Hybridisation in action

Last year we had two types of aquilegia. This short Columbine type with big flowers



and this tall traditional type with small flowers.



This year we also have a medium height type with medium size flowers.

Dave Gorman

Just been to see Dave Gorman's stand up show. Very funny and worth the £20.

The message of the show tonight:

Turn up on time and don't use your phone.

(He made us promise not to publish any spoilers, but I think that ad lib bit's okay.)

Who needs Norway?

This week I are mostly

hatching this...

Best description of race rules ever...?

Aboot i'runnin' aboot:

Fit ye're tryin' ti dae:

Ti ging roon on 53 mile “Fling” roadie alang i' Southern pairt o' the West Highland Way fae somewye ca'd Milngavie ti Tyndrum afore yir time runs oot. An' it's nae jist i' folk running themsels, there's i' club competitions an' a', an' a special een far ye hae four folk, een aifter the ither. Now a'body's got ti be ower 21, nae swikin'. I' “Fling” is mint ti' be deen athoot only help at a'. The folk that's pit a' this the gither'll drap aff buggies that you've made earlier, as lang as ye mind ti pit on yir proper race number, a' the wye alang the roadie at the checkpoints. Kitbags wi' little ticketies on'll be teen ti' the end o' the roadie at Tyndrum near 'at afa fine Green Welly Stop, an' bussies, thit ye've got ti' hae said yer gahn on (and pit yer haun in yer pooch) afore the day'll tak ye a; back to Milngavie far ye can get the trainnie. Course, if ye wint ti hae yir ain folk helpin' ye, that's yir ain look oot.

Club Competition

Ur's nae end ti the number o' chiels ye can hae in yer clique. Fooiver lang it taks fur the first three (M or F) gahn by themsels fae each club'll be added igither on a bittie paper ti gie i' club’s time, so ere's nae need for folk runnin' ti dae onything ither than pit their ain name doon, as lang as ye pit doon fa' ye're wi. If yi wint ti be richt clivver an'pit in mair than wun (M or F) team it's nae skin aff oor nose, jist mak sure we ken a' aboot it and fa' yir spikkin' aboot.

Fae Born2Run Click fae english

Ben Nevis

This weekend the weather forecast was good, and my other having been driven half demented by not having been to the hills for a while, we went to Ben Nevis.

We ascended the Ben by Number 5 Gully to Carn Dearg. My legs were not quite ready for 450m of front pointing, and I was quite aware of it being a very long way down to be balancing on nine little metal points.



Having topped out with daylight to spare we went to the summit to enjoy the view and a cup of tea.



We then descended into the setting sun via the tourist path.



We cooked dinner in the van at the Visitor Centre car park and made free with the facilites (which are quite well heated). My apologies to the gentlemen who wished to use the toilets while we were washing up. One at least had the sense to go in a cubicle.

We headed to Ballachulish on Saturday night and parked the van at the carpark for Sgorr Dhonuill, Sgorr Dhearg and Glen a Chaolais. We followed the signs and did Sgorr Dhonuill first, but in hindsight it might better to go the other way round in winter and ascend the frozen, scrambly scree bits. The views to Ben Nevis and Glen Coe were fabulous.

Happy Lancashire Day!

TO: THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY AND COUNTY PALATINE OF LANCASTER

GREETINGS!


Know ye that this day, November 27th in the year of
our Lord Two Thousand and Nine, the 58th year of
the reign of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,
Duke of Lancaster, is Lancashire Day.

Know ye also, and rejoice, that by virtue of Her
Majesty's County Palatine of Lancaster, the citizens
of the Hundreds of Lonsdale, North and South of
the Sands, Amounderness, Leyland, Blackburn,
Salford and West Derby are forever entitled to style
themselves Lancastrians.

Throughout the County Palatine, from the Furness
Fells to the River Mersey, from the Irish Sea to the
Pennines, this day shall ever mark the peoples' pleasure
in that excellent distinction - true Lancastrians, proud
of the Red Rose and loyal to our Sovereign Duke.


GOD BLESS LANCASHIRE AND

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN,

DUKE OF LANCASTER.



(Just slightly afraid that in my ultra-organisedness (it won't last) I may have written Merseyside on my Dad's Christmas card...)

Garden, autumn

Taken today.

Deeside, autumn

Approaching Lyne of Skene, looking towards Deeside.

Donside, late summer

Photos taken a while ago when I was out for a cycle. Looking towards Bennachie from the back of Kirkhill.

RTPI President on Aberdeen planners

From Aberdeen City Council website

The president of the UK Royal Town Planners Institute has praised Aberdeen City Council's planning department for the positive impact it has had on the city's developments.

