Friday 19 June 2015

Friday 19.06.2015

Love it when a plan comes together: noisy pub last Saturday night (thank you H,J,A & C for supper) and then on Sunday Ben Lomond.


A gloomy sort of start, low cloud and midges though still stunning landscape and so mild it was shirtsleeve order despite the damp.




Set off more in hope than expectation





but the mountain gods were good to us and the higher we got, the more the cloud began to lift







until, at the top, the colours nearly took us by surprise.




and we came down in bright sunshine with the loch sparkling beneath us



to a tranquil evening



and an excellent supper in the Rowardennan Hotel, highly recommended for a relaxed end to a strenuous day.

Not all plans come together though........
"Dave Grohl broke his leg on stage but played on …
The Foo Fighters’ frontman wouldn’t let a pesky shattered bone get in the way of pleasing his fans. Grohl slipped off the front of the stage during a gig in Sweden on 12 June, and proceeded to talk his fans through his concern that he might have broken his leg. I assume the adrenaline coursing through his body kept him from screaming hysterically. Instead he sounded like one of those children who have been filmed coming down off medication after a dental appointment, slurring slightly but speaking with fiery emotion as he apologised...........After being patched up backstage, Grohl returned to play a few more songs, but a hospital visit showed he’d sustained a serious fracture. Foo Fighters had to cancel their remaining UK and European dates, including two Wembley Stadium shows, a gig at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield Stadium and their headlining set at Glastonbury."
(http://www.theguardian.com/music)

Sigh......... :(

Such is life and rock`n`roll. Going down to Edinburgh/Glasgow anyway....and have just purchased tickets for a Frank Turner gig......what could possibly go wrong in Scotland in November......

Friday 12 June 2015

Friday 12.06.2015

Around lunchtime the cloud that had rolled in overnight began to disperse, the sun came out and the land was left gently steaming in the warmth, the woods full of insects and birds and small furry creatures rushing in all directions away from the dogs.
Lots of birds about - oyster-catcher, curlew, buzzard, yellowhammer - and a particularly brazen pied wagtail.



Getting cloudy - and much cooler - now. Heading to Glasgow tomorrow and hopefully a bit of an extended climb on Sunday so cool is OK but hopefully not wet - or too windy.

Wednesday 10 June 2015

Wednesday 10.06.2015

Went for more of a meander than a walk this afternoon on account of it being really warm and having plenty of time for once. So we explored parts of the woods we don`t usually get to, following paths that have been newly cut, some that come out in surprising places and some that stop suddenly and don`t lead anywhere.

It was even warmer in the woods,out of the breeze that cooled us down on the top of the hill, warm and still and quiet and the temptation was to sit in the grass and absorb it all.




Not the dogs` idea of a good time though so we kept going, the coos trotted down the hill with us



and it was possible to believe it`s nearly mid-June.



In fact it`s been good walking weather all week so far: Monday a lunchtime trot around the by-pass, a facility which seems to have been designed just as much for walkers as for taking the traffic out of the town centre and affording those different views of Bennachie not to mention the big skies.



And yesterday it was different perspectives again from the top of Barra Hill (thank you M. for taking me up there!)
On the edge of town,it`s a little hill with a big story


which made us wonder what lay beneath our feet but in any event was worth the climb.



And here`s a P.S. Just been out for the last time: light enough to read a paper by, there`s bats and moths fluttering about and a beautiful peachy tinge to the sky in the west. Summer in Scotland, what`s not to love.

Friday 5 June 2015

Friday 05.06.2015

An un-anticipated walk in Aberdeen along the Dee on Wednesday night: there`s something about a city river on an (almost) summer night.....



....but then there`s something about the woods on a warm, still morning (yesterday) or a blustery lunchtime walk (today)- predominantly grey and green with splashes of yellow


the wind cool but not cold, the air full of bird song and woodish scents and where some of the grass has been cut and the ground cleared of fallen trees we were able to walk round by the Edmond-Went-Far-Away copse which I`m glad to report is still there with its talkative population of crows.


(A book for any toddler just setting out on their own)