Closed for Business

It is with regret that this is my last post. In these tough times unfortunately there needs to be a degree of downsizing. Costs need to be cut and a withdrawal from some markets inevitable. Whilst I had hoped that my venture would have caught the imagination of the public, sadly that has not been the case. In truth I had also lost interest in my own Blog, and those that know me will be aware of the transient nature of my attention span when it comes to new things.. Ciao!

Meeow!

Had a nice walk in Devilla Forest yesterday near Kincardine. What a scorcher of a day again! It was like walking in a hot dusty part of America, I expected rattlesnakes in the path in front, bears hiding in the woods, the sound of a coyote, a Bald Eagle flying overhead, and a strange family house with a guy playing a banjo up a tree (If you havent seen Deliverance the last reference will mean nothing to you). The dogs were reacting to the heat differently. One didnt appear to be affected by it at all whilst the other was like an old man wearily walking on with the world on his shoulders. Refused water the whole way though. Nice forest but a bit too 'Forestry Commission' in places. Strange thing happened at one point, Myself and one of the dogs were happily wondering along a narrow track where everything seemed really quiet, no birds sang and I have to admit it was as if something was watching us. I looked round and noted that the other dog, the one that's usually the most inquisitive had stopped in his tracks about 30 yards back. I shouted on him but he wouldnt come, I tried to pick him up and he wasnt happy, I put him down and decided we would go back the way we came, and he was suddenly over the moon, took the lead, but kept looking back over his shoulder. Weird, he's never done that before. I did some research on the place when I came home. Turns out there's been sightings of a 'big cat'. Surely not?! Oh and I didn't end up the way of Burt Reynolds and his pals!

Burn baby burn.

Bought a gas BBQ yesterday (see photo on the right), but made the fatal mistake of a) Starting to build it in mid afternoon and b) Telling wife it would only take me half an hour to make. This by the way was my retort to the fact that the guy in B&Q had told my wife that he had the same BBQ and it had taken him an hour to make. Needless to say mid afternoon was a bit late to be starting to make it, and my half hour became an hour then 2 hours and finally as the sun was saying its last goodbyes and heading away behind the neighbours roof tops and the back garden became 10 degrees cooler, I was ready! Now part of the blame must go to the instruction manual which was clearly wrong, and so convinced of this was I that I showed it to my wife....who agreed! Anyway standing beside my new mansize BBQ, tongs in hand I shouted bring on the meat! Before you could say salmonella I had steak, sausages and burgers sizzling away, and a family shivering away at the garden table. We made it through to the end though. Burgers were slightly burnt on the outside and a wee bit too pink on the inside but no one died...yet. Ahh, the Scottish summer....bring it on!

Raven Mad!

Went for a nice walk today on my own armed with just my camera. Wasnt sure what I was going to photograph, usually a bad sign as I prefer to plan, but just stopped the car and began walking. An hour later I arrived at a quarry. Now where there's a quarry there's often a peregrine so I scanned the quarry walls for almost an hour until I saw the tell tale white breast of a bird high up on the opposite quarry face. I walked round to get a better vantage point making sure to stay well away from what I suspected was a peregrine. I found a nice elevated grass area and peeped through a gorse bush, placed my camera to my eye and scanned the quarry again. Yes, definitely a peregrine. Another 10 minutes of looking revealed another peregrine, and 2 possible nests! All was fairly quiet until.....A raven flies in to one of the nests, the 2 peregrines take off and squawking angrily, dive bomb the raven in the nest for a good 2 minutes before the raven leaves. It was like the Battle of Britain, except nobody got hurt...this time. When I got home I downloaded my photos and cropped them revealing that the other nest had a 2 or 3 new born peregrines in it. What an afternoon! The photo is very poor quality as I've cropped it to within an inch of its life, but you get the picture! The Raven's the black shape and just to the right above and below are two angry peregrines.

If you go down to the woods today....

