Wednesday 28 December 2011

Tuesday 27.12.2011

Colder, greyer, crow-caws echoing across the trees in the still air. More wintry maybe but the water`s still lovely....apparently.

And it turned very pretty later on.

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Monday 26.12.2011

December hurtling towards the end of the year, Christmas festivities already all but over. Wildly windy but so mild it could be late Spring - more Zephyrus than Boreas but presumably the latter is simply waiting to make a dramatic entrance sometime in the New Year. Meanwhile Happy Yuletide and, well, keep walking..............

Friday 16 December 2011

Friday 16.12.2011

White road, frosted grass, the sky a mixed palette of pinks and pale blues, soft greys and lilacs - and cold, very cold and so still you could hear sounds from miles away as if they were echoing off the sky.
As we returned, a tiny owl - a Little Owl presumably?! - glided silently past us and in the distance, silhouetted across the last of the light, a chain of black dots, crows returning to their roost in the woods.
Very cold, very still, very quiet. The best of winter.

Saturday 10 December 2011

Saturday 10.12.2011

Some days you simply have to go - never mind the chores, they`ll still be there when you get back. Sun, blue sky and light dusting of snow and what are we waiting for?







Early enough for long shadows and cold enough for a satisfying crunching noise underfoot.


Clouds beginning to boil up and hide the sun as we returned, somewhat smugly, having definitely had the best of the day.

Friday 9 December 2011

Friday 09.12.2011

Elemental furies unleashed yesterday: too dark by quarter to three for pics and in any case couldn`t have held camera still. Did begin to wonder if we should have stayed indoors as the wind snatched every breath from my lungs and even the woods offered little shelter. In the event took an hour and a half to walk what would usually take half that.
A relief then to walk out today, sheet ice on the road and still a freezing wind but not apocalyptic and the woods once more a quieter haven. Cold with that pure winter light that has an almost mystic quality.











Could easily have imagined strange creatures emerging from the trees but perhaps that`s more to do with the fact that I`ve just finished reading Hood by Stephen Lawhead,the first in a trilogy re-telling the legend of Robin Hood.** It is a straightforward boys-own romping adventure, fast paced historical fantasy requiring nothing more sophisticated of the reader than that they wholeheartedly join in. And I`m delighted to say there are two more volumes - both with enticing covers - which I`m going to save as a treat to read over the festive season. Brilliant.



**He was Welsh - who knew?!

Tuesday 6 December 2011

Tuesday 6.12.2011

Sparkly snowscapes and a freezing wind. Dog 2 stopped chasing deer and tried to catch the spindrift instead.


Snow sculptures










snow coral (thank you D for that description)










and delicate ice beads.

Sunday 4 December 2011

4.12.2011

First snow last night.....an inch on top of the hill as I set off for work this afternoon but the rest of the world below knows nothing of it.....yet.

Saturday 3 December 2011

Saturday 3.12.2011

The "Winter - bring it on" theme continues: bitter wind blowing across a bright blue backdrop framed by mountainous white clouds and then there`s a scene shift and it`s fierce sleety showers out of a suddenly black sky.
Into the teeth of the wind up the hill in one of the sunny intervals but less of a battle once in the woods where the dogs scattered chasing every leaf and moving creature. Dog 2 still thinks she might catch a deer: Dog 1 knows better and I could swear turned to look back at me with raised eyebrows and a knowing shake of the head. (Me? Anthropomorphise? Never.)

Legs took me further than I`d intended - it was too good to waste the light.

Gaggles of geese noisy overhead,








the sky rapidly darkening as the waxing moon appeared above the trees and we were blown back down the hill.




Home to shower, consume toasted crumpets, honey and hot tea and back to the Christmas cards. Not a bad way to spend a December Saturday.

Friday 2 December 2011

Friday 02.12.2011

Ice on the puddles and the poultry water, hard frost on the grass, slate grey clouds and cold wind......Winter Is Icumen In....to misquote.
And the new camera is fine.......

Thursday 1 December 2011

Thursday 01.12.2011

So December came in as a beautiful winter`s day, ice-blue sky, a keen wind razoring my face as we walked up the hill but tamed and softened in the woods.
Long winter shadows, the sun barely lifting above the horizon and then only sidling from East to South before sinking down again as a sliver of silver moon appeared.

Camera came and seems fine: awaiting usb lead.

