St Andrews beach on a sunny day

It was a very sunny day, probably the sunniest and warmest day so far this year. Days like this are worth waiting for. :-))

St Andrews sailing boats

A visit to St Andrews on Friday, the weather was fantastic and the sailing club gave a memorable performance. Plenty of artistic inspiration here with so much colour every where.

Salmondsmuir Late July 2012

Pictures from my weekend house sitting. The mornings were great but by the afternoon the sky filled with dark clouds. It rained every afternoon but even the rain makes this place look good

Rain, Rain, Rain, etc etc etc.................................

OK so now I'm behaving true to sterio-type and (yet again) talking about the weather. We have just had two days of glorious sunshine where I managed to do most things that needed doing in the garden. By yesterday evening the ground had dried to the point where the new plants needed a water and a feed and I almost emptied the water butt doing this. Today; it is raining, its not just persistent rain, its heavy rain, I can't believe so much rain has fallen in my garden in such a short time. I've been out twice today in this rain to empty my assorted buckets into my rapidly filling water butt. Those new plants, lovingly planted, watered and fed yesterday almost floated away today. While I was out there I checked on my pond. My poor tadpoles were being washed over the side, I took three whole buckets of water from the pond to make it safe for the tadpoles and as the rain shows no sigh in stopping any time soon, I'm off to check again. This is the most bizarre weather pattern I've ever know in any summer.

Arbroath Harbour this afternoon.

I've never seen this boat moored in the harbour before, I'm not sure why it was there today, probably just visiting. Very nice two mast sailing boat, just wish I had been there when the sails were up instead of folded away.

East Haven Beach this afternoon.

It was a bit cold, and at times it rained, but it was still good to get out. And its sooooo much better than it was this time last year.

taken over the last week.

I've been trying to look for something nice in every day, and if I can't think of any thing then I go out and try to find something that looks good. One morning every thing was covered in frost. Another morning the light in my bedroom took my eye as I woke up. Then of course there is the sky and sea, always good for photos. I've not really done a lot of night time photography, my camera isn't good enough, but on that night it was raining so hard all the lights were reflected in the wet road. The last one is my little nest of rocks, pebbles that caught my eye on the beach and before that; a garden decoration which so far, I've not put in the garden. It was bought in a discount store, cost me very little but caught my eye. I like it indoors so much its not made it outside yet.

Pictures taken last September

Just been doing a bit of a tidy up on the computer and came across these. I'd forgotten about them. This is just what I needed, it makes a pleasant change from the brown earth, grey sky and silhouette trees.

The morning light.

I would like to know if people like this image. Many people will look at this and see untidy backyards on a working class  housing estate. Its scruffy, untidy,  quite run down, there are broken fences, washing lines, bins and bits of old furniture. What I am describing doesn't sound very nice. BUT.............I really like this image. This is the view from my back bedroom window. I remember when those 5 tall tree stumps were huge conifer trees, the trees grew so tall my neighbour had to cut them down with a chain saw. On a spring morning you can see baby rabbits running around the grass. Once, a long time ago, a pet white rabbit must have escaped and interbred with the wild rabbits and now every so often, one or two of the baby rabbits will be white, or a mixture of white and ordinary bunny brown. sometimes you see an adult white rabbit but mostly its the white baby rabbits who catch your eye.  Just out of view to the left of the picture is a doo hoose..........or pigeon shed, my neighbour built it, and when he lets them out they fly off in a great cloud and sit on the roofs of nearby houses. I love the sound of them coo cooing and once I witnessed their mating ritual on the ridge of my shed roof. I never knew the mating ritual of pigeons was so intricate, they looked as if they were dancing and the male spread his tail feathers into a great fan and then pirouetted around the female.

( you need to click this one to see what I mean)

All of those things are reasons why I like this image, but most of all I love the complicated patterns of light. This was taken just after 11.00 on Sunday morning, it was cold, there was frost on the roofs facing into the back yards, the sun hadn't reached that part of the roof and it was still covered in frost. I noticed the light hitting the tree stumps and the fence at the end of them. I especially like the pattern on the brown fence at the back of the picture, the sun has painted a black silhouette of the surrounding roof shapes and chimney . I also like the sharp triangle and narrow strip of yellow light slashed right across the garden shed. The gable end of the house just beyond the shed is very very bright, that one wall is in full sunlight contrasting it to the other walls that are north facing and in the shade. You will notice some yellow light in some of the windows. This is reflected light, those windows face away from the light source but the sun is strong enough to bounce back and shine in the glass windows. Most of all I love the colour of the light...............golden yellow morning light. And for these reasons, I think this picture is beautiful, and if people only see a collection of dirty backyards...........tis their loss.

4 pm in November

It's winter here now, it looks like winter, feels like winter and the sun sets early. We have had very mild days...............but even when its mild, the air feels like winter

The fields at this time of year.

