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.