Visiting castles and coastline around Aberdeenshire
9th April 2019 Sometimes, thoughts cannot be expressed as envisaged. For instance, it might have seemed a good idea to compare 2010 and 2017 in this post, but it did not fit well and instead inspired another one. The choice of years could have included 1997 just as well, since that year saw the first of three visits to Aberdeen, and it is the third of these that gets related here.
Another factor that inspired the 2010/2017 comparison was the that both years bookended a period spent working for the same employer and the fact that my enthusiasm had waned became apparent to me during my spring sabbatical break. In a vain effort to ward off an eventual and inevitable resignation, I planned some excursions: the first took me to Aberdeen for the Spring Bank Holiday and June saw me go to Norway for nearly a week.
A trip into a bookshop during the 2010 stay highlighted how many castles there are to be found in Aberdeenshire. That partly influenced what I got to explore during the 2017 getaway because both Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven and Crathes Castle near Banchory were visited during the weekend. The former of these lay on my wish list for a number of years and has graced many a calendar, so I had designs on some photography too.
Getting Away
Before my career break and subsequent ongoing period of self-employment, an annual leave allocation was something to be managed carefully. Thinking back to my employer from 2001 to 2010, there was a possibility of buying two more weeks of holiday every year that I no longer had between 2010 and 2017. For what life had in store for me in 2016, the extra time off from work would have been very valuable, but it was not to be had. As it happened, I never had recourse to buying additional days of holiday during the first decade of the century in any case and the act added more personal independence than you might think.
That rationing mentality meant that I needed to leave my departure to the end of a working day or lose one day out of the weekend. After all, the journey from Macclesfield to Aberdeen takes between six and seven hours by train so it was little wonder that I booked one off from work for the 2010 escapade. For an evening departure, another approach is needed with overnight travel being a possibility that could leave one more tired than is ideal, especially if coach travel is involved. Overnight train travel can be an expensive affair that gets booked up before a bank holiday weekend.
Those considerations led me to considering air travel instead, especially given the way that the cost of train travel has risen in recent years. After looking at schedules, I found Flybe flights that did what I needed despite a delayed departure caused my needing to retrieve my mobile phone from the office desk where I accidentally left it. That scuppered a planned train journey, but a taxi did the needful in its place. The flight itself was late anyway, so getting into my hotel involved ringing a doorbell to secure access to the building. Aside from those very minor hiccups, all went smoothly.
Wandering About Aberdeen
After a decent night's rest and a good breakfast, a day of strolling commenced. This was to have two parts with the first spent around Aberdeen and the second taking in Stonehaven. The pervading ambience was one with the same sort of peace that I tend to find along numerous North Sea coasts, regardless of their being in Northumberland, Lothian or Aberdeenshire. It was a vast contrast to the sensation associated with a terror attach in Manchester earlier that week or with the Grenfell Tower fire a few weeks later. There are times when life can bring too much despair so it is good to step away from that for a while.
Oases from such horrors can be found in unexpected locations and Union Gardens in the heart of Aberdeen is but one of those. It may be found next to the city's main thoroughfare but the fact that it lies below street level ensures that a certain sense of sanctuary can be found there. All of my wanderings around the city have found me drawn to the spot since I discovered it in 1997. In 2010, a day of city strolling began there with a looming threat of reconstruction to create a street level park that obscured any signs of a railway or a tarmacked dual carriageway. Thankfully, that scheme came to nothing and the park remained there in 2017 for the start of another day of stravaiging.
The quiet atmosphere on that sunny Saturday morning did its best to belie not only my location but also the times in which I was living. Simpler pursuits like photography caused me to linger until at least until the departure of council workers attired in high visibility clothing before making some photos, but that was a mere passing intrusion. Bright colours like yellow and red did not fit my intended palate of green, blue, brown and grey, so I awaited their exit before gaining my fill of satisfaction and more architectural delights awaited revisitation.
After climbing steps up towards His Majesty's Theatre and taking in a statue of William Wallace, I continued on my way to the statue of another hero from Scottish history: Robert Bruce, one-time king of the country after winning its medieval wars of independence. Another landmark lay adjacent to its situation in the form of the once independent Marischal College that now forms part of the University of Aberdeen. If I was not bound for Old Aberdeen, it may have been worthwhile to try photographing the lofty edifice from a better vantage point than its immediate environs, whose low level presented many challenges despite such successes as the photo you see above.
