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It was a typical Skye day. It started out clear, but by early afternoon when we were leaving Portree, the first drops of rain were falling. By the time we got to Staffin Slip, the rain was being battered down by a blustery west wind. Sat for an hour and watched the gulls diving for fish or crabs, not sure which. Came back myself later to get at least one painting done. Took some photos of the river and attempted to catch the swallows or swifts or housemartins – birds at least – unsuccessfully. By this time the wind had really picked up and was reaching gale force IMO and it was soon time to leave.

When I returned to the croft, I was mobbed by Bernie – afterBernie Ecklestone apparently! Bernie is a quite vociferous pet lamb on the croft.  Bernie was rejected by his mother at birth, then developed an infection, but after some care and attention by Murd, he is now well on the way to a noisy recovery. Seems to think every man is his adopted father!

I spent a pleasant half hour or so watching the swallows (or swifts, or housemartins) catching insects, just inches above the waters of the River Brogaig in the rain.365/143

Out early and in to Glasgow for a daunder.  Stopped at Staples to look for some printable CDs.  Hmm, not at that price, thank you very much.  Saw a phone cover that looked just like the Venom one I’d just bought for the princely sum of £2.95 from Amazon!  Phone, where’s my phone?  It’s not in my pocket!  Dived out and found the phone lying on the ground, untouched, beside the car where it had fallen from my pocket!
Oh lucky day 1.

Walked down to Merchant City Cameras and picked up a pair of 10×25 binoculars for £15.  Cheaper than Amazon, but don’t rush down to MCC, because these were the last pair.  Got some arty stuff too.  A set of watercolour pens and best of all, new blades for my Logan mat cutter.  For making watercolour mounts.  Not very exciting to most people, but essential for those without a steady enough hand to do it unaided.
Oh lucky day 2.

For tidying up the PC laptop, I decided to give up on Belvedere as it was more like Belvedire most of the time.  Opted for File Juggler which showed so much more potential.  Decided to to the decent thing and buy it.  Big mistake.  My previous attempts at making rules for this prog had proved more than successful.  Ever since I purchased it, it’s been going wrong.  It may be teething problems with the syntax, or it could be …
Oh unlucky day 1.

Still, two up and one down is still a result.

Another early(ish) rise this morning to go in to Glasgow with Fred to a watercolour workshop in Cass Art.  Interesting, if slightly beneath us both, but we did get to see the new painting sticks (like water soluble pastels without the filler) and watercolour markers (double ended markers, other than that, not a lot different from any other water soluble marker pens).  However, it passed a couple of hours on a Sunday morning when I would only be mooching around the house.  Weather was again “Scottish”.  Such an apt description.

Before the workshop, we wandered down Queen Street and looked around one of the many wee alleys in the centre of the city.  It always amazes me the number of vennels there are around the city centre.  Some of the photos I took are shown below.

No, the results of my watercolour workshop will not be displayed on this page.  You should be so lucky!

Descriptions from left to right:
This is rapidly becoming on of my favourite Glasgow buildings, not for itself, but for the reflections it generates. In this case it’s of the GOMA.
A wee alley just off Queen Street with boarded up windows.
I liked the way the windows ran vertically up this building in a wee alley off Queen Street.
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An ideal parking place for two cars, and right in the centre of town too.

I’d promised my niece who had promised her son that we would go to Bo-ness to a Thomas the Tank Engine day.  I don’t know who was more excited, my niece or her son, I’m guessing it was her.  The station was absolutely mobbed for the event, and there was Thomas himself taking pride of place at the front.  Not actually doing any work today, but definitely the star.

After seeing the two off on their steam train adventure, I wandered around looking for some photo opportunities not involving steam trains.  I walked around the old docks and got a few low level seascapes and some shots of textures on the rusting railway stuff, but as the wind was so strong, it was a bit of a struggle keeping vibration down, even with the VC on the 70-300 lens.

I hadn’t realised just how run-down Bo-ness had become.  There wasn’t even a decent cafe to go to for a cup of coffee.  One decent butchers, though, so that is always worth remembering if I have to return some time in the future.  Hopefully a long time in the future.

Thomas the tank engine at Bo-ness today.

The Fat Controller, known as Sir Topham Hatt in USA and Japan, presumably to avoid litigation from the corporeally challenged.  Seen at Bo-ness today.

Come in number 3 your time is (nearly) up.  A bit rusty and not looking its best. Number 3 may need something of a makeover before being displayed to the public.

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The wind was gusting and the sea was high. Made for good wide angle shots.

