Thursday 30.09.2010

Apres le deluge yesterday, a stunning autumn day so dog and I grabbed the last hour or so of sunlight after work and took off round the woods - nothing like being back on home territory. Completely still evening, glorious colours and woody smells. Demain, encore le deluge, with gales thrown in. Hey ho.

Tuesday 28.09.2010

Last walk with the spaniels and Ms Dachsund.
She is in fact a miniature Dachsund (as well as that and the standard variety there is also a type known as kaninchen which means rabbit which I`m trying hard to visualize and may have to check out on Google). Far from being after small hapless furry creatures she was probably looking for badgers so definitely not to be messed with.
Not sure rambling is the right word for the garden if it implies overgrown. It is well kempt and tended but full of nooks and crannies and big climbing trees you could sit in all day.



And there aren`t any red and white spotted mushrooms: I thought I saw some when I was looking out of the window but it may be it`s just the sort of garden that ought to have them. Lots of other mushrooms though and one very strange patch of papery grey ones I`ve never seen before. Must ask my fungi expert friend.

Sunday 26.09.2010

It was going to be two short walks today but once we set off this morning it was a case of keeps-walking-because-why-would-you-stop: blue sky, warm sun,slightly damp air enlivening the mosses and lichens and strange and amazing fungi, not to mention the leaves turning all the autumnal colours there are.



The spaniels splashed in every available puddle, the dachsund carefully skirting the biggest ones but not averse to diving into the undergrowth to scrabble about after some hapless little furry creature.


We pretty well toured the whole estate but if it stays like this may go out again later.....or even explore the garden properly. There have to be trolls under that bridge.

Friday 24.09.2010

Weather`s gone crazy: brief spells of warm sun, then cold deluges. House/dog-sitting,new place, new dogs, all a delight, even the Dachsund. Not always sure about little dogs but this one has great dignity and a penetrating stare. House on a beautiful wooded estate and we trotted round for a couple of hours - the Dachsund, an elderly Cocker Spaniel and a slightly demented Springer - getting pleasantly lost.


The garden of the house is a rambling affair with red and white spotted mushrooms, places to hide and a little wooden bridge. It`s like being in a fairy tale.

Tuesday 21.09.2010

Variety is the spice of life they say: a week ago Sunday it was a venerable hotel in Aberdeen for a traditional wedding celebration;last Saturday a "bender" (willow trees and tarpaulins, not drunken rampages) on a damp Scottish hillside with a bonfire and musicians; and the day after that Perth Concert Hall with the amazing Nana Vasconcelos*, the Perth Youth Orchestra,Gaelic singer Aileen Ogilvie,Perth samba band Rhythm Wave and children from the Saturday `Cool Schools`,** music,on this occasion, being the food of international co-operation and much fun.
More cycling than walking this week as still feeding next door`s ducks and cats. Today an hour with dogs-on-leads who are with us for just a few more days before departing to their new homes.
A sense of everything winding down, days drawing in, the smell of wood smoke, the grass and vegetation flattened by rain. The bullocks, hefty beasts now, hardly look up at us, intent only on eating, with all that springtime exuberance vanished and ignoring the one lone swallow that swooped over their heads.
*http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Nana_Vasconcelos.html
**http://www.horsecross.co.uk/about/news/2010/gaelic-and-brazilian-music-come-together-simply-ab/

Tuesday 14.09.2010

Walk first thing, bright and blustery but warm - felt like being washed in the wind. Much cooler this evening as I cycled to a neighbour`s to shut away their ducks and feed their cats.(They`re on holiday for a couple of weeks -the neighbours that is, not the cats).
Do enjoy being on the bike: best birthday ever was my twelfth when I got my first bike and when I cycle now I remember exactly what that felt like.
Computer monitor suddenly packed up yesterday. With access to email at work, thought I could wait to afford a replacement suitable for film-watching but sudden realisation that this would curtail writing for too long, precipitated quick purchase of cheap rather dinky little second-hand one which I think I prefer - at least for writing.
Could even live with it in The Shed (coming on apace) where I thought I wanted a laptop I could fold away. Hmm. We`ll see.

Saturday 10.09.2010

Blustery but warm September evening as dog and I set off - leadless, hooray! - for an hour or so round the woods after work. All about skies full of cloud, amazing light and long shadows.











Later, the wind dropped quite suddenly, Incy Wincy dangled from a single thread in the stillness and one by one the stars appeared in the darkening sky.