It only took two of the charms of Old Aberdeen to draw me there again but there happens to be more to the area than those. The first was King's College, another part of the University of Aberdeen that once was an independent institution, and the second was St. Machar's Cathedral Church, one of a small number under the custodianship of the Church of Scotland that retain that designation.
The mention of King's College takes me back to 1997 when I was based near there for a chemistry conference during the very week after the death of Princess Diana and the displays of public grief that it provoked. Aberdeen then offered respite from the vagaries of the world and it has become a theme. The village like atmosphere of Old Aberdeen makes it a pleasing place to visit with its cosy-looking houses clustered around larger university buildings, such of which are less elegant modern constructions that are kept away from the older architecture.
It took until 2010 for me to reach St. Machar's Cathedral on a damp grey night, but a repeat visit happened the next day, though weather conditions were not so permitting of photographic activity. 2017 made up for that, though I did need to allow a wedding party its privacy as it entered the church for a nuptial service. Such events are to be expected, so a little patience and so time exploring other vantage points was all that was needed before I had the churchyard to myself again.
The route that I had taken from King's College to St. Machar's Cathedral had been an indirect one that took me through part of Smeaton Park, and I was to sample more of the place after leaving the churchyard. The weather had lured many others into the park, and I was surprised to see a Segway tour being led along its paths. My own strolling took me along the south bank of the River Don and away from those other users.
Following the river, I hiked east to the Brig O' Balgownie and from there to the A92. Crossing that, I headed for the Donmouth Nature Reserve, lured by the appeal of being near where the Don enters the sea. Possibly because of geographic realities such as tides and the presence of mudflats, I did not venture so close to such a point but chose instead to continue south along the Esplanade.
As I did so in typical North Sea coastal peace and quiet, there were ships lurking in the sea haze. Some were stationary while others were passing. Others were out strolling, but there was enough space for all of us with an amusement park drawing most of those who were attracted to the shore.
Most of the way to Footdee, I remained on the solid walkway, but I occasionally ventured onto the sand too. For reasons of human occupation and disordered building, my ambling around Footdee took a meandering course until I pottered out along the North Pier and then back again. Quayside rambling soon enough brought me to Castle Street in the heart of the city. Along the way a Northlink ferry had been spotted, a reminder that I never ventured north to either the Orkney or Shetland islands. However, another destination beckoned more immediately and that was where I went next. Island exploration was to be left waiting.
Seeing Another Stretch of the North Sea Coast
My pending and momentary departure from Aberdeen brought me to its train station and a reminder of contemporary events. The sight of armed police officers at a city station far away from the site of a preceding terror attack in Manchester did not strike me in the same way as the removal from public use of luggage lockers at Fort William's train station. Then, the overriding impression was one of overreaction, but my mind was full of other thoughts in 2017. All I did was to catch a train to Stonehaven without greater contemplation of the situation.
Stonehaven may be but fifteen to twenty minutes away from Aberdeen by train, but it might as well have been much further for the weather was very different when I got there. The skies were clouded and grey as I covered the longer than expected distance from the town's coastline to its shoreline. At times, the air even felt damp, but I remained undeterred from continuing as far as Dunnottar Castle. Others were doing likewise since this is a well known Scottish landmark.
Given enough time, the cloud cover broke in concert with the passing of any light rain showers. These are times when a seemingly hopeless quest becomes fruitful and a momentary vigil gets its reward. For my own, I sought a quieter spot where no one else bothered to loiter by the dramatic coastline. All it took was a few-minute southbound walk from the start of the path leading to the castle itself for that is where most had congregated without designs on further coastal exploration.
In fact, my mind started to wander further along the coast than I did. It might have set to wandering as far as Montrose but my lack of time and equipment ensured that I did not do likewise. The cause had been the dramatic coastal scenery and there was a tempting path leading south, but my self-discipline held.
Though coastal views were hazy, brighter skies accompanied my return to Stonehaven. There was a brief stop at its war memorial before I descended to potter along the coast where another reminder of ongoing political tumult lay: election posters for the then incumbent SNP MP, Stuart Donaldson. He subsequently lost the election, but that incursion of world events was left after me quickly as I ambled up the coast before stopping in the town centre for some food and making my way to the train station again. Once back in Aberdeen, I returned to my lodgings for the night after what had been a fruitful day.