I remember when we were coming home from Mallorca, the cabin attendant on the plane said “We will soon be landing in Glasgow where the weather is … Scottish.”  That summed up today.  Bright early on, cloudy later.  Later still, driving rain.  The weather was … Scottish.  Lunch at Milano was the highlight of the day.  No walk this morning, I’m not that daft.  Did go for a coffee up the ‘Toonie’ later in the morning with Fred and then for a swim in the afternoon.  Other than that, just a typical Scottish day.

This pansy in the front garden is battered by the wind, washed by the rain and occasionally, just occasionally bleached by the sun.  Through it all they shine.  This one reminds me of Desperate Dan.  If you don’t know who that is, shame on you.
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Up and out relatively early and walked the railway again.  I really must make the effort to go somewhere else of a morning, in fact, I may make it my task for next week, to walk a different path every day.  That sounds very profound, doesn’t it?  It’s not meant to be, it just means I have to find a new place to park and somewhere new to walk, preferably with some interesting scenery (or deer) to photograph.  Yes, that’s a good pledge.  A different path every day.  Profound!

I spent this evening investigating Keyboard Maestro.  It’s like Hazel (the app, Hazy, not the person) on steroids.  Years ago I discovered the delights of writing scripts for the PC that would execute much, much quicker and with much more power than any Windows command could.  Unfortunately, they were a bit of a hand-grenade too.  “What will happen if I pull out this little pin”.  Macs are a little more gentle in that respect, but only a little more gentle. They still need to be handled with care.  More of this when I’ve pulled out a few more pins!

Yesterdays deer were easy deer, today’s deer were a bit more difficult. The first one got away before I could get the camera out of the bag. This one felt much more secure. I think it realised that there was a fence and a burn between it and me and it knew I wouldn’t be able to get near it.

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Scamp decided that it would be a good day to go visit David Marshall Lodge (always referred to as DML) near Aberfoyle.  It was a great run there with excellent views and good sunny spells.  Walked round the waterfall route and found the new (to us) Alice in Wonderland treasure hunt.  Well thought out with plenty of stuff for kids to find.  Lunch at DML visitor centre and a run home via the Duke’s Pass.  You sometimes forget the wonderful scenery that’s on your doorstep.  The only down side was that the 70-300mm lens was acting up again.  Must call in at Merchant City Cameras tomorrow and see what’s to be done about it.

The oft photographed waterfall at David Marshall Lodge. It’s almost as popular as the one in front of Buachaille Etive Mòr at Glencoe. Luckily, unlike the Buachaille waterfall, you don’t have to phone ahead to book your 15minute slot to photograph it.

The easiest deer ever to photograph. They just stood there while I got this shot. Even when we approached them they didn’t run away. Obviously very tame and used to humans. The fact that they are cast from iron was probably a contributing factor too!

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A dull day today.  Not a lot to recommend it.  Went for a swim in the afternoon and that brightened me up, mainly because I met one of my former pupils and that reminded me that I could afford the time to go for a swim “Dum adultieri ad opus sunt” which is closer to the latin for “While the bastards are at work” (NNTS).  Google thinks it should be Ubi rather than Dum, but I think Dum is correct.  Also, as far as I can remember, the verb should go to the end of a latin sentence, again not what Google translate thinks.  That said, the die is cast and our club will always be the Ubi club now – much better that the Dum club anyway!

Went to Chaophraya tonight for a Thai cookery class.  I was the only bloke there with 8 women, but that was ok.  Chef was a bit full of himself, but the food was good, if a bit hot!  Enjoyed it all the same and liked the taste.  So much preparation for just a few minutes cooking.  Thank you Scamp for the present!

I had noticed that the peanuts were going down fast in the birdfeeder, but it Scamp who noticed the peanut thief early one morning last week.  Today, it was her again who alerted me.  It’s amazing the contortions this animal goes through to grab some peanuts through the wire mesh.

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Walked along the old railway this morning.  All went well until I reached the marshes and then the heavens opened and the deluge continued until I had been chased back to Auchinstarry.  The rest of the day was dry and occasionally sunny.  It was warm all day with temperatures around 15ºc at 10.00am.

I don’t know where this little fella was going, but he was singleminded in his desire to get there.  I’ve seen a lot of snails recently.  Far more snails than slugs for a change and that can only be a good thing.  At least snails are photogenic.

Apparently the pink bluebells are a genetic hybrid with the Spanish bluebell.  It also seems that the pink variety are the dominant strain, neither Scottish nor Spanish.

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