Martin Willey was impressed by the quality and level of development, not least that reflected by the number of cranes in operation, which he witnessed when he visited Aberdeen this week.

Mr. Willey said: "Planning can and does make a real difference not only to the fabric of a city, but to the lives of those who live and work in it as well. I was impressed by the amount of high quality, well designed development I saw during my visit to Aberdeen, where it is clear that business is booming, even in these difficult times.

"From what I have seen and heard, Aberdeen's planners have a great track record of talking with people to engage them in the planning process and really listening to the public's views on how the city should be shaped for the future.

"Recent projects such as the newly-opened Aberdeen Sports Village demonstrate that kind of detailed engagement in action – and I'm glad that visit to the city has provided me with many examples to add to my collection of best practice from around the world. Well done Aberdeen!"

Among the Aberdeen developments Mr. Willey learned of during his time in the city are:

* Marischal College, which is bringing an iconic but long-neglected city building back into use, dealing with conservation issues associated with the redevelopment work;
* the award-winning Malmaison Hotel, which received recognition for its architectural design - finalised with input from Aberdeen planners;
* the Union Square shopping and leisure development, which has made a contribution towards the conservation-led improvement of the Green, as part of its planning conditions.

I would just like to say (in a hollow and sarcastic fashion) Ha.

With regard to the comment re Marischal College, Ha, double Ha and bollocks. I still don't understand how the City Council can be both Applicant and determining Authority for the planning applications. And I don't see how a facade job can be considered to be "dealing with the conservation issues". It is not 1995. Facadism should be long passé.

Lego

Pittsburgh Summit Spouses

Belgian Waffle asks us to consider how far we have to go in gender equality in relation to this photo (For names see here).



Immediately, we notice that Angela Merkel's husband is not there. Joachim Sauer is a Professor researching in quantum chemistry at Humboldt University in Berlin and does not often attend public functions. Not even her inauguration this year.

Also not in attendance is Nestor Kirchner, husband of Cristina Kirchner, President of Argentina. Cristina was elected as Nestor's successor. So, should he support her as much as she supported him in her role as First Lady, or should he stay in the background?

A third First Gentleman could have attended, if India had sent their President rather than their Prime Minister.

These women are, for the most part, well educated and had fairly high power jobs. However, the information I can find seems to suggest that most have given up their own work to support their husband and his political party, along with some charitable or governmental work. Only two seem to be labelled as mothers - Svetlana Medvedeva (Russia) and Nompumelelo Ntuli (South Africa), though many have children. I can only find clear information to show three First Ladies working in their own right: Thailand - Dr of and lecturer in Mathematics, France - singer/songwriter, Australia - MD of a Welfare to Work Emploment Agency. I suppose, though, if you choose to take on the role of a First Lady there isn't time to work as well.

But, the question remains. Why is it that these well educated, successful women are the First Ladies, not the Heads of State? Why does gender still matter?

Many of their husbands began their political careers at least 20 years ago. The times maybe changing, but it might take just as long for current politically ambitious women to work their way up. In 20 years will things be different?

OMM Training

My sister in law convinced me that doing the short score at the OMM was a Good Idea. Having gone out for a five hour run with her at the weekend I'm now considerably less convinced.

While my other half was doing the Two Breweries race (between Traquair and Broughton in the borders) we went for a run over Broad Law. We were staying at the Tweedsmuir Outdoor Centre, so ran straight from there. Our route took us through the woods to the trig point on Garelet Hill (680m), then descended straight off the side of it (400m ish descent in 1k) down to cross the river on the road. We then tried to run up the road - and failed, it's quite steep - alongside the waterfalls and followed the cairns up to Cairn Law and then Broad Law (840m). We then came off Broad Law past the large circular mast array and back to the forest tracks via the S side of Great Knock. We came out onto the road at Hearthstane and then picked up the track on the old railway line to get back to Tweedsmuir.


Sister in law descending Great Knock

After finishing our run we went to Broughton to see the others finish theirs. Not many Cosmic runners this year, but one took the prize for 1st F50. Some of which we have in our fridge - she doesn't drink beer.

Harvest

Our potato harvest. Hopefully we got them up before the Blight set in too badly. We had a couple of mushy ones, but will have to wait and see if they survive in storage. We have three varieties this year, white, pink and stripy. Not sure if the stripy ones are a cross of the other two.

Our tomatoes definitely have Blight. They look just like the image on the RHS page. We shall have to cart them off somewhere and burn them.

There are also three of our five parsnips in the pic too. They've grown well, but not a great germination rate...

Painted Lady

We have many of these this year. We also have Red admirals and Peacocks, but I haven't found any willing to be chased with a camera yet.

