I’M GONNA BE. (30/04/15)

The Proclaimers are a famous Fife band. They walked five hundred miles. I have done a bit of that today. I walked into town for food, baccy and came back with a bottle of campanology.

I saw Rosemarie yesterday and they want to sneak off from their farm and the campsite so asked if I could feed Dozer the dog, the hens and watch the barley growing.

I have enjoyed a life of solitude here but now I have four neighbours so will no doubt have to become an ablution cleaner as well. The dogs think all their birthdays have come at once; six dogs, seven including Dozer, all to run amok with; Dozer isn’t into running.. I forget bank holiday weekends. The dogs here are great but there is a year old Alsatian/ Collie/summat that had a go at the hens. It is only a pup and needs to be told; it’s mum said, as I caught it by the scruff of it’s neck and said bad dog and slapped it’s bum hard, leave him alone he’s only a puppy…. Nowt I could say….I’m in charge here and didn’t think ‘Daft Totty’ as a retort was good for PR. I bet a pound to a shilling she is the one that can’t hit the hole in the kazi. There is always one with a sphincter like a muck spreader.

We set off on our hundredth of five hundred miles.

        Moll thinks she knows the way.

      Hurry up.

    I love the ever changing light through the woods on this road.

    Then we hit the main road. I hate it, it makes my feet hurt.

      There are some pretty views…. A Lomond hill.

    Eventually Auchtermuckty is within hobbling distance and we haven’t got wet.

    The white wall is our destination. An ATM for my rent, and behind that all manner of things like bread and potatoes and apples and cheeses and Bells and baccy. It is like paradise in there but the wild garlic is free and has a wonderful taste rabbit is great and free but they do get a funny taste when they are lactating; happen they are out of season.

  I am not a town person. This is okay. The dogs didn’t get run over and neither did I.

             The Town hall clock. I like tower clocks so will ask for access and have a look.

           This wee water supply system is different..

  This to me is a typical Scottish town.

There is little town planning in Scotland in fact little planning at all but I have tried to show the positive side to my five mile walk.

I Wanna Be the worlds best macro snapper whether I’m Gonna be only time will tell.

That’s life.

WHOSE HUGH? (29/04/15)

I have been out three times today and got three good soakings for my trouble.   This leaf holds water well but then today it hasn’t had to hold it for long between showers.

    Forget-me-not.

   Daisy and what the yellow one is I don’t know. I’ll see if it has got bigger tomorrow.

   The first Primrose I’ve seen this year. This one is pin eyed as the stigma are above the stamens……Phil explained it all today at CABINET OF CURIOSITIES. If they are the other way round they are thrum eyed. My fingers look a bit pink but they were frozen.

The other day I found a black pheasant that wasn’t, today I found a silver one and a normal one.

   This is Hugh the black hued pheasant.

    This is Huw, the silver feathered pheasant.

    This is Aed, he’s Welsh and looks surprisingly normal for a pheasant. I expect they all taste the same and are all special needs.

Tomorrow I must have a wander down into the village as I need bread, milk and some other bits and bobs. I’ll get some pictures whilst I’m there.

BUCKET. (28/04/15)

Bucket, pronounced bouquet for the purposes of this post, a few little flowers and some medium ones.

I’ll start with with the one I don’t know though I should as I’m sure that Phil at CABINET OF CURIOSITIES has posted  the words and music about this little gem.

     I ought to have let it dry out a bit as the poor thing is soaking. I found it while checking the side of the burn for Lords and Ladies. It was growing as a carpet around the base of Wild Garlic, Colt’s Foot and lots of other things.

EDIT: 0653h. 29.04.15.

After much perusal and help from Trevor I think the above is Golden Saxifrage.     Wild Garlic.

     Colt’s Foot, the panoramic view.

   This is a stunted Red dead-nettle. It’s been deprived as it is growing on a cart track.

That’s it for the bucket bit. I saw a black pheasant but after circumnavigating half a field to get closer it turned out not to be black but it is very dark.

On the way back I spotted………..

     A rabbit changing her bed or possibly hay making.

That’s all for today

MAGIC ON A MONDAY. (27/04/15)

The weather seems to have fallen into an acceptable pattern. It’s cold at night, sunny and windless first thing and showery with hail after lunch. It’s grand and I’m collecting a real backlog of images. I’ll have to discriminate more and bin a few dozen or just do as I normally do and leave them where they are and forget what and where they are.

I’ll start with the Forget-me-not. At least I hope I will, I am reasonably confident that it is one.

The last two are at 4:1 and could do with focus stacking but I am getting all the practise I can hand holding as the weather will soon warm up again and insects won’t sit still for a tripod mounted camera.

  This is a Warbler basking under a cloudless sky first thing today. I’ll toss a coin. It came down heads so it is a Chiffchaff.

This isn’t any relation, though it sounds as if it ought to be, it’s a Chaffinch.

Now the series of images that follow would have made a good GIF file, they also made me blush. Brazen birds.

Lucky Pied Wagtails. A grand way to start the working week.

That’s more than enough for one post, enjoy whatever you are doing.

MIXED. (26/04/15)

The forecast for this weekend was abysmal but due to the combined efforts of the North Atlantic Drift, Ed Militant, Dithery Dave, the Queen and incompetent forecasters it has turned out quite nice with some cold rain and plenty of sunshine.

      This place is ideal for wandering in April showers as the dotted lines represent short cuts home. This wood was not planned by a politician or a planning officer, it has just evolved and is perfect. This morning we did the whole perimeter in glorious sunshine. I don’t have to walk on the road as there is a path runs alongside it a few yards into the wood.

   It is not my usual sort of place but is a wonderful change.

    The Larch is needling or whatever it does.

     Blossom is blooming.

    Cones are basking under a cloudless sky.

I decided to sit down for a rest…………No not rest, a bit of birding.

      It started off fine with this Great Tit. I was soon joined on my log by an angel from heaven in the form of a nubile young lady and a West Highland Terrier called Bert who had brought her out for an airing. She asked what I was doing and I said waiting for a Jay. She quite rightly observed that there was not sight nor sound of one. She then said.  “My husband has left me”. I must confess to being all ears but could think of nothing to say. Happen he had gone to fetch the papers or was working a Sunday shift. I decided she was a nutter. I often get loonies on buses but never before on a log in a wood. Fortunately Albert her dog, bored with the conversation, decided it was time to carry on with his walk and with a cheery goodbye she joined him.

     I knew I’d heard a jay and there it is and there it stayed.

     This Blackbird was the opposite it was so close I nearly fell off my perch to get her in focus.    

I have a load of macros but I think you have suffered enough for one day. Enjoy the coming week; it has the makings of a cool one here.

       This is a teaser for the botanists. It’s a very common flower that is found both cultivated and growing wild. I’ll show you it tomorrow meanwhile try not to forget me.