We have had two days now of hard frost, following the weekend’s snow. Keith is trudging stoically up and down with barrows of logs, manning the fires and the cats are, as ever, keeping the bed warm. With Lachlan in Edinburgh, filling in time til his exam by acting as our remote shopper (today IContinue reading “We are not alone”
Category Archives: wildlife
Kindling
It’s getting just a touch cooler. On Monday I lit the log burner in the evening for the first time in ages and today the chimney sweep is coming so we can finally get the living room fire going. Of logs, post Storm Arwen, there is a superabundance but I do rather miss the FinancialContinue reading “Kindling”
A middling type
Autumn, like spring, summer and winter, is definitely my favourite season. Everything just feels so much less frenetic. It is warm and sunny enough to make walking the pooch or pottering in the garden a pleasure, but there’s enough intermittent cloud cover to justify a little indoor sloth and pootering, guilt free. Lyra and IContinue reading “A middling type”
WWI and WWII
A few days of insistent downpour, and one misconceived outing in trainers which resulted in trench foot, has meant that we are back to Welly Walks. It’s a little toasty in 2 pairs of socks, but it’s very much “access all areas” so Lyra and I have been out yomping round the fields and checkingContinue reading “WWI and WWII”
Dropsy
We are still somewhat sweltering in the late summer heat. Evenings of light rain have lessened the stress on the plants a little, but it hasn’t really penetrated and a few centimetres down it is still dry and earthenstone hard. After a burst of enthusiasm getting four of the new peonies in, taking some “insurance”Continue reading “Dropsy”
The Dog Days are over
Since coming back from Glenelg we have been gently crisping. The Dog Days of Summer had definitely arrived and the heat has been intense, settling on the garden like a lambent halo by mid morning and intensifying relentlessly to a late afternoon inferno. With the help of mum and auntie Lois we managed (just) someContinue reading “The Dog Days are over”
Corran and the drove road
On Sunday, we decided to retrospectively justify the night before’s dinner at the Pub with a walk up the glen from Corran, with the objective of following the river as far as we could go leaving enough time get back in time for last cake orders at Sheena’s Tea Hut. The drive up to CorranContinue reading “Corran and the drove road”
Unspooling
We have been in Glenelg for four days now and the threads that bind me to things to do have unravelled into a tangled heap on the bedroom floor alongside the running kit and crumpled shorts I pull on most days. The carefully curated holiday wardrobe lies tidily in the drawers and seems likely toContinue reading “Unspooling”
Summer’s survivors
I’ve had a few days out and about on wildlife patrol with Lyra, now freed from the post op “no scratchy” T shirt, recently (ably assisted by Keith and Mum, respectively, as side kicks) so thought I’d submit my late summer report. The heat of the last few days has turned the wheat to gold,Continue reading “Summer’s survivors”
The midsummer narrows
We hurtled to midsummer this year and nature has been running ahead of us all the way, reclaiming its territory. In the Hirsel woods the paths between the ferns have dwindled to the narrowest strip, brambles swarming across, ready to tug at unwary ankles. In places, the nettles have reached shoulder height. Mum and IContinue reading “The midsummer narrows”