During this miserable January boring month I thought I would add a bonus blog on the many shots I took when out for a morning ride/walk into Alloway, the area of Ayr which is the birthplace and home of Rabbie Burns. Here, with the aid of a Lottery grant and treemendous local support they have turned a horrid disused railway tunnel, dull, dirty, unlit, graffiti one, into a wonderful tourist attraction and some incredible art. Could not separate most of the shots I took into part of the next blog, so kept them all together to bore (sorry to entertain you) with an Ayrshire delight.
Coming down from the road on the lefthand side of this shot, you have no idea that the tunnel entrance in front of you will be one hundred and fifty yards of delight.
The first part of the mural is of course Rabbie himself sitting at his desk with his ever faithful dog and all the animals he wrote about.
Tam O Shanter fleeing on his horse from the evil things going on in the Kirk behind him.
Ploughing from the poem To A Mouse.
Rabbie’s sheep in it’s splendid tartan scarf.
Scenes from his garden.
Scenes of the local industries, curling stones on the cart mined from the island Ailsa Craig, the only place in the world where real stones originate from and the paddle steamer Waverly
Locals were asked to contribute to the artwork by paying for their faces to be included within the murals, though the figure in the last one reminds me of our King Charles, I wonder?
The artwork is not yet completed and this was the end piece ready to receive the last few yards of uncompleted mural.
The art is on both sides of the tunnel and even the ceiling is decorated around the lights.
At the far end the railway crosses a bridge over the River Doon, the first bridge you see is the road bridge outside the Brig A Doon hotel and beyond that you can just see the edge of the actual Brig A Doon.
As you turn round and come out of the tunnel in front of you is a small road tunnel. I wonder if that will be next to get some art?
Well the year has started off well, a meal out with the wife, youngest son and his partner at The Brig O Doon Hotel which has a well laid out restaurant over looking the River Doon and the bridge over it from Robert Burns famous Tam O Shanter poem.
Then today went for a short walk in the sunny below zero temperature and captured a (not to sharp) an image that I have wanted to bring you for a couple of months.
2nd.
The Bull
Still room for improvement, so watch this space.
3rd.
Been getting up to the clear skies and low temperatures and this full Wolf Moon, so got up at seven went out in the garden in my dressing gown and filmed the moon today as it was 99.99% a full moon at the moment I took it very low over the garden. I tried getting it through the shrubs to show how low it was, but ended up with the shot of the shrub in focus and the moon acting as a back light. moved slightly and got the second shot.
It was only when I went in that I realised the twenty minutes outside had made me so cold, looked at the temperature and it was minus two point seven, dressing gown was a bit inappropriate.
3rd.
Lights down, decorations packed away, all the lovely baubles and streamers the lot, now up the loft. Finally death of the Christmas Tree hacked to pieces ready to get to the dump and be recycled.
6th.
Just to show you the morning temperatures for the last four days, the two days before that were also below zero on getting up but never recorded them, as you can see at last the temperature has crept up today to be above zero, mainly because we had snow overnight. Not a great deal but enough to christen my snow shovel for the first time since last winter, put it this way a lot less hard work than the new owners of our old house is having to do at present.
9th.
Went into the village for some shopping and crossed the Parrie Burn and though earlier in the week I am sure it would have been more frozen, there is still a good amount of ice still on it.
12th.
A walk along the river today and came across this very friendly Dipper. Normally as you approach them they are off at lightening speed along the river. This one sat on the branch, pretty well hidden , but I was just on the opposite bank shooting away and the song it was singing was a real surprise to me, very vocal. There is always a branch in the way with decent shots of shy birds, but this was the best I got.
15th.
Went on a new walk today (sun shining for once), along the old railway line embankment, a bit muddy but will be a great spot to walk in the summer.
You all know me by now and I have a built in magnet that attracts me towards water and fishing, this wee lochan has apparently got some good Pike in it so shall give that a go sometime. It is only a half mile walk from home , in fact if you enlarge the shot above , in between the two sets of mounds (roughly dead centre) are some trees and where they stop, to the right of them are a row of white, the first one of the white is in fact our bungalow.
Two swans on the Lochan, plus in the distance I saw at least three other water birds, must take my bigger lens or binoculars next walk.
Self explanatory. At the end of my walk.
