My love is like a red red...cactus?

Alongside the usual red roses, heart-shaped leaves make a novel Valentine's Day gift.
My Valentine's Day gift today? A very muddy walk in the Borders countryside south of Edinburgh, with showers of hail and rain to clear away the city cobwebs.

My New Boots

I just ordered these boots from ShoeMall. That was on my list, 5 before 55, that I posted a few weeks ago. Click on the link below to see the list. http://artfulaspirations.blogspot.com/../08/5-by-55.html
I also made the Victoria Sponge Cake but am going to try one more time. I have Samuel Pepys Diary on my stack and ready to read.
I think I'll be able to finish all five. I still have a month and a half.

Got Snow on da Brains!

"Pss psst pss pss..."Avalon: "Huh? I didn't get that.""Pss psss psss pfsss pssnnowww"Avalon: "What you whisperin' about?""Look into my eyes... the pictures below are reflected in them hee hee! I've been on a nostalgia jaunt!"
Isn't it bootiful? Someday, you'll be in a snow show hahaha! Ho ho ho!

(Mom: this is an old photoshow and there are way too many pix in here, so don't feel you need to watch whole thing - you get the drift, hah! Hope our pals in the midwestern states are doin' okay with all the snow you've been getting... we're thinking about you.)

Shiloh

We made a trip to Shiloh over the weekend. I have umpty-million photos to download, but so far this one is my favorite.

Spotted fawn in the Union cemetery. (Click to enlarge.)
His cute little fuzzy close-up:

Awww.
-----
It was a very birdy weekend. This wasn't really a birding trip, but we did have our binoculars, so we looked every time we happened to see the branches moving. The list of warblers we saw without even really trying:
Yellow-throated
Black-and-White
Magnolia
Canada
Chestnut-sided
Redstart
Pine
Palm
Brewster's (!)
Tennessee
The gorgeous male Canada warbler was a special treat since we hadn't seen one in so long. And the Brewster's, wow! They are a hybrid between the Blue-winged and Golden-winged warblers, and we'd only seen one once or twice before, at Dauphin Island.
If we'd had more time, we'd have turned it into a birding trip until the migration fallout ran dry, and finished exploring the battlefield later. The weather was beautiful - the first fall-like days of the year.

Just resting.
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis).

Christmas orders from our shop

We are dispatching every day via Royal Mail first class. Last posting day for Christmas delivery is Thursday 20th. So get your order in. If you don’t make it in time for Thursday, will be dispatching orders right through the Christmas period.

I have just added two new climbing DVDs from Hot Aches Productions to the shop.
Wideboyz tells the story of Pete Whittaker and Tom Randall’s crack climbing adventure from training in their ridiculous but effective home climbing wall to making the first ascent of the world’s hardest offwidth under the noses of the Americans. Good story! It's also available for download.
Odyssey follows a hardcore team of James Pearson, Caroline Ciavaldini, Hazel Findlay and Hansjorg Auer on a trad road trip around England and Wales onsighting and redpointing many hard and famous trad routes. Also available for download.

Windy morning

I'm not entirely sure where this came from. There have been some southerly winds blowing quite strongly here, but they don't often stay that way for long. It actually looked like dying down on Thursday, but it seems to have come back with renewed vigour in recent days. I'm certainly not complaining, anything that keeps the temperature down is a good thing as far as I'm concerned, and the wind seems to be doing that effectively, but it can make cycling interesting.
So it was this morning as I set off for a quick 68km or so in the hinterland early. Initially against it, and seemingly taking forever, but it's always surprising to discover the sheer scale of the difference it can make to one's average speed, which can seem very ordinary going against the wind, but can often rebound powerfully in the latter stages. In a way, this in itself can make a ride into an interesting chase, seeing a goal on the horizon, and gradually pulling it back, almost a sense of "I'm coming to get you".
We also should not leave out the attitude that one has to take on a long stretch against the wind, and the chance to show off the boring side of one's personality. It's that grim kind of chase that can often be so liberating, and yet the boring side of the personality gradually gives way to the arrogance that stems from closing in on a destination, gradually overcoming the wind, the turning of the tide, and suddenly realising that the wind can do no more to stop you.
Oh yeah, I took some photos from this morning's ride too. Enjoy.

Illston circular - Kings Norton, Little Stretton, Burton Overy, Carlton Curlieu

Led by me, with Gordon, Barry and Maureen, Cloudy at start, then v hot. Dry underfoot. Eight and three quarter miles.


Mostly the same as two recent walks done on Thursday 18 July, and Thursday 11 July, but this time anticlockwise, and with a short extra loop.

We take the right hand path after the small field in Illston, hugging the hedge, then through the wheat and behind Illston Grange, over the pasture, with a small stand of trees on our right and the house on our left. When we leave the field at the crossroads, we turn right and walk a short distance along the road before taking the byway to Kings Norton.



The views of the church from this path are magnificent, and Gaulby Church is visible as well. The byway goes in a straight line to the road, and then uphill to the church and the village.



At the road junction we ignore the road to the right and carry straight on. The footpath goes to the left past a farm, and through the farmyard. We follow the way marks over a couple of fields and across a bridge through the hedge to a road, where we turn left, and just after the junction to Little Stretton, we pick up the path at a farm gate, near some large agricultural buildings.



There are a fair number of butterflies on the wing, and around the thistles.

Hmm - just closed its wings!

Over a few more fields, and the odd stile, and we arrive at Little Stretton. As last Thursday, the church porch is a pleasantly cool place to sit for a while.



We follow the path, past the old Manor House and the pond, along the avenue of trees to the road. We turn right and find our path just after the junction towards Stoughton. We turn left and walk along the edge of a field of wheat. At the far end a quick read of the map sets us on the right route and we follow the path past The Cottage, across the road and over pastures towards Burton Overy. The pub appears to be closed today.



I offer two alternative routes - one of about 2 miles, one of 3. Barry says decisively, "Oh, I think the longer one!" Suits the rest of us, so we walk uphill from the village on the Carlton Curlieu road. When the road turns to the left we continue through a farmyard and fields directly to Carlton Curlieu - we can see the church on the hill ahead.



This village has a tempting bench so we take another rest - Maureen and I almost have a nap. But we must onwards. From the Illston Road theres a bridleway to the left, which swings right between two hedges as far as Carlton Curlieu Manor.

Gordon strides ahead

Here's Maureen, with Barry as lanterne rouge.

Ha! caught this one just before it closed its wings!

Across the road the path takes us below the Manor, beside the hedge, then uphill and through a large wheat field. We reach Illston before too long - quite pleased to get away from the heat.