V.I.Ps came too and a good time was had by all....though we had to keep a close eye on one of them who kept trying to make a break for it.......




(credit for the pic to A - thank you!)

Sunday 20 November 2011

Sunday 20.11.2011

All pastel greys and blues, golds (can gold be pastel?) and greens through the hazy light of a mild November afternoon as we climbed up to Oxen Craig yesterday after work. Almost eerily still in the woods, not even the spindliest tree moving but fresher on the top.

Today yet another stunning day .....no-one can quite believe it, looking over our shoulders for the big back cloud........

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Wednesday 16.11.2011

Nippy breeze took us scuttling round the woods for an hour at lunchtime but felt all the better for it. Hardest time of year for making the most of the daylight as we descend into the long nights.
I`ve discovered a soft light shining through a jar of orange marmalade is a real spirit lifter if you tend towards Winter Blues. Just thought I`d mention it.
And for anyone following the camera saga, seems his computer was down and all may yet end well. My faith, pretty unshakeable, in the predominant goodness of most folk is restored to full strength.

Saturday 12 November 2011

Saturday 12.11.2011

It was largely exuberance which got me up Bennachie today (though the morning biscuits and caffeine might have helped)but after a long week, some really dreich weather yesterday when walks were cancelled in favour of making the Christmas cake and then a late (though very enjoyable) night to boot, lassitude, not to say languor, beckoned.
But by the time I left work at lunchtime the powers that be had freshened things up considerably - sun, blue sky, and that unique autumn tang in the air. Bennachie was at her absolute best with clear views all around from the top of Mither Tap.
Some VIPs visiting in a fortnight: what are the chances of it staying this glorious?

Thursday 10 November 2011

Thursday 10.11.2011

Just in case anyone thinks I`m living on a different planet I realised, as I was driving home on a much clearer night, that there`s a full moon up there. So, strictly speaking, it doesn`t start waning until tomorrow. It`s simply been very cloudy. Just thought I`d put the record straight.
Still no camera. Bleah, as Snoopy might have said.

Wednesday 09.11.2011

Liberating though it feels to set off without camera or any other paraphernalia, and while it is not necessary to take pics for the memories to remain
(I cite as evidence, M`lud
- a particular day on Balmedie beach
- an icy day climbing Arthur`s seat
- a night involving a mini-bus and a collection of Eastern European and Antipodean young people
- not to mention a fantastic walk along the railway line on a stunning autumn day last week)
I am nevertheless missing my camera.

We`ve had gloriously crisp blue sky days and clear moon-drenched nights but now the moon is on the wane and today was very November,grey and wet as we set off round the woods mid-morning but with a wind springing up that swept the clouds away and left us tramping across the `blasted heath`* as patches of blue sky appeared.

I have bought a camera - on ebay in the end - but my breath is somewhat bated as it hasn`t yet arrived and should have done.

*i.e. the kind of thing Emily Bronte might have described rather than a comment on an erstwhile Conservative prime minister.

Sunday 30 October 2011

Sunday 30.10.2011

To paraphrase Laurence Sterne, was ever blogger so interrupted?
Journeys up and down the country, a night in a plush hotel, a family wedding, more driving.
Hey ho though, so now we`re back to work...and walks. Freezing wind the other afternoon and talk of snow but now we`re back to "unseasonably mild".
Certainly a perfect golden autumn morning, the beech and larch looking particularly glorious, blue sky and fluffy clouds, skeins of geese overhead.....and two delirious dogs scurrying round, obviously also pleased to be back.
Camera dilemma though - go to ebay again or something new? Hmmmm.

Tuesday 18 October 2011

Tuesday 18.10.2011

Blowy, grey and cold this morning, wind and drenching rain tonight but at lunchtime, though still blustery, the sun shone and we walked on the railway again. Over bridges, through cuttings, under bridges...only just managed to resist the temptation to rotate the arms and make choo-choo noises. Why`s there never a child around when you need one?

Sunday 16 October 2011

Sunday 16.10.2011

Magnificent autumn morning, a cliche really.....blue sky with sun casting long shadows, a waning moon still high in the sky, warm enough for insects to be hovering in the grass (like miniature dragonflies - what are they?) but the air cool and still, birdsong in the wood,cackling crows and skeins of noisy geese overhead.......as Walt Whitman has it:
"give me again, O Nature, your primal sanities"

Mind you, later on in the same poem he also says that Nature can keep all that stuff because he really wants the city, with
"People, endless, streaming, with strong voices, passions, pageants",
only he was talking about Manhattan not Edinburgh.

