links for photographs

I just discoverd this link for photographs all over the british isles http://www.geograph.org.uk/

this section contains a lot of photographs round my area http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile.php?u=2067

upland peat bog

for Patsy photograph taken on Sunday, the hills in the backgound are the Fintry Hills which are the next range of hills behind the Campsie Fells. Local 'history' has a story of a digger being completly lost in some peat bog on the Campsie Fells, this would make it at least 20ft deep as apparently the digger was never recovered.


Upland peat bog;; information taken from Forrestry Commision report

Scotland has over 70% of all bog peat in Great Britain. These are natural archives, storing information in layers of peat about the plant and animal life of the past 3-7,000 years. They also support a variety of plants and animals which have adapted to this environment - like sphagnum moss, which grows in nitrogen poor soils and is mainly responsible for the continued bog growth, and the common sundew, a carnivorous plant that catches insects to provide it with the nutrients lacking in the bog. The high water content of bogs makes them an ideal environment for wading birds, and for many birds of prey. There are concerns about the future of Scotland's blanket bog. Some has been lost to conifer woodland or drained to provide rough pasture. Parts are eroding and losing surface vegetation, probably through a combination of grazing, burning and weather. The remainder is also vulnerable to chemical changes, becoming more acid through pollution from the air. Scotland has one of the richest concentrations of blanket bog in Europe, and the Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland is probably the largest single expanse of blanket bog in the world. How can we best protect this distinctive habitat?

Mountain Vegetation
Scotland's mountains are relatively unspoilt, and support many rare and unusual plants and upland birds. Like the bogs, the uplands are threatened by chemical pollution from the air which damages vulnerable plants like the mosses. Grazing sheep and deer are cropping vegetation to the roots, damaging the plants and the birds, like the dotterel, that nest among them. Hillwalkers may also be contributing to the erosion of mountain soils, and the processes of erosion are little understood.

http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/lowland_raised_bog.html
http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/oldsite.nsf/byunique/uplandbog?Open&PrintFriendly=y

Monday evening.

the view from the boathouse balcony on Monday evening as the sun set, amazing how it keeps the hills in the light till the very last. we had a nice paddle across the river and had a rolling practice when we got back. sorry to report I failed to roll my sea-kayak so instead transferred to a river rotobat so I ended the evening on a 'at least I rolled something' note. its been about two years since I tried that and am somewhat dissapointed as I'm usually the 'person who can roll anything'. ah well, age and lack of practice obviously creeping in somewhere!!!

the other side

I stopped to take this on the way home on Sunday, its the 'other side' of the Camsie Fells, not as steep as my normal view and coverd in dreadful spruce plantation. I supose they will clearfell it sometime and it will look even worse... how to destroy upland peat bog in one easy goverment assited step...

Sunday afternoon

A garden open under the Scottish garden scheme, the entry fee goes to various charitys. I love these poppys.


this rockery must once have had a path to walk round but it has been completly taken over by these primulas and ferns.

nice garden ornaments
and sheep may safely graze

I liked this display best.

baby update

Fiona's baby, born on 22.6.06 at 6.11pm weighing 7lb 1oz
my babies, Red Duke of York, unearthed 21.6.06 from a 10" pot, and promptly steamed and eaten.
ha, different lives......

celebration

Fiona and Angus have a baby boy
not a squahsed frog at all she says.

Fiona Update Today

waters broken at 9.30am. epidural at 4pm. 7 cm at 4.30pm and quite jolly as no longer feeling any pain.

three point turn

the Forth and Clyde Canal runs through the centre of Kirkintilloch. They drew quite a crowd doing this, pushing with poles at both ends till they were turned around.

how cool is this

follow this link to ArtsyMama, she has been making a 'Book of Dreams' and has documented the making in her blog. I think it is just beautiful.

goldfinches

I opened the door to let the cats out, and these two goldfinches were on the feeders, amazingly they waited until I went back upstairs for the camera. I managed to get this photograph and three blurry ones before they flew away.

Fiona update

slightly uncomfortable yesterday, visit to the hospital announces 2cm dilated, sent home to await further development.

me

thanks Bruce

plastercast

I have never seen the like, Fiona's bump preserved for all eternity.

pink, blue, purple, red

a helpful bee in the greenhouse, I watched it pollinating this then caught it in a jar and put it safely outside
I have never seen this flowering before, a sempervivum 'King George',
I bought it to go in a trough, which is now full of potatoes
but it seems to like the greenhouse so it may get to stay there
an iris which came from my Dad's garden, they are worse with names than me so it will probably remain anonymous
monarda
geum 'Mrs Bradshaw', a fine cheerful lady
this used to have a name but it is lost, a highly scented small flowered bush rose
lots of buds, lots of nice flowers to come
I have no idea what kind of geranium this is, I have it labeled as small purple.

River Fleet

(more pictures of water)
I took this hanging off the edge of the bank. it was at a funny angle so I have rotated and cropped it. the wooden posts are remnants of piers and loading bays, apparently Gatehouse-of-Fleet was quite the place in the late 1700's, there was a brick factory the remains of which are a lovely boggy meadow.

visit to Gatehouse-of-Fleet

things are getting greener

things are really starting to look as if they are taking off now,
and there are courgettes! hooray!!

crinan canal

I stopped to take these pictures on the way to Tayvallich on Friday. there's lots of infortation about the canal on this link 'Crinan Canal' . I don't think you could easily paddle its length in a kayak but I'd like to do it in a nice big boat, g&t in hand!!

Tayvallich

this is the life! out on beautiful Loch Sween, we paddled about 12 miles, mostly sheltered from the wind by its nooks and crannys. we saw an osprey flying out from its nest, unfortunatley no photo as my camera is kept securely in a dry bag inside the boat. this photograph was taken on the lunch stop, there were 23 people on this trip and 60 at the weekend in total,( three other groups away doing harder more macho things.) thats the most kayaks I have ever seen in one place at one time! I loved this little boat with its flags and cd's, unfortunatley the photgraph does not show how they were flashing as they moved in the wind. very jolly.
an old jetty, it's probably been left to disintegrate as there is a shiny new concrete effort at the end of the village. I might try to lighten this photograph up with an effects program, its not something I ususally do but this looks a bit dull.
thats my holiday over then. I came home today and cut the grass, and thanked Billy for looking after the greenhouse, the garden managed itself and the cats are a bitt huffy from being abandoned for two days( three bowls of water, four bowls of food and a full cat litter! not good enough according to them!!)

big trees

I have used photostitch to put the tops and bottoms of these trees together, they make quite an amazing avenue. we got all 'earthy' and walked barefoot up here, lovely cool grass on such a warm day.

rhododendrons in every colour, some were beautifully scented.

Blogger was funny all yesterday and would't let me leave messages on blogs I was visiting. I am off now to Tayvallich for the weekend, camping and kayaking. Catch up with you all on Monday.

grand day out

a day out to Ben More Botanic Gardens, ferry over to Dunoon.
magnolia wilsonii
menconopsis grandis, most plants had their own labels so identification made easyI'll put some more pictures on later as no time to upload any more just now