Playtime!

Playtime! a video by Kindurco on Flickr.

Hamish playing with his Frisbee in my garden - !!

2011-01-21 Sunset from Cathkin Braes - with Hamish (11)

2011-01-21 Sunset from Cathkin Braes - with Hamish (11), originally uploaded by Kindurco.

A beautiful, but cold late walk with my dog Hamish, at Cathkin Braes, above Glasgow [to the south]. The sunset that day was spectacular - and this is one of a series of pictures I took. If you look closely at the bottom middle of the pcture - one can just see some lights in the distance - from the Newton Mearns part of Glasgow I think.

Happy New Year 2011

Happy New Year to anyone who reads this.............
I haven't been writing blogs for quite a while, it gets depressing being unemployed for a long period, hopefully I shall be gainfully employed in 2011 once again. I did get a part-time Facilitator post - but it was on an 'as and when required' basis - so although I was working from the end of June to the end of August - it was only a few days most weeks and the days were usually only 2.5 to 4 hours in length!! certainly not a full time post - but it still took up a day! Then after starting I discovered that I could NOT claim Working Tax Credits as I needed to have been signing on for 26 weeks - and I was only signing for 25 weeks when I started the part time post - if I had known I would have waited for another week efore starting!!!! - which would have given me a living wage at least! I still occasionally do guided walks - for 2.5 hours - but because I do - I get money taken off my state benefits - much more than I actually earn too!!
Here are a few photos of where I was doing this part-time post - the Natioanl Museum for Rural Life Scotland
Photography walk

Den Building day Bug Hunts finding something interesting

Environmental Art
Anyway - I hope 2011 will be a much better year. For us all!

Been in the garden a lot this week again -taking advantage of all this good weather! My Peas have appeared above ground, and I will make another sowing next week.

The rest of the garden is growing away nicely, and

the tulips this year have been fabulous. My white ones

in Joseph's memorial garden look wonderful too.

My veggie garden - April 2010 b

My veggie garden - April 2010 b, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

All ready now for the new seeds and seedlings to be put in!!

Spring fever

Well, I have now reached the ripe age of fifty four years of existance on this beautiful planet. I think I amm now what you might call past the point of no-return on the uphill struggle of life - now definately middle-aged numerically speaking.

However, my state of mind is a little younger - in my head I only feel about thirty-five/thirty-six............................but my body says different!!!

Anyway I had a quiet celebration with a few of my friends, and got cards from friends and family - not a lot- but enough, and lots of 'Happy Birthday' messages on y facebook page!!

The weather has been so wonderful this past week here, that I have spent probably about 95% of my waking hours outdoors in my garden, - removing weeds before they take over my flower borders, mulching around the roses, and clearing the veggie plot and sowing seeds in the greenhouse. Hopefully, I shall be able to grow some nice fresh food again this year - peas, beans, cauliflowers, khol rabbi, spinach, rhubarb, tomatoes, etc, etc.

Hamish the dog has thought is wonderful as he gets to stay outdoors all day,

and if he drops his ball on the ground where I am weeding, then it is thrown away for him to chase or hunt -what joy!!

I have also been attending my leaded glass art classes, at the Glasworks Studio, in Glasgow, with Yvonne Smith and Joe Boyle, fantastic glass artists. I have started work on a mirror with a fuschia theme.

My finished Poppy panel - made in October - December 2009

Building Drawing

Glass for cutting

Some of the cut glass.

Spring Crocus

Spring Crocus, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

I love crocuses - they tell us spring has arrived - and bring a splash of colour back again!

Snowdrops 2

Snowdrops 2, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

Spring has sprung - snowdrops are in bloom!! These ones are in the woods at Eglinton Country Park, near Irvine.

Remains of Eglinton Castle

Remains of Eglinton Castle, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is a view of the remains of Eglinton Castle, to be found in the Eglinton Country Park, near Irvine. The windows are covered with bars but you can get right up to the walls quite easily

Sandstone tower

Sandstone tower, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

I loved the view up the tower, from the bottom - the sandstone looks so warm, and the carvings are amazing, considering everything else has 'gone'!

Curiosity - even in a dog

Curiosity - even in a dog, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

My new dog Hamish was curious about what I was doing, and leaned up against the tower to look into one of the open windows!

Ripples in bark 1

Ripples in bark 1, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

I was fascinated when I saw this!
It may look at first glance like ripples in sand , but this is the base of the trunk of a mature Sycamore tree which I found in the woods at Eglinton Country Park last week. I just had to photograph it!.

Old signposting

Old signposting, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This old signpost, is SO much nices than the bland ones we see today (which are designed to be seen from moving cars!)
This old cast iron sign post has a bit of character, and I love the way that in order to squeeze in the town of Kilwinning, they had to curve the name!!

