A Lovely Village Wedding

Our kitchen window overlooks the main street in our village and whilst we were washing up after lunch we heard the clip clop of horses - a marvellous carriage pulled by two sleek horses rolled by carrying a bride! Too late to get the camera so I rode my own steed (Supatrike) along to the church. The church doors were left open (it was very hot) and I managed to take this picture of our church warden during the service. I sat outside on a tombstone with some of the other locals - the lovely flowers (see some above the church door) were arranged by a friend of mine.

As the church bells began to ring the horses and carriage arrived outside the church, having waited in a nearby field.

The horses were very patient and stood quite still for over 40 minutes whilst the photographers fussed around.

Eventually the bride and groom settled in the carriage and were off to their reception - I should think about 40 minutes trotting for the horses. I do hope they had a good time. Both the bride and groom and the horses of course!

I must be mad

I get "jumpy" around about dusk and keep peering out of the sitting room window to see if there is a possible sunset to photograph - I cannot stop myself. Last evening there was another beauty! I rushed into the garden in bare feet - I had kicked off my shoes after another hot slog following Husband around the golf course - the grass was wet with dew - bliss for hot feet. I must now have about 40 sunset photos in my collection - when will I stop I wonder!

Avoricious Aphids

We are battling with greenfly, blackfly and what seems to be "greyfly"! The honeysuckle is covered with grey aphids - never seen those before - perhaps they are really blackfly with a chameleon habit!

Yesterday I was itching to spray every plant in sight but had to curb my trigger happy finger because of high winds and light rain. Today however the weather is sunny and so it is death to the fly, whatever the colour!

The Hole That Got Bigger And Bigger!

The water leak outside our house took all day to be repaired (see previous post). Heavy equipment arrived by midday blocking the road completely!

At last the job was done and we provided nine men with mugs of tea! Today we are lovely and peaceful and enjoying the sunshine.

A Quiet Weekend? Men At Work Again!

We heard the weather forecast last night and thought - good - we can laze around in the peace and quiet of our garden. Not a bit of it! Our neighbour was due to leave their house at 5.30am for a guides' leaders meeting this morning and noticed the road outside our houses was flooded. She rang Wessex Water. By the time we got up at 6.30am there was a fountain gushing from a hole in the ground! We quickly filled kettles and pans of precious water before the inevitable shut off.

The Water Board arrived at 7.30am and started digging, digging, digging. They are still at it and it is now 12 noon. The noise is thunderous. Water is still pouring everywhere.

At this moment in time they have decided to enlarge the hole! The village is without water and I am just about to ring local farmer as the trough the cows are using in the field behind our house is not filling up. It is lucky we had nothing planned for this weekend as we cannot get our cars out - even Supatrike has baulked at the flood!

Loads of Lochs

On our way to St. Fillans 9 hole golf course for Husband to play some of his erratic golf we drove the length of Loch Tay and very beautiful it was too! We stopped off at "Queens View". This is where Queen Victoria apparently stopped to admire Loch Tay. We did not bump into any "Royals" whilst we were there!

On another foray into the Highlands, Husband was keen to show me parts of the West Highland Way Long Distance Path which he had walked about five years ago enjoying the same fine weather. We drove down a narrow winding lane at The Bridge of Orchy to Invaroran passing Loch Tulloch to meet up with the path. I thought Loch Tulloch, although small, was the prettiest place we visited.

The colours of the new spring grass were a lovely pale green

We reached the backpackers hotel conveniently sited alongside the path. Hikers were wending their way down off the hill for a welcome drink.

That evening back at Killin we had a "howling good time". We were sitting in the bar of a local hotel having our evening meal, there were about six other couples doing the same, in walked a couple who were staying at the same guest house as us and they have a dog. The dog was very good and sat unnoticed under the table. An elderly couple arrived with an equally elderly pekinese. The two dogs noticed each other and started up a howling match. We all looked at each other and instantly all thought the same thing - we all started howling at the tops of our voices - the dogs were astonished and obviously horrified at our undignified behaviour they shut up!

Who's A Pretty Boy Then?

We visited Blair Castle at Blair Atholl and whilst Husband clambered around the castle I wandered around the grounds and came across this peacock. He was really friendly and was obviously used to close scrutiny and admiration.

I used the "double macro" feature on my new camera and managed to get these shots.

Meanwhile Mrs Peacock was sitting nearby in her drab colours being completely ignored!

A Fairy Tale Castle

Duart Castle is perched on a headland on the Isle of Mull - this photo taken from the ferry as we slid past.

The Laird himself, shows visitors around the castle - I basked in the sun whilst Husband clambered around inside.

The views from this castle headland were amazing - the visit was all too short - but time enough for a really nice ice cream "toffee swirl".

Superb Sunny Scotland

Husband and I organised the weather to be absolutely fantastic for our visit to Scotland this last week. After a 7 hour slog up the various motorways we arrived at Killin in the midst of the Highlands. The guest house we chose, Dall Lodge , turned out to be a very friendly efficiently run place to stay - many thanks to our hosts ( the breakfasts - yum yum). If the above link is clicked you will see the guest house faces the River Lochay - we had a view of this from our bedroom window.

The above photo is of The Falls of Dochart which tumble through the midst of Killin.

Our first trip was to the Isle of Mull via the ferry from Oban. The day was glorious with not a breath of wind - the water appeared like glass as we steamed slowly along. We sat on the top deck taking in the marvellous scenery - the colours of blue, green and purple mingling with each other.

This view in the above photo is taken from Duart Castle on Mull, a short trip from the ferry. Below is my first attempt using the "Panorama" facility on my camera. Three shots are taken and the camera does all the work of stitching them together. If you click on the panorama the photo will enlarge and you can scroll along.

More to follow!

The Buzz Wire Buzzed Off!

The vegetable growing season is in full swing within our own garden and down the road where we are helping out an elderly couple. We have experienced a very very strong wind today so I zoomed off on Supatrike to check the additional plot. Some of the buzz wire (bird deterrent) had broken in the wind. I took hold of one end of the tape and there was a huge whoosh of wind and the buzz wire flew up into the air - it had a bamboo stake attached to it and it flew merrily like a kite - the stake reaching a great height! It was rather good fun!

Ice Cream Float

Husband is back from his canalside walking trip. I rather gather a lot of time was spent in towpath tea rooms. I think the barge owner in the above photo has the right idea. If you click and enlarge the photo you will see he is lazing the day away in the sun with a cup of coffee, a fishing rod and the occasional ice cream sale!

Clocking In

The field behind us is full of these dandelions - I expect our lawn will be plagued with them next year when the seeds blow gently on the wind.

I have a new camera and have been trying out the double macro feature - not sure I have quite mastered it yet!