Tuesday 31 August 2010

Tuesday 31.08.2010

Last day of August and it`s Indian Summer: cold this morning but by the time friends and I were strolling round the woods by Scolty Hill at Banchory, really warm and remarkably still. Tonight cold again under a clear starlit sky. My favourite time of year ...if I had to choose.

Monday 30 August 2010

Monday 30.08.2010


An hour round the woods this morning before work. Chill wind but no rain, just a sense of autumn speeding ever closer ever faster.

Saturday 28 August 2010

Saturday 28.08.2010

Large black clouds and sudden deluge as I drove up to Bennachie this afternoon after work. Thought I`d only have time to scuttle up and down Mither Tap before the next downpour but the weather held off and the legs were going well so dog and I stayed out on the hill for a couple of hours, up Mither Tap, across to Oxen Craig, back via Craigshannoch to Mither Tap.
Fresh wind kept the clouds skirling round and us moving briskly along: no idea of the distance but it`s a good afternoon`s stomp.

Thursday 26 August 2010

Thursday 26.08.2010


Morning walk before work: mushrooms, berries,lacy spiders`webs in the dewy grass and the smell of woodsmoke. Couldn`t have been many more signs of autumn.



Unexpected success with sunflowers this year: only two modest plants but never managed to keep them going before.

Tuesday 24 August 2010

Tuesday 24.08.2010

Didn`t matter how late/wet/dark it was this evening, had to walk: nearly a week since I did and the reduced endorphin quotient makes me start to twitch.

(Completely sidetracked then by looking up endorphins: among other things I read:
"Chocolate is by far the most popular endorphin-producing food on earth. Known by the Greeks as the "food of the Gods," chocolate is derived from cacao beans that were revered by the Aztecs, who believed that eating chocolate would confer wisdom and vitality.")

So I could simply have sat at home and eaten chocolate? It can`t be that simple.

Anyway - walk we did, dog and I in the wet wild woods as the night drew in and the clouds spat rain at us. Endorphin levels stabilised but with the added benefit of pleasantly aching legs which I don`t usually get from chocolate.

Started reading Choice by Renata Salecl which I hope is going to be about how too much of it is bad for us because I`ve been banging on about this for a while and had it confirmed only the other day as I stood trying to choose an iron.

Saturday 21 August 2010

Saturday 21.08.2010



Three days off in a row but no walking, unless you count between the currant bushes and the stove. Purple hands and mouth, will have to make bread now.....stunningly clear, cool, still evening after a blustery warm day.......and a Harvest Moon to boot.

Wednesday 18 August 2010

Wednesday 18.08.2010




A September day in mid August. Sparkly, dew-sodden grass and my feet and legs were drenched within five minutes of setting off this morning - wading through the shoulder high ferns was the equivalent of going through the car-wash. Dried out soon enough in the warm breeze.
As I shut a gate on my way up the hill a solitary yellow leaf fluttered to the ground and the birch and oaks are already beginning to turn.
But it was the clouds that drew the eye,layer upon layer, huge, white dollops on the horizon, thin and whispy overhead and, beneath them, white and grey puffballs moving across the sky, constantly changing shape.
Finished The Help. Excellent, thought-provoking read.

Tuesday 17 August 2010

Tuesday 17.08.2010

Suddenly, it seems, the year has moved on, the long summer nights are drawing in and the stars are out before bedtime. Also, this evening, a yellow waxing moon like a slice of melon, hanging low on the horizon. If we`d been on the top of Bennachie we`d have been able to jump on to it.

Monday 16 August 2010

Monday 16.08.2010





To Bennachie after work, an overcast day but close, especially in the woods at the bottom of the hill, very still, the sounds muted, nothing moving. Fortunately once above the tree line there was a bit of a breeze and the walking got easier.
Dog was delirious, having sat in the car all afternoon waiting for me.



They are comforting beasts: not one reproachful look or "what kept you?", just lots of tail wagging and "let`s go then" or, in other words,:
"To err is human, to forgive, canine" Boom boom.
It was lovely at the top,slightly misty and a little damp, nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary, but fresh and peaceful and restorative.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Wednesday 11.08.2010

Raining hard all morning but optimistically headed for Bennachie anyway and by the time dog and I were in the woods it had eased off: millions of raindrops like tiny diamonds hung on every branch, the lichens,mosses and ferns were drunk on the rain, their greens and greys luminous in the dull light. Even the heather above the tree line had a purple sheen on it..and no flies! Shrouded in cloud for the last few feet but it cleared as we splashed back down, bit damp but revived.

Two good films in the last couple of days: Robert Downey Jr. doing his Sherlock Holmes and Where The Wild Things Are - a clever evocation of the book.

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Tuesday 10.08.2010

Never mind hot, still summer days - not a lot of use for anything except being hot and still. Much more energizing are these breezy days, white and grey and very black clouds sweeping across the sky,rumbles of thunder and a smell of rain on the air.
An abundance of wild raspberries and general verdure: even the pylons took on a certain magnificence as we trekked the woods this evening.

Saturday 7 August 2010

Saturday 07.08.2010

Long day, long week..........long few weeks come to that - lots of to-ing and fro-ing of one kind and another. A slow start this evening, not sure if I even wanted to go, but better than nodding off over my (very good) book.* And so it proved. Eight o`clock or thereabouts and the sun sinking behind a bank of grey cloud on the horizon so the light began to go early on.
The rowan berries are well on now and remind me I`ve blackcurrants to pick in the garden: all very "seasons of mellow fruitfulness" and we had the mist last night as well.








Dog and I walked most of the perimeter of the woods - she frantically chasing up and down at one point - fox? deer? Failed to catch either anyway.









* The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Wednesday 4 August 2010

Wednesday 04.08.2010


After a longish drive and helping to heave furniture and belongings about, a spur-of-the-moment walk yesterday evening, along the waterfront in Edinburgh, from Granton to Cramond harbour. Walked further than intended,it was delightful: evening sun on the water and a reviving breeze,a memorable end to the day.

Tuesday 3 August 2010

Monday 02.08.2010



Recovering from long weekend in Perth at the Southern Fried music festival - a celebration of American roots music. In between the musical fun (notable were the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Elizabeth Cook and Seasick Steve) got half way up Schiehallion: weather and time a constraint but it`s not going anywhere so will return to "bag" it someday.