Cup and ringstone

Cup and ringstone, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This curious item is a cup and ringstone from the Kilwinning area which can be found at Dalgarven Mill Museum. These date from pre-history, and no-one knows what they were for or what they mean - if anything!!

Waterwheel

Waterwheel, originally uploaded by Kindurco.

This is Dalgaven Museum of Country life and Costume,which I visited last week, got a lovely bowl of soup in their small but cosy tearoom area!

Spring poetry from my past......

I've just been re-instating my office layout, after waiting for over nine months for a whole in the ceiling [over my desk] to be repaired by the neighbour whose workmen put a foot through the ceiling from the shared loftspace!!! - and I was sitting underneath the area at the time!!!

ANYWAY - as I am moving all my 'stuff' back in I am going through it -'to clear the clutter' and make sure that everything goes in the most logical place [ ie not have everything higglety-pigglety around the space!!].

I found a couple of sheets of poems I had composed away back..............................

Misty tranquility and solitude

ripples over rocks ground down over time

green lagoons of deep seawater

Waterfall of sparkling white

Hidden treasures of delight!

8th March 2007

and

Raucous Rooks in the treetops high

calling and cawing and cursing the sky,

and the cold wind which gusts and rocks

the new nests they are trying to construct.

Patches of white

amongst the grass and tree trunks

dotted around the woodland floor

in groups and clumps.

The lowly little Snowdrop,

harbinger of Spring,

with the Rook chorus

the new growth begins.

8th March 2007

Reading these poems took me straight back to the place where I composed them as well as remembering the place, the weather was calm, with sunny spells, but very cold - much like today has been!!

Some of last year's occurances

I was very busy over last year and neglected writing in my blogsite - probably because I was adding blogs for work, and then walking Patch in the evenings up until August when he unfortunately died in a stupid accident.

He really loved swimming and would go into any water he could. I had gone down to the river near the Brownie Linn waterfall at Muirshiel, one afternoon [after three and a half days of rain], and had told Patch-NO for swiming - then got distracted and was trying to photograph some Common Blue Butterflies. Each time I looked up Patch was waiting for me and then I looked up and he was not there!!! - I just knew he had gone into the river which was in spate. I found his body a mile downstream one and a half hours later. His body was caught on a rock but his head was bobbing under the water................As you may imagine I was devastated.......I managed to pull him out of the water but then broke down and 'howled my sorrow to the wilds' Luckily the other two rangers had returned from patrol, got my message and had come to help search for Patch. They carried him, and helped me, back to the centre, and into my car. I brought his body home and buried him in the garden the next day with the help of my brother. I still miss him terribly as he was just such an excellent character - good manner, loving, well behaved[trainable]. Everyone at work was shocked and saddened at the news, as he had made himself a part of the whole team at Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park.

I eventually decided to go back to the Dog's Trust in October, to 'register my interest' in another Dog, and believe it or not later that evening I got a call through a friend in Lochwinnoch, about another dog which was needing a new home as its owners had both died [in April and October]. I met him at Castle Semple, with the neighbour who had been looking after him temprarily, and he found a new home with me.

Hamish - was a very skinny, Dingo like dog -smaller than Patch, and definately more skittish, but he has settled in over the past four months and [after 'THE SNIPS'] has also calmed down a lot, although he is not as responsive to training as Patch was , he is coming along slowly. He is however very loving and gets on well with my cat Suki!!

Sunshine draws everyone outdoors in April

Castle Semple on the 19th of April was very popular with visitors - probably due to the gorgeous warm sunny day which brought everyone out in droves - a chance to get outdoors without getting cold and wet!!!!

The guys in the leathers at the right of the picture

looked quite macho until ...........................................

they rode off on their MINIBIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Spring at Muirshiel

Spring finally arrrived up at Muirshiel in April, with the appearance of the wildflowers on the bankings at the roadside, all the way from the old quarry, up to Muirshiel Country Park.
Mainly Primroses but lots of Dog Violets as well.
On one of the warmer days at the end of April, we went out around the 'Bilberry' areas looking for any early Green Hairstreak Butterflies which might have been around - we did find a couple of early specimens but mostly it was White-tailed, Red-tailed and Buff-tailed Bumblebees which we recorded flying around.
Patch was with us on the survey as when he moved through the vegetation slightly ahead of us - the butterflies would be disturbed and fly up - giving us the chance to see them, However at this point he was 'cheating' by walking along the top of a long fallen tree trunk!!!

The other thing which shows it is Spring - is the arrival of
the Seasonal Rangers!!
They are from left to right - Richie, Colin[hiding], Andy, Stephen, Jesse and Elidh spotted here checking out Muirshiel Country Park and having a little look for any Hen Harrier which might be passing!