Holiday

Staying in Skerries seemed like a good plan when we booked it. However, the morning we arrived we found out that the rail bridge had collapsed at Malahide a week earlier and hence there was no train to Dublin. We took the bus from the airport via Swords, so hadn't been stuck in the city like the American guests who arrived late and very flustered. The disruption meant we spent quite a lot of time (and euros) at the mercy of Dublin buses. Thankfully they were running extra express services through the Port Tunnel - as the local bus took some time to get to Skerries. There was supposedly a replacement bus service running south from Skerries (though we saw no evidence), but no replacement service running north for some reason.

Anyway, Skerries is nice. A sort of seaside town cross commuter belt place. The area is dotted with numerous Martello Towers looking over the Irish Sea beaches, to make sure that the Irish didn't indulge in co-religious aiding and abetting and help Napoleon across.

We stayed at the Redbank Guesthouse, which has a very swish website, and lovely food. The attached restaurant is quite expensive, so we only ate there once, but the food we had was delicious and proper portions. The owner, Terry McCoy, seems to be quite well known as a seafood chef in Ireland.

On the Sunday we went down to Malahide to go sailing with Terry. As the train wasn't running this cost us a fortune in taxi fairs, but was a good day out. We sailed around Lambay, pulling into a small cove to look at the gannet colony. A large bull seal kept treading water close off the stern watching us, but wasn't interested in cream crackers. There were races in progress from Rush as we motored back, including one for Mermaids - a local type of boat. Back in the marina we had lunch made by Terry.



In Malahide we also had a walk around the castle grounds and a coffee and cake in the teashop, but it was rather pricy to go in. We stopped in at an art show, and I was inspired and disheartened at the same time.



To guide us around Dublin we downloaded some walking tours from the VisitDublin website. These were written and read by local artist and historian Pat Liddy. We found them interesting and the ones on Georgian Dublin and the Northside took us to places we probably wouldn't have seen otherwise. We used the one on the Guinness family to take us from the City Centre to the Guinness Storehouse. I've been to the Storehouse before, with Uni in 2001. This time though I could be interested in the Guinness, rather than the treatment of the building. Apparently I still can't drink a whole pint of Guinness.

As we walked past City Hall on one of our tours we saw the first Velibs being installed. The scheme was launched this week.



On our last day we went to the National Museums and the National Gallery (They are free and have cloakrooms for luggage). My other half doesn't normally display an interest in art, but he did seem to be interested in the National Gallery, if only to disagree with me on the depiction of light in the sky in various paintings and to keep asking me why I don't paint more. He also seemed to like the portrait gallery. I find that interesting for the back stories as well as the paintings.

I did notice when we went into the Benson and Forsyth extension to the Gallery. I felt it was very similar to their extension to the Museum of Scotland, at least internally.

I once commented on Belgianwaffle that Tesco in Scotland promote Scottish produce. She had written that in Ireland they seemed to be cutting back on Irish products. I now wonder whether they did that because Ireland has Dunnes. We bought our lunch there one day, and they seem to have Irish produce pretty well covered. There isn't a particularly Scottish shop like that in Scotland. Except perhaps Peckhams, but they don't operate in the same market.

Holiday

I am finally getting to go away some where! We are off to Ireland for the weekend, to stay in Skerries on the coast just north of Dublin. It looks rather pretty and the guesthouse looks nice on its website.

Just slightly worried by the prospect of flying with Ryanair. And by the the leaks in our house which appeared last night. I'm not sure if we need a new roof, gutters, windows or all three... How much of the world's resources would I use up if I left the dehumidifier on?

Viral Video

Apparently United break guitars...
From the Guardian's Viral Video page

This weekend

On Saturday I went to do the Meall an t-Suidhe hill race in Fort William (prizes in the comments box for phonetic pronounciation of the hill it goes up). It's a short race - 5k - and a steep one - evil steep. It was also very hot. Needless to say, I did rather badly as I boiled on the hill and had to stop and sit down. I was saved by a nice lady from Lochaber who was carrying a wet pactowel with her and wrang some stream water down my neck.

I now have very sore quads and knees, but I have completed one of the Scottish Champs races for this season and it's good practice for next weekend.

The last two days have been spent in removing the green from my kitchen (The units were all green on Sunday morning). Two days and four coats of paint later, it looks like this. I am pleased.

Barra

A couple of weeks ago my other half did his Day Skipper course with a company based on Barra. I went out to join him for weekend and can highly recommend it. Barra and Vatersay are lovely, all white sand and blue sea.



I was meant to fly over on the saturday morning, but the conference I was meant to be at on the Friday was cancelled so instead I had a lovely train ride from Glasgow to Oban, then a sunshiney ferry trip up the Sound of Mull and across the Sea of the Hebrides. It was nearly a disaster as I discovered there's no O2 reception on Barra. Luckily he happened to walking past the ferry terminal as I arrived, so I properly surprised him.

We camped on the beach at Castlebay, as all the B&Bs were full, but you can camp almost anywhere as long as you ask - there's no official site and there are toilets in the Community Hall.

On Friday night we had tea at Kisimul Cafe (presumably named for the castle in the bay), which is a cafe by day and an Indian/Italian/sea food restaurant by night. I recommend the scallop pakoras.

On saturday we walked over the hills in the middle, past the Madonna on Sheabhal (Heaval) to the north of the island, then out to the Otter Cafe which doubles as the waiting room for the Eriskay ferry at Aird Mhor. About 6-7km in all. Had a nice toastie and cup of tea then caught the little bus back to Castlebay, changed to the other little bus and went down to the Vatersay Community Hall. This is on a narrow stretch of the island with big white beaches either side.

We walked around Vatersay on the marked trail, which takes you round the south part of the island in about 4km. The views to the outlying island are quite spectacular.



Two wrecks are commemorated on Vatersay, the Annie Jane (saling from Liverpool to Montreal) and the Catalina (flying out of RAF Oban).

Having hitched back to Castlebay, we went for a beer then dinner at the Castlebay Hotel. The food is much more traditional but just as delicious as the cafe.

Sunday was spent travelling home, as the ferry was at 9.20. This is where Barra is different to other Hebridean islands - it used to be the 'Catholic' one. Therefore there are sunday ferries and the Co-op in Castlebay is open in the afternoon.

Vegetable Patch

This is our veg patch.

From front to back of the photo we have:

Bed 1: Sweet peas and nasturtiums (not strictly veg, but nasturtium leaves are salad), 3 parsnips, broad beans, tomatoes, onions and parsley.

Bed 2: Asparagus (2 shoots, but you can only start eating it in the third growing season, so not until 2011), spinach, 1 carrot, tomatoes and onions.

Bed 3: Red onions, garlic, tomatoes, 1 random carrot (I think it's a carrot, but we didn't sow carrots in this bed), garlic and onions.

Bed 4: Potatoes.

The neighbourhood cats killed off the carrots and parsnips by using our nicely sown beds as litter trays.

The tomatoes are there as I had an error of germination. Last year none survived, this year I planted more and they all did. So, we're experimenting to find out if tomatoes grow outside in Aberdeen. They are in a warm spot, the wall faces west and holds the heat quite well and gets the sun most of the day. We've six in the cold frame as normal.

The orange and white thing? That's a Grampian Orienteers control marker kite, which was left behind after the Summer Series event I organised on Perwinnes Moss (part of the Scotstown Moor Local Nature Reserve and SSSI just over the field south of our house).

Sewing

Today, I made a skirt.

I used google to find a pattern and adapted it slightly. The pattern came from a Craftster member (see reply 3). I followed her instructions for working out the waist size and bottom hem width, but didn't put the middle panel upside down and added darts to accommodate my hips (thanks mum).

I think it's come out alright, if a little shorter than I meant - but it's summer so I'll convince myself that's okay...

A distinct lack of sea legs...

We went to Bute at the weekend to launch his dad's boat. That accomplished on Saturday evening, he insisted on taking me sailing on Sunday morning. While I wasn't feeling too bad on board, it took me until Monday lunchtime to stop going up and down...

Saturday run

Today the club run was at Millstone from the Donview Car Park. There was lovely sunshine again. I've picked the good weather weekends to go out.

The photo is the view of Mither Tap from the top of Millstone. The Bennachie range ridge stretches out of the left hand side of the picture to Craigshannoch and Oxen Craig. The whole range includes nine tops and has numerous trails for running, biking or even walking your granny.

Plants

I have been busy planting things in the garden.

So far I have planted

Ixia - tall white flowers from bulbs started in pots
Oxalis - red flowers with quatrefoilish leaves from bulbs started in pots
Anemone - mixed colours, but they haven't come up in the pots unlike the previous two, so I've shoved them in the ground for next year.
Agapanthus Donau - lilac I think. A root in a bag kind, but they've grown well in the pots

Lupin - white, from seed from a bought one.

Clematis Jackmanii - purple, famous, my dad has one.
Clematis Texensis Duchess of Albany - a posh name for pink clematis
Pulsatilla vulgaris rubra - a dark red alpine. I saw them on gardeners' world and thought they were pretty.
Sedum acre aureum - I presume the 'aureum' part of the name refers to the yellow tips and flowers
Lithodora diffusa - Blue alpine. I may have made an error with this one, BBC gardening says it's tender. I fear it may be doomed.
Hieracium maculatum leopard - a sort of hawkweed with yellow flowers and maroon and green speckled leaves
Pieris - what my neighbour calls a flame bush. A shrub with green leaves with red new growth.