Day off today so took the dogs to the woods for a long walk on the yellow route. Sun, rain, hot and cold all in the space of two hours. Only in Scotland! Took some nice photos and saw some wildlife. I often find that if you just stay still for 5 minutes all the birds that had left when they heard you the first time, come back, and true enough, a treecreeper flew onto the tree in front of me and crept up the tree. Got a few funny looks from the two ladies walking their Spaniels. They gave me a guarded hello but really they were thinking "Please do not attack me you weirdo that we have watched standing still for the last 5 minutes or I'll set my spaniels on you and then spray mace in your face" I said hi back. Finally found my first 2 geocaches. They will also be my last 2. The first was in the roots of a tree. A small plastic container which I opened to find a bottle opener, a Kinder surprise toy, some wet paper, some dry paper in a plastic cover, a pencil, 2 dead spiders and one very much alive spider. To say I was underwhelmed was an understatement. I hurriedly wrote something on the paper and returned it to its hole. Half an hour later I found my second geocache, in tree roots again. Original.. Again a plastic container but this time a lot bigger and filled with what seemed like unwanted MacDonalds Happy Meal toys, and the obligatory spider. This time I didnt even bother opening it. I resisted the perverse urge to throw the thing as far as I could down a steep slope and returned it to its original place. Returning from behind the tree I was met by the spaniels and their owners who must have done the shorter green route. This time I swear they looked in fear for their lives. I made my excuses and left...

They think it's all over...

Okay, thinking ahead I've come up with some predictions for the future (as most predictions are!) I thought it would be fun to mention them here and then look back at them at the end of the year to see if I am either some sort of modern day Nostradamus or....not. - Despite being the darling of the British Press, Jessica Enis to end up in a nightmare 4th position at the Olympics. Let down by falling at the hurdles. - England to do well at the Euro Championships reaching the final and losing out on a penalty shoot out. - Slaters menswear to call in the receivers (No idea where that one came from) - Emeli Sande to top the summer charts with a song she recently wrote called 'Wonder' - LA to be hit by a serious earthquake... All cheery stuff. I hope none of them happen, especially England getting to a final, that would be unbearable!

Horace Goes Skiing

What a world we live in these days. The internet... literally everything at your fingertips; Facebook, Google, Twitter, PS3's, shiny new cars, flatscreen tv's with fantastic pictures, live football nearly every night of the week; hundreds of tv channels; sat navs; ipods; mobile phones; Universal Studios; DisneyWorld; digital photography; Kindles; 3D cinemas; countless restaurants and bars...... I experience all of these things now. They cost me a fortune, so why aren't they giving me extra happiness?? I was just as happy without the internet, playing my ZX Spectrum, being driven in my dad's old Cortina, with my Olympus film camera, my parents old black and white 3 channel telly, a road map, a house phone, a good book from the library, and a trip to the Circus. It's almost like we're being tricked year after year to spend more and more to remain at the same level of happiness! Not sure where I was going with that.....as I am happy.....just not happi....er.

Pure raging!

Funny how your style of driving depends what mood you're in. This morning as it was the dreaded Monday morning after a lovely weekend off I wasn't in the best of moods and took it out on other drivers by ensuring that if I was in a faster lane than the one beside me there was no way I was going to let anybody in with ease. And those that did dare to edge in were met with my hands waving in the air gesture and a "Oh my god, what on earth do you think that vehicle manoeuvre was all about" rant (If they'd looked in their rear view mirror). I arrived at work bitter.... cheated..... used.... Whereas on the way home I was in a good mood, the day had gone well, there were only four more days to work, so I was Mr Nice. Waving those around me into my lane, giving those I made eye contact with, a winning smile....ahh the open road...and all that. I arrived home refreshed....calm....at one with my fellow man. Yes, I know there's a lesson to be learned but I just don't know if I've learned it... Anyway, let the battle commence all over again tomorrow! Oh, and the 'staring at people day' never happened. I tried it for about 2 seconds and realised it was just plain weird and called a halt to proceedings.

You looking at me?!

