Tuesday 06/09/2022

Back on home territory after three weeks of gadding and working. The walk in the woods yesterday spoke unequivocally of autumn....different smells, different sounds, misty, still relatively warm, rowan berries a startling crimson this year, blackberries, the wild raspberries all but over, leaves beginning to turn, golden straw bales sitting on the stubble (which always reminds me of this book) 

This morning the seasonal mist has descended again, a far cry from the heat wave down south last month: truly brutal during the Boomtown Festival, near Winchester, where it was all about finding shade and water as well as the usual craziness............

On to Beautiful Days in Devon, where it always rains, except it didn`t, apart from the quite heavy downpour just as we arrived. The sunshine was friendlier than at Boomtown, as it was at Shambala a week later - the ultimate laid back, family friendly festival, a fitting end to the "season".  

(N.B. Check out  https://festivals.oxfam.org.uk/volunteering/stewarding to find out how to attend all these events for nothing but a little of your time)

And then with time to myself after all that...a little wander northwards through the beautiful Galloway countryside, calling in at Ardrossan to watch the Arran ferry manoeuvre in and out of the harbour - note to self, a trip to Arran now on the to-do list)

A couple more contemplative hours spent staring out at the view from Largs, the warm sunshine making it all feel very exotic,

 and finally on to a beautiful patch of Renfrewshire.

A walk in the morning,

across to Edinburgh, looking as wonderful as ever, for a gig 

(thank you https://www.facebook.com/theshiverinsheiks and https://www.theachieversuk.com/)

as well as the perfect light snack before we started.  

Credit to https://guildfordarms.com/, just round the corner from the gig venue (http://www.thevoodoorooms.com/) for the best smoked mackerel pate 👍)

So here we are. Back home. Thunder rolling gently round us as we sit on this hill in the cloud so a long walk may have to wait (dogs hate thunder even more than I have come to). Time to start planning more adventures maybe.