Wednesday 28.6.2017

A head-clearing walk on a cool, breezy day with the sun in and out of the clouds and grass as high as the proverbial elephant`s eye.

And the head did need a bit of clearing after a fortnight or so of gallivanting and yomping and (over)eating, not to mention a serious case of whiskynapping.....

So this year`s birthday mountain was Hill of Fare (https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/aberdeenshire/hill-of-fare.shtml) but first a morning coffee and delicious raspberry tart at Platform22 in Torphins.
The walk itself was a moorland tramp, affording excellent views......

and back down through the forest

Two days later it was a different kind of tramping, this time round the streets of Aberdeen, with a lunch break in the remarkably peaceful cemetery in the centre of town, eye-balling a particularly persistent gull who would have grabbed my sandwich given half a chance.

Aberdeen`s gulls are known for their ferocity....not to mention their size.....

"Aberdeen North's SNP MP Kirsty Blackman said the birds were terrorising her constituents. "Look up internet memes on seagulls - the Aberdeen seagull is the size of a large dog. It is absolutely ginormous and it regularly gets mentioned," she said." (The Week Feb 8th 2017)

And then we were off on a week of activities with a visiting Cotswold Contingent: a walk round a misty moisty Bennachie Forest,

a birthday tea, Stone Circles at every turn

and a rather wonderful visit to a local distillery -http://www.glengarioch.com/

It was all going so well until the C.C. tried to get on a train to take their booty home and it was confiscated! This however is still a story in progress....more to follow.



But the week was not done: at the end of a Saturday learning all about the secrets and intricacies of Letterpress there was a walk to be had along the splendid River Don on a summer evening:

And back to today where we were all in clover......

Sunday 11.06.2017

A noisy, blustery wind on the way up the hill but in the woods it was much quieter, so much so that the birdsong echoed round and it felt warm enough to sit and listen to it for a while...though we didn`t, preferring to stroll and take in the fresh colours.

Mostly though it was all about the skies:

Proud to be a member of https://cloudappreciationsociety.org/ Even have a badge. :)

Wednesday 7.6.2017

A sparkly end to the day after 36 hours of deluge followed by strong cold winds which swept the clouds away and brought out a warm sun. Just like a wash cycle really, washed, spun and dried leaving everything fresh and clean: blues and whites and vibrant greens. Peewits dive-bombing the dogs as we walk by, larks lifting out of fields in alarm, rabbits everywhere not to mention gambolling teenage lambs and cavorting young beasts chasing us along the fence line, kicking up their heels in excitement. It`s all go this time of the year.
And tonight - one of those perfectly clear, still and cold Scottish summer nights with a nearly full moon in a sky that won`t go completely dark....oh, and did I say, no midges.

Sunday 04.06.2017

Late morning and set off for a spot of shinrin-yoku https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_bathing though we weren`t far up the road before it became bathing in earnest as it started to rain but it was a passing summer shower and in fact quite refreshing. And no midges.

Thought the grass would be shoulder high, which it was, but someone`s been cutting the grass so there were plenty of wide avenues to follow, the dogs ducking in and out of the longer stuff with great glee, sniffing out the small and furry critturs hiding there. And even in among the trees, no midges.


There is presumably some way in which Culicoides impunctatus

fits into Gaia`s life cycle arrangements but it was hard to understand last weekend @ http://www.knockengorroch.org.uk/

However - we were blessed with wall to wall sunshine, good music, good company and good fun in a stunning location






so next time it`ll just be a matter of better preparation: