Casting a clout

This Spring is so warm - so unsettlingly warm - that Scots are casting clouts all over the place, despite the old saying, 'Ne'er cast a clout till May be oot'. May isn't out yet, but it might as well be by the balmy temperatures, leafy trees and blossom that's almost overwhelming. These shots were taken a few weeks ago, along part of my walk to work. Now the various 'clouts' are almost hidden by foliage.
First to go were the gloves. I can understand that. My own gloves haven't emerged from the box in the hall for about a month now.

The shot below was taken in a blustery wind, hence the blurring. If I remember, I was also being looked at rather strangely by some passers-by.

Next, even the babies are feeling the heat.

But how do you lose a running shoe sock?

What I would like to know is - is there one person who's made it their mission to hang cast-off clothing on twigs by the side of the path, or is it a general impulse of the Edinburgh population? Does this happen where you live? And what do you find adorning trees or fences?

Fall Cooking

The only time I really, really enjoy cooking is in the fall. I love using cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.
I FINALLY made gingerbread biscotti. It's been on my project list for about two years. I think I was a little afraid of it, but it was easy. They were a little too cakey, though. Next time I'll add the dark brown sugar the recipe called for (I used light brown) and a little more brown sugar.
The ginger cookies are a tried and true staple at our house. They're like ginger snaps only chewy. Amazing with a cold glass of milk when they're warm from the oven.
Tomorrow morning I'm making prune bread. I know that sounds terrible but it's wonderfully moist and taste very 'fallish'. I'll be taking a loaf with me when I go help out another new mom of twins, no not my daughter. A family friend had a girl and boy about four months ago. Her husband is out of town for a few weeks so I'm staying with the babes while she does a Wal-Mart run.
Sunday night I stayed with our twins so Laurel could go to church. They pretty much cried and ate the whole time. Holding two at the same time is quite a feat. Let's just say I was glad when their mama got home!

Little Brick Lichen

Little Brick Island - Grand Portage, MN. We had really nice clouds the whole evening, which made it one of the most enjoyable photography outings I've ever had to the Susie Islands. The sun was at my back and behind the clouds when I made this image, which meant that the foreground was very dark. I used my Singh-Ray 3-stop reverse-grad neutral-density filter to help balance the exposure. I got some nice images of the sunset as well on this outing, but this is my favorite image of the day. This was taken about an hour before sunset.

Leics Round 9 - Rearsby to Burrough Hill

I think the garmin went a bit nuts in Gaddesby church - so I'll say somewhere over 14 miles. With Marta. Quite hilly. 989 ft of ascent. The forecast sun didn't appear!


We meet at Burrough Hill, and drive to Rearsby to start the walk. We cross the pack horse bridge into Church Lane.



The path winds round to the right of the church past a slightly dodgy-looking wall.

We come out on to Church Leys Avenue, and turn left between two houses after number 22. The path is clearly marked as it crosses grassland and comes out behind the convent.

We walk past splendid flowering horse chestnut trees in grassland. Then we cross the road, and turn left at no. 7 Wreake Drive. There's a double stile, and we cross the ridged and furrowed field to the railway crossing. We carry on in the same direction towards the old mill.

Part of the old mill house - a lot of work being done.

We follow the waymarkers, turning right from the drive to the mill, and making for Lodge Farm and Hoby church spire.

These trees may belong to Brooksby Agricultural College.

We walk through this bumpy field - and I know there's a bench ideal for a break here.

We wander through Hoby churchyard, with its stump cross and sundial on top.

a little the worse for wear with bird droppings.

Almost opposite the church we turn down Back Lane, and the left behind a row of cottages. The path we want turns right and downhill through trees. We cross various small bridges, where a mill used to be, and a long footbridge over the Wreake.


We head towards Rotherby and cross the railway line again. Just before we reach the village, we turn left to the north east, and walk through three fields, then come to a T junction on the minor road. We walk parallel to the road to Frisby on the Wreake for a little distance, then move slightly left, past a bumpy pasture with horses.We can see Frisby's church spire, and the waymarkers are clear. We emerge between houses close to the market cross.The Bell Inn is opposite, and we're beginning to think it could be lunchtime. Ah ha!Unfortunately the pub's just changed hands, and won't be open until July. Maybe they should hide the blackboard better. We drop into the post office, but they haven't got much in the way of food. On to Gaddesby it is - another two and a half miles. Well, it's only 12.30 now.
A lot of houses in Frisby are pretty old and being restored.

