'The Vagabonds' _14th May 2005

Firhill Launch Day_'The Vagabonds' b_14th May 2005
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is two of the members of 'THE VAGABONDS' a rock & roll band who play mainly in Glasgow and Central Scotland.
This is Brian McLaughlin and Sandy Watson, who were doing an acoustic set.
The band normally play in the Scotia Bar, Glassford Street, Glasgow on Thursday evenings, and various other venues on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

'The Outfit' _14th May 2005

Firhill Launch Day_'The Outfit' _14th May 2005
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is 'THE OUTFIT' fronted by Bob Leslie. They play their own songs in the country/blues/rock & roll style. Presently seen on thursday nights at Club Americana in Glasgow.

They are playing here at the Nolly Barge Project Funday at Firhill, Glasgow. [to let the community see the new boats]

Mallard ducks & ducklings_17062005

Mallard ducks & ducklings_17062005
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

A pair of Mallards with their brood of ducklings on the Forth and Clyde Canal, in Glasgow. Most of the ducks this year seem to have had problems producing ducklings, but there have been sightings of mink on the canal which is catastrophic for the waterbird populations. In fact there have been very few young birds seen on the canal this year compared to previous years - before mink were recorded in numbers. Ususally the ducklings only had to contend with humans, dogs, foxes and the occasional PIKE!!

Nolly Wanderer _17June 2005 at Applecross

Wanderer _17June 2005 at Applecross
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is the new 'day trip' boat for the Nolly Barge project - she is called the Nolly Wanderer. The unsightly metal sheet is actually a wheelchair ramp as the boat has been converted to enable weelchair users to board and go for trips on the Forth and Clyde Canal.

Rain covered Maple

Garden 16062005_rain covered Maple
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Another view of the bejewelled Maple tree in Joseph's Memorial garden. Taken June 16th 2005.

culzean view panorama 5th June 2005

culzean view panorama_ full_050602005
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

A panoramic view [by combining four photographs]looking southwest from the entrance viewpoint to Culzean Country Park, on the Ayrshire Coast. The island in the distance is Ailsa Craig in the Firth of CLyde, Scotland.

Raindrops on roses - 2

Garden 16062005_Rose -wet
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Another raindrop bejewelled rose from the garden.

Rain drops on roses -1

Garden 16062005_Rose -pink - wet
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Went for a walk around the garden one evening after a day of heavy constant rain. The air felt saturated with moisture, but was perfumed with the scent of the roses.

Maple raindrops

Garden 16062005_Maple raindrops 5
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Raindrops dancing down the Maple stem, gleaming in the soft light of twilight.

Joseph's Memorial garden in April 2005

Joseph's Memorial garden c_April 2005
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is the memorial garden I have created for my late husband Joseph. The red Maple tree is planted over his ashes, and this Yingyang design meant a lot to us. He was a brilliant guitarist, companion, best friend and lover. I miss him every day still.

To Love that has left

My Love has gone, He had to go
He left me alone, to cope on my own
Why did you have to take him away?
He'd promised to me that he would always stay
He'd love me to the end of time
And to all others our love would shine.

A broken body, he couldn't stand the pain
He went to find another plain
Opening a chasm wider than any planetary canyon
A seperation with no chance of reunion
Leaving me with a different pain
I fell like the broken link of a chain.


People tell me that I'll recover
But my life feels dead without my lover
Despite his absence I know I will cope
But coping isn't living, its surviving without hope
On his love and support I had come to depend
My lover, my companion, and truly, my best friend.

##############################

for my Darling Joseph

10th October 1947 to 24th June 2004

written one year since you were taken from me.

Damselflies on canal reeds

Damselflies on canal reeds
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is a little further west along the canal, but still on Westercommon. If you look very closely there are several Damselflies near the top of these reeds. This was taken on the Forth and Clyde Canal, in the centre of Glasgow, less than two miles from the throbbing city centre. Isn't wildlife wonderfully resiliant!! It is near the old 'claypit' where they dug out the clay to create the seal on the bottom of the canal 200 years ago. There were also a couple of drift mines apparantly going into the hill behind. The whole area was an industrial landscape until the canal closed in 1961. In the 70's people started to view the area as a potential resource and a lot of tree planting was done, especially around the shale slopes [ helps stabilise the ground]. Unfortunately there are still individuals who see 'wild' areas as somewhere to dump rubbish, so every so often there are washing machines, and burnt out cars found near the end of the old track. It spoils it for everyone else and gives the place a bad reputation.

