Monday 31.12.2012

Walks, work, Christmas cards, more walks, more work, Christmas shopping, more walks, more work, Christmas trees,

Christmas lights, Christmas meal,Christmas walk:it all merges into one during the darkest fortnight of the year.

Some walks in air so damp the lichen on the trees seemed to expand and pulsate.

Christmas day, the son et lumiere of a late midwinter afternoon.

On Boxing Day we met an Ent.......

....and suddenly it`s the end of December and the skies put on a pyrotechnic display to bring the year to a close.

So Happy Hogmanay and onwards and upwards as the days draw out and we get more walking time!

Sunday 16.12.2012

Sneezy, coughy cold; shin splints(see previous post);a persistent pesky mouth ulcer; short days;long working hours; a succession of unfriendly weather days: combined they make you feel twice your actual age.
But then, hey presto, the aforementioned ailments clear up, the weather perks up and suddenly you feel half of it again.
Perfect winters day, the snow and ice only beginning to melt where the sun reaches, unmoving where it doesn`t.

Air so still, every sound echoed round the woods as if bouncing off each individual tree. Dogs delirious with the joy of being out again, racing in and out of the trees, disturbing every other living thing in the neighbourhood.

And everything freezing up again nicely by the time we were coming back down the hill.

And by the way, if you`re at all worried about the impending End of the World, might be worth catching up with Saturday`s post on Deadhorse to Ushuaia (link on the right)J & C`s rather brilliant blog, which will allay all fears.
Sleep well.

Friday 14.12.2012

Walked and walked and walked on Wednesday, up and down Aberdeen`s Union Street, hitting the charity shops and later to the Lemon Tree to see Frank Turner who as always was fun, furious and generally fantabidozy.
Worth the subsequent ear worms*(only now beginning to fade) and shin splints** (from too much walking on tarmac)but really too wet and cold even for the dogs to want to go out today so stayed in, wrapped up Christmas parcels..........

.....and hula-hooped.......got to get your exercise somewhere.


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints

Sunday 02.12.2012

Day off on a bright and crisp and even Friday with a thin layer of the white stuff coating everything.
Made a slow start - and a Christmas cake - and didn`t get out there `til gone half two, the sparkle aready gone leaving the icy-blue light of a proper wintry late afternoon. Dozens of geese overhead - going in all directions - and very still air added to the deep midwinter feel of things though it was only the last day of November....

And then came more of the white stuff...and more...and now more due overnight.

Christmas pudding duly stirred with a few proxy wishes for absentees and left simmering as I came to work today, mincemeat nicely marinading and soon ready for putting in jars. That festive aroma of spices and brandy and .......more brandy.

Even the dogs didn`t seem to mind that we didn`t get a walk: they might even agree that the world, or this part of it, should now semi-hibernate in front of the fire until Twelfth Night.

(Oh, on second thoughts, not until after 12th Dec: http://www.boxofficeaberdeen.com/events/frank-turner)

White stuff permitting of course.

Wednesday 28.11.2012

A smorgasbord of weather:take your pick from sun, sleet, rain, rainbow, cloud.....

....necessitating layers that can be whipped on and off as appropriate.


No problem for the dogs but then they don`t seem to have any problems.

Fab skies and wheeling flocks of starlings.....set off to work pretty light of heart myself.

Monday 26.11.2012

No deluges or floods on the hill though some business-like showers of sleet and rain.
Middle of the afternoon and dry as we set out, very squidgy underfoot, charcoal grey clouds overhead like a large woolly hat,

lichens fairly glowing in the damp

and the woods getting darker and more mysterious as the light quickly dwindled and we got caught in one of those showers as we headed home.

Btw,it`s Scottish Book Week* and I`m on the third of Barry Hutchison`s Invisible Fiends series.

Making me very glad I didn`t have an imaginary friend as a child though I did like to pretend a tennis ball was my pet dog............guess Mr. Hutchison** could even make that scary.

*http://www.bookweekscotland.com
**http://www.barryhutchison.com/

Sunday 18.11.2012

Crunchy frosted grass, ice on the puddles,a clear blue sky and winter sun. Where else could you want to be on a morning like that?

A keen wind blew straight at us as we set off up the hill but in the woods just skirled the top branches meaning hats and gloves could come off.

Chains of geese stretching out across the sky noisily announcing their departure("we`re out of here...enjoy your winter")

Is the solitary one which there always is bringing up the rear crying "wait for me" or "on you go lads you`re doing great"?