Perhaps the dilemma is you need both to enjoy what he calls the "intense life","full to repletion and varied". Sounds good to me.

And I thought I`d fixed the camera but apparently not. May have to read the instructions. Bleah.

Thursday 13 October 2011

Thursday 13.10.2011

Where would we be without the internet?

Look at who and what I`ve found:

Railway Ramblers - http://www.railwayramblers.org.uk - and a book I must buy and have at my bedside.


The world is a better place for such people and such books.

Thursday 13.10.2011

Oh Lordy...can`t stop now...could be up all night.......

This account of the tortuous processes involved in getting the railway built in the first place is brilliant* - not least for the use of the word "impecuniosities" - and makes its subsequent demise at the hands of Beeching doubly poignant.

*http://mcjazz.f2s.com/BuchanRailway.htm

My camera was playing up today but this is a better pic than I could have taken anyway................

Thursday 13.10.2011

Much as the destruction of our railway network is to be deplored the old lines make pleasant walks. Dogs with me to work so we needed somewhere to walk at lunchtime and a friend suggested the nearby track.
Delightful despite grey day: up high one minute with views to all sides and then through a "cutting" with the dogs going crazy because the embankment was one huge rabbit warren.
And now I`ve become completely fascinated by its history:apparently we were on the old Formartine and Buchan Railway, built to link Peterhead and Fraserburgh to Aberdeen,the first 29 miles from Dyce to Mintlaw opening on 18th July 1861, the second 13 mile section from Maud to Peterhead opening the following year and the last 15 miles to Fraserburgh opening on 24th April 1865. Possibly only of any interest to railway geeks or nascent geeks: guilty M`lud......want to find out more.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Tuesday 11.10.2011

Cold, cold, cold. Suddenly possible to imagine snow, not right now (despite the prophets of ice-age doom in some of yesterday`s press)but the wind had a sharp edge to it this evening.
Walking-really-very-fast the only way to get the blood flowing after a relatively sedentary day. Dogs zig-zagged in and out of the trees, the pheasants springing up out of their way with that distinctive alarm call.
The beasts have vanished from the fields which is another landmark in the year.
By 7 o`clock the light had all but gone but the moon was up, on the other side of the sky from this morning, lighting our way home: Orion still in his bed though.
And it really works, walking like that, warms you from the inside out, your soul as well as your body - I`ve been glowing like a Ready-Brek kid ever since.

Tuesday 11.10.2011

A random post: at 20 to 6 this morning there was an even more beautiful moon and a strange optical illusion as the thin cloud drifted across it but the rainbow circle didn`t move. And Orion was there - wondering where I`ve been. Maybe a few more weeks before he`s visible in the evenings.

Sunday 9 October 2011

Sunday 09.10.2011

Nearly full moon tonight as I drove home from work,shining through thin cloud and in the process creating a beautiful rainbow ring around itself.
Plenty of cloud this morning too, a uniformly grey start to the day as we took an hour`s tour of the woods.

Couldn`t have been more different to my day in Edinburgh on Friday - warm and sunny and glorious views from the top of Calton Hill:











plus elegant buildings, lively little back streets and alleyways with good independent coffee shops and a plethora of charity shops. My love affair with Auld Reekie intensifies.

Wednesday 5 October 2011

Tuesday 04.10.2011

Only another week or so for these after work walks. Up the road just after 6 on a blustery cool autumn evening, more dramatic skies,


crows swirling across the fields to get to their roosts for the night, the light nearly gone by the time we returned an hour later.
And there`s snow forecast for the high hills this weekend..........so much for steamy jungles......

Friday 30 September 2011

Friday 30.09.2011

Last day of September and the woods were gleaming and steaming like a jungle,the overnight dew evaporating away in the warmth of the morning sun.
Lots of green still.


One sharp frost and the trees will turn overnight but for now basking in this Indian summer (why an Indian summer?).

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Tuesday 27.09.2011

It was all skies this evening, the sun dropping down beneath grey clouds,


then fringing them in rainbow(silver linings are so last year).


The blustery wind was warm - somehow a very romantic combination - and the birds swooped and tumbled backwards and forwards across the dramatic backdrop.