Westercommon views

Westercommon views
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

I was at the Forth and Clyde Canal in Glasgow last week, just around the British Waterways Glasgow office, and went for a walk along towards Westercommon. There are plans to turn this area into luxury housing in the future, so I thought I would 'record' some of the scenes at the moment. There is a steep mound which leads up towards the former Hamiltonhill allotments[which were closed because the ground was 'suddenly' contaminated. { bit suspicious when they are right above where the plans show the new luxury housing is going to go!]
This was the view towards Glasgow Centre from Westercommon - just above the Forth and Clyde Canal near Applecross basin.

sifted sands

sifted sands
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

I just thought this made a beautiful image. The water slowly sifting the grains of sand of the beach as it winds down to the sea at low tide.

Eroded cliff

Eroded cliff
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

The wind and the high waves have created this beautiful, sculptural piece of rock.


It can be found on the shoreline near Culzean Castle, in Ayrshire, Scotland. I took the photo on the 6th June 2005.

natural landscape

natural landscape
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Landscape gardeners try for ages to try and reproduce this type of scene in many gardens. This is the real thing, and was found on the shoreline underneath Culzean Castle, on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland.

It does look a little like the Zen gardens where they try to 'recreate' the landscape in miniture - with the 'mountain' rock, a 'hill' rock and the vegetation around them. Maybe that is why it caught my eye.

Swing guitars

Swing guitars
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is the group SWING GUITARS at the Kirkmichael International Guitar Festival2005, early on the Sunday evening - having a jam session beside the river. Lots of people stopped to watch and listen from the little bridge between the festival site and the village. Both called 'Tam', the guys play music in the Django Reinhard style, and while they do play many of his songs they have evolved and have written many of their own tunes, in a similar style. It is certainly very different and very memorable.

Musicians at the Kirkmichael International Guitar Festival 2005

KIGF2005 a
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Eduard Nieblo playing at the 6th Kirkmichael International Guitar Festival, in Ayrshire, Scotland on the 4th June 2005.
Fantastic music - transporting the mind to warmer climes.

Kirkmichael Village

Kirkmichael a
Originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Kirkmichael has become an unlikely place for people from all over the world to come for a weekend of fantastic guitar music, but this has been happening since 1999!

Great place, great music and a good atmosphere [ and only a little mud!]

A weekend away

I decided that it was time I had a weekend away, and I bought myself a weekender ticket for the Kirkmichael International Guitar Festival [3-5th June 2005]! I booked myself into a lovely Bed and Breakfast place in the small village of Turnberry and headed down to Ayrshire in the late afternoon. It was lovely to see the Firth of Clyde laid out before me in the sunshine, but I didn't have a lot of time to spare, so checked in at the B&B and then headed for the small village of Kirkmichael. This is the 6th festival, and I have attended two others in 2002 and 2003. I arrived at the large 1000 seater Marquee just in time for the start of the 4Martins concert. First out was Martin Carty, and English 'folk' musician, he was followed by Martin Taylor, playing Jazz acoustic[who first came up with the idea for the festival - as it is his home village and all the people he mets over the world usually want to come and visit the place!], He was followed by Spanish legen Juan Martin, with a fantastic flamenco style set. After a short interval, Martin Simpson gave us a set [Blues/folk/rock/mixture - hard to place really]. Finally all four of them came on and played together giving us all a terrific evening of wonderful music....a taste of things to come!! I decided to go along to the Festival club afterwards as some friends of ours were playing. Swing Guitars are a pair from Glasgow who play in the Django Rhienhart style, but they have their own compositions as well as a few well known ones! A really excellent evening. I didn't get back to my lodgings however until nearly 3 a.m. as I got 'stuck' behind a long, wide slow-moving convoy heading south on the main road [ the only road at that point!]. It could have been the parts for a large Wind generator or part of a plane - hard to tell in the dark!!
I took a few photos on my break and I will include more shortly, but for now this is the view from just beyond the entrance to the Culzean Castle Estate [ A National Trust for Scotland property]. The island in the distance is Ailsa Craig - the remains of an ancient volcano (the 'plug' from inside the cone. It is famous in these parts for producing the stones for Curling Stones - a Scottish sport. It is also known as Paddy's Milestone and many ships from the clydeside shipyards did their sea trials using it as a marking post for speed times etc.