The old railway line goes all the way into Ayr and the ambition is to make it walkable the whole way (12 miles or so) into Ayr. In the meantime the sheep seem happy to graze here.
Those that know my photography know I am a sucker for single trees.
Just shows that even with snow, frost and bitterly cold weather, things continue to grow.
As we come to the end of yet another year it seems strange to be starting a new one somewhere different than I have for the past twenty years, but slowly I am getting used to lifestyle we now have in our new home. Shopping wise Ayr is nearer than Perth, as it is for hospital appointments and we have a great doctors surgery in our own town instead of travelling to Pitlochry (one mile instead of eight). The family butchers is a wonderful cheerful and good quality place to visit and the people in our road are lovely, not that Fenderbridge wasn’t, just we are a lot closer down here than the isolated spot we were in Blair Atholl. As for the fishing well, as I stated in the last blog the less said about that the better, but it will improve (I hope).
23rd.
Went for a good long walk before the hard work of Christmas began and got a slightly better shot of the elusive Black Bull, next target to get him standing ups to show his size off better.
In the same field was this Highland pony scrounging amongst the dung heap.
25th
Our home alone Christmas Dinner, right to left Cauliflower Cheese, Sausage meat stuffing, Sage &Thyme stuffing, Brussel Sprouts with chestnuts, Roasted Potatoes and on our plates already plenty of turkey ( we got a “serves nine people” one just for the two us) Roasted Parsnips and peas. Plus of course a glass of bubbly. Christmas pudding was left for Boxing Day as we were so full up.
29th
Photographed two new birds for the site the first being my second favourite small bird the Long Tailed Tit, have seen them around but not in the garden and on this occasion there were three but I only captured two on this shot plus a Coal Tit. Siskins being my favourite small bird.
Another regular in the garden that I had not captured on the camera are a pair of Magpies , though as I was looking out of the bedroom / office window caught this one under the window. Four days over Christmas having been below zero Centigrade has made the birds really hungry, so my seed bags are going down rapidly.
Sorry just a small blog, but Christmas, New Year all managed to get in the way of photography.
All that is left of 2025 are memories and may 2026 be a wonderful adventure for you all and at the end of that part of your life bring many new memories and happiness.
My theme for 2026 is the world needs happiness, so help me to spread that everywhere.
No not the pop group just our weather, apparently it has been the wettest November this century and looks like it is going to continue throughout the start of this month. Truthfully it has not been the weather to go out photographing anything and I have been waiting since the first to get out to fish, as I have no fish since living here in the freezer to smoke for Christmas. Unheard of, as you will see below my first opportunity for a good day was Friday and I was out like a shot first thing.
12th.
So I chose a new venue to me to go Trout fishing for the first time this month, a commercial fishery that seemed ideal. Opens at eight a.m. and I was there at nine. Cold, only three degrees C but fish rising and I was feeling hopeful. Got a four hour ticket that enabled me to take two fish and fish catch and release after that. I had three fish in that four hours come and look at my fly and say “no thank you” and that was it. Five other guys were fishing and only one of them caught a single fish and apparently he fishes once a week so knows the water and flies to use. Bit dissapointed but as you can see a beautiful day, a pleasant spot to fish and good to get out instead of being stuck in the house everyday. As I stated last blog, my son thinks I am losing my touch, maybe I am, hope not.
13th.
My son is Head Ranger at Colzean Castle (you don’t pronounce the Z) and last weekend and this they allow visitors into the traditional victorian Christmas decorated castle and have a craft fair on site. he very kindly offered to take us on his day off to see it. It is a beautiful castle and looked lovely with holly and ivy and trees in most rooms plus decorations in style with the building.
Incidentally for my American readers, the top floor was given to Eisenhower after the Second World War as a thank you for his contribution to the war. He visited and stayed during his presidency.
I just loved the spiral staircase and how they had decorated it, plus the modern addition of the Father Christmas hat on the bust.
15th.
Went for a walking got these shots.
We have had so much rain that the fields are soggy and not draining.
Love the grass in the sheep’s mouth looks like a real country person.
A few Geese not bothered by our prescence.
Liked the reflection in the very still flood water. The birds in the tree are either Redwings or Fieldfare, a Winter visitor from Russia.
Lichen with a drip (no not me)
An old woodland with plenty of moss on the trees.
The wife walking on while I take yet more photos.
Horses wrapped up from the cold and enjoying their hay.
