A hidden history and rhododendron Walk

Yesterday we turned right instead of left on leaving the house and walked through to Ross Priory.  Rosie was kept under a fairly tight rein down the long drive as she does like to chase the golf balls if she has an opportunity.  Just by the turn to the Water Board there is also a path off to the right.  It wasn't too muddy although it has been unpassable without wellies earlier in the year.  Before long we reached the small enclosed burial ground of the Macdonald-Buchanans.  This is a very special place now largely overgrown.  Through the gates are the graves of Jean Buchanan and Hector Archibald Buchanan, her husband, and six of their nine children.  The plaque at the end gives details of their names and it can be seen that the three missing children are buried where they died - in Bombay, Gibralter and Malta.  It was Hector and Jean who extended and embellished Ross Priory creating the fine building we still admire today.  Their burial place also has a certain grandeur.

We walked along the loch side looking up at the house and returned through the gardens.  We had missed the official Open Day a couple of weeks ago but the rhododendrons and azaleas are still magnificent - rich reds, bright purples, pale pinks, delicate whites and sunny yellows.

What you don't get from the photos is the wonderful sweet honey scent that engulfs you as you walk near some of bushes.

Bluebells at their best

This really is the time to go down to the woods.  The bluebells are amazing.  They seem to get bluer and bluer as far as the eye can see.  The photo doesn't do justice to the intensity of the colour and the contrast with the emerging bracken.  I've managed two walks to the viewpoint today and this evening's was so peaceful.  It amazes me that I can spend an hour walking on a beautiful evening and not see another soul.  Rosie and I have it all to ourselves. 

Where afar my steps have been,

Blue skies charm the eyes,

And the earth is ever green.

Yet dwelt my heart 'mid Scotland's glens,

Where aye in thought was seen,

The Bluebell, the Bluebell,

Amid the bracken green.

Food for free

You can't miss the wild garlic or ransom.  Even if you don't recognise the flowers you will be able to smell them.  They are growing along many of the verges in the road to the loch as well as running rampant at the bottom of the garden.  Where they have been cut back the smell is particularly pungent.  The leaves are considered quite a delicacy. Chefs use them in salads and there are even recipes for wild garlic bread.

I have to say that I haven't been brave enough to try any of these recipes yet.  There are more interesting recipes for foraged food on the Salaric Cooking blog.

There are others who have been getting food for free. On the walk to the village this morning just as I was approaching the hall I found a couple of empty, broken egg shells.  There were still traces of yellow yolk indicating that these had been fairly newly laid and plundered.  In the trees by the gate there were a couple of blackbirds getting very agitated and I spotted a jackdaw feeding in some long grass nearby.  I'm pretty sure he must be the culprit and was systematically raiding the poor blackbird's nest.  They will have to find somewhere a bit more secure if they are to raise a brood this year.  I put the remains of a shell on the post to get a picture.

Better weather ahead?

Another grey day with clouds interspersed with showers and an occasional glimpse of sunshine on the Campsie hills.  The only encouragement I take in this wet May is that the oak trees are coming into leaf while the ash trees in the garden have still to bud.  If the old adage "Oak before the ash - we shall have a splash: Ash before oak  - we shall have a soak" is right the weather should improve later in the summer.

                                                                                                

 This year's may blossom is also magnificent and just coming into its own.

A few changes

A new headline picture today - the one I took from the air last week - which may well be the last taken with the iPhone.  Up until now all pictures on An Aber Diary have been taken using the camera in my phone which, although adequate, are not the best quality.  From today however, photographs will be taken with a small Panasonic Lumix digital camera which is small enough to slip into my pocket every time I go out.

The picture for today was taken with the new camera as we turned the corner into Ross Loan yesterday morning at about 11.15 and had to pause to allow a parade of vintage Austin 7's go past.  There must have been at least 15 - 20 and another two further down the road that seemed to be having some problems.  Where they came from or were going to I have no idea.

Just to see how other pictures taken with the new camera look here is a close up of some bluebells taken yesterday.

The bluebells in Shore Wood really are magnificent.  The further you go into the wood the deep purple/blue color and the scent become more and more intense.

The cows are back

After seven months spent in their winter quarters out of the worst of the winter and spring weather the cows, their calves and the bull are back in the fields around Aber.  It is great to see them back.  A couple of months ago the fields were all top dressed with a thick coat of manure but now the effects of all those nutrients is evident in the lush green grass.  The cows obviously appreciate the space and have been trotting around with their calves in tow. For most of the calves the big wide world is new to them and they are exploring their new environment while keeping a close eye on Mum at the same time.  The bull is obviously master of all he surveys.

