HAPPY HOGMANAY.

This photograph was taken today, the last day of 2015.

Made me feel good.  Hope the good feelings are with us all in 2016.

Post Christmas.

My Christmas Day walk.  I finally walked to the end of the esplanade. And could get no further!  My chariot doesnt do sand dunes.

So I have extended the walk in the other direction.  Although the views of the fish factory are not the most picturesque.

Christmas Day was spent quietly.  Just the Dawn Patroller and I. 

Pheasant for dinner. 

And lots of wine.

The weather was totally foul on Boxing Day - as was I - so no walk.

Sunday we had our eldest daughter and two grandsons visit from Edinburgh.

Suitably awestruck at the sight of the North Sea.  

And of Grandma in full walking mode.

Later on in the day I introduced the boys to acrylic paint.  Which has been applied with gusto, so much so it still hasnt dried. And acrylic paint was chosen specifically as it dries quickly.

Number 1 grandson is better than I , my placement of subject leaves a lot to be desired. Spiderman would not have had feet if Grandma had painted him.

I finished the day off with lots of wine sorting the world out with daughter as one does. Especially avec  le vin.

Which meant that today with 34 m.p.h winds and rain and gloom/darkness I didnt do the seaside walk -  again.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  Still got New Year to go.  Oh God and the resolutions........

Happy Christmas.

Happy Christmas to all my followers and to the Bloggers I follow.



Roll on 2016.

Keep your eyes on the road.

Still doing my daily walk along Fraserburgh Esplanade.  The weather seems to change every day and it is interesting to see the state of the tide.

Here the tide is about its furthest out.  If you look closely to the left you can see revealed some vicious rocks.

The tide is coming well in here.   But so far I have not been there at high tide.  Perhaps as well as the evidence it leaves shows I would get rather wet.

When the walk is in the (usual) wind my view tends to be this.  Head down and plod.  I come back the other way with beautiful views - and a lot faster.

But today I had a totally different scenario.

My walk today was inside and along the corridors of Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.  

Aberdeen is over 30 miles away from where we live.  No not that far.  But most of it is not even dual carriageway and then when almost there you hit the traffic.  In fact if you dont time it right you hit it much sooner.  In fact just at the end of our lane.

My appointment was 8.30 a.m.;  This entailed us getting up at 5a.m. and setting off about 6.30 to avoid the rush hour. Or some of it. A normal jaunt into Aberdeen takes an hour and a half.  This why this photo was taken at approx 7.40. a tad early for my appointment!  The DP was driving.......  I am much more sedate.

After lots of tests and questions..I will be getting an appointment to operate and sort the cataract out on my left eye which is the worst apparently.  

The good news was that I could still see enough to carry on driving.

So I can keep my eyes on the road.

Had a second breakfast to celebrate.

Getting a life - and death.

Two weeks on from when I first began to walk for exercise and regaining strength, after a fairly lengthy bout of ill health, I realised I had done double the distance.  

My turning point today was the start of the sand dunes.

My start point - the caravan site - now deserted for the Winter.

The weather yesterday was awful.  It just never got really into daylight.

This was the view from the house down the road.  I decided not to go.  But then it brightened up a wee bit and stopped raining.  

 Still murky.

But today totally different..

My Mother died peacefully this morning.  She broke off all communication with me ten years ago.  Never did find  out why.  But that was a frequent occurrence in her life with others so I wasnt too surprised.   Along with my being chopped off so were my children.  What a lot she missed.  I shall be raising a glass to her. RIP

Winter Solstice roll on.

21st December I think.  Counting the days down.  Today I went for my walk.  It was just after noon and was already beginning to get dark.

I was going to do a post about feeding the birds and wot I get on my feeders in the garden.

But it is too dark.

It is also too dark too early for me to do any serious art work.

But some get finished.  

Some good things about the Winter..  A Mountain Hare about to turn his fur to white. 

6 days to go before the earth tilts and the days grow longer.

More Walking and what I see.

Not the most flattering of photographs. In fact one friend said I was the Fraserburgh bag lady.

Even less flattering, but bear in mind this is the Dawn Patroller who I do not think has ever taken a flattering photograph of me.  But then its the truth.

I have now been walking every day for 9 days.  Now going faster and further.  

 

I do stop to take photographs.  Oyster catchers.

 Only birds surfing.

Today I walked further.  Looking back no sign of my car.  Feeling good.

 

I have been very lucky wth the weather.  Bitterly cold.  But not much wind.

In the afternoon its into the shedudio and painting.

And as blogger is taking for ever to upload any pictures you will have to wait or visit Buchan Birds and Beasts facebook page.

 

Walking.

My idea of walking is from car to shop or car to wherever. I have never gone for a walk as such since my kids grew up.

 Even so my normal walking pace was a quick dash here and a quick dash there.  As regards shops its grab a trolley and lean on it.  When I was diagnosed with COPD the occupational therapist was asking a group of us what she could help us with.  I asked for a shopping trolley.  So I was given the chariot.  Basically it stops me dashing anywhere.  A ladylike slow, measured, amble. ( Though I can get up a bit of a speed and now have warning hooters fixed.)  So -  I do not get out of breath.  Seemple.

 Following my 2 month battle with virus, chest infections and pleurisy I have been advised to avoid people.  So thats scooting round the supermarket out and meeting friends for coffee and/or lunch.  And physiotherapy.....

But at the same time I am advised to get my fitness back up and put back the weight I have lost.

So whats an old gal to do?

 Fraserburgh Esplanade.

 An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk.  Wikepedia.

Note the word WALK.


Well I have to own up and say I was hoping the promised hurricanes would hit but so far we havent had any. (Sorry for those who have.)  So me and the chariot went off to walk.

 This is what you see when you pause to control breathing.

 In the distance you can see a large orange bouy. My car is parked next to it. And this is how far I got on day 2.  6 Benches.  The building on the left is Tiger Cafe.  Open year round and seven days a week.  I did wonder about December 25th.

In the distance  is Tiger Hill. Part of the sand dunes.  Kessock Burn is coming onto the beach and into the sea from the right.  Turn and walk back to the car.

So today was Day 3. I walked the same distance.  A few more stops.  Counting Oyster Catchers. Any excuse.  And to control breathing.......

And do you know what?!!!!  Once it is all over -  THE WALK -  I feel wonderful.

One more bit of excitement about living in the North East of Scotland - yesterday we had a power cut.  Not just any old power cut.  When your electric goes off your phone goes off too.  So on the mobile which has to be used outside as no signal in house you phone Scottish Hydro.  From then on you get regular text updates.  So I knew that Colin, Harry and Ryan were on the case.

 The power went off at 3.15p.m just as it was getting dark.  So thats it, no phone, no heat, no light, no nothing.  Thank the Lord we had the foresight to have the woodburner installed.  The above picture shows how it really was in candlelight.

The one below shows it using the flash on the camera.  Ahhhh Ideal Home.

 The power came back on five minutes after the DP had set off for fish and chips.

I received a phone call today to see if we were alright (?)  Well the cost of a fish supper......
and to be informed it was due to a 'bird strike on a power line'. How did they find that in the dark then, Colin, Harry and Ryan.  Bloody  Swans .