Sunday 11.11.2012

Before family life confused sleeping patterns for ever, often went out early morning. Not so very early today but with visitors/flapjack-making/work all on today`s agenda managed to nick out not long after half eight.
Cold, cold wind but clear blue sky just fringed with the odd bit of cloud. Long morning shadows this time - long shadows all day at this time of the year really.

Visitors came and went, flapjack excellent if I do say so myself and work was... well, quite good fun tonight in fact

Friday 9.11.2012

Quiet afternoon, quiet weather, quiet walk.....compared to being stuck on the M62 as we were at the same time last week....no contest really........

Wednesday 6.11.2012

Some days are so perfect for walking that pictures are inadequate. Sunny, fresh-washed day; birds on the wing; clumps of sparkling white cloud in a blue sky and long shadows even in the late morning.

Half a pale moon hung over the hill as we strode into the woods, revelling in the strong but warm wind which rattled the branches and whirled the red and gold leaves from the trees, giving Nature a chance to imitate Art and go all Andy Goldsworthy.

Later walked between some of Aberdeen uni`s oldest buildings on the way into town: the autumn term in such surroundings felt quite poignant but I`m not sure why.

All a long way from the adventures of last week: a long trip south in a large white van, delivering, collecting, visiting.

Recommended:
- the youth hostel in Leominster with a view of The Priory church from the bedroom window

- the Grape Vaults pub in Leominster (http://thegrapevaults.co.uk/)
Wasn`t sure pubs like that still existed! Dark oak floor, brass topped tables, real fire and real beer......and a customer`s old black labrador looking in vain for dropped crisps.

- Tintern Abbey,the Wye Valley and the Severn Bridge

- Alnmouth - not least for the plethora of signs warning you off paddling, swimming, riding horses and getting in the way of flying golf balls notwithstanding the tranquility of the place.

- Warkworth (good castle)


- Peebles and the Tweed Valley

Not recommended:
- Motorway driving (people who do it on a regular basis obviously think it`s normal rather than what it actually is - completely mental)
- and triple that for crossing the Pennines on the M62 in a howling blizzard.

And finally...with a nod, surely, to I`m Sorry I Haven`t A Clue and the wonderful "Humph", how about this, from my current read*, for those occasions when life leaves you speechless:

"Sometimes the fluffy bunny of incredulity zooms round the bend so rapidly that the greyhound of language is left,agog, in the starting cage".

All been there eh?

*Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Saturday 27.10.2012

A quick trot out tonight at about 20 to 6 to mark the end of post-work walks as the clocks go back.

Yesterday it was sunshine, golden leaves, the last of the roses....and snow.

Today not so pretty and by this evening a cold wind, grey sky and snow-streaked hills made it feel more like December but the walking warmed us up and meant we were able to settle in front of Inspector Montalbano feeling virtuous.....

Monday 22.10.2012

Took a walk on the wild side this lunchtime (well, round half of the bypass anyway) just to get some air in my lungs:days are getting shorter and shorter.....

Tonight finally managed to catch up with You`ve Been Trumped. Leaves you completely speechless.

If you haven`t, catch it on i-player or You Tube.

Speechless..................

Sunday 21.10.2012

Just home from work and what a night! Stars,stars and more stars, a mild gentle breeze and the odd tendril of mist to add a bit of atmosphere.


On Friday it was a walk-in-the-wet as we took a different route round the woods forgetting how a season`s growth meant everything was higher and wider and as it was also soaking wet I might just as well have jumped in the bath fully clothed.


Today though it was a morning to abandon everything else and get going:

clear blue sky, crisp air and fiery colours putting a spring in the step....and a wag in the tail.

Wednesday 17.10.2012

I should start on the 11 questions (see post Friday 5.10.2012)because finding the 11 blogs is going to be even harder.

1.Why blog?

2.What are you currently reading?

3.Would it bother you if you never travelled by air again?

4.What do you understand by the word politics?

5.If you could become really expert at a craft (or, if you are, expert at a new one) what would it be?

6. Similarly, if you had the chance to become fluent in another language which would you choose?

7.Someone says they used to read but they no longer have time: how do you respond?

8.What was the last film you saw and what did you think?

9. If you suddenly lost everything you own (stuff, not people or animals but including photos,mementoes and souvenirs)how big a trauma would it be?

10. Have you ever said yes when you should have said no and/or no when you should have said yes and were the consequences dire or did it all turn out alright in the end? (No need for embarrassing details!)