These are the fields around my daughters house. I love these colours but at this time of year the fields change on a daily basis. Go away for a few days and when you come back its all different. The first few pictures are either just before or just after the harvest. Then there are a couple of pictures of stubble burning. I'm pretty sure that's an illegal practice now but the farmers have done it around here through out history and I can't see them stopping any time soon. The couple of pictures in the middle with a shadowy frame and rerflections are taken from inside the bus shelter looking out of the perspex windows onto the fields. The last few photos with the bales were taken earlier this evening, the hay had been bailed some time during the day. Next time I visit I expect I'll see brown fields not golden ones. Things change very quickly this time of year.

A little animal magic down on the farm.

During our weekend of local sightseeing we stopped off here for lunch. It's a working farm but like many farms, has 'diversified'. They have a cafe serving home cooked food, a farm shop, selling farm produce and a gift/ craft shop selling local hand made gifts. Just couldn't leave without a few animal photos, i did think maybe I could try a couple of animal paintings. I especially like the angus cattle.

Forfar countryside

These are just a couple of pictures that I thought would make nice paintings. I was out with my friend and she decided to pull off the road just here and look for a place to do some drawing. We found a little space just off the road and pulled in. As she was parking the whole of the front end of the car slid into a ditch we couldn't see. The ditch was completely overgrown and looked like an area of long grass. The passenger door was wedged shut, I had to climb out through the drivers door and the car leaned over to the left ( which here IS the passenger side) Fortunatly we were Ok, her car was Ok and before long a couple of people stopped to see if we needed help. It looked as if we had an accident but of course we hadn't, any way someone went to fetch the farmer who pulled us out of the ditch. That turned into quite an eventful afternoon. When it was all over my friend asked if I had pictures of the car sticking out of the ditch, opps....all the photos I take and I didn't think to take that one !!

Auchnacree Loch

Another of the places I stopped by last weekend, there really is some beautiful countryside around here. We are very lucky to have all this so close.

Glenisla, Blackwater dam

Taken up the glens las weekend 20.08.2011. Beautiul day and beautiul views.

East Mathers; Aug 2011

Have been out and about this weekend and we were blessed with good sunshine.

Plan d'Eau, Saint Christophe sur Roch 79410 CHERVEUX

What is a Plan d'Eau?
Many Deux-Sèvres villages in South West France have recognised the need to provide local water-based facilities for leisure activities for both local residents and tourists. Several areas have invested in parks with artificial lakes, woolands walks, beaches, recreational games, fishing, picnic areas and swimming. These places are perfect for lazy family days out, and they are not usually crowded or expensive, Swimming areas are cordoned off and usually have lifeguards in attendance.
In total there are 17 Plans d'Eau in Deux-Sèvres, ensuring that there is at least one within close proximity to all local communities. This particular one is

Saint Christophe sur Roch 79410 CHERVEUX
Water toboggan, swimming, mini-golf, tennis, fishing (top category), pedalos, games and picnic area, camping, restaurant
05 49 05 21 38
plandeaucherveux@aol.com

Satallite picture here

http://www.campster.fr/object.aspx/36561/Camp_Du_Plan_DEau_De_Saint_Christophe

This place made me understand why so much of the best art has come from France and why all the best artists seem to have spent time in France. Every thing an artist needs for inspiration is right here..................

The sunflowers of France

The sunflowers are grown for oil, they were every where.

Murton Farm and Wildlife trust

http://www.murtonwildlife.org.uk/

Murton Wildlife Trust is a charitable organisation, it's an important educational centre that is open to the public. It provides land-based education to children and young people, especially those young adults who do not thrive in the classroom situation. The experience these young people gain gives them work based skills and social skills in preparation for gaining employment. Many of the young people from our school go there regularly, sometimes full time, sometimes part time.
As well as being an educational center its also open to the public. My grandson is ten and my friends son is 8, we took them both there while I had my grandson staying. They had a wonderful time and were particularly impressed with the ferrets.

After the rain Thursday 23 June 2011

I've already said, it has rained all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday and all day today (Thursday). It finally stopped raining about 9.00pm. At which point I stopped pacing like a caged animal and went for a walk. These are taken along what we call 'the nature trail', or 'along the burn', the kids call it 'the dammie'.........I don't know why. It is an area that used to support literally hundreds of flax mills in the nineteenth century. Now it’s given over to pleasant path ways, wild plants, blackberries and a multitude of wildlife.
The plants are just some of the flowers I saw in the fading light. The buildings are mill buildings now either empty and semi derelict or used as storage or by industry. The water is the old burn which, 150 years ago, made this a wealthy town by powering all those mills that sprang up along its banks. The reason the water is so brown is because the excessive rainfall has swept mud and debris down from the hills. Usually the water is clear and you can see fish in there. The rather odd picture in the middle is a strange relief design an engineering company has put up along one of the old buildings it now occupies. I don’t know how long it has been there but I’ve never noticed it before.
It was just so good to get out again.