I've also got a chocolate cosmos in a pot doing nothing yet, and some sweet pea and nasturtium seedlings in the propagator.

Veg wise, I have spinach, tomato and chilli seedlings to be dealt with. I planted out the broad beans at the weekend and the over wintered cabbage has well and truly bolted.

Garden

Inspired by Uphilldowndale (who takes wonderful photos), I have been playing with my camera and bothering the flowers...




These tulips came out of the same bag of bulbs. The first one is the only one that has come up the colour I was sold. The 'white' ones are also looking suspiciously red. I've no idea why there are three yellow ones. I can't even remember if I planted them...


This wallflower is proving defiantly biennial...

We've had a profusion of white flowers - Amalanchier, saxifrage, hyacinth.





And a good showing of my favourite blue grape hyacinths.


Though I may have to try taking a photo of these on a sunnier day, as the blue isn't showing up quite as blue as it actually is, despite my taking about ten different photos playing with the aperture etc. I'm clearly in need of more practice.

What we did on Bute

A regular feature of visits to Port Bannatyne is a game of petanque. There is a proper petanque piste, a club league and a committee to oversee them.

The park overlooks the new marina, which is beginning to take shape - the posts for the moorings are in now and I think they're aiming to open for the Easter holidays.

The village seems to be picking up a bit. Several of the tenement blocks are being refurbished, and a new 'multi-user' path is being made on the old tramway to Ettrick Bay. It might attract some of the tourists out of their coaches between there and Rothesay.

Saturday run

For once, I went on the Cosmic Saturday Run (Given the soreness of my left ankle and shin that may have been an error.). We went to Clachnaben for the race preview. I've never done the full route, and still haven't. It is quite a long way and the heather is quite tall. However, some men were seen burning patches around the grouse butts on Mount shade, so it might be better for the race itself.

I wasn't keeping up with the others so missed the traverse on the first hill and ended up wading through thigh deep heather to get back to the ridge. I returned through the lost valley between Mount Shade and Clachnaben, along the main path to the Glen Dye quarry car park and back to Greendams along the road. That was further than I thought...


A unusual view of Clachnaben, from the lost valley at the bottom of Mount Shade.

Glamaig

Me, some Cosmics and the bloke off the telly...

Ferry, Cross the...

Kyles of Bute, actually. Away to the In Laws for the weekend, involves a ride on the wee ferry at Colintraive.

Clever Bluetits

Our peanut feeder is a sort of rectangular one (short sides and top in wood and long sides and bottom in mesh) with a flap over a hole at one end to put the peanuts in through.

The Blue tits have worked out how to open this flap (it swing on a single nail) and lean in to get the nuts.

I like xkcd

A visitor

Not quite fairies at the bottom of the garden, but she'll do.

(Do excuse the state of my phone's zoom)

Is that it?

(Mrs Neighbour must want to go out - Mr Neighbour is shovelling their path)

This week I are mostly drawing

this..

Snow?

Roads

I was musing on the state of the roads in Aberdeen last night and I've come up with a theory.

I think the City Council can't afford Aberdeen and have decided to let the holes in the roads continue to open up until the city's swallowed whole and they don't have to worry about it anymore.

Either that or they're too chicken to ask First.

Been to see the men again...

We've been down to Crosby with my mum, for a walk on the prom and a look at the men. The prom at Crosby is built up with the rubble removed from Liverpool when the bomb sites were being cleared in the 50s and 60s. My mum says you can still find nice pieces of 30s tiles laying amongst it.


It was a bit misty and drizzly (I can't think of an english word for dreich), but the cloud lifted just enough to see the Wirral and the windmills on the docks and in the bay.

Mither Tap

A couple of weekends ago we went for a run around Bennachie. Bennachie is a range of tops and a plateau, with walks and bikeable trails all around it. I took this picture (phone camera) from the top of Craigshannoch looking towards Mither Tap. Mither Tap is an ancient descriptive hill name. Mither is a local word for mother, I'll leave you to look at the shape of the hill to figure the rest out. There's a fort and a tor on the top, and the views over Aberdeenshire are spectacular on a clear day.

While I should be working...

Messers Magpie and Blackbird are disputing ownership of the front garden. The dispute takes the form of turns of walking purposefully about the frozen lawn.
Mr Magpie has the edge, in regal pose and stride length...

New Bird

One of these just flew into our patio door. T'internet confirms it's a female Blackcap, who have brown caps. I've never seen one before. She flew away after a minute, so I think it was only her pride that was hurt...

