The Weather is Wonderful, and still no camera !!

The weather here these last few days has been so hot it's sometimes difficult to remember we are actually on the North East Coast of Scotland overlooking the cold North Sea.

This weather is quite unusual for this area, it's a bit of a mini heat wave but nowhere near as hot as it has been in other places. I spent a whole hour one morning watching a Heron at the waters edge but unfortunatly........with only my mobile you can't see it.

I love the summer, I love the sound of the birds singing, the feel of the warm breeze on the skin, the sight of the grasses swaying and walking along the beach at low tide. There has been plenty of that these last few days and the only little blip on my happiness is my lack of a decent camera.

Even that I am getting used too, I’m learning to make do with my poor quality mobile phone and becoming very thankful for the camera that went every where with me over this last year. I have a good stock of decent shots that will take me forever to sort, edit and file, I’m trying to be very positive about this and be thankful for the year I spent with my camera rather than mourn the loss of it now.
I’ve started walking the cliffs again, I don’t go there in the winter, it can get quite dangerous in the bad weather but at the moment it's a wonderful place to be. Shear Red Sandstone cliffs dropping into a swirling foamy sea, all to the ever present din of the squawking sea gulls.
For the first time this year I’ve spent time on the beach with the grandchildren.

 I’ve walked along the cliff path counting the number of wild flowers in bloom,

 I’ve collected pebbles from the beach. They were picked out of rock pools and while wet, they had vivid colours, stripes and patterns.

 Once they dried out the colours dulled, but all it takes to bring back the colour is a quick splash of water.
I have my daughters dog for the week while she is in Spain and every day I've come home from work and walked the dog along the park overlooking the beach. Today it was so hot I stayed indoors untill almost 7pm but still  there was a heat haze over every thing. Then the haare  (sea mist) came in from the sea and swirled around over the  beach and fields like a rapidly moving fuzzy pale shadow.

 It is fascinating to watch and I tried to take a photo of it with my mobile phone, unfortunately you can’t see the full glory of the Haare with my little mobile.

 It is now well past midnight and the house is hot. My windows are all open but the air is still and heavy, soon I will have to try to ignore the heat and sleep. Work again tomorrow and I think it’s going to be just as hot tomorrow as it has been today.

Nice healthy birthday outing to the park

 Healthy birthday in the park, well..... healthy except for the angel cake, chocolate brownies and gingerbread men!!

My Birthday Outing to Crombie

Because it was my birthday yesterday my daughters, their children and the dogs all came to take me out. No grand or fancy restaurants for us, we went to Crombie Country Park. We walked the couple of miles around the man made loch, let the children play in the adventure playground, picked up our picnic from the cars and then headed to the enclosed marquee for a splendid birthday tea. They toasted my with fizzy apple juice, sang happy birthday over shop bought angel cake  and tucked into cheese and onion quiche, chocolate brownies, ginger bread men, cherry tomatoes, crisps and cuscus salad……….not necessarily in that order. None of us have very much spare cash at the moment but this was one of the nicest birthdays I can remember.

 
Crombie Parks Past
The park has its origins in this areas growing need for water during the mid 1800’s. A nearby reservoir at Moniki was completed in 1854 but found to be inadequate for the growing needs of the area. In 1866 work began to develop the former quarry and part of Crombie Den as a reservoir, with the construction of an enormous, earthen embankment with puddle clay lining.  The whole thing was completed in 1868 but the combined supply of water from Moniki and Crombie was never really sufficient to meet demand. In 1871 work started on the Lintrathen scheme, which remains the key supplier for Dundee plus much of Angus and Perthshire.  Crombie was last used to supply water to Carnoustie in 1981, and for almost 100 years its future was uncertain.

Crombie Park Today

The Park was officially opened in September 1983. It has 102 hectares includes Crombie Loch as well as broadleafed and coniferous woodlands; it is a welcome haven for wild life and waterfowl. The woodlands are home to red squirrels, woodpeckers and roe deer.