But fashion is such a fickle mistress......rainbows were out and corals were in by the time we were coming back.........

Magic mushrooms? Who needs them?








.

Saturday 24 September 2011

Saturday 24.09.2011

Gorgeous day, warm and sunny but with cooling breeze making walking a joy. To Bennachie after a morning at work: a keep-walking-until-you fall-off-the-edge sort of day so having hit Mither Tap in good order....








...we headed across to Oxen Craig,


thirsty work


but worth it.

Words are inadequate...not to say unnecessary....for this kind of a day.

Friday 23 September 2011

23.09.2011

Greys, whites and blues, a cool breeze on the hill but calm and peaceful in amongst the trees. The grass has been baled, collected in and is probably wrapped in black plastic by now, the straw is nearly done and the familiar bale-statues are appearing all over the countryside.......
.......the air is so thick with `autumny` smells the dogs don`t know where to bury their noses first,the swallows and martins are beginning to pack their bags and in the distance this morning the first gaggle of noisy geese heading out: perhaps they`ve heard about the forecast October snows......

.....and if that makes you think of Christmas herewith an early plug for the new cards from Merry Illuminations (link on the right)....and I get no commission.......

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Tuesday 20.09.2011

First talk of snow today - forecast for October they say!
No sign of it tonight but a certain valedictory something in the air: a cool breeze ruffling the grass and trees, somehow suggesting that it might soon be time to start battening down the hatches.

Still there`s that sense of being poised, like Janus, between seasons: a second cut of fresh green grass waits to be baled -






while in a neighbouring field it`s rows of straw -


with combines near and far thundering up and down as the light fades but the weather holds.




Briefly a grey crocodile sails across the sky........




.....we wander through a landscape of illuminated trees.....







....golden skies.....





...oh, and conveniently abandoned baths.

I was going to quote bits from the sainted Monsieur Daniel Pennac, (see post 30.08.2011)having managed, in the interim between posts and largely due to jaunts up and down the country on trains, to finish a second of his books and one of his recommended novels. For now, suffice to say that anyone who has anything to do with children and books, or just people and books for that matter, should put everything else down and read Rights of the Reader immediately, not to say urgently.




More, probably much more, later.

Wednesday 7 September 2011

07.09.2011

Swift hike up Oxen Craig after work. Busy cloudscapes coiling and stretching and billowing across the sky, dropping rain one minute, then clearing to reveal blue sky and sun.







Trees as sculpture in the woods below:







on the top,rocks,stones and sweeping views



....and let`s get out of here before we get really wet.......

Sunday 4 September 2011

Sunday 04.09.2011

Day off. Stunning September morn. What to do first? Chores? Walk? No contest.
Dew still on the grass though warm sun had dried it out by the time we turned for home.
Brief update on poultry:
- chickens fat and thriving,still laying an egg a day - hence the six-egg fruit cake I made yesterday
- ducks as nervous and ridiculous looking as ever







-geese, one-parent family, happy enough but sooner or later I`m going to have to try and find out what gender the young one is, a good deal easier written than done.........




Thursday 1 September 2011

Thursday 01.09.2011

August may have gone out on a grey and chilly note but tonight was a perfect September evening, much milder, the sky a watercolour wash of blues and golds,whites and greys


with the sun somehow managing to recall the summer just gone while simultaneously heralding the arrival of autumn, a clever trick that must have something to do with the quality of the light.


September really can be the best of months.




Wednesday 31 August 2011

Wednesday 31.08.2011

Lots of walking but pounding the streets of Aberdeen rather than scampering in woods. A grey day so the granite wasn`t sparkling but the city has some beautiful buildings, the trick is to remember to look up.


Then there`s the University and Old Aberdeen...................
"Founded in 1495 by William Elphinstone, Bishop of Aberdeen and Chancellor of Scotland, Aberdeen is Scotland's third oldest university, and the fifth most ancient in the whole United Kingdom.Much of the original King's College still stands today, a famous historic landmark beloved of generations of students, academics, and local people who are, inspired by the finest examples of medieval and Renaissance craftwork remaining anywhere in Scotland."



......not to mention the hustle and bustle and promise of faraway places of the docks..........

........ and the wide open thoroughfare of Union Street
Spent a happy hour or so people watching: I`m becoming increasingly convinced we`ve got things back to front and should retire to the city where there`s lots of stimulating diversions and everything`s within walking distance.