11. Faced with a task you`re not looking forward to (maybe even having to compile 11 questions!)are you a "let`s get it over and done with asap" sort of a person or could you procrastinate for Britain?

So there they are for general rumination: now I have to confess that finding 11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers is going to be hard because I only follow 2 or 3 blogs and don`t know my way round the blogger-sphere.

However - nothing like a challenge and who knows what delights are waiting to be discovered..........wonder how many blogs there are related to whisky....or chocolate.....or Inspector Montalbano.............

Sunday 14.10.2012

Elements wonderfully changeable just now, not sure what the dawn will bring.
Tuesday night brought a sharp frost which appeared to trigger an almost instant turn of the leaves to gold and crimson and start them clattering to the ground.
So walking along the cobbled streets of Old Aberdeen on the Wednesday - sharp, clear and sunny - involved a lot of scuffing through said leaves and deep gulps of the fresh air.

Then on Thursday we were getting "amber warnings" about impending monsoons so dogs and I scuttled out after work - gloomy and spitting rain at 6 o`clock - on the grounds that the apocalypse was due.
Never quite arrived of course, not this time, though it was sensationally wet on Friday. From the window at work it was possible to see adults bent nearly double against the deluge while children in wellies sloshed about quite happily - perhaps your wellies need to be pink to enjoy that sort of weather.
And I still don`t know what we`re supposed to do having been given an "amber warning".

Monday 8.10.2012

Back to lunchtime walks when work takes up all the daylight.

Three quarters of an hour to get round the bypass, a cold wind and spitting rain but a chance to nosy in people`s gardens,
see familiar landmarks from a different angle

and admire some of the buildings.

Quite set me up for the remainder of the day.

Friday 5.10.2012

Now I could unequivocally answer the question "Which is your favourite season?" Never mind all the ballyhoo of summer and winter or all that bustin` out all over stuff of Spring.
When Autumn`s like this it`s the best - calm and peaceful, sort of resigned - "Well, that`s that, did the best we could, now we can relax until April."
Strolled up the hill a little earlier than yesterday with time to go right round the woods; still a little warmth in the sun, poetry-inspiring cloudscapes and that autumn pungency in the air.
Tellingly though, the beasts had vanished from the field. Yesterday they`d skipped along beside us for a while as we walked home. Today they were gone. Now that is a sign of the year moving on.

Friday 5.10.2012

Lovely and extremely talented FrankieSoup nominated walking-quite-fast for a Liebster award - very kind and flattering.
The idea is that the award is given by bloggers to bloggers, and that all blogs nominated must have fewer than 200 followers. It's a way of increasing traffic to smaller sites.
When you get the award, the person giving it asks you 11 random questions, then you have to nominate 11 other blogs and come up with your own set of questions.
So far managed to answer the questions - just - so here they are. Will come up with 11 more blogs and 11 more questions soonest.
Thanks again FrankieSoup!

1. If you could only read one author for the rest of your days, who would you read?

I race from book to book; have never yet re-read one; will read the first in a series to get the idea without necessarily reading the rest. When I`ve finished one I love I`ll rave about it for a week and then move on. And books are to do with the age you are and the place you are when you read them. If this all sounds a bit manic it isn`t - I don`t speed read or anything - but my curiosity is endless: in fact this has made me realise that only reading one author for the rest of my days is about as close as I can get to my idea of purgatory, matched only by the idea of never going anywhere else again, ever. Perhaps that`s it...reading as a journey...(aaargh, cheese-alert - is there anything that can`t be compared to a journey?)....but why would you stay on the same road when there`s all those highways, byways and avenues - and OK the odd cul-de-sac - to explore? Can I dodge this one? My brain hurts.

2. You`re leaving town forever and need to pack your worldly goods into a backpack - what's the first thing you reach for?

Probably my address book. About the only thing that can`t be replaced

3. If you were queen for the day, who would you knight?

The only people I can think of would decline.........I hope.

4. What is your most memorable day?
Most memorable? Brain mashing time again.
Flying to Africa when I was 18 with Orion visible out of the plane window practically the whole way? (Had a soft spot for him ever since).
Climbing a glacier in New Zealand?
Staring into a volcano in Indonesia?
The many memorable days which come with children......
And hopefully more to come - er, memorable days that is, not children.

But then the walk I did in the gloaming this evening was pretty good..............

.......and does memorable imply good or can things be memorably bad?




5. Where in the world would you go if money wasn't an object?

Are we talking to visit? To work? To stay for ever?
If money were no object I`d simply keep moving.

