Cairngorms Life

Sorry I haven’t been on for a while, had a week in Cornwall seeing my sister, just a tad warmer than up here. On the way home passing through Cumbria we experienced the heavy rain that caused last nights flooding, the M6 was hard going with a lot of surface water on the roads.

All a bit different to the inch of snow we woke up to this morning. Our roads soon cleared with some lovely sunshine warming us up to zero degrees C, so at least no need for the snow plough. went for a walk up the hills with the misses & of course the camera. So glad I did because it was a cracking light, well at least going up the road was, coming back clouded over a bit & we are forecast some more snow tonight.

All shots taken from the road, the first being one of the many lone Birch trees that just about hang on throughout the windy & exposed terrain that is Glen Tilt.

The second is one of my favourite row of trees, this horizon used to be covered in trees, but they felled the wood & left just these, which I find makes them very photogenic.

The third shows how well the Glen & Munro’s are now covered, in the middle of the shot you can just make out the barns that are part of the remote farm (the same one as in the first shot) called Menzie (pronounced Menaa).

The last two were a bit of a surprise, on a very distant hill was this herd of Red Deer stags, they most probably have been there since after the rut, but are (until the snow comes) normally well camouflaged. Hinds & Stags separate after the rut & even larger groups of stags are not uncommon up here. No doubt that by the end of the winter you will be fed up of my stag shots, as they come fairly close to us on the other side of the Glen.

 

 

 

All across Britain & the Commonwealth today there will be services of remembrance. But here in our tiny village we have a unique event that happens nowhere else in the world. On parade for us is the only official & royal approved private army, The Atholl Highlanders.

Queen Victoria granted them this status when they escorted her on the way to Balmoral, she was so impressed that she allowed them by charter this status. Marching in front of them was our local pipe band & it was so good to see the youngsters in the band & bothering to come to the parade.

The road through the village is shut at both ends to allow the band & Highlanders to remain on the road throughout the ceremony & to march from the castle entrance & then back up the village to the church.

Below are  them coming up to the war memorial, with the pipe band, Then one of the Highlanders & lastly our wonderful stone memorial, I wish I could learn how to turn the portrait shot round to be a landscape, I will get the hang of it one day.

 

We (like the rest of the U.K. ) have just had our clocks change , darker nights, but good light in the mornings. Though not so this morning, very grey skies, showers & the occasional glimpse of the sun. Most significant though is on the top of our hills where we have the first snow of the Winter, does make you feel cold just looking at it.

First hill is Carn Dearg Baeg.

Second I think? is Craeg Bhagailteach way in the distance from us.

And the third is Maell  Reamhar at 565 Metres the highest of the three.

 

 

This time of year The Cairngorms can be so unpredictable, an example being (as F.B. has told me) 5 years ago today I posted a shot of the hills covered in snow. Not today though, today was a real cracking day, no wind, no rain, no snow just a wonderful calm sunny, crisp day. 10 to 12 Centigrade, but without the wind just a pleasure to go for a walk. So that is what we did.

Walked up from our house to Loch Moraig, which is a great brown trout fishing loch in season. The distance is about 1. 1/2 miles , but all up hill & so worth the effort. The cattle along side the road were unusually content, not calling out for food, curious of us but content to share the road between cattle grids with us. Then the views of the start of The Cairngorm range of hills looking splendid in the midday sun.

Then Loch Moraig comes into view, we had seen well over 100 Geese flying towards it on the walk up, but was surprised that there were very few on the loch, I guess they were in the surrounding fields feeding up. But what a sight the loch was bathed in sunshine & so calm that the ducks wakes were still sitting on the water 50yds behind them.

Went a bit snap happy but have only added a few to this blog, just to give you an idea of what the day was like.

Had to go down to Loch Dunmore this afternoon to pick up the boathouse keys from the E.F. & again could not resist taking a shot of the boathouse without the pumps & lights, beautiful in it’s own right (that is the last shot)

The other shots are:-

The Munro Carn Liath,  A bit further to the left of Carn Liath & two of Loch Moraig.

 

 

 

That is it, the Enchanted Forest for 2017 is finished, last show was Sunday night & the whole thing has been a wonderful success.  72,000 people attended over the 31 nights, bringing an awful lot of trade into the area, with cafes, restaurants, pubs, hotels & bed & breakfast establishment seeing a huge rise in sales. Even the Blair Atholl Country Museum stayed open & saw an increase in visitors, some days above what they had recorded during summer months.

The dismantling of the structures at E.F. has gone well, with the water section that I was involved in, what took nearly two weeks to construct has been taken apart in one & a half days.  17 rafts & pumps, plus all the scaffolding that held them together off the water, all areas available to fish now, though I think it might take the winter for the fish to get over the upheaval.

 

Below are the last four shots of this years show that I took on Saturday night :-

First the lava flow hillside complete with a reflection in the Loch.

Next, I think this looks like the woods are on fire & the jets are trying to put it out, trouble seems to be they are trying with petrol not water (vivid imagination me).

The next two shots are of the Rainbow Bridge, a huge part of the show & children just loved the water spray on the outside of it. Apparently there were 3 marriage proposals on the bridge during the show. One guy, came up from London,  hired the event after it had shut to the public (10.30 pm) had families with him & surprised his girlfriend by getting down on one knee in the middle of the bridge, she said yes. Expensive thing to do , just worries me what the women will expect for their wedding?