The photo is from the British Trust for Ornithology website and was taken in Newmachar, which is just a few miles up the road from me. So maybe I should keep my eyes peeled for some more. And my other half swears blind he saw a lesser spotted woodpecker on the telegraph post yesterday. However, he has trouble telling a bluetit from a sparrow, so I'm not sure if I should believe him.

Edit: 15/12/09 The BTO link to the pic broke, so I've inserted a random flickr one.

Kelpies at Falkirk

I'm still not convinced that having a pair of enormous kelpie heads operating a lock on the Forth-Clyde canal is a good idea. I always thought kelpies were malevolent beings, with a taste for drowning and eating people. Perhaps people don't believe any more, or, I suspect more likely, just don't know their own folklore. The photo is of the maquettes currently on display (from Falkirk Council website).

Stonehead made me think about this the other day with his tale of an each uisge and now the story in the Guardian reports on the next phase of the sculpture work.

It seems that the idea of a water horse spirit - in varied guises from downright evil to a bit mischevious, slightly different for each cultural group - is (or was) a widespread northern european belief. Some of the differences appear to be driven by the location of the people. For example the Kelpie of the Scottish lowlands prefers rivers, while the Each Uisge, the northern Gaelic variety, haunts lochs. Coastal peoples, such as the Manx and Cornish, have salt water versions. The Ceffyl Dwr of Wales appears in both fresh and salt water - it also doesn't appear to eat people, but will kill them.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. The idea that so many of the Norse and Celtic cultures have such a similar belief intrigues me. I like it. I don't like the kelpies on the canal. That worries me.

Self Unemployment

Things take a while to set up, don't they? It turns out I can't register as self employed until I begin working as such, which seems a little odd, but who am I to question the wisdom of the Inland Revenue?

I opened a business bank account today, but won't get an account number for a few days - which I need to fill in the forms to pay my National Insurance when I do register with the IR. Mind you, Class 2 NI for self employed people is considerably cheaper than Class 1 Employers contributions (11% of salary). I wonder what that'll do to my pension (if pensions exist in 40 years time...).

Then there's the business insurance and professional indemnity, for which I have to fill in a 6 page form just to get a quote. I'm a little worried that they might then refuse me because I'm not qualified by any particular professional body.

Nothing's easy, is it? But I was expecting it to be worse. I don't know how, but just worse.

Oh, and we still have no heating. But the plumber is coming in the morning, so fingers crossed...

What have I been doing since August?

Well, I thought I'd blogged more recently than August, but apparently not.
So, since then I have

had a sort of unofficial blogmeet at Ben Nevis with Mr Uhdd
run in the Comrie Relays
run at Morven (and wasn't last)
been made redundant (construction always goes first in a recession)
got part time contract work in building conservation with some one who'll help me with my MSc thesis (so may be the redundancy will turn out to be a good thing)

(edited for spelling 24-11-08)

OMM 2008

So, I'm willing to bet that the conditions at the OMM were not quite as bad as the media are making out. I'll get the story later when my other half gets home - he and his sister spent the night in her car having made it back to the car parks. It must have been bad for the event to be called off for the first time in its history, but the competitors are required to be prepared for spending a night out in wild country at the end of October.
(See also UpHillDownDale for Mr Uhdd's version of events).

Dufftown Highland Games

On 26th July we went over to Dufftown for the Highland Games, mainly because he wanted to run the Ben Rinnes race but also because we'd not been to a games before. I wasn't daft enough to try to run this one, so opted for tea and strawberries and watching the heavyweight and lightweight events in the games field.

The race takes about 2 hours for the winner. There was quite a collection of hillrunners other halves waiting for the winner - we'd all spotted that there were 4 guys up from Bowland and Calder Valley and I was wondering how good they must be to make the trip up. It turned out that one of them was rather good. As we were waiting in came reports of Sean Bolland, who held his lead to win. Last year's winner, Brian Marshall, came in third.

That night we went to Tomintoul. We stopped at the A'anside Studio and bought some prints then went to The Clockhouse for dinner. It was really nice food - I think we should go back.

On Sunday we went mountain biking from Cock Bridge to Fords of Avon. It was a 35 mile round trip, but wasn't too bad as we took our time. We had a lovely big portion of chips at the pub and watched the baby housemartins in the herb pots.

Glamaig

Right, I’ve finally got round to writing about Glamaig.

It was the first weekend in July and several (mad) Cosmics, including me, went off to Skye to run up and down a stupidly steep hill. Actually, there wasn’t much running done on the way up. As soon as you hit the bottom of the hill you’re walking. By half way up you’ve hit the scree and rocks and are mostly on all fours.

After the false summit, there’s a grassy rib then a path through the scree to the top. At the top were some nice chaps with water and a wee dram. Then there was the question of how to get down.

