Happenings in the Broch and surrounds.

Yesterday and today saw the Scottish Kite Buggy Championships on Fraserburgh (the Broch) beach. 

The beach is quite something.  Beautiful golden sands with a backdrop of dunes..

The biggest of the dunes is called Tiger Hill.  No-one is clear as to why the name was given.  I always thought it looked like a sleeping tiger from where I viewed it (the car park).  But of course dunes move around a bit so it may be significantly different to when it was first given the name.  

The beach side cafe is called Tiger Cafe.
 

It must be quite difficult to harness the wind, to ensure you go in the right direction.  Though the DP did say it all seemed quite chaotic!
 

 
People surf here every day.  And we have the Surfing Championship some years. 

 Now who would have thought that happened in the North East of Scotland?  

What really p****s me 0ff is that no-one knew this championship was happening.  Absolutely no publicity whatsoever.  One despairs.  Here are we trying to promote the area and all it has to offer.  Aaaaargh.

On the agricultural side of things, equally if not more important, we are now seeing lambs.  Probably later than elsewhere in the country.  But you never know what the winter is going to throw at you..  This year there has been a lot of supplementary feeding as we, like everyone else, had so much rain.  We havent had any snow which is very strange.

When the sheep first give birth the small field at the top of our road becomes the nursery.  And they are gathered into it and get their bums painted , with a number, as I went past today I noticed that number 6 ewe had three babies with 6 on their bums.  Once everything looks to be all well they are moved to a big field.  Hope number 6 copes.

Any field that doesnt have livestock in it is being ploughed.  Where the sheep were across the road from our house has been ploughed.  The sheep had all gained the required weight eating neeps....and had gone off to the abattoir.  The field to our rear has also been ploughed.  That has had Barley in it since we came here, whether there will be a change this year remains to be seen.  Where we lived before it would have been Oil Seed Rape but just 12 miles away they dont seem to go in for that.

On the home front.  It has taken me 4 weeks to 'do a bit' of decluttering.  No photos as I was so ashamed.  I can now visit the loo in the night without falling over stuff.  Floor cleared.  Bag to charity shop, bag of rubbish, bag of rags.  Plus lots of other shall I shant I in bags and then stashed away in the wardrobes.  Neatly of course.

This morning I also got so fed up of waking and wanting to go straight back I did a few of my physiotherapy exercises.  It worked.  Allelulia.



 

Ploughing and other farming fun.

Sunday was the annual ploughing competition.  With horses versus tractors.

"Lets see if we can get him to fall over...."

 "On the next turn...."
 

 Does my bum look big in this?  Well, yes actually.  Just an aside here, but when I was involved with horses a red ribbon on a horse's tail meant it kicked.  Good job he is a ploughshare away from the part that kicks.

Not just the horses working out!

 I often take a break from painting down the shedudio to watch the farmer ploughing in his tractor, or sewing the seed, or riddling, or whatever else they do.  I shut the windows and door when they are spraying, dont want to stunt my growth.

And I often wonder do they end up lop sided or at the least with a very stiff neck?

Am really not sure what this miniature steam engine was for, other than taking the wife and dog out on a Sunday afternoon.  Now there is a Sunday driver that would really get your blood pressure up.

A row of hanging scarecrows.  No idea, no explanation, competition?  Best dressed? Scariest?  No idea.  Other than they have all finished their scarecrowing, everything harvested, so this is where they all hang out afterwards.

 

Unsure also about the lady in the mauve cardi.  Walking backwards.  Weird.  

What we get up to in the North East of Scotland.

Its catch up time.

Very late this year with the ploughing.  

How do the birds know the ploughing is being done?  Is it the sound?  Do they have one of them up high in the sky who watches and then tells the rest?

I have also been doing a bit of catching up.  Well, chilling out a bit too.  Catching my breath after the last few hectic weeks of Pirates and Grandchildren.

Minerva McGonagall and I went down the shed and listened to opera, (good job the cats like it too.)

Oh, and having bought a frame from the charity shop, fiddling about, unsealing, sealing, ha ha!  Then realised I hadnt signed it....................Need to get my brain to catch up.

Panic - Not now dear....

Wednesday evening I noticed there was something sliding down the flue of our wood burning stove.

Not now - please - I need your warmth.  I went into panic mode.  Is it going to kill me?  My eyes were watering.  But the Carbon Monoxide Alarm remained silent.  We let the fire go out.

Fortunately our supplier was totally laid back, recognised it as being, "You have not ensured your wood is dry."  and handed over a pot of stuff to throw on the fire, when lit, which would sort it.

We then got pyrotechnics.

Which nearly set me off again.  But on reading label of pot this was forecast.

We are now burning peat for a while (the DP being sensible he says - I prefer to see my fire with roaring flames not just sulkily smouldering.)


We have to throw this stuff on every day for so long, then have a gap, I assume at some stage we have to hunt down the only chimney sweep in the North East (hopefully not lambing yet) to come and sweep the flue.  Which will mean no fire to let it cool down..... Ah well the sweep is from Yorkshire and so am I so we usually manage to get him to come. (Barring lambing or calving)

Speaking of lambs, well our new neighbours are not lambs anymore.

Can you see that the transporter is a Three Decker?!