16th.
Wole up to a minus six C frost so out with the camera.
Honeysuckle starting to bud up but ice crystals on it might slow it’s progress down.
Whatever the weather the Robin is always somewhere in the garden, though hiding for me today.
Do not think any washing will be hanging of the line today.
The frosty nature reserve the other side of our fence, mist over the river in the distance.
A few of the frosted plants within our garden.
I am sorry the blog ids a bit late but I had a problem downloading the last lot of shots. All that is left is to wish you all a very Happy Christmas .
Saw the forecast and realised our old home would be getting snow, but over here on the West Coast snow is a fairly rare event , because of the Gulf Stream etc. As you will see the higher hills got an icing sugar coating of snow, but none with us. What I wasn’t expecting was this very cold snap we are experiencing. Three nights running we have been down to minus five C and last night went down to just below minus six, so fairly nippy.
20th.
The dusting on our hills.
One thing with such cold weather is the clear skies and sunshine, though not much heat in the low sun for this female Blackbird.
My feet would be frozen standing on the frosty fence, but it seems nothing to this Robin.
.A Boeing Globemaster from the R.AF. Brize Norton airfield coming in to land at Prestwick Airport just 3500 feet above us, it stayed on the ground at Prestwick for about ten minutes, waited for an Airbus A400M to touch and take off (also from Brize Norton) and followed it home. Missed the A400 but captured the Globemaster as it flew a bit further West of us on the return journey (below).
22nd.
Two days after the cold snap and we are back into the wet weather, still went for a walk in the “muzzle” (mist and drizzle combined) .
Before we got out the door the male Blackbird was sitting on the fence where the Robin was in a previous shot and just like our last house the Blackbirds are knowing that if they sit there long enough pleading hunger, one of us will throw out a handful of sultanas to keep them going. At the moment it is only one male and two of his females, know doubt word will get around over winter and their mates will learn the trick as well.
On the walk today was a massive black Highland Bull and it is really a fine specimen, stood there in the rain trying to persuade it to turn and show it’s face in all it’s splendour, but would not have it at all. Another challenge for me to achieve.
Just to show what a horrid day it was looking out over the boggy moors towards the loch with one of the two resident Swans looking on.
24th.
Another challenge for me was walking along the footpath through the Scout garden there runs a burn that eventually joins the River Doon, I have spotted three Dippers on this stretch , but never able to photograph any of them. Today that challenge was defeated.
Okay the grass stems ruin the shots, but they were there so I won’t use post processing to remove them.
A close up of the Dipper, such amazing colour and still droplets of water on the feathers, sat there for about ten seconds before it went under and continued it’s hunt for food .
The return walk takes us past the towns football pitch and I was intrigued to see some activity on the grass with a man following a robot around. It turns out this machine can work out how true and square the soccer pitch is and as the team is up and coming (at present top of their league ) that may be important if they gain promotion. Apparently the pitch is slightly out and this machine will go round with a grass coloured paint and show the groundsman where the white lines should be and they can alter it if they wish.
27th.
Work is starting next week on our streets water system, so the bosses arrived to discuss it , where would we be without mobile phones?
29th
Went over to my son and partners village is across the moors a couple of miles of just sheep and cattle. Though the road is single track a lot of it is a straight and up and down as the shot shows.
Wind farms dominate the hills.
Love this sign.
Heading home the Windmills above our town are in the distance.
30th.
End of the month and we finish it the way we started with a minus four C frost. This my poor old car at ten thirty in the morning still really frozen up. As you can see my driveway does not get the sun first thing so it will still be frozen for at least another hour, but the car on the other side of the road has virtually defrosted in the sunshine. Should not really complain as no real snow to clear as yet, but let us see what next month will bring.
Well we are into November and I thought I would start off with a bang and as we went to our son’s village for the fifth of November ( Guy Fawkes night) celebration that is exactly what happened . The display is getting a really good reputation for being one of the best free shows in the area, they do have buckets for contributions towards next years display and I am sure they raised a good deal of money as there were at least a thousand people attended.
5th
Just a few of the eighty shots I took including the bonfire that started the event and the shot above that showed how fierce it was by the side light on people gathered around me. Unfortunately we did get some rain and though it did not dampen the spirits of people or the fireworks, it did cause a few spots on my lens.