My own personal favourite part of this vast park is a tiny unused crofting cottage. It has been left exactly as it was when it was used by crofters during the last century. My dream is to one day find my self living in a little house that looks exactly like this with the front door looking out onto the sea. I would sit at my door and watch the sun rise over the sea.  The only sounds; the sea crashing against the shore, the sand being dragged back into the sea and the gulls screeching above the wind and the waves, no company, no conversation, no nothing except me and my house and the sea. …… Oh Navada

 

http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/photos/album/185/Crombie_Country_Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Crombie Country Park

Nice healthy, open air, fresh air, birthday walk. Better than any fancy restaurant.

the blog to go with the photos is here
http://forgetmenot525.multiply.com/journal/item/168/Nice_healthy_birthday_outing_to_the_park_

A TRIBUTE TO WALKING

A TRIBUTE TO WALKING

 

Something I feel I know quite a lot about since it seems to have been my main occupation (apart from writing here) for the past couple of months during the holidays. Now that I’m back at work my walking AND  my writing are taking a bit of a back seat, which is a shame because not only was the walking most enjoyable I’m sure it’s pretty healthy too. Had a bit of a look around a few sites and it seems walking is most defiantly recommended for a healthier life style. So…… read on,

 

Information from

 

http://www.ramblers.org.uk/INFO/everyone/health.html

 

Walking for health

There’s no doubt about it, walking is good for you. It’s good for your heart, it’s good for your lungs, it’s good for the muscle and bone growth of your children and it’s good for your feeling of wellbeing! Strong scientific evidence now supports the many benefits to health of regular walking.

"I have two doctors, my left leg and my right."
George Trevelyan, 1913

"Walking is the nearest activity to perfect exercise".
Professor J Morris and Dr Adrianne Hardman, 1997

• Health benefits of walking
• Walking for general health and longevity
• Walking to increase fitness
• Walking for weight control
• Walking for mental health
• Walking to regain health after illness
• What about children?
• Ideas for town and city dwellers
• Where to go for more help
• References
• Take 30 booklet with 10-week walking plan
This is continued on their web space address above

 

Information from

http://www.feetforlife.org/cgi-bin/item.cgi?ap=1&id=642&d=pnd&dateformat=%25o-%25B

Benefits of Walking

Sponsored by; the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists

Walking is a relaxing and enjoyable way to keep healthy and, as it requires no equipment or expense, is the perfect way to exercise.

How walking can help health and fitness:

 

  Promotes psychological well-being and reduces feelings of stress and depression

  Reduces tiredness and gives people more energy for everyday tasks

  Promotes better sleep

  Helps the muscles and ligaments in the feet to work more efficiently, and keep them supple and flexible

  Reduces depression and anxiety

  Helps people achieve and maintain a healthy body weight

  Helps build and maintain healthy bones, muscles, and joints

  Helps to reduce the risks of many serious health problems in old age

  Helps to reduce the risk of developing non-insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes mellitus

  Helps to reduce the risks of developing osteoporosis

  Helps to reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease (CHD)

  Helps to lower the risk of developing high blood pressure

  Helps to reduce blood pressure in people who already have hypertension

  Helps to lower total blood cholesterol

  Helps to reduce the risk of stroke

  Helps to reduce the risk of developing colon and breast cancer…………………………….continued on their website

 

Information from

 

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/women4060/Pages/Walktohealth.aspx

 

Walk your way to health

 

Walking 10,000 steps a day (about five miles) can give you a healthy heart and reduce your body fat.

 

Walking can’t really get you fit, can it?

Yes it can. Walking is good for your heart and lungs, improving cardiovascular fitness. Most of the work is done by the muscles of the lower body, and it’s a weight-bearing activity, so it can help improve bone density. At the same time, it’s low impact, so it won’t strain your joints.