Following an Old Railway Alignment
While its predecessor was divided between two pieces of recreational business, Sunday's wandering was to consist of a single thread: walking the Deeside Way from Banchory to Aberdeen. The cause of my going to Banchory after attending to a matter that morning was the proximity of Crathes Castle, but that proved to be a sideshow from the main activity of the day.
The Deeside Way extends from Ballater to Aberdeen, yet it appears that the section going east from Aboyne to Banchory is not marked on OS maps while other parts are indicated. It was not my intention to walk all the way to the trail's eastern terminus, but the sunny evening led me along all the way to Duthie Park where I arrived in the gloaming. The decision had been made with serendipity, but it also could have been said a long walk was in order given what was happening in my life back then.
The start of my hike was a grey one, and I even reckon that the weather was no different in Aberdeen, though a lack of photos and the effect of other events on my recollection both mean that I cannot be sure. In any case, the city in question was left after attending to a matter and I pottered around Banchory before making for the River Dee where I met with the trail that I was to follow for all the remaining hours of daylight.
Once I was on my way, the cloud cover began to break to allow the sun to work its magic from time to time. By then, I was strolling along the bed of the former railway line with the River Dee beside me. At times, the pastoral nature of the surrounding countryside was on show though I was among trees for much of the time. More vintage installations like the Royal Deeside Railway, a heritage line, and an event like the Crathes Vintage Car & Motorcycle Rally added a momentary feel of an earlier age, even reminders from my own youth when vintage rallies were momentary diversions from contemporary life.
Leaving the trail after me for a while, I strolled into Crathes Castle and that was what drew me this way in the first place. It also was an encounter with another heritage attraction, albeit one that was nearing the end of its opening hours for the day. My start had been an early afternoon one and the sun had drifted behind clouds, so a vigil began in the hope of our nearest star escaping what might have felt like its cloudy prison.
As I did so, a request for a photo came my way from a mother who spotted my DSLR. Unfortunately, the sun was coming out right then, and I was not as cooperative as I otherwise might have been. The above photo came at the cost of someone else's disappointment, but others had done the desirable before me, so that was one consolation.
Disappointing others does not come readily to me, so I was happy to have some solo time afterwards. This allowed me to move on from the moment a little and return to the Deeside Way. There was a choice to be made about what to do next. Quite why I rejected the possibility of returning to Banchory is lost to my recollection, but I chose to continue east. Maybe there was an urge to explore a little more.
While the Deeside Way uses the former railway alignment for much of its length, there are deviations but these, thankfully, are well signed. That notably helped near Milton of Crathes, and I was sent along parts of the A957 and A93 near Crathes. In fact, the section between Crathes and Drumoak shadowed the A93 and made it much less of a wild walk, though the road and the trail both were quiet at this part of that Sunday. In fact, this was the prevailing mood for the rest of the walk.
At Drumoak, I was tempted to await a bus to Aberdeen but instead chose more walking and the Deeside Way also left the course of the old railway until not far outside Peterculter. Going this way also meant that thoughts of bus travel needed to set aside for a longer period, but the feeling of being out and about in the quiet countryside was more than enough reward.
Going along a narrow lane leading south from Drumoak brought me onto an off-road track that took me through forest and field before returning me to tarmac again. Some were using the facility for dog walking, but that was no intrusion and quiet lane walking followed on a blissfully peaceful evening.
At Coalford, I returned to the railway alignment near where beef cattle were standing on a part that without any right of way. It was a curious scene, but I did wonder at any damage that might be done by leaving such hefty beasts traipse around the embankment as they were doing.
My mind had other things to occupy it. Mid-evening was upon me and the prospect of fading daylight loomed large. Nevertheless, I strode onward with tiring limbs. Every landscape feature was noted as a progress indicator and there were information boards describing former stations that could be checked off against my map as I went along.
After all, this ended up as a purely suburban railway in its last days, but there was a reminder of modernity as I was directed to plod across what now is a newer section of the A90. Though the landscape was scarred by the then ongoing construction, the River Dee remained in view and gentler surroundings lay ahead of me.
After this, light began to decline as the distance to Duthie Park became ever shorter. There were others about who were snatching a quick stroll before darkness fell, a practice that I also witnessed in Sheffield last November and December. Eventually, any thought of leaving the trail could be vanquished by its providing the clearest route ahead and that got me to its end near the aforementioned park.