As a point of interest my neighbour across the road is Officer in Charge of our town “on call” firefighters and he was out on a call and to get back to our fire station had to pass through my sons village, though I had this shot on long exposure it gives the impression that it was speeding past the event it wasn’t .
7th.
What a beautiful morning to be out on a boat fishing Belston Loch, sun shining and initially hardly a ripple on the water. Fish rising every where, could not wish to be anywhere better on such a cracking day, even the moon was still visible just above the central cloud.
Fished from nine until twelve raised maybe three good sized Rainbow Trout, but never caught any of them. Who cares it was a beautiful Autumn day and I had the Loch to myself and just didn’t have a worry in the world just soak it all in, of course a fish for tea would have been good , but I had an excellent relaxing morning. HONEST.
15th.
Spent the morning prepping the kitchen ready to start decorating and though it is a cold ( seven degrees C) afternoon with a brisk North wind we decided to go a small walk around the block. Of course took my camera with me and these were the results.
I love dead weed stems even more when they have snow or frost on, but these were attractive enough to capture.
The sun light on the Pampus Grass in our garden was fun to take as well.
The iron Wren is taking on some wonderful colour as it starts to rust on the fence.
So today was the first wet morning we have had so we planned our day in advance and spent most of the day in a shopping mall that was huge but had the all important Eately for lunch. Have just been sent a photo of one in Munich, why can we not have one in Glasgow?
15th.
Though a bit more rain overnight it turned out a warm sunny day again,
First thing I captured this shot of one of the many Lemons the family have growing in a pot with the overnight rain still on the fruit.
Later we went for a ride North along the Pacific Coast Highway which runs up the coast line and allowed for a few stops to gather shots on the way home, heading South.
These two are from a point above Zuma Beach and show you the undamaged by fire houses and just how close they are to the Ocean.
Stopped off in Malibu for the famous Lobster Rolls that this particular place do. Me being me had the Shrimp and Fries instead.
Next to the shops there was a small park with some lovely statues and water called Legacy Park and after a very full meal was a welcome walk around in the sunshine.
Of course during the horrid fires in this area many properties along the coast were totally destroyed and I as a retired firefighter found it hard to envisage one hundred mile an hour winds fanning flames across a four lane highway (which normally would act as a natural fire break) and destroying homes along the Ocean. By now of course all the burnt timbers and ironwork have been removed and all that is visible are the concrete stilts and timbers that made the foundations of these houses. As you will see below, houses that were worth literally millions of dollars have just gone.
Note the burnt down palm tree.
Sorry about the different angles but all taken from a moving car.
16th
Went to Manhattan Beach today, a compact town with loads of steep roads leading down to the beach with houses pitched at angles to compensate for the slope. beautiful, clean well kept beach.
A guy with a paddle board was very good at surfing these small waves, on the top left are two tankers unloading or loading at the Chevron refinery.
Beach advertises itself as the “home of beach volleyball” certainly plenty of courts.
Lovely solid pier, again very tidy, no litter .
At the end of the pier was this aquarium which I wa desperate to look around but was closed.
Had to include this fluke shot, I had no idea the pigeon was there and to get it in focus was a miracle. Incidentally if you look at the land mass in the middle of the shot that was the Malibu coastline we travelled along yesterday.
The glass building in the centre of the shot is The Strand House where we had a very good lunch looking out onto the ocean. See what I mean about the steep slopes leading to the beach?
19th
Mexico celebrate Dia De Muertos (the day of the dead) and Santa Monica take over the top half of Third Street Promenade to celebrate, fortunately we were there to enjoy the festivities. A bit like Halloween but with more acknowledgement of their dead relatives and in my eyes a joy for the living.
These colourful statues lined the street and I could have made a blog of them alone, but above were just a few.
People dress up as well and often go very sombre when I photographed them.
Young and old danced for the crowds and were very proffesional at it, drawing loads of people to watch.
The Promenade is always busy with lots of good shops in this pedestrian area, but for the celebration it had a real vibe.
This evening was the last of our holiday, so it had to be a walk on the beach boardwalk to capture the sunset for one last time.
These Sandlings fascinate me , how they run in and out with the waves to captured small morsels from the sand and they are so tame as you can see from the second shot, people walking in the water and they hardly move.
As the sun sets people are still in the water having a last minute dip.
The very last Californian sunset of our fabulous holiday, so good to spend time with our family of three and we have loved every minute of it.