I took the immediately safer option and went back down the path and the rib. Unfortunately the rib ended in some rather steep crags and I really should have turned left on to the scree sooner. Once I was on the scree it wasn’t as bad as I’d thought and was the quicker way down. Earlier in the morning I’d picked out a big boulder and a couple of lochans as landmarks to aim for to get back towards the hotel from the bottom of the hill. I passed close to the boulder and ran into one of the lochans (lovely and cool). Eventually I picked up the path back to the road and ran as fast as I could to make my target time – with 40 seconds to spare.

After finishing we went back to the bunkhouse to celebrate a Cosmic’s birthday and then for the food and ceilidh included in the £3 (!) entry.

On the Sunday I went up Pinnacle Ridge to Sgurr nan Gillean with five other Cosmics. It was a really good scramble and I did my first proper abseil. Probably not the place to learn, but no one died…

Fledglings Part 2

The sparrows have won the battle of the seed feeder. By force of numbers - they have produced a second brood. The magpies broke the tree in their attempt to join in.

On Friday evening I tried to write about Glamaig, but Blogger ate my post.

Fledglings

Procrastinating while I should writing my thesis, I've been watching the new occupants of the front garden. The Great Tit and Sparrow families have fledged and are busy battling for control of the peanut feeder. So far the Great Tits seem to winning, but the sparrows nested in the back garden so maybe they have control of the neighbours feeder...
I wonder what will happen if fill the seed feeder as well. I've given up on the fat balls as the magpies have learned that they are strong (heavy) enough to rip the plastic netting and make off with whole ball.

Meme

I saw this on GeePeeMum and thought I'd have a go. You're supposed highlight in bold the ones that apply to you, see how privileged your childhood was.

1. Father went to college.
He went to the College of Building in Liverpool after leaving sixth form when his headmaster refused to support his application to the University to study architecture.
2.Father finished college.
Not really. He started on the RIBA part 1, which was then removed from part time courses to be by degree only. He then started on the RICS courses to have the same happen. Then he got a full time job. So he actually has no formal qualification.
3.Mother went to college.
My mum went to University when she was in her mid forties, to study Environmental Science with QTS.
4.Mother finished college.
Yes. She graduated on the day of one of my A level Maths exams.
5. Have any relative who is an attorney, physician, or professor.
My sister in law is a med student. We’re mostly engineers of one sort or another.
6. Were the same or higher class than your high school teachers.
Middle class? Probably.
7. Had more than 50 books in your childhood home.
Easily.
8. Had more than 500 books in your childhood home
I should think so. Books were the source of all knowledge. Don’t know something – look it up and learn for yourself.
9. Were read children’s books by a parent.
I’m fairly sure my parents taught me to read before I started school. I was lucky to be the eldest child.
10. Had lessons of any kind before you turned 18.
11.Had more than two kinds of lessons before you turned 18.
I went to ballet until I was 9, and then to gym (when it became clear to everyone else that I was no good at and hated ballet). I also didn’t enjoy gym (mean girls).
12. The people in the media who dress and talk like me are portrayed positively.
Yes, most average middle class white people are.
13. Had a credit card with your name on it before you turned 18.
I thought you had to be 18 to get a credit card. I didn’t have a bank account I could have a card of any sort for until I was 19.
14. Your parents (or a trust) paid for the majority of your college costs
No. I had some help, but I had the full means tested loan.
15. Your parents (or a trust) paid for all of your college costs
16. Went to a private high school
Comprehensive ex-grammar. Doesn’t exist anymore.
17. Went to summer camp
Does Guide camp count?
18. Had a private tutor before you turned 18
19. Family vacations involved staying at hotels
Holidays were occasionally in rented cottages, but most often at my Nain and Taid’s house in Snowdonia.
20. Your clothing was all bought new before you turned 18.
I had hand me downs from cousins, friends, all and sundry. Some stuff was new, from catalogues with spread payments. My mum had a sewing machine and a knitting machine. My parents had four kids to clothe. The only things bought new were shoes – one pair school black, one pair black plimsolls (white running shoes and hockey boots later), one pair playing out trainers, one pair wellies - and some school uniform.
As I got older (14+) I was given access to a savings account and could buy my own clothes, on the strict understanding that the money was mine to look after – once it was gone it was gone. I still have £150 in that account.
21. Your parents bought you a car that was not a hand-me-down from them
Absolutely not. I didn’t even get driving lessons until I was 23 and could afford them myself. My first car was my husband’s.
22. There was original art in your house when you were a child.
A landscape by J. Williams. My Nain has a couple too, I think he was a friend of the family. My Dad painted a mural on my bedroom wall when I was born. A rural idyll, with cottages with roses, sheep in the fields, a smiley sun and a red bus for a radiator complete with self-portrait as a cheeky school boy on the back row.
23. You and your family lived in a single-family house.
24. Your parents owned their own house or apartment before you left home
My parents bought a wreck – it was all they could afford – in the early 70s. My Dad still lives in it and there’s still work to be done.
25. You had your own room as a child
After the age of 6 or 7 I think. My brothers then got the attic conversion my Dad did to share. My sister was in a corner of my parents’ room until her room was converted.
26. You had a phone in your room before you turned 18
Did British children ever have their own phone before mobiles? I didn’t have my own phone until I got a mobile in my 3rd year at Uni.
27. Participated in a SAT/ACT prep course
28. Had your own TV in your room in high school.
I had the old black and white TV that we used as a monitor for the BBC Master computer we had when I was in Sixth Form.
29. Owned a mutual fund or IRA in high school or college.
I had a Capital Bond bought by my Nain and Taid when I was born. That's not really a Fund, is it? It paid for me to go to Mexico with the Scouts.
30. Flew anywhere on a commercial airline before you turned 16.
My first flight was to Mexico for the World Scout Moot in 2000. I was 21.
31. Went on a cruise with your family.
32. Went on more than one cruise with your family.
33. Your parents took you to museums and art galleries as you grew up.
Yes. Loads. Everywhere new we went there were museums, galleries, castles, National Trust properties etc. I grew up with trips to Steamport, the Maritime Museum, the Science Museum, Rufford Old Hall, Conwy and Caernarfon as regular events.
34. You were unaware of how much heating bills were for your family
As a child I never knew how poorly off we were. I knew we couldn’t have new stuff and that we would never have hundreds of pounds spent on us at Christmas and birthdays like other kids, but I never figured out what that meant really – I just thought it was because there was four of us. It’s only now that my Dad is letting little bits slip out. He raised four kids on the same sort of salary I'm on now, I'm perpetually amazed.
Anyway, our heating bills weren’t the same as other people’s. We had a multi fuel boiler and solar panels from the early 80s.

