A change of title a change of area, this is our new life. Nearer our son , nearer to people that is for sure but we will make the most of it. Already as far as wildlife is concerned we have got some birds in the garden. Loads of Chaffinch & House Sparrows attracted to our feeders, plus a pair of Dunnock, Robin (of course), Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Collar Doves, occasional Jackdaws, Herring Gull, one Nuthatch and inevitably a female Sparrow Hawk. The last not being that welcome in the garden but still counts towards our (hopefully) ever increasing numbers. On my walks I have seen a pair of Mute Swans and a Dipper, but as the local Loch is surrounded by reed beds I hope to see a few more species hanging about in them.
As for the home, well one bedroom has been redecorated and ready for a new carpet, but as we need to empty that room before the next bedroom can be prepared for carpet , we are still surrounded by un emptied boxes, as there is no point in emptying them in to the various pieces of furniture only to have to pack them up when that bedroom needs emptying. But as you have read I did manage to find my card reader and gave you a bonus blog.
2nd
To celebrate a week of hard graft getting things together in the new home I allowed myself an hour or so to go ( in between the showers) and explore the waterways of the area. the first is a small narrow water that joins the River Doon a bit further out of the town. with all the rain you can see its is very fast flowing and is where I saw a Dipper, loving the water levels, the second shot was across to Bogton Loch, which I hope to explore tomorrow..
3rd.
True to my word today I went to explore Bogton Loch a vast area of water , but very shallow and weedy, mainly Pike fishing but the Salmon have to pass through it to get to the spawning grounds above Loch Doon or babes on their way to sea. The locals have a really well made staging to fish off but has been thoroughly spoilt by the rubbish, that I expect has been left by non anglers. I collected a bucket full of plastic bottles, crisp packets and general rubbish, which was really horrid to see. I cannot fully exclude anglers as included in the rubbish was dead bait bags of Herring & Spratt , plus fishing line. The bucket had been left there for people to put their rubbish in but non in the bucket when I arrived, will take it back with a note hoping people may use it.
On leaving the Loch the water becomes the River Doon again and from there to the next village (7 miles) is where I will be fishing in the future. Apparently further on there are still some good Brown Trout so I will enjoy that.
6th.
Have at last got round to taking some pictures of our surroundings.
The front door of our house, pebble dashed walls and come the spring the window ledges will be grey rather than white, the statue (held together with epoxy resin will disappear once I have booked an appointment at the recycling centre.
The view from our back patio area, the other side of our fence is a small mowed section then the field that is marshy ground but left as a nature reserve and then the hills beyond.
No garage but a good driveway in allowing parking for two cars and another view of the hills.
7th.
The Ayr Air Show was on this weekend and literally thousands descend on Ayr, all the locals avoid the town and though new are fifeteen miles from the sea front I still heard the roar of the Red Arrows but even louder was just one Typhoon, by next year I shall have sussed out where the locals go to watch the displays away from the crowds. But until then I only caught one aircraft leaving the event, which was a American Harvard mk5, apparently used by the Americans in WW2 to train pilots on, never seen one before , hence it being on here.
17th
Wouldn’t be my blog without a few birds on it, a Jackdaw and a House Sparrow, the latter enjoying a bath in our (due to heavy rain) garden puddle, even though we have provided a dish for it to bathe in, it preferred the muddy hole.
Also went into the town today and took a few shots around the village square if you can call a now roundabout into a square???
The roundabout in the square.
Town Pub.
Bus stop and shelter.
Close up of the shelter.
Upstream of the square and the Burn runs under the road and comes out below the square.
On the road to our recycling tip (to which we have now been six times) is this open scenery on a very quiet road, so quiet I was able to stop the car in the middle of the road and grab this shot. Incidentally the round trip to the tip is fifty minutes, slightly longer than I have been used to.
Finally one bedroom is completed and up and running, mine is going to be carpeted tomorrow afternoon and then I can finally un pack all those boxes and have my “den” up and running.