 

Surely you really need to go to the gym for a proper workout?

Doing a thorough workout at the gym is excellent and you can get good advice from the instructors about the best exercise for you. But ask yourself these two questions: do you actually go to the gym? And how often?

 The beauty of walking is that it can be fitted into your daily routine. It’s free, saves on petrol or bus fares and is better for the planet. Half of all journeys in the UK are under two miles.

 I’d have to walk really fast to burn calories.

Not true. It’s the distance covered that matters, not the time. If you walk faster you will burn calories at a faster rate but you’ll arrive quicker.

 Your size, stride and speed will affect how many calories your burn in 10,000 steps. For an 11 stone woman walking at a fairly brisk pace of 3.5 miles an hour, it would take around 90 minutes and burn more than 400 calories.

 Isn’t walking too easy if I want to get fit?

It depends how fit you want to get. If you want to get fit for sport then yes, you do need to work hard. And sport or working out in the gym are popular ways of getting and keeping fit. But you can get major health benefits from relatively mild exercise, as long as you do enough and do it regularly.

 Latest scientific evidence shows that walking one mile in 15 minutes burns about the same number of calories as running a mile in eight and a half minutes. And the calories you can lose soon add up if you walk an extra hour a day. Of course, you have to watch your diet too: walking for 15 minutes isn’t a licence to eat whatever you like.

Continued on their web site………………………..

 

This is just a small sample of the information out there telling us the benefits of walking. But so far this has told us what personal benefits we get from walking, what about the benefits to the planet??

 

    .every time we chose to walk instead of taking transport we save fuel and cut dangerous emissions.

     Walking rather than driving saves wear and tear on the roads and helps minimise maintanance.

    If we stay healthier we tend to have the thermostat set lower.

    AND…………..most people love my photos, well I would not have seen half of those views from a car or bus window, to see it you need to be out there in it.

 

You don't see views like this from the road! so lets all walk a bit more, get healthy, enjoy the views and  protect the earth all at the same time.

 

Stonehaven, my holiday, walks around the town

I have had a wonderful break away. I didn’t go far, just a few miles up the coast to another little town called Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. I hadn’t been able to get away at all this summer and suddenly I realised I only had another week or so before the schools re-open and I have to go back to work. So in a bit of a rush, I decided to phone around and see what I could book. I found a very nice lady who could offer me two nights, Tuesday and Wednesday,  in her B & B; she then managed to get me Thursday night in her friends B & B which gave me from Tuesday through till Friday……………ahhhhhhhhhh bliss, just to get away for awhile.

Stonehaven has a very similar history to Arbroath (where I live), it’s just another small coastal town that was originally a fishing village. Their harbour fascinated me; it’s so unlike the harbour at home. Our harbour is bigger than theirs, our outer harbour is still used by fishermen and the inner harbour has been fitted out with pontoons to accommodate luxury leisure craft. Theirs is so different. It’s small, has a sandy beach, is used by a few local people to moore their boats but is also used, and at the same time, by families! I found this fascinating. There were boats tied up against the harbour wall bobbing about in the waves, one boat was being towed away up the harbour ramp,  and just a few feet away children splashed in the water, ducks swam around, parents sat on the sand eating ice cream and sand castles were being made. All of this is overlooked by local pubs and restaurants where people can sit outside, watching the harbour as they eat and drink. It was so picturesque.

As well as the harbour Stonehaven has a sandy bay where all sorts of sea bird can be seen, including herons and several different species of seagull. The ‘bay’ as this beach is called is bordered at the north by a river known as Cowie Water running into the sea and at the south by a river known as Carron Water running into the sea. The space between these two fast running rivers is the area known as ‘The Bay’; it has beautiful yellow sand with a few rock pools that emerge from the sea as the tide goes out.

