Grassmoor, The Lakes District

Went for a hike up Grassmoor last weekend.

Sue and James

Tame trail sheep

Imitating the trail sheep

James' swimming hole

A Visit to the Mill

We drove up to Inverness for a visit with friends and some mountain biking fun.

The Mill - Andy's home use to be a mill. There's a lovely creek running through the yard which used to power the mill.

The Mill is located just above Lochness. No signs of any lake monsters.

Andy and Harriet's cat Esme recently gave birth to six kittens. Three of them are still oozing cuteness all over the house.

Pepper and Mouse

Biking on Black Isle

On our way home from Inverness we'd planned to stop in at a place called Laggan which has a reputation for having some seriously fun biking. Unfortunately our car died and we had to abandon it and take the train home instead of biking. We are now onto our second vehicle - a green VW Polo. Since our green Jetta back at home is still running at over 500,000 km, we think this car is a better bet.
Get your timing belts replaced kids. If the belt goes, so does the engine most of the time.

First day of school

We went to the Benmore Botanic Gardens on our first day of school. They're located on the west coast of Scotland and the site gets about 3 metres of rain per year, so coastal North American trees do quite well there. I felt quite at home amongst all the hemlock and cedar.

Sequoia avenue, planted in 1863

The fernery from above.

Apparently ferneries were all the rage around the 1870's when this one was built. It was the height of the Victorian fern craze or "pteridomania". This building belonged to a rich guy names James Duncan who had an art gallery at Benmore and also built this heated fernery to entertain and impress his guests. It was in a state of disrepair until last May when they started rebuilding it. It's quite impressive now.

The stairs leading to the fernery.

These were all planted this year, so it'll be even more impressive when they've had a few years to fill out.

A liverwort that snuck into the fernery.

Scots pine

Looking back at Dunoon on the ferry ride home.

Fellow plant nerds

My bike commute home

Edinburgh has turned it's old railways into bike paths throughout the city and they make for some sweet commuting. Here's a little sample of my current commute. It changes as of tomorrow when we move into our new flat. Luckily the new flat is also near a an old railway turned bike path.

Community gardens

Mallard on the Water of Leith.

Rose

The Water of Leith - a slow-moving river.

Gull and Cormorant

Stairs on a bike path, hmmm. Luckily they are no obstacle for "The Hurricane" - my amazing townie with front shocks. I was very pleased to discover I could actually go up, as well as down, the stairs.

Stinging nettle. I think taking this route in the spring wearing shorts could be tortuous.

The Hurricane, keen and ready to take on the dirt path.

Graveyard

View of Arthur's Seat

The one nasty bit of road I need to negotiate. Luckily this section is only about 500 metres long and comes with a handy sidewalk.

The Hurricane enjoying some beach time.

Oystercatcher

The Firth of Forth -
a lovely place to start and end the day's commute.

Train and Bike Adventure

James and I headed to the train station with our mountain bikes last Sunday morning and caught a ride to Croy, near Glasgow. We then pedaled out to the Carron Valley Forest for some mountain biking. The road biking was almost as much fun as the mountain biking.

Arthur's Seat - the volcanic plug that sits in the middle of Edinburgh.

Edinburgh's skyline

The bikes first train adventure. They were quite excited.

The Carron Valley trails were fairly mellow, but lots of smooth fun. They're rated "red" which sits between blue and black on the Scottish grading system.

Mellow forestry road

And here's a random shot of a log cabin. James and I always make note of other members of the "Cabin-net", of which the Cozy Cabin is a member. Scottish members are very rare, so we were quite excited to spot this one.