Passing Place

On the way to the Beallach Na Ba this summer, we stopped at this passing place which clearly had Fiona's name on it. Imagine having your own passing place! Cool or what?

Wigwams are ace!.......

As is surfing in Scotland!

Edinburgh Riots 2011

Those of you of a nervous disposition should avoid watching this.....

As You Sow So Shall Ye Reap

As Members of the Establishment, Bankers, MP's and journalists threw their collective hands up in horror over the greed and immorality of the London Scum........

Their indignity grew as they grappled with the question.........

'Where on earth do these people get their morals from'?

A Bit Of Self Indulgence

I can't help it......I just love this.

Goodbye and Good Riddance.

I'm not and never have been one of the 7.5m loyal readers. There's nothing sad about it and you have nothing to be proud of. Quite the opposite. Hang your heads in shame and fuck off quietly.

Wow!.....Who saw THAT coming?

ONE SMALL STEP FOR SCOTS............

ONE GIANT LEAP FOR SCOTLAND.

And in celebration, one of Scotland's finest voices......... short but very sweet.

Lay Lady Lay

From today's Guardian

You can watch Lady nurturing her egg on a webcam directed at her eyrie. Photograph: AP


A venerable osprey that has already set records for breeding success has delighted conservationists and bird lovers by laying her 59th egg, confounding fears she might never breed again.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust said that Lady, a 26-year-old osprey nesting at the Lowes wildlife reserve in Perthshire, had laid her first egg of the breeding season after her latest mate returned to their nest.

Reserve staff spotted Lady hunched protectively over the egg in her eyrie high up in a Scots pine at lunchtime. The trust has now put in place a round-the-clock guard to prevent egg thieves and vandals reaching her nest.

Ospreys normally lay two to four eggs per season, so the reserve is hoping for at least one further egg to be laid, with the first chick expected within a week. The drama is being streamed live around the world, with a "nest cam" trained on the eyrie.

Lady broke another record last month when she returned for her 21st season at the Lowes reserve from a 6,000-mile round trip to winter in Gambia. After surviving a difficult summer when she fell seriously ill from dehydration and starvation, the trust feared she was unlikely to return home.

Most ospreys live to be eight or 10 in the wild, producing up to 20 eggs; Lady is now 26 and has bred 48 surviving chicks. That total means she is now one of Britain's most important birds of prey, a matriarch playing a significant role in propping up the species' numbers.

Persecuted to extinction as a breeding bird in the UK in 1916, the osprey recolonised naturally in the 1950s but remains one of the UK's rarest birds of prey. It is less common than the golden eagle, with an estimated 200 breeding pairs around Britain.

Anna Cheshier, the trust's Perthshire ranger, said: "If chicks successfully hatch from the eggs, this osprey will have produced 49 or even 50 chicks, an incredible contribution to the recovering osprey population breeding in Scotland.

"We hope to raise enough money to track these chicks using satellite tags this year, to find out about their inherited migration path and learn useful information which could help protect ospreys during migration."

Julie Fowlis

Five minutes of heartbreak. Not a clue what she's singing about, but the emotions are clear. And the voice of an angel.
I love the wintry scene outside too, somehow adds to the ambience.......enjoy.

Blue Things in Green Things

Any ideas what these are? Cos I don't.

Pretty though.

Forfar Loch

My first visit to the loch this year. I took these a couple of weeks ago. Literally the first time the weather's been bearable enough to make the venture.

 I thought these pics seemed to benefit from a bit of colour drainage.

For more Skywatch Friday posts click here

Earth Hour 2011....Light and Dark

Switch off your lights tonight, sit in the dark and light a candle......Light and Dark.....geddit?

Prof Brian Cox

Forget earthquakes, tsunamis, war, terrorism, Nick Clegg and David Cameron for 3 mins and 13 seconds.....

For those of you who just love Brian and his perfect teeth......enjoy!

Billy McKenzie

Came across this today and just had to share it. Ok, I know the vid quality is rubbish but the audio is relatively good. Good enough to allow Billy's unique and marvellous voice to shine through.

What a talent he was.

e.e. cummings

l(a 

l(a
le
af
fa
ll
s)
one
l
iness 

--e.e.cummings 1894-1962

Driving from Arbroath to Brechin this morning I stopped to take some tree pictures. The one above was my favourite and I faffed about with it and got two results which I quite liked. I got to thinking about a poem which would reflect the pictures and was toying with Sylvia Plath and William Carlos Williams 'Winter Trees'.
But I eventually plumped for e.e. cummings' 'l(a'. I know it's not Autumn, but I just think the words and pictures compliment each other.
I'd be interested to know what you think of the poem. Clever? Pretentious? Sad?.......
.......and wasn't ol' e.e. one cool dude?

For more Skywatch Friday posts with sky in them click here

Motivation

I've neglected this blog recently. Two reasons really, firstly lack of motivation and secondly, crap weather. It's not been easy getting out and about with the camera this winter. The second excuse is growing in irrelevance with the longer days and slight increase in temperatures. So I suppose I better address the first one.
What motivates the blogger?....................

Answers in the comments section please............Cos I don't have any at the moment.

For more Scenic Sunday posts click here

Talented Burd and her mate

Song of the week. Never knew she could sing.

Scottish Football League HQ Reaction

Salad slaves: Who really provides our vegetables - video | Business | guardian.co.uk

Salad slaves: Who really provides our vegetables - video | Business | guardian.co.uk

If This Doesn't Make You Squirm......

First time I watched this I was aware that my jaw was still wide open about thirty seconds later.

Close Call

This is a true story from the Word Perfect Helpline, which was transcribed from a recording monitoring the customer care department. Needless to say the Help Desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization for 'Termination without Cause'.
Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee.

Operator: 'Ridge Hall, computer assistance; may I help you?'
Caller: 'Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect.'
Operator: 'What sort of trouble??'
Caller: 'Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.'
Operator: 'Went away?'
Caller: 'They disappeared.'
Operator: 'Hmm So what does your screen look like now?'
Caller: 'Nothing...'
Operator: 'Nothing??'
Caller: 'It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type.'
Operator: 'Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out??'
Caller: 'How do I tell?'
Operator: 'Can you see the C: prompt on the screen??'
Caller: 'What's a sea-prompt?'
Operator: 'Never mind, can you move your cursor around the screen?'
Caller: 'There isn't any cursor: I told you, it won't accept anything I type.'
Operator: 'Does your monitor have a power indicator??'
Caller: 'What's a monitor?'
Operator: 'It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on??'
Caller: 'I don't know.'
Operator: 'Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that??'
Caller: 'Yes, I think so.'
Operator: 'Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall.
Caller: 'Yes, it is.'
Operator: 'When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one??'
Caller: 'No.'
Operator: 'Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable..'
Caller: 'Okay, here it is.'
Operator: 'Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer.'
Caller: 'I can't reach.'
Operator: 'Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is??'
Caller: 'No.'
Operator: 'Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over??'
Caller: 'Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark.'
Operator: 'Dark??'
Caller: 'Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window.
' Operator: 'Well, turn on the office light then.'
Caller: 'I can't.'
Operator: 'No? Why not??'
Caller: 'Because there's a power failure.'
Operator: 'A power......... A power failure? Aha, Okay, we've got it licked now.
Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in??'
Caller: 'Well, yes, I keep them in the closet.'
Operator: 'Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from.'
Caller: 'Really? Is it that bad?'
Operator: 'Yes, I'm afraid it is.'
Caller: 'Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them??'
Operator: 'Tell them you're too f --- ing stupid to own a computer!!!!!'
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.......At least they never used my name........!