This is the longest period that the cattle have been inside and they were due out last week but the weather was so cold and wet it would have been too risky for the young calves that are not acclimatized yet.  Yesterday's sunny weather seemed to suit them fine. 

Although it was quite windy yesterday I was able to take up my first (and probably last) flying lesson from Leading Edge Flying School in Cumbernauld.  It was given me as a birthday present last year and I thought I had better make the most of the fine weather before the Experience Ecosse voucher expired.  Given that it was still very windy and it was a very, very small two seater Cessna plane we were flying, I was a bit nervous.  Once airborne, however all my fears vanished as I took in the amazing sights below.  By special request we flew over Gartocharn, the Dumpling and Aber and I was able to take some photos.  Not the best but it was good to 

see these local landmarks from a different angle and look down on my house from above. 

 

I was able to point out to the young pilot/instructor the Highland fault line which divides the Highlands from the Lowlands and which is clearly visible running through Conic Hill and out to Inchcailloch.  It really was a fantastic experience.

Loch Rescue in the news

Following the deaths of four men on Loch Awe recently there is considerable publicity today about the need for a more organised approach to providing support to people who get into trouble in Scotland's many inland waters.  This reminded me again of how fortunate we are to have the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat

                            (Lochside Photography)

After my May 2nd blog I was able to obtain a photo of the fine group of volunteers who are on call should anyone get into difficulties on the loch.  If you visit their website you can read some of the statistics relating to their call outs.  Quite sobering reading, particularly when you see the number of deaths that occur on the loch.  I admire what they do and hope I never need to call on their services.

A good day.

A day spent outside, walking to the village this morning and spotting an orange tip butterfly on the lady's smock on the way back.  Several new flowers as well - some I still need to identify.

Then an afternoon in the garden just sitting on the mower cutting the grass and enjoying being outside in the sunshine. A great drying day too - there's something very satisfying about seeing a line of washing flapping in the breeze (or in our case a near gale).  Then a beautiful sunset.  Maybe summer isn't that far away now.

Up with the lark

This morning was the Dawn Chorus walk through Shore wood organised by the National Park and SNH. After trying to book a place by phone without success I decided to go along anyway to appreciate the wildlife.  The alarm was set for just before 5.00 but after yesterday's rain I was quite prepared to stay in bed if the weather hadn't been good.  However, the sun was just rising and tinting the hills in the west pink and I could hear the birds already starting to sing - particularly some rather loud collar doves  - which encouraged me to get up and get going.

I did not regret it.  It was fresh but bright and the sun was just coming over the trees.  There were birds singing all around especially in the hedgerows.  The rooks in the rookery at the top of the pines were especially raucous drowning out the more melodious notes of smaller birds.   Several metres further on a thrush was singing its heart out high in an ash tree which has yet to come into leaf.

Carrying on through the woods I caught site of a roe deer buck by the water's edge.  He turned towards we me and we looked at each other for some time before I moved on .  I had only gone a couple of steps before I looked back but he had disappeared into the woods without a sound.  

The beauty of the loch took my breath away when I reached the view point.  There was a mist lingering over the surface of the water and a faint mist in the distance. But the air was so clear an cold and the light so delicate on the hills.

 

It really was quite chilly for a May morning although there hadn't been a frost.  The grasses however were covered with minute droplets of dew that gave a silvery sheen and sparkle in the sunlight.

On the return journey there was another deer drinking at the lochside.  This time it was a doe that looked as though she was heavily pregnant.  She moved forward in front of me, crossed the path and leapt the fence to join her partner in the field above the wood.

I was nearly back at the entrance to the walk before I met the official dawn chorus party - although by this time it was well after dawn.  I paused by the small beach where the water was crystal clear.  Earlier in the week the wind had stirred up the water and it had been quite mucky at the edge of the beach.  The loch level had subsided by today and deposited all the debris at high water level.  After this week's rain I was surprised the loch level had fallen at all.

The birds were still singing although we have noticed before that there is more birdsong in the hedgerows of the lane leading to the wood than in the wood itself.  The iPhone that I use to take these photos can also record and I was able to capture much of the sounds of the walk.  However, as yet I have not worked out how to get them from the computer onto the blog.  A technological challenge that will have to wait for another day.

What a week

It has been a week of dodging the downpours on our walks this week.  Not the most auspicious start to May which is usually a glorious month.  We have trudged along an increasingly muddy and squelchy path up to the village with Rosie getting soaked even before she went into the burn and me well wrapped up in waterproofs.

One of the real joys of the walk this week has been the lady's smock (also known as shepherd's purse because of the shape and nature of its seed pods) in the field which borders on to Aber burn, by the Aber Dam bridge. 

 They formed a foam  of pink flowers interspersed with the spiky reed grass.  This flower has a variety of names and was mentioned by Shakespeare in Love's Labours Lost

When daisies pied and violets blue
And lady-smock all silver white
And Cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight. 