. . .or repaired. We head out and turn left just past these houses. The path in the fields climbs quite steeply. We decide we'll have a banana to keep us going, but we'll get to the top first. When the land flattens out we reach the Leicester to Melton Road and another stump cross.

so little colour in the sky !

We cross the road and walk through the clear paths in the fields, some pasture, some arable.

Some sheep are nosy

Distant blue mountains of Charnwood

The local tribe must favour spring fires

The way ahead is clear - not this way anyhow

We turn into the village for a well-earned lunch at the Cheney Arms in Gaddesby - baguette, salad and crisps and a J20 for £7.50. It's filling too.
The church caught our eyes as we arrived, so we take a little time to look around and inside.

There seem to be two or three different styles on the outside

The archway leads to Gaddesby Hall next door - a huge building with beautiful gardens

This is a statue of Colonel Cheney who fought at Waterloo. Four horses died under him, and he rode away on a fifth. The statue was moved to the church from Gaddesby Hall when it was sold in 1917, and is claimed to be the only equestrian statue in an English church.

We return to the Leics Round route, turning left as we come out of the churchyard. When we reach the blocked gate we turn right and cross a field down to a stream, then cross the Midshires Way, and see Mill farm with its disused windmill - no sails - on our right. We have no problems with map or waymarkers and pass Pool House. We cross the road and leave Ashby Folville on our right, though the church is visible through the trees.A mile or so later we go under the bridge where the dismantled railway ran, and turn uphill to Thorpe Satchville, behind the Hall, with its low haha wall. The church, with its bench, offers another convenient coffee stop. Not far to go now. We've done about 12 miles. (Note - my garmin says 13, but it went a bit wild in Gaddesby church. It doesn't like the thick walls.)

If it looks so weathered after 13 years, I wonder what state it will be in after a thousand. The South Pole is 9845 miles away, and the North Pole a mere 2585.

From here the way is very straight forward, about three quarters of a mile along a small road called Bakers Lane. When we reach a crossing of four ways we take the right hand path and follow it downhill to Melton Lane. Burrough Hill is in sight.

Iron Age hill fort, with the toposcope just visible.

We continue in the same direction climbing gently on this very rutted track, then more steeply through gorse bushes to the top with its great views.

Almost there

The view's a bit hazy, and the sun hasn't emerged. It keeps half-appearing, but it's almost 5pm when we arrive. The toposcope is 690 feet high. We have to bag the trig point at 210 m as well. An online converter tells me this is 689 feet.
A satisfying end to one of our longer days! Now it's downhill to the car.

Snowy Edinburgh

Well, what else can I call it? The view is from Blackford Hill, north towards the Castle. Photo courtesy of my daughter, who was on a sledging outing with friends on Monday when her school was closed. Tuesday was another snow day, but with studying done at home (the year of Highers exams), and it was back to school on Wednesday once the ground staff had cleared enough pathways round the campus. The problem is that the snow keeps falling. Edinburgh airport is closed, the Forth Road Bridge is closed, trains are cancelled or delayed. The city is quiet, muffled.
But for some there's a bright side. Capitalising on our huge dump of snow, my daughter's school has hastily introduced a 'house snowman' competition for tomorrow, to go with all the other house competitions that happen throughout the year.

A Recent Trip and a New Friend

Our family recently spent a week in the beautiful state of Colorado. One of the highlights was getting to meet Karen of Pom Pom's Ponderings blog. She is a delightful lady and a new friend. We met for supper and talked and talked. An hour and a half quickly flew by, and it was time to say goodbye. It was over much too soon.
Isn't the blog world wonderful? I've met so many like-minded women I would never have known otherwise.
My header photo came from our trip. I'll be posting more about it in the coming days.

Pick your nose

Red Nose Day again, when Britain picks its nose to wear in aid of Comic Relief - "doing something funny for money". The charity's huge aim is 'a just world free from poverty', and in aid of this normally sane people walk around with a large plastic ball on their nose - just as Kirk and Spock, Margaret Thatcher and Dostoevsky are modelling here in the window of an Oxfam second hand bookshop. Schools, workplaces, national TV, all do weird, wonderful or just downright pleasant things alongside the red nose wearing. My workplace today had its usual cake sale - a surfeit of Scottish homebaking to deliver a sugar rush for the day's tasks.
The chap in the flat cap behind Kirk and Spock is Prince Charles, by the way, gamely entering into the spirit of things.