There was a brief visit to the park that left me wondering at its being left open to the public at all hours, something that often is not offered by some of its Cheshire counterparts. The idea of seeing the place in daylight remained as I then went through the streets to my lodgings for the night. It had been a long hike accompanied by lengthy peaceful moments that were sorely needed at the time. Even a passing bus did little to intrude on that overriding ambience.
Returning to Real Life
The next morning, I arose to see grey skies overhead and largely is how things stayed. Even so, I still revisited Duthie Park before heading to the city's airport to commence my journey home. The sun did struggle to break through the clouds but without much in the way of success. In its own way, it may have planted the idea of another visit in my mind.
Life has gone elsewhere since then though and the summer of 2017 was a dramatic one for me. There may have been trips to Norway and Sweden, but the season is remembered for the emotional toll of the events that led me to begin a career break dominated by recovery and re-energisation.
A renewed enthusiasm for living has resulted as much as a new way of working for a living that better suits my situation. It is a reminder that nature's soothing embrace cannot work on its own but that you may need to do something constructive to gain a better outcome, not that such a lesson stops me from exploring any countryside as should be apparent from this blog.
Travel Arrangements
Taxi ride from Wilmslow to Manchester Airport. Return flight from Manchester to Aberdeen. Return bus journey on route 737 between Aberdeen Airport to Aberdeen city centre. Return train journey between Aberdeen and Stonehaven. Bus journey from Aberdeen to Banchory. Train journey from Manchester Airport to Macclesfield.
Echoes of repetition
1st March 2019 There are times when trip ideas get re-used. The unseasonal sunny weather that dominated the second week of February became a backdrop to some of this. Firstly, it lured me up to Great Ayton for a day spent around Roseberry Topping, Highcliffe Nab and Easby Moor. This was a variation of a route enjoyed more than a year earlier when snow and ice were dominant. Then, the ground conditions added a need for extra care that probably should have precluded an ascent of Roseberry Topping that was facilitated far better in conditions more typical of late spring or early summer.
A few days later, I was drawn to Earl Sterndale for a walk that took in the tops of both Parkhouse Hill and Chrome Hill. The latter was more friendly to those whose tolerance of exposure is more limited. Some might go up and over the former but I did an out and back trip to its summit before kinder gradients were descended in a northward direction. In the autumn of 2017, I had passed both on the way from Sterndale Moor to Buxton but avoided their summits on that equally pleasant sunny day.
Sometimes, there are stronger patterns of repetition there is one shared between 2010 and 2017. Both featured trips to Sweden and Aberdeenshire as well as marking the start and end of my time with a single employer. Because of the changeover in employment arrangements, the destination pairing has a certain eerie resonance for me.
Neither the Swedish or Aberdeen trips were my first to either place but it took a third visit to the former for more of a leisure focus to show itself. September 1997 saw my first visit to Aberdeen and that was for a scientific congress while business was the main motivation for those first two trips to Sweden. Even so, there opportunities for personal exploration offer themselves too because conferences cannot occupy you for all their duration and long sunny Swedish summer evenings made for pleasant strolling around both Södertälje and Stockholm.
The 2010 sojourn in Aberdeen allowed for more city strolling and a visit to Braemar only months after starting a new job. There was no mountain walking in 2017 but Stonehaven, Dunnottar Castle, Banchory, Crathes Castle and the Deeside Way more than occupied the time not spent on city wanderings. In fact, the idea of doing some castle visiting was a seed sown during the previous trip. That it preceded my leaving the company that I joined in 2017 by a matter of months made it a kind of a bookend to my time there.
One of the motivations for heading to Aberdeen for the 2017 Spring Bank Holiday weekend was as a means of dealing with the fact that I no longer enjoyed working where I was. Together with a second trip to Norway, it was intended to salve the lack of enthusiasm that I had for what I was doing but it was not to be a long term strategy so I made the difficult decision to leave my then employer and take a career break while I worked through the aftermath of a number of life events as well as working out what my future career direction might be.
It was after starting the career break, that I then headed to Stockholm for an extended weekend stay. My previous time in Sweden preceded a departure from a then current employer and information transfer was its purpose. Only weeks later, I was going to start with the employer that I left in 2017 so there was a curious symmetry about my actions. Naturally, city explorations were to follow with even Gothenburg receiving a fleeting visit. Tyresta National Park became the starting point for the longest hike that I enjoyed while in the country. The whole experience was vastly more restive than the preceding months and it would take more than a year before I started to explore places beyond British and Irish shores.
