The Foundry Bar

It was the weekend of the Seafest in Arbroath. A celebration of all things nautical and fishy. It basically involves the cordoning off of the harbour area and charging people two quid in order to gain access to a host of stalls selling cheap crap which no one in their right mind would buy normally. Seems to work as 30,000 people flock to it every year.
One positive which comes out of it is that this pub goes to great lengths to celebrate the occasion. The Foundry Bar is a one off. Legendary in that it spawned The Foundry Bar Band, it keeps going strong where many Arbroath pubs have wilted and died over the years.


Not only do the baskets of flowers and the bunting come out. The window gets a makeover too.
The above beautifully crafted sign is a permanent fixture......

.......but this one is a specially commissioned work of art which lasts only for the Seafest weekend. Fortunately, you lucky peeps had me on hand to record it for your visual titillation.

Scotland's Best Phonebox

Following on from Scotland's most scenic dog shit bin post a couple of weeks ago, I'd like to put forward this phone box in GlenIsla as Scotland's most scenic place to make a leisurely phone call..... but only if you have a phonecard! As you can see from the sign on the door.... no coins accepted. Can't help thinking you may be a touch frustrated if you were up here and needed to make an urgent phone call and didn't have one...... let's face it, who does?

Nevertheless, you can't let a mere side issue like that detract from the fact that the situation of this phone box is pretty spectacular.

...... and don't you just love this old crooked signpost?

This is the view along the glen from the phone box. Check out the castley thing. Click to enlarge the pic.

They even provide a handy car park for those of us who wish to stop over to take some pics. Thoughtful or what?

So...... what do you think? Can anyone beat this? I throw down the gauntlet.........

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Moody Forfar Skies

Top pic taken outside Tesco in Forfar about 5.30pm this evening and given a slight sepia effect. Bottom two taken from my bedroom window about 9pm.

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Padanaram

Driving around the Angus area, I'm often struck by some of the place names. Their pronounciations, their origins, their meanings. That kind of thing. This may or may not be the first in a series of place or town names which appeal to me. The subject matter may mean an increased number of drive by captures, thus increasing my chances of being 'rectummed by an artic'. (not my expression, but very apt, I think). Now you may be thinking I'm about to astonish you with some remarkable fact concerning the origins of Padanaram...... I wish I could but I can't..... sorry! If it's any consolation, the locals call it 'Paddy'. Makes sense I think.

Trying to get my tongue round Padanaram has the unfortunate effect of making me sound like I've had a stroke.

Scottish Bluebells

I run the risk of making a complete dick of myself titling this post as I have. Given my lack of colour awareness and horticultural skills, these may well not be bluebells, but they look like it to me and it's my blog so there. Whatever they are, they're wild and pretty. These were taken up GlenIsla at the weekend.

The abundance of wildflowers wasn't really apparent until you got down close, seems to me there are quite a few species in this lot. Saddo of The Week prize goes to who can count the most.

Not even going to guess what these are........ but they made a nice backdrop to my lunch.

The sun was kissing the mountain in the distance but my camera couldn't quite pull off the full effect.

African Drum Village Glen Isla

Driving up GlenIsla yesterday I came across the preparations for The African Drum Village which starts tomorrow and runs through to the weekend. There's a nice wee video here.

Their website can be found here. According to the website it's sold out, but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be too difficult to get tickets somehow. It fell in the wrong week for me, I start work again on Wednesday. Pity, looks like a hoot to me.

Mushrooms, Burns and Leafy Glades

I think lots of folks are a bit pissed off in this country because the forecasters told us we were in for a good summer and we clearly aint getting one.

However in the true spirit of Light and Dark I've decided to emphasize the positive side of shit summers.

1. It's fantastic for the mushrooms. Just check out the size of those monsters.

2. It keeps the rivers and burns running in all their peaty glory.

3. Everythings Gone Green (with apologies to New Order).

What's not to like?

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