So, I don't think I was under or over privileged. Just sort of normal, in comparison to my peers.

Birds

Off work today, with a poorly throat and inability to control my temperature, so I'm watching the shenanigans of the bird world outside my window.
Three Messers Blackbird are squabling over something, presumably the future Mrs Blackbird. All I can see them achieving is damage to the newly emerging blossom on my poor cherry tree - no lady blackbirds in sight.
There's a pair of Bluetits in the forsythia as I write and Mr and Mrs Magpie are looking like they're laying claim to the same tree as last year. Do magpies stay together? Or would it be the same male with a different female? Last year's baby magpies were adorable - playing together in the garden after they fledged - it would nice to have some more.
I can't see the Robins but I can hear them cursing each through the medium of song.

It didn't snow for very long...

After being so excited about the snow, it didn't last. In fact there has been hardly any on the hills. We did manage to get out for a week with the Scouts around Cairngorm, but the poor snow and high wind weren't in our favour. There a few really nice days, but the sunshine was melting the surface of the neve.
We're going skiing in a couple of weeks to Morgins on the Swiss/French border. Hopefully they've had a more wintry winter.

Yesterday was St David's day and, as I'd predicted, the weather has been so warm we have daffodils in flower.

Exciting news of the moment! My sister has produced me a nephew!

And now I'm off to the bathstore to buy taps in the vague hope that his Dad has plumbing skills and we might have a functioning (if not finished) bathroom by the end of the week.

Snow!

It's SNOWING!!!

What did I do next?

After my brother's wedding, which was lovely, we headed back up to Scotland. We spent a night with our friends in Partick, then headed to Arrochar and Loch Fyne. The plan was to go up Beinn Bhuidhe above Glen Fyne, but we didn't leave Glasgow early enough and were beaten by the daylight.
Failing in the mountain climbing plan we went to Inveraray instead. Had a wander around and bought some very nice soap and candles from Purdies. We then got a phone call from his sister to tell us she didn't need picking up in the morning because she'd broken her arm falling off a mountain and was going home. We decided to go too and caught with her and the friends she'd been walking with on the Colintraive ferry.

We spent Hogmamay with his parents on Bute - their flat is now almost complete...

On the 2nd we went for a walk above Colintraive. We then went back to Cairndow to have dinner at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, but found it shut. After some toing and froing, we settled on pitching for the night at Butterbridge to go up Beinn Ime the next day. It was pretty cloudy all day and was starting to snow as we set off to go home. There was a lot of snow in Stirlingshire, but disappointingly little as we got nearer to home.

Having seen the snow, the following day we got up very early and set off to Braemar to ski at Glenshee. However, the road was shut. We took a turn round the Queen's Drive on our nordics, a large proportion of which I spent laying in the snow.

And that was our holiday.