6. Who would you take with you?

He-who-wishes-the-world-would-leave-him-alone is a good traveller, oddly. Or any of the offspring. And the dogs are always willing.

7. Are you a closet Star Trek fan?

No.

8. What's your favourite flower?

Daffodil

9. Where do you feel most at home?
On a train - any train - as it`s pulling out of the station - any station.

10. How do you prefer to travel - car, train, plane, walking etc?
See previous answer if walking impractical.

11. What did(do) you want to be when you grow up?
Afraid I didn`t...was once accused of having no ambition - it was more what I didn`t want to be ....and thinking about it, have pretty much achieved not being things........and avoided `growing up` come to that...but then Mr. Turner says it much better than me...

Photosynthesis
Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold
All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand
All my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans
And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done
And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become
But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game
Time may change a lot but some things may stay the same

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I yeah I won't grow up

Oh maturity's a wrapped up package deal so it seems
And ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams
All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will
Have to grow up be an adult yeah be bored and unfulfilled
Oh when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great
About slaving 50 years away on something that you hate,
About meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity
Well if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I yeah I won't grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up

And if all you ever do with your life
Is just photosynthesize
Then you deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
That you waste wondering when you're gonna die

Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin
Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin

And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all yeah I won't grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up

Thursday 04.10.2012

Heavens to Murgatroyd the light is going fast at the end of the day now.

Home after six, cold, tired and hungry but couldn`t resist a quick canter up the road and round the top of the woods: a perfect autumn evening, still and cool,with pheasants calling across the fields and Turner-esque skyscapes.

Back down the hill in the gloaming, no longer tired or cold - but extremely hungry.....

Sunday 30.09.2012

On Bennachie by half nine-ish simply by virtue of an overnight horse/dog/housesitting gig.
Preternaturally still in the woods, damp and mild and `autumny` with that poignant smell of decay.
Almost a relief to break the treeline and then reach the top where a freshening breeze was swirling a few bits of wispy grey cloud around.

And if it wasn`t for an early start I`d be out now - stunning full moon and still mild. However, duty (and, on the radio if I get to bed quickly enough, the last few minutes of the Ryder cup)call.

Friday 21.09.2012

Never know how split shifts will work out but took boots - and dogs - and in the event managed to get up Mither Tap with time to spare.
Down to shirt sleeves in the woods

but it was hats and hoods on the top as curtains of freezing rain swept across the landscape with dramatic black clouds passing over so close you could have hitched a ride.

And then back in the woods:

Reminds me of a fascinating book:
In the Company of Mushrooms: A Biologist's Tale by Elio Schaechter

One of those books written by an expert but readable by anyone:





you`ll never look at them in the same way again.

Thursday 20.09.2012

Not many more of these post-work evening walks. The icy wind had dropped and the still, cool atmosphere was pure autumn, grey clouds piled up on one horizon, the sun sinking towards the other

The beasts in the field stood as if waiting for something:

you could almost imagine they were contemplating the fact that their time out in the fields is drawing to an end - you could imagine that but....well, they`re cows so they`re probably not.




The light in the woods was magic

and I thought the sky might catch fire as the sun finally disappeared but in fact it was a case of fade gently to grey.
And as a crescent moon made an entrance from behind a cloud we arrived back just in time to put the poultry away, fetch in the washing and then settle down to watch an episode of Treme** and enjoy the chicken casserole that had been simmering in the slow cooker all day.

Now thats what I call a plan coming together.


**Treme: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1279972/

Wednesday 19.09.2012

Out earlyish, ridiculously cold wind but bright and sunny: could have walked to John O`Groats and back before lunch (even if wouldn`t have been able to move for the rest of the week).

It was simply one of those spirit-stirring days where the legs want to keep going for ever, the air is scouring out the lungs and the dogs are up for anything.
However, not yet brave enough to live entirely on my wits and adopt the life of a losel ** so back we came after an exhilarating hour and so to work.......
As an alternative perambulation, two days ago,on my return north from family duties (and most pleasant they were) I was able to spend a nostalgic couple of hours in the city of my birth:
fab buildings,

iconic landmarks:

beautiful bridges (something very special about bridges anyway but that`s another topic), Botanic Gardens, punts moored on a green river

everywhere weeping willows,

and reminders of childhood holidays (and we didn`t have to pay £5.00 to visit college grounds!)


**
Lots of folk live on their wits:
Lecturers, lispers,
Losels, loblolly-men, louts-
They don't end as paupers;

from Toads by Philip Larkin