There have been no cattle in the fields up to the village for the past few months which has allowed the wild flowers to flourish without being trampled into the mud. This has also made walking easier as the path is becoming more compacted.  However, this week's rain has made the path quite boggy again so you'll need boots if you try it this weekend.

Apparently I was rather slow in spotting the swallows this year as a neighbour has reported seeing one a full week before I did.  As we know, one swallow doesn't make a summer and although there are now dozens swooping and swirling around - there is still no sign of summer.

Late night loch rescue

Aber may seem like a quiet backwater where nothing much happens - but we have our moments.  Backwaters can be treacherous if you don't know the waters as a group on the loch discovered last night.

It was another late walk for Rosie to the end of the shore path to enjoy the last light on the loch.  All was calm and peaceful at Net Bay until a speedboat came past obviously unaware of how shallow the loch is at this point.  The boat quickly became grounded and the more they tried to drive off the sandbank the more firmly they became stuck.  There was a shouted exchange and the three people aboard were clearly going to need help.  They could not swim, and were unwilling, understandably to just get out and wade to the shore as they were some way out and the area was unfamiliar to them.  

Net Bay looking towards Conic Hill and Balmaha

They were going to use their mobile to try to contact the police and back at the house we did the same to make sure that a message had got through.  Still concerned we gathered together torches, blankets and a length of rope to go back to Net Bay to see if there was anything to be done to help.  To speed things up we took the car along the road as far as we could.  Rosie was very bemused by this second outing in the dark.  Once on the shore path the torches were needed as the faint moonlight was unable to penetrate the trees.

Now with a mobile we were able to ring the police again who said that a rescue boat was on its way and should be there in about ten minutes.  On reaching the viewpoint we shouted across to the boat and were assured that its occupants were all OK.  We let them know that help was on its way and tried to keep their spirits up.  It was getting pretty chilly waiting by the fence and must have been even colder for them out on the open water.

At last we saw a boat with a search beam and flashing blue light but it was way over by Inchcailloch and seemed to be searching in the wrong area.  Fortunately we had a very powerful torch that we were able to signal with and attract their attention, directing the beam to the stranded speedboat.  The people on the rescue boat clearly knew how difficult these waters could be and approached cautiously and as soon as they found they were hitting shallow water, stopped.  They were still some way away from the stranded boat and the next thing we saw was a small light emerge from the rescue craft and move towards the speedboat.  The water was shallow enough to wade through and a couple of rescuers soon reached the unfortunate crew.  One of them started to push the speedboat back towards the rescue boat while another turned at right angles and waded towards us as we leant on the fence on the shore and emerged for a chat.  After confirming that we had made the call to the police, this burly rubber clad figure then turned and walked back into the water and across to the rescue boat like some strange creature of the loch.

He also told us that he wasn't from the police but the Loch Lomond Rescue Boat which I later discovered is run by volunteers in the same way as the Mountain Rescue Teams. You can find out more on their website.

We watched as the rescue boat moved off.  With the weight of its extra passengers it struggled to begin with and we could see it being helped along by one of the crew in the water pushing it.  Eventually it began to gather speed and pull away with the speedboat being towed behind on a long line. They did not have far to go as we saw them pulling in to Balmaha.  

We turned to walk home through the dark woods and this in itself felt like an adventure.  We  hadn't need the blankets or the length of rope but were certainly glad of the torches on the way home.  We wish we'd remembered to take some tablet with us - if not for those who were stranded it would at least have sustained us on the walk back.  However, we were glad of a cup of tea and a tale to tell at the end of the evening.

Wet, wet, wet

I decided it would be too wet to walk back from the Village Hall coffee morning across the fields as it rained heavily from about 9.15 a.m. and this would certainly have turned parts of the walk into a slippery quagmire. There had been enough rain to really get the gutters and gullies running. 

So instead Rosie and I walked along the track past Middle Gartocharn Farm.  This is up for sale after the death of the farmer a couple of months ago and although the track is a right of way there have been 'Private Property' notices posted at each end.  These are really pretty meaningless and have no basis in law.  The Outdoor Access code gives further information on this.  It places a responsibility on all users of the country side to behave responsibly and with respect for the property and privacy of others but does also give rights of access.  Follow the link for more information.  

So I felt quite within my rights to ignore the private property notice and carry on.  At the far end where the track meets Mill Loan some garden debris has been placed in an attempt to restrict access and this was not easy to negotiate through the mud and a large pool that had gathered behind the barrier.  However, we couldn't get much wetter so carried on regardless.

There were a couple of ducks in one of the fields as we walked home - and even they looked pretty miserable.