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WALK 12 CARRBRIDGE GOLF COURSE 24TH APRIL 2024

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A big day, today. The first golf I have played for close to 7 months! A combination of weather, health and knee pain made it difficult for me. However, a different combination of medication and a brace for my knee has changed my outlook and appetite for getting out and about. So, Sharon and I headed down to Carrbridge to see how we would get on with 9 holes.   Here I am ready to tee of on the first, which is the longest hole on the course and one I nearly always struggle with. Sharon probably played longer ago than me, but here she is, ready to skelp the ball on the first tee. .  It was actually quite good to get back. On to the second, and a more tricky approach to the green, across the burn and between the trees. The 4th is the most difficult hole on the course. It is not unknown for me to end up hitting the second shot into the burn, but n. The view down the 6th looking over to the hills to the west. The best view is probably from the 7th tee looking over to the Lairig Ghru...
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WALK 11 BRAHAN ESTATE 8TH APRIL 2024

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We shouldn't stop our walks just because the school holidays have come around. So, with Liam and Cameron in tow, we headed out to Brahan Estate for this week's walk. I wouldn't say Cameron was undecided about the merits of a walk, but he was definitely sitting on the fence. Jumping off the fence, he next wanted to hug a tree. Soon, however, we were off down the avenue. Brahan is one of our favourite places to walk, and today was a good day to go there. Cold, but bright and hinting at Spring. Even the boys seemed to be keen to get out and about. Some rhododendrons were coming into bloom. Spring really was just around the corner. One of the earliest flowers is the Lesser Celandine. These can be found in almost all woodlands and they are very important sources of pollen for early insects and the likes of Queen Bees emerging from their hibernation. It is toxic to livestock, but it has been used as a medicine to cure scurvy, having a very high Vitamin C content in the leaves. Mo...
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WALK 1O CULBOKIE WOODS 25TH MARCH 2024

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Off to the Black Isle for this week's walk. Culbokie Woods, to be exact. We have never walked here before, so it was all new to us. So new, in fact, that we were somewhat taken aback to find that some significant works had been going on and the car park was a bit of a quagmire. Who knew what the walk would be like once we started walking? Certainly, the entrance to the woods was a bit on the guttery side. It wasn't long before it got a bit better, though.   The walk description said that we would come to a burn in a deep cutting, which we did. It was actually deeper than it looks, but it was pretty overgrown, so it didn't appear as deep as it was in real life. The burn's Gaelic name is An Garbh Allt - the rough burn - which seems pretty descriptive. The burn issues from Culbokie Loch., which is rather more marsh than loch. Apparently, you should be able to see Herons fishing here, but they were nowhere to be seen whilst we visited. There was a buzzard soaring high overh...
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WALK9 Angus's Garden 18th March 2024

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  To be honest, this may be a bit of a cheat. We didn't leave home specially for this wee walk. It was Sharon's birthday and, as usual, we went away for a few days. As it happens, this walk was done on the day before her birthday, but it was certainly the most enchanting of the walks we did whilst we were away it, so it qualifies as our weekly walk! The day did not, however, start well! There was a long and convoluted saga around getting some nice food for a picnic, which I will not go into here. Suffice to say that we did get something to take away in the car after some sweary words and angst. Then, off we set on the scenic route I had chosen for the day. It wasn't long before we found ourselves beside the picturesque Loch Nell. I expect that the name Loch Nell is an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Loch Na h-Eala - The loch of the swan. In any event it was very quiet and tranquil and helped to sooth the morning's troubles away. From there we carried on to Balgowan woodland...
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