20th/21st
Up early three thirty am, pick up car at four thirty, checked in at LAX by five at the start of the twenty two hour journey home. A five hour stopover in New York Newark airport , before the flight across the pond, which our son had given up his air miles to put us in business class, so a flat bed seat and four hours sleep, which rejuvenated me for the two hour drive home once on Scottish soil.
23rd.
Still suffering from really bad jet lag and trying to get back in the right time frames, erecting more shelves and emptying boxes in the workshop, why have I so much junk?
31st
Just to show you, the shelves up and already filled with junk, organised junk of course and I will know where I put everything for me to use………..nope. But I will learn.
By the time you read this we will either be about to return home or have returned, depends on how much time I have to relax and complete the blog. The reason being we are off on the 6th to visit our son in the U.S.A., firstly four days in New York and then ten days in Santa Monica. Had to stop off in NY so I can attend my first Zoom meeting on the same time line as them, I will be earlier rather than later when in L.A.
A trip like this is just what is needed after the upheaval of moving, a time to relax and enjoy the break, no more putting up pictures, no more decorating, no more getting things fixed like light fittings. Just good company, food and of course wine.
2nd.
Today is new workshop day, we got up early thinking the men would be here to start dismantling the old one, which was rotting away broken windows saggy roof panels leaking and generally not very good. Then erecting a new one. By eleven A.M. no workers. so phoned and they are not coming to us until this afternoon, the time that I thought I would see daylight in my greenhouse as I emptied all that is stored in there into the workshop where it belongs. Oh well looks like I will be doing that during Storm Amy that is meant to hit us tomorrow.
Hope to get before and after shots of the workshop. So all six windows are blacked out(or should it be browned out?), slight dip in the roof, near the ground bottom left the panels are rotted and around the back, a bit dodgy in the middle as well, so hopefully before dark I will have a newly erected workshop. You can see the small greenhouse next to it which is full upend it will be good to have it free to put some plants in over the Winter months for protection.
This does not really show the extent the greenhouse is full, if you notice the Tesco delivery crates bottom right, there are a total of twenty of those boxes in there, all full of “stuff” that should and will be in my new workshop before we go away on Sunday.
2nd.
Got up half hour early expecting the workshop first thing , phoned at eleven to be told it will be with us after lunch. But when the two lads arrived, did they put a full shift in. Started at two p.m. and where on their way by four forty-five . having un loaded new shed, demolished the old one, erected the new one and strapped the old one on the van, great teamwork.
Below is a sequence of events as filmed through the bedroom window.
Most of the greenhouse empty as soon as they left, workshop is full, but as soon as I get some ply tomorrow and put some shelves up and fill the drawers it will soon be clear (I hope) but that won’t be until we return and jet lag has been got over.
6th.
So after a delayed start to our holiday with our plane leaving Edinburgh two hours late we arrived in New York and spent the day unpacking and getting some sleep to try to help jet lag on it’s way.
7th.
Our favourite walk is across town to the Hudson River and walk down to the financial district , then onto the Peace Gardens to pay our respect for 9/11, before going to eat lunch in our favourite Italian chain of restaurants Eataly.
Still a lot of construction going on along the waterfront, this building was the largest, being nearly as tall as the Peace Tower. I just loved the shape of it.
Just a view from the Financial District out across the water to the Statue of Liberty.
Always love this building, looking up to the glass roof with the Palm Trees nearly touching it now.
8th.
Last full day in New York so we had to walk the Highline. This is a disused above ground subway track and goes from (roughly and you New Yorkers don’t tell me off) Chelsea all the way up to the Hudson Yard and is a horticultural delight.
But first we had to stop for a coffee at a very unique venue a florist that has a cafe within and changes it decor with the seasons. Being now officially Autumn it has fresh, real, tree branches throughout the shop and on the outside, it is great to sit amongst such colour and the effort to produce it is incredible and my hot chocolate was good too.
Cannot resist a great sign .
Some great colour still in some of the plants but also Autumn seed heads look great.
Mother Theresa and Gandhi having a chat on the side of a building.
Usual fast moving traffic in NYC, not.
The Edge platform with it’s glass floor great piece of archetecture.
A quiet section of what is a very popular walk, some may recognise the bag lady coming towards me?
The end of the line, very appropriate before we moved onto California.
12th.