If I have my way, such juxtapositions as pairings of trip destinations and career changes may not be repeated in the future. Though there are other places to see and experience, I also hope to continue my Scottish and Scandinavian encounters. My choice would be that they do not need career upheavals to make them happen because we need to keep making more happy memories to get us through times that are more testing.
Travel shows
18th February 2019 For me, a rural Irish upbringing brought with it participation in agricultural shows and other country events. Trade stands were manned, cows got lead around show rings and vintage fairs got stewarded. The last of these became the cause of getting sunburnt; being indoors studying for so much of the year ensured that young bare skin remained unseasoned.
Though these contained hints of the agrarian about them, there were other hints that my future mainly lay outside of farming. When helping with trade stands promoting the advantages of Jersey or Simmental cattle, I was not the one doing the selling. Aside from my not having a salesperson's bone in me, I simply did not know enough about animal husbandry to do any promotion and stuck to simpler tasks like keeping videos playing or giving out stickers to anyone who wanted them. Even back then, I knew my strengths.
More recently, industry conferences came into my life even if I am more likely to read their published papers rather than being there to watch them being presented to fellow colleagues. As it happens, that is something that I would like to address later this year should circumstances allow. These are busy events with a certain social aspect and have so many presentations that one hardly needs to go around stands; also, there can be good reason not to do so if you are not looking to switch job or buy some software tool.
The cause of all the above entering my mind is more leisure-focussed: a single weekend in January was occupied by my going to two travel shows. The first was the Adventure Travel Show in the London Olympia and the second was Destinations at Manchester's EventyCity. The latter was the northern counterpart of the London version of the same show that took place two weeks later. Attending the southern counterpart may have been tempting but there is only so much that can be gained by going to the same show twice.
Having gone to the Photography Show in March of last year and gained so much, I was not surprised by the mix of talks and trade stands on offer at both of January's travels shows. My having been at the 2018 event only made me more courageous that I once would have been. Stand holders prove not to be that much more pro-active than those encountered at the agricultural shows of my younger days. Being able to look before asking any questions has its appeal.
Picking up brochures is part of many a show and I had a hobby of doing such things at agricultural shows though stand holders much preferred them to end up in the hands of prospective customers than mere youngsters. Though never that interested in motor cars, my brother did get to an Irish motor show in 1986 and an ensuing, and much prized, bounty of brochures found its way to me. A residual interest in cars may persist but it is better these days by more active pursuits like travel, photography and the main subject of this blog.
This year's travel shows also caused my to collect a bounty of brochures, especially at the Destinations show. It might have been that there was more to pick up but I also wondered if I was overdoing things are the relative restraint of the Adventure Travel Show. Still, there was overlap between with activity holidays being quite a mainstay. Walking, cycling and wildlife watching all featured with a certain more out of the way feel to the London event.
That certainly applies to the talks that took place there and, unlike the Photography Show, they all were free to attend. Featured destinations included Greenland, Patagonia, Spain and others and there were seminars too though I stayed away from those because of their time commitments when there were so many stands to browse with a range extending from tourist agencies to travel magazines with plenty of tour operators in attendance. Choosing to return home at a reasonable hour also meant missing out on a film night but enough was gained without that.
There was less in the way of audiovisual information at the Manchester event though it did feature cookery demonstrations and talks on travel health matters such as avoiding overseas infections and infestations. Still, there were talks on visiting such diverse destinations as Sri Lanka and Canada for those who wished to rest weary legs for a while. Being there on the last day revealed something that I last met at those Irish events: there was a certain anticlimax as things drew towards a close, especially after lunch when a neighbouring camping and caravanning show also opened for attendees.
Naturally, both events featured eateries even if they were nowhere near as extensive as last year's Photography Show. Getting to them involved its own lesson learning, especially the London event at the Olympia. Getting there from Macclesfield in the future will avoid use of the London Underground in favour of changing trains at Stoke-on-Trent and Milton Keynes to arrive at Kensington Olympia station on the national rail network. The Manchester event was easier to reach by public transport with a return train journey and bus journey combination easily facilitating the needful.