Had a fairly boring day today, although nearly caused a stir in the gym. I'd wolfed my tea down after work, and wanted to squeeze in a cheeky wee gym session before the Chelsea v Barcelona game. Bad move. 10 minutes on a machine thats meant to emulate a cross country skier did nothing more than upset my full stomach, and my next move, pulling down on the lat machine bar very nearly succeeded in bringing the aforementioned food to the masses. Luckily a swift end to strenuous activity and a few deep breaths brought things under control. On another matter, to liven things up I'm going to 'look' at people differently tomorrow. Rather than just glance at someone, I may stare at them until they've passed me, or may look at them then look down and then look at them again and keep this going for maybe ten times. I might throw in the odd wink, a nod, a knowing glance, or a subtle shake of the head. Just to jazz things up. It'll just be a pilot initially, and I'll evaluate it after day one.

Fat fingers

Last day of my holidays and had a nice walk round Loch Glow. Only about 10 minutes from the house but I'd never been there before. Lovely place.
Watched a replay of the Grand National today as well. What a race. Loads of incidents and sadly horses were destroyed again. What sticks out for me though was the 2 guys at the start trying to sort out the starting tape after the initial false start...and failing! It seemed like for ages that one of them tried to make a hole so that the tape could slip onto the metal starter, but with 40 horses and jockeys bearing down on him and the world watching in super close up on tv, it just wasn't happening for him. His mate meanwhile was pulling the strangest of faces as the stress of the situation got to him. Great telly, but you've got to feel for them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhws3IJcnUo Reminded me of when I'm trying to get doggy pooh bags open, or supermarket bags when you're at the checkout. The harder I try to open them the longer it takes.
Oh, and my horse was second...

A date with Bill Oddie

Saw a beautiful sight this evening whilst out walking the dogs. A short eared owl. Didn't know they lived round here. I've often heard the much more common Tawny Owl hooting whilst out walking, but not one of these rare-ish fellows. Made my day!
I've always been into birdwatching since being given the ubiquitous Observer book of birds at the age of 7, which I still have. Progressing from the YOC (Young Ornithologists Club) complete with iron-on blue cloth badge on arm of green parka (in hindsight not a cool look), to my current family membership of the RSPB. Well, I say family membership but the kids sadly haven't caught the birding bug. My son pretends to be interested while my daughter makes no secret of the fact that the thought of going on a walk with binoculars has about as much appeal as a date with Bill Oddie. Oh well...horses for courses I guess....

Donside welcomes African teacher!

Went to see Emeli Sande in Glasgow last night. Possibly the best singer I have ever heard, and really natural with it, no diva qualities. Guess that's what comes from growing up in Alford as she did. I think if you got too big for your boots there you'd be knocked down to size. I think she's going to be massive though and I wish her all the best.
I took the grand total of 2 photographs with a wee camera I brought with me. Everyone's fancy iphones put me to shame though so I put it away. That's one of the photos below.
My granny was from Alford, played the organ and sang. As much as I loved her, the moment she took song requests  I would disappear outside with a football and an ice cream from her always well stocked freezer.
Stayed in a lovely hotel in Glasgow called the Grand Central. Its attached to the railway station and was once one of the grandest in Glasgow. There's a photo from when Roy Rogers and Trigger stayed there on one of the walls. It recently closed down and has had a £20 million refurbishment and looks great. People talk about poor Scottish hospitality in hotels but Anastazja in the restaurant and Aleksy on the front desk were superb...
Oh, the title of this post was the headline in the local Alford paper when the Sande family arrived in the 80's. Classic..

I failed

Looked out all my camera gear last night, set the alarm for 0530hrs with the intention of getting up and going to Vane Farm RSPB nature reserve. Taking fantastic shots of sea eagles in flight silhouetted against a lazy morning sunrise. 100 greylag geese taking off from a misty ethereal Loch Leven. Passing like minded souls, exchanging smug hello's knowing that we were out there before the country had woken up, early bird catches the worm and all that.
0530hrs came along, I could hear the rain outside, I was tired, weak willed, my pillow was fluffy. My hand came down on the clock, it stopped its incessant pleading for me to be the adventurer I am in my head. I sank deeper into the pillow for another 3 hours of guilty sleep.
It is now 0925hrs. I am in my dressing gown, drinking coffee, watching daytime tv.
I hate myself....