 

 

 

When I lived on the Bristol Channel area of the West of England it was famous for its magnificent sunsets facing west & relatively flat land you got them in all their glory. But I am sorry to say here in the Cairngorms I think we better them, not sure if it because the hills add that extra special dark shadows over the land, making the sky look even more dramatic, or, the unpolluted clean air we have. Not very often that we get such a clear crisp day, with plenty of sunshine as today & when you do you just think “tonight’s sunset could be good” & boy it was good tonight. It does help that our main windows all face West & that we can see it getting better & better as the sun sets.

I hope my photography shows it off to its best, not post processed these images at all, this is as it was (honest).

Just a bit of news from the village, on Thursday the church hall was taken over by the Pitlochry Medical practice to provides all the village “old” folk (over 65) with their flu jabs. This is a real community event & everybody meets people they most probably have not seen since last years jab, so a lot of blethering goes on & such fun, as we all move along to await our turn. A bit like musical chairs without the music. Anyway a grand total of 85 folks had their jabs, just shows you what a fit & fairly healthy bunch of “oldies” we have here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is getting close to the time in The Cairngorms where things start to close down for the winter. A list of our favourite haunts that will be shut from 31st of this month include :- The Mill, no more strolls down the hill for coffee & bread until Easter next year. The Boathouse in Pitlochry, another watering hole. The Coultard’s lovely little gift hut  in the village & the Country Life Museum also in the village.

The Museum has won allsorts of awards over the years & shows a permanent exhibition every year, plus a special one on a set topic each year, for example the anniversary of the railway coming to Blair Atholl & the likes.

It is run by volunteers and all visitors who attend really enjoy the yesteryear experience, some of the older people like me, even remember a lot of the exhibits. A few older locals remember when this was their school & can even tell you where they set in each room. It is a wonderful reminder of the hardships people had in “the good old days” & just how hard (but enjoyable) life was.

Some of the tasks & clothing I have photographed below, which is laid out so well, they also have an original, turn of the last century Post Office as it was installed, all such interesting things for old to reminisce over & the young to look in disbelief at. Might encourage you to visit the village next year.

One consolation, the Table Tennis stays open, as do many functions in the village hall, Halloween free party for the children, Christmas Fair, turning on of the village Christmas lights plus a visit from Santa. So I will still have “stuff” to write about.

 

 

Have been suffering a bit of Man Flu for a few days & just haven’t really been out much. So sitting on the settee at the window  got the camera out, hence the not to brilliant images as they were taken through the double glazing.

The first & last shots are of a very special bird at our house The Wren, we love wrens & this winter it looks like we have acquired a resident one. It skits about the garden looking in every nook & cranny, of which we have plenty. There are not many days that we do not see it & it just brings a real smile to you, seeing how industrious it is.

The next one is an occasional visitor & very shy & reserved The Tree Creeper, it certainly lives up to it’s name, creeping along with it’s long claws gripping on to any surface.

Next a very common bird in our garden & in most Scottish gardens The Chaffinch, in this case two males picking up scraps of seed I had thrown out of the feeder.

Though most of you will know the next one is  a Blackbird, this is not your normal Blackbird. This is one of our winter imports, just a slight colour variation to our normal ones. I think this one is a female & most probably flew in from Scandinavia or even Russia. We have maybe 6 or so that come back to us every year & we know they are the same family as the previous year as they come straight to the backdoor to be fed sultanas. Not a bit shy or hesitant at coming down to feed, they just feel at home straight away.

Lastly we have The Greater Spotted Woodpecker, started of a few years ago with just a couple in the garden, now they arrive daily with their offspring & a total of at least 6 spread around the feeders in the garden. This one tends to own this feeder & the jar of peanut butter a bit higher up, it did allow this years offspring to eat from the jar, but he seems to have prohibited that now.

The abundance of birds in our garden allowed me to take these six shots in just over 5 minutes & I hope I have portrayed the love we have for wildlife, even if their monthly food bill is as high as our own.

 

 

 

I know it is very British to talk about the weather, but this is a strange one. We are forecast for very strong winds over the next couple of days the tail end of one of the American hurricanes. But today though we have had some very heavy downpours, not a breath of wind, maybe this is why they say “the calm before the storm”.

The noticeable thing now is the colour of the sky, it is very cloudy & overcast to such an extent we have had the house lights on for most of the day. Now though it has gone a very dusty, dull,  mustard colour outside while being bright on the trees, it is as though the clouds are acting as a huge filter for the sun, I can honestly say I have never seen a colour like it. A depressing, low cloud piece of scenery, that I am not sure I have fully captured in the two shots below. I have not post processed them in any way, so it is showing just what the camera saw, which is a very weird experience. Not sure if this is what the Doomsday Experience would be like, but it creates that sort of impression.

P.S. sorry about the electric pylon & cable , but it is there in such an awkward place that spoils the tree image.

 

In the last post I said about there being plenty of Geese arriving, well today they came in their hundreds. The farm opposite (due to the weather) combined a field of Barley only last week & this is the field that the Geese have discovered. I expect there is a lot of grain in the field & they are fattening themselves up on that. I was a bit late taking the shot below (no I didn’t use my gun, purely with the camera). By this time , looking at the volume in this picture, at least 500 hundred had gone into the field & I was left with what I have counted as 147 Geese. Maybe you will count a different amount in the picture, but that is “roughly” what I have counted. Challenge set.