This little town is surrounded by steep sea cliffs; to the south the there is a cliff path that takes you over the cliffs with fantastic views out across the North Sea and past the War MemorialAbout two miles past the War Memorial is Dunnottar Castle which has a history dating back to the fourteenth century, (it’s possible the site was in use much earlier than that). It’s a now ruinous stone built castle on top of a steep cliff face that drops away into the sea below. I walked the two or so miles along the cliff path to the castle, down what seemed like hundreds of steps to the base of the rock and then up what seemed like hundreds more steps to the castle entrance, then I had a good look around.

It was quite a climb up and down all those steep steps but it was worth it. Once inside this old ruin it was beautiful, a huge medieval castle with towers, dungeons, stables, a smithy, a grand sixteenth century courtyard annex and a well that needed fresh water pumped in from the mainland!! Another thing I noticed along this cliff walk was the crops.

I must have been there at exactly the right time because there were whole fields of golden wheat swaying in the wind. That was quite a Van Gough moment.

If you walk in the opposite direction, along the cliff path going north from Stonehaven, you come to a very old ruined church. It has grave stones all around it; they are even inside what was once the church. The land must have continued to be used as a cemetery long after the church fell into disuse. Apparently the church was deserted because the cliff face eroded and left the church too close to the edge of the cliff.


 On the way back from this little ruined church, if you know where to look, there is what seems like a very old stone wall standing about 3 foot high. These few very ordinary looking stones are all that is left of a once great medieval castle, Cowie Castle. I never found out why the castle no longer exists and there is very little of it left. The only reason I knew to look out for it, was because I had read about it in the Toll Booth museum, it would have been very easily missed. 


If you don’t want to go wandering around a cliff face you can always go wandering around Dunnottar woods which start just outside the centre of town. There are all sorts of things to see in the woods.


It’s a lovely walk but there is also a little shell house that the lady who once owned the land built for her children to play in. She had ten children so I guess they needed somewhere to play. The shell ‘Hoosie’, as it is known was renovated a while ago but most of the shells from the outside are still missing.


The inside is quite a surprise though. Hundreds of little shells embedded into the wall in patterns and shapes, what a lovely little thing to find in the middle of the woods.

One thing that Sonehaven is well known for is it’s Olympic sized outdoor swimming pool. It’s filled with heated sea water and is one of very few operational outdoor pools left in Scotland. Like most of these outdoor pools it was built in the 30’s and has served its population well. It’s open every day through out the summer and you can even go for a midnight swim if you want too!! Said to be quite a unique experience. From what I was told there seems to be a constant battle to find the funds to keep this pool open, I just hope they manage it, I sat in the pool café one day watching every one have fun, it would be a real shame to lose this.

One of the nicest and most surprising things about my little holiday away was finding out that the landlady from the B&B was very well acquainted with the work of Joan Eardley, the painter I wrote about last week. What a coincidence, it turned out she (Janice the B&B landlady) is from Glasgow and lived in the ‘Townhead’ area of Glasgow (as a child) at the same time as Joan was painting her urchin children there. Even more of a coincidence was the fact that she knew the Sampson family very well; she was friends with the girl Joan Eardley painted most often, the child with the squint eyes called Pat. I have seen old school class photos of Pat the girl with the squint eye and she is instantly recognisable as the girl in the paintings.  AND………..even stranger, Catterling, the place where Joan Eardley stayed and painted the seascapes, is just a few miles down the coast from Stonehaven. I managed a visit to this tiny cliff top village and stood outside the very cottage where Joan Eardley had painted and lived. WOW…………….perfect holiday.

And all too soon it was time to come home. I have loads and loads of photos and eventually I expect I shall manage to get them all posted but for now I am just going to post the few I have here to illustrate my ‘holiday report’.

And sadly on Monday I shall be going back to work after having all this free time over the summer. Working, a necessary evil, will seriously encroach on the time I spend here, which of course means my time here will be a lot more limited than it has been these last few weeks. Until the next lot of holidays of course!. SO…………..if I I’m not around as much as I have been you will know why.