24 September 2010

Friday 24.09.2010

Weather`s gone crazy: brief spells of warm sun, then cold deluges. House/dog-sitting,new place, new dogs, all a delight, even the Dachsund. Not always sure about little dogs but this one has great dignity and a penetrating stare. House on a beautiful wooded estate and we trotted round for a couple of hours - the Dachsund, an elderly Cocker Spaniel and a slightly demented Springer - getting pleasantly lost.


The garden of the house is a rambling affair with red and white spotted mushrooms, places to hide and a little wooden bridge. It`s like being in a fairy tale.

Tuesday 21 September 2010

Tuesday 21.09.2010

Variety is the spice of life they say: a week ago Sunday it was a venerable hotel in Aberdeen for a traditional wedding celebration;last Saturday a "bender" (willow trees and tarpaulins, not drunken rampages) on a damp Scottish hillside with a bonfire and musicians; and the day after that Perth Concert Hall with the amazing Nana Vasconcelos*, the Perth Youth Orchestra,Gaelic singer Aileen Ogilvie,Perth samba band Rhythm Wave and children from the Saturday `Cool Schools`,** music,on this occasion, being the food of international co-operation and much fun.
More cycling than walking this week as still feeding next door`s ducks and cats. Today an hour with dogs-on-leads who are with us for just a few more days before departing to their new homes.
A sense of everything winding down, days drawing in, the smell of wood smoke, the grass and vegetation flattened by rain. The bullocks, hefty beasts now, hardly look up at us, intent only on eating, with all that springtime exuberance vanished and ignoring the one lone swallow that swooped over their heads.
*http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Nana_Vasconcelos.html
**http://www.horsecross.co.uk/about/news/2010/gaelic-and-brazilian-music-come-together-simply-ab/

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Tuesday 14.09.2010

Walk first thing, bright and blustery but warm - felt like being washed in the wind. Much cooler this evening as I cycled to a neighbour`s to shut away their ducks and feed their cats.(They`re on holiday for a couple of weeks -the neighbours that is, not the cats).
Do enjoy being on the bike: best birthday ever was my twelfth when I got my first bike and when I cycle now I remember exactly what that felt like.
Computer monitor suddenly packed up yesterday. With access to email at work, thought I could wait to afford a replacement suitable for film-watching but sudden realisation that this would curtail writing for too long, precipitated quick purchase of cheap rather dinky little second-hand one which I think I prefer - at least for writing.
Could even live with it in The Shed (coming on apace) where I thought I wanted a laptop I could fold away. Hmm. We`ll see.

Saturday 11 September 2010

Saturday 10.09.2010









Blustery but warm September evening as dog and I set off - leadless, hooray! - for an hour or so round the woods after work. All about skies full of cloud, amazing light and long shadows.











Later, the wind dropped quite suddenly, Incy Wincy dangled from a single thread in the stillness and one by one the stars appeared in the darkening sky.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Tuesday 07.09.2010

More autumnal music: the rattling of the black plastic on the newly wrapped silage bales. Winds have been battering us for two or three days now and there was a colder edge to it this morning as we set off for the woods, dogs-on-leads and dog off in front.
A solitary lapwing shot out of the grass in one of the fields by the road as we strode up the hill: a poignant sight, for when we first arrived here, nearly twenty years ago, there were large wheeling flocks of them every spring performing their courtship tumbling acrobatics, accompanied by the familiar `peewit` call. The numbers have been steadily decreasing and over the last few years there have been hardly any.

But talking of birds - I have geese. My new chicken hut is due to arrive next month but meanwhile my neighbour was looking for a home for her geese and last night they arrived. I was asked today "Why geese?" My answer - as with so many things - why not?

Monday 6 September 2010

Sunday 05.09.2010


The gates were singing this afternoon.The strong wind which finally lifted the grey and let the sun burst through also created a symphony of sounds - trees, grasses,telegraph wires but especially that particular gate at the top of the road which makes a wonderfully eerie wailing when the wind blows across the top of it.
Two shorter circuits, morning and evening, at the top of the woods by the road, for we have "dogs-who-can`t-be-trusted-off-the-lead" staying for a while and lengthy stomps aren`t much fun for me or them when they need to be restrained.

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Wednesday 01.09.2010








On the spur of the moment and with time to spare after work, drove round the other side of Bennachie this afternoon and up Millstone Hill. Not so high as Mither Tap and Oxen Craig but a good steep climb, like walking up the steps of an ancient temple in a jungle somewhere: the vegetation is lusher and closer to the path and the hill is shored up with big wooden sleepers at the bottom of the climb, large rocks and stones further up.
The `mighty` Don can be glimpsed snaking down from the mountains and on towards the sea and there`s a less familiar view of Mither Tap once you`re at the top.
Walked down to where the path crosses the Gordon Way: dog and I should do that one day.