Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts

Wednesday, 25 March 2015

Today's Walk - Clunie






Beavers have had a go at the saplings by the water



A dank and silent pool, that always reminds me of the one at the entrance to Moria, in Lord of the Rings

Finally it feels like Spring is, well, not quite here, but definitely On Its Way.  The snowdrops are over and suddenly daffodils are everywhere.  I went over to my regular haunt - Loch Clunie - with my binoculars, hoping to see an osprey. The male has returned to Loch of the Lowes which is just a few miles further along the road, and you just never know.  I was also keeping an eye out for kites, which I'm seeing more frequently these days.
Not today though.  I did see a number of buzzards, three whooper swans, two mute swans, and some long-tailed tits, and that was about it except for the usual pheasants, crows, and mallard ducks.  And a solitary lapwing flying over the road - I think there might have been another sitting in a field, in fact I'm fairly sure of it, and I hope they are a pair and will nest.
I had a look for frog spawn -  again, nothing.  It is a bit early for it here.
It's still bitterly cold when the sun goes in and the wind blows, but at least the days are longer and there is some warmth around.  
I feel that my brain is still in winter-mode.  Not just my brain - my whole system.
Perhaps I need a de-tox or something.
Or perhaps I should just wait, and see how I feel as the year unfolds...


Sunday, 4 May 2014

Clunie

The ramparts on Castle Hill, Clunie, Perthshire.

Loch Clunie and the island from Castle Hill

Monday, 27 April 2009

spring cleaning

Due to extreme nature of pong, we decided we had to do some spring cleaning, so Geoff and I put on our pinnies and Marigolds and got down to it.
We ended up having to use a blow torch for some of it - burnt on grease etc. - losing the general "patina" in the process - I'm not sure if the place looks better or worse.
We've got rid of the smell at any rate - when we pulled out the oven, you'll never guess what we found...