Having missed the events on previous years for one reason or another, it was good to get to them. While independent travel remains my preference, it was good to see what package tours are on offer and what tourism agencies have to say about what is possible in their respective countries. Those brochures need perusal while other thinking continues.
History
5th February 2019 It appears that we are living in one of history's more turbulent epochs, and such is the drama that I have avoided reading very much history until now. The cause has been as much about the fear of reliving what is unnerving about our current times as the allure of other interests. However, I have relented and started on books that have awaited my attention for far too long.
Completing Tim Robinson's Aran Island duology and his Connemara trilogy made me more open to Diarmaid Ferriter's On the Edge, a modern history of Ireland's offshore islands that was published towards the end of last year. When that proved eminently readable, I then started on the same author's The Transformation of Ireland 1900-2000, and that will keep me going for a while before finishing two more from other authors would complete the same backlog.
History remains a subject to which I am more than partial, with Christopher Clarke's The Sleepwalkers, Norman Davies' Vanished Kingdoms and Robert Kee's The Green Flag all acting as staging posts on an ever continuing expansion of perspective. More may follow if I ever decide to look further into the stories of various other countries that I have explored in recent years and Switzerland comes to mind here.
That is not to imply that other titles will not be perused during this run of historical reading, but they are likely to lighten the mix. In any event, there is a pile of unread magazines that also needs reducing, so that should help my idea collection to grow. At this time of year, it is usually opportune to think ahead to what excursions may be possible, and North American ones are tempting options for this coming summer. What happens in reality still remains another matter, though.
While it can be pleasant to allow your imagination to take flight, political and financial realities do help to ensure restraint. The acquisition of a new lens for my Canon EOS 5 Mark II and the rebuild of a five-year-old desktop PC involved such an investment that I am not so willing to expend too much more at the moment. Nevertheless, the new lens needs more testing so that adds incentive for an outing should more sunshine come our way. It is fine to dream, but modest excursions do much for any overburdened spirit.
Overflow
31st January 2019 Quite how I never considered how life's affairs refuse to fit within calendar years is beyond me because I have several examples to recall. Even though the aspiration of closing off things for a year end persists, that does not mean that it is remotely realistic. Accepting such continuity may be the best course even if some decry what they call drift.
There are times when the end of a year only adds items to a to do list for the next. That happened me in 2017 and it caused me to get much done about my Irish business last year. 2016 was one of those years when closure was sought because of a mix of continuing grieving, an unappealing job and looming deadline for the probation of my late father's estate. It became a forlorn hope and influenced how things went in 2017.
Still, many years enjoy quiet starts and 2018 became one of those. It allowed me to rethink my career and choose self-employment as the way out of what I perceived to be career doldrums. In contrast, this year has seen a collision between unfinished work form last year with new plans for this year and unexpected matters. Leaving things flow in preference to filling supposedly empty time with tasks now looks the wiser course.
Even so, I have got to attending the Adventure Travel Show and Destinations in the same January weekend. The first of these carried me to the London Olympia for attendance of talks and gawping at stands. The next day saw me head to Manchester's EventCity for the second when more of the same ensured. Leaflets were snaffled in numbers in an effort to look in on possibilities eschewed by my preference for independent travelling. The act might be more like one of education rather than the change of course that it might suggest.
Continuation also underlay my mid-Winter escape to Tenerife with its beginning in the dying days of 2018 and ending in the start of 2019. After what befell me on my 2016 Mallorcan trip, acclimatisation was a hallmark this time around and it worked. No ill-effects blighted the start of 2019 apart from eating stale food on my return and that only lasted around twelve hours. Other mid-Winter possibilities are more likely than they once were.
Though most base themselves in the south-west of the island, I plumped for the quieter north-east and Santa Cruz was where I stayed. New Year's Eve saw me potter into the city's neighbouring hills while New Year's Day allowed for a more adventurous circuit around Igueste de San Andrés than I expected. Parque Nacional del Teide got a visit too with some pottering about Roques del Garcia within sight of El Teide itself. The higher altitude did little to restrict my activities but I had reigned in any enthusiasm in any event.
The parched countryside played host to larger versions of the sort of cacti that my late mother would have had as indoor potted plants. Poinsettias grew out of doors with help from flowerbed irrigation and came in different colours too. Both these observations were reminders of the important of bringing ample quantities of water on any walks in the subtropical winter heat.
Adjusting to a cold climate after this took some time but it has happened and a recent spell of