Hope he presses the right button or they are all going to get very squashed.

Wheeeeeeee!

The sheep are feeding on Neeps.  (Swedes in English or big turnips if you aint)  Which apparently are costing the farmer fortunes, doesnt everything cost Farmers fortunes?  If he hadnt had the sheep, which he grew the neeps for to eat , then he could have sold the neeps for vast fortunes down in England as their weather has meant they havent got any.  Follow that?  Also he bought the lambs at £60 each, and after feeding them up for months they are selling at £65, oh dear, but he thinks the price might increase as no-one else has neeps - or whatever, I lost the plot after that.  

Cannot remember which blog I was reading recently complaining about being woken up by the Woodpecker bashing hell out  of their soil pipe.  I thought about the Tawny owls at night, the geese at dawn and sunset honking over, not to mention Whooper Swans whooping, oh and yes we do have Woodpeckers, but they stick to battering the electric pole which says quite clearly, "Danger of Death", but then they cant read, and now we are to have baaa-ing.

This is taken from our bedroom window.

Robins have lovely singing voices.  Remember our garage robin?  I have attempted to immortalise him, without sound, apart from the swearing of the artist of course.  

There are currently four Robins in our garden.  Unusual as Robins are very territorial.  But given the weather they are all being very tolerant to each other.

So, no panic there, and none here now.  Stove simmering away, lovely smell of peat.  More snow forecast, one of four daughters arriving Monday, now should I start to panic...........

Monday mixture.

After catching up with household chores (yawn) removing corpses from under the bed.  (yeuk).  Sith had a good night, but no-one else did.  Washing out on the line.  

Out came the Combine Harvester.

He managed one length of the field before the rain came.  I got totally soaked bringing the washing in.  So we both packed in.

Hydrangeas look good in the rain.

My biggest, most spectacular orchid, looks good inside.

Not sure about this owl claiming to be a snowy owl, well it is snowing in the picture.

Fire going.

Sith waiting for me to sit down, draw the curtains, get on with the knitting, 
Aaaaah.

Roond and Aboot.

There has been a lot of new fencing being erected.  Inside the fencing that is already there, and I assume this is to now replace hedgerows.  Great!

Someone here decided to decorate some of the fence posts with stones!  How cool is that.  And how did they find the time?

 Now who do you suppose is seeing off who here?  The fox looks decidedly uncomfortable does it not?!

Seriously want this cat.  Watty, our neighbour with the garden stuffed with gnomes, lions, stone rabbits, propellors whizzing round , etcetera, also has some beautiful cats, which as unnuetered cats do, produce kittens.  Over the years we have had a number of ginger cats, they have such lovely natures.  But I am not allowed to have this gorgeous beast.

Roe deer.  They must have all reared their babies now as they are back out in the fields in full view.

The one below is in our rear field two days ago.

You will have to hit on this one, but it is Lapwings in amongst a neep field (neeps = turnips/swede).  Lapwings have the most enthralling cry.  Also called Peewits, as that is the sound.

Late lambs.  We do still get them here into July.  Lazy ram?  Goodness knows.

A sparrow posing in the Barley field.

Growing wild here in the North East of Scotland.  We think it is a type of Lily.

And finally, we have had sun today, so here is a sunset.

May your sunset and weekend be a good one.

Catch up.

Where to start?


Alleluia.  Yesterday morning our chimney was swept.

Not by this Fred Dibnah look alike.

Or this extremely clean person who claims to sweep chimneys.


No it was our Alan, from Yorkshire, (the best), who is actually muckier than Fred Dibnah but better looking, tho possibly not as smirky as sweep number 2.


Alan removed the cap off the chimney, removed the Jackdaws nest and announced our chimney clean and ready for the multifuel stove.  He also had a cup of tea and told us about his bills from the vets to save his calves.
It has been such a weird winter that as there were no real frosts or a proper winter to kill off any bugs, his calves, within a few days of birth were diagnosed with some sort of food poisoning.  Cost = £8000 to treat them.  But all are saved.  Though I cannot see how he will ever get his money back.  And then he charges me £28 to sweep the chimney.  No wonder he looks mucky, probably cant afford soap.  I gave him more than £28.  And the cap off the chimney.  I should point out here that Alan is the only chimney sweep in the area and could/should charge us much more than £28.  He could charge what he wants and people would have to pay it.  But he doesnt.


So - what a day this has been.....
Tuesdays are my day out.  I go to Cafe Connect and am the link to all the volunteers beavering away in the schools.


This was followed by lunch at the Scottish Lighthouse Museum.  Its a hard life.


But I did have a high power discussion with the new manager there.  Trying to talk him into letting viewers of the exhibition in in September for nowt.  Our discussions are to continue via email.  Fingers crossed I can sell this to him.  Sell being the most inappropriate word, no hope for me is there!




Art class/group this morning.  Yesterday afternoon I finished off another painting for the Discover Art exhibition.

At the art class/group this morning I did some more on our topic of farm animals.

Getting there.  Hen in the middle has an extremely beady eye - waiting for the one in front to get a move on.


Also framed a painting done by one of the others in the art group.  After me saying that I judged a picture by "Would I want that on my wall?" and that I would.  He gave it to me!

Ah - sigh, just shows how far I have to go.