After a day to recover even more jet lag the wife & I went out for a early morning stroll along the cliff top looking down on the Santa Monica beach, a sis usual this time of the year this time of the day was a bit misty but a very beautiful part of the world for a stroll.
This Bottle Brush tree is outside my son and his wife’s apartment and is head height above you and with the sun shining through it is a real jewel.
If it wasn’t such a steep climb back up the road we would have preferred to have had our walk along the boardwalk on the beach, but we were content to walk along the top and look at the deserted beach.
Just to show that Halloween is fast approaching.
13th.
Being on the west coast the sunsets are always amazing over the Pacific Ocean, so this evening we all drove down to the beach and walked along it to observe the sunset. here are a few of the many shots I managed to capture on a warm beautiful evening.
A yacht heading home after a day out sailing.
School children playing soccer and volleyball in the twilight.
Young girls on a photo shoot and I managed to get a couple of shots without the photographer seeing me or getting in the shots.
Finally the sunset hidden behind the iconic lifeguards hut.
13th.
By popular demand we have returned once again to the Huntingdon Museum and gardens a place that always has hundreds of visitors but the grounds are so vast it is so quiet and peaceful.
Our favourite sections have always been the Japanese and Chinese gardens with their wonderful structures and natural stone, always involving water and fish and this one shows true Carp feeding nose down in the mud and silt.
Of course neither of these gardens would be complete without Bonsai, and below is just a selection of the loads I took of these beautiful crafted plants.
This last shot shows how simple a small pot with two water lilies in can make a corner of a garden look so beautiful and elegant.
So from the dullness of construction of a garden workshop to the beauty of a Japanese garden, this has certainly been a varied blog, I hope you enjoy it. Five more days before a mammoth return to East Ayrshire a journey that will mean twenty hours from getting up here in sunny California to driving into our house on a dull day and a collapse into bed.
Not many will remember the Shirly joke from a film, but I do every time someone uses that word.
Twice this week we have woke up to ice on the car, surely (stop it), this is way too early? Busy Liz that were out in a pot have shrivelled up & died , some other plants are looking a bit poorly. Others are dying back as you will see or at least going into their Autumn colours. Way too early only just the first days of Autumn, not Winter and back in the Cairngorms they have had their first snow.
23rd.
Walked around our little garden and captured some shots of the flowers that were enjoying today’s sunshine.
Pampus Grass
A Sedum.
From green to deep red in one stem.
Looks like we will have some good variegated Holly for Christmas decorations.
Last of a Budlia bush flowers.
The Acer changing colours already.
Walked down to the village and the colours are definetly changing.
Seed heads are floating around.
Think this was long dead before the frost appeared.
Now two things that will soon be mysteriously disappearing from our garden on the next refuse tip run.
Sorry not for me.
28th.
As we had a bit of rain in the morning our afternoon walk was on the tarmac and we went partially up the drive to what our neighbours refer to as the “big house” . didn’t go far enough up their drive to see just how big it is but that is for another day. The house is owned by the new lairds of the estate, which again the neighbours tell me, was purchased for just under two million pounds so guess it will be bigger than ours.
The ground is very low lying and is just all scrub and wetland, as you can see it is very near the loch. Met three lads who had been Pike fishing and told me where to go, though they didn’t catch one, they said it was a good spot, so a bit of Winter sport for me.
The last shot shows the Bullrushes in the submerged ground, though we didn’t;t see much birdlife I would think the Spring it will be full of birds and the amount of seed heads we should see a few Winter feeders. Plenty of Wrens about though.
As we have a lot of wind farms scattered amongst the barren hills the community do well out of financial schemes set up by the farms to help with funding of local projects. Today was the opening of one such project a cycling track for all to enjoy especially the youngsters, though it was packed when we walked past it , I did not feel comfortable taking photos with so many children present. When we came back from our walk its had been closed so I took the shots below through the security fencing.
It is such a great track and will be ideal for teaching children road safety, with road signs zebra crossings stop signs the lot . Plus picnic benches all around for parents to sit on and the whole family to have a great afternoon or morning out. In the last shot you can just see two purpose built sheds one for maintenance and the other for bicycle storage as I believe they have spare bikes for those who do not own one, or maybe they just want to try a different type of bike to theirs. Wonderful initiative and just what the youngsters want to get them out in the fresh air.
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.