The state of the nation

Tv programmes now fall into 3 rough categories.
Freak shows (you now the type, i'm 75 stone, i've got a growth the size of a small child on my left shoulder, etc..)
'Reality' shows (I watched 5 minutes of Geordie Shore once...that stuff affects kids)
Celebrity panel shows (Supposedly funny folk, coming up with supposedly funny off the cuff remarks, that theyve actually practised 10 times in rehearsal)
Why do I pay my tv license???

Went to the gym today. There was a girl on a recumbent bike (like a normal bike but you get to slouch back on it). She was on level 1,  playing a card game on the screen, and her legs were hardly moving. Would have been better staying at home and walking from the living room to the kitchen and back...twice.

Rants over, tomorrow's going to be a good day. I have plans.

A new game

Always up for something new I tried geocaching yesterday. I think the marrying of technology and a good old fashioned treasure hunt piqued my interest. Lo and behold, on checking the online maps, the closest one was only a few hundred metres from my house, so out I went with the dogs as my cover, and armed with my phone.
What happened? Well, some walkers looked strangely at me as I wondered about some inhospitable undergrowth; my right shoe managed to find some dog poo; one of my dogs (the stupid one) managed to get lost for about 10 minutes, and I left geocache-less thinking what a stupid game! Maybe today though...

Oh, I saw 2 laptop computers having a competition to see who could hold a tune the best the other day.
Samsung, but a Dell clearly won...
sorry...

No bears or tigers

Nice walk at Blairadam Wood near Kelty today. According to another walker there are red squirrels there, but as usual I didn't see anything. The dogs loved it. One is closer to the ground than the other and was a right mess when I got back, whilst the other was clean.
So many trees were down due to the high winds earlier in the year. It's amazing how shallow the roots are. I always thought roots went way down but not the case it seems.
Why do I always plan out what I'd do if a bear or tiger was to come through the trees, knowing full well they don't live in Scotland....

What a waste

When asked what we'd like to come back as, we often say, oh, I'd like to come back as an eagle so I can soar high in the skies. But if we were actually an eagle would we appreciate it? Personally I don't think eagles head up into the thermals thinking, wow this is great, i can really feel the wind in my wings. They're actually thinking where's the rabbits? If I don't see a rabbit soon I'm going to starve and so's my partner and chicks.
So although what they do would be great for us, for eagles its just a means to an end. What a waste...

Changes for the better?

Looking out of the window I can see 10 houses. The people in those 10 houses have mostly all been there for the 5 or so years that I've been here. Yet I can only name a total of 5 out of the 20 adults that stay in them. What does that say about me? Them? Society in general? Have times changed? If I lived in a village I imagine I'd know everyone, but because it's a town its's somehow different. 
I remember 1977 when we had street parties for the Queen's Silver Jubilee. There was definitely a sense of belonging to an area, you knew your neighbours, you acted more as a street than an individual. What's changed then? Has technology taken our eye of the ball? The world is a more connected place, but are we more connected? Where will we be in another 25 years? We won't see each other in shops, as there won't be any. We won't meet each other at work as we'll mostly be working from home. We won't meet in pubs and clubs because drinking will be done in the house and dating will be online...

First ever Blog

First day of Easter holidays and have managed to stave off starting any DIY by creating my first ever blog! Not entirely sure I'll be able to write anything of interest to anyone at all, but hell, I'll give it a go.
What am I going to use the blog for apart from as a means of procrastinating...I'm not too sure, but I imagine there will be some thoughts on life, a retelling of funny things that have happened to me, perhaps a summary of any 'days out' that I have, and a smattering of photos.
Who am I? Now, that's something I don't plan on revealing..