Ramblings of Ray

Still Wandering

07/07/2006, 10:52 - Living in retired style

It was HOT in Peterborough, so we've moved north to Troutbeck in the lake district for a cool down! Hope to be home on Monday in time to go to the Scottish Open Golf Championships at Loch Lomond.
Painted a little. Hope to paint more before coming home. Bought a new supply of delicious paper at the paper mill in Burneside.
Dying to catch up on all the news in cyberworld!!

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Heading South......blog suspended for a week

28/06/2006, 08:22

Birds do it.People searching for a tan do it. Melted snowcaps do it. Tomorrow we do it. Head south.
We're off to recapture our wee touring caravan from its winter resting place, and whisk it off on its first adventure of the year. It's a while, almost six months in fact since we hitched up and took off along the highways and byways of Somerset. This time we're revisiting Peterborough.
Our plan is to

and

. We hope to take a ride on a

, visit Peterborough Town Centre which we missed last time, and maybe catch up with some friends or family.That is the plan. Plan A. We tend to develop plans as we move, so by the time we get to Peterborough, plan A may indeed be plan K or even W.
We'll be away for a week or maybe ten days, so our addiction to the web, our blogs and the fellowship of the webring, will have to make way for lesser pursuits. But I'm sure we'll have plenty to recount when we do return north again.

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What's Missing?

28/06/2006, 08:02

I captured this image while out walking this morning and pose the question. What's missing?

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A Deadly Stillness

27/06/2006, 07:58

Following last night's glorious sunset and heavy overnight rain, there is a coolness about the morning, and a stillness. I've just been out to fill my bird station, pull a few weeds, and contemplate the day as you do, still slippered and dressing-gowned. But sadly, the morning meditation has been short-lived.My hasty departure from ouside to in is something quite usual in these parts.The stillness has brought out one of the delights of our countryside, the Scottish midge.They are tiny and deadly. They seek parts of you that never see the light of day. They infiltrate your nostrils, cling to the roots of your hair and generally make themselves an absolute pest,halting any activity you might attempt to pursue. In short they drive you inside to close doors and windows and imprison you there for the duration. They can quite literally drive you MAD!

I recall one visit to the Isle of Mull some years ago. Mull's midge population is large. In fact it is HUGE, especially during the months of summer. We were campervanning our way around the island and had decided to treat ourselves to the pleasures and amenities of a proper campsite instead of the 'wildcamping' which tended to be the norm in these parts. We booked into a site in Salen, enjoyed a lovely meal in their restaurant, then headed for the van to retire with a book before bed. From the restaurant to the door of our van, a mere hundred yards, we RAN.

In seconds no less. We FLEW inside, pulling fast the door behind us, and immediately closing and locking windows and roof vents. We watched in disbelief as swarms of minute creatures clambered to join us, pressing hard and harder still against the window glass. And, despite the seeming barrier.....they came in.

Only a few, but enough to distract the peaceful pursuit of an evening's reading. The evening was warm. We stifled. We didn't have the luxury of a fan.For fear of an invasion, we didn't dare open a window or door. We stifled on, imprisonned. The few seemed to multiply. Did these tiny annoyances breed by the minute? It certainly seemed so.

By the time it was dark, we thought they'd have gone to bed wherever midges sleep. But midges never sleep. We discovered that as we made the loo trip, took the dogs for a pee and returned fighting them off in their millions.

We battened down the hatches. We tried to sleep.We couldn't. We tried again. You can't really sleep when involuntary movement of your hands and various other parts of your anatomy disturbs you. We tossed. We turned. The few who had become a multitude, increased in number yet again.

Where on earth were they getting in? With sleeping bag overhead, we tried again. That seemed to work for a while until suffocation was imminent. Air had to be sought and breathed. It was now pitch black. Hair out. Eyes our. Head out. No bites yet. Dare to brandish an arm? It was out for seconds before beginning its flailing of the air and batting of the bag.

At first light(about 4.45a.m.)we had had enough. We were up dressed and ready to be on our way to the ferry terminal to catch the first ferry of the day off the island-a nine o'clock sailing if I remember correctly-for which we'd have a bit of a wait! A Dutch couple camped nearby saw us preparing to leave, as they emerged from their tent doing a dance that would equal that of the best American Indian war dance ever seen on film. The woman looked towards us, jesturing into the thickening blackness around her with a puzzled countenance.

"Vot are deese?"she asked, hoping for enlightenment.

"MIDGES!!!"we responded knowingly.

Later we saw them arrive on their bikes to catch the same ferry as we did.They too had decided enough was enough.

The Scottish Midge is a rare breed. Most Scots, and probably visiting Dutch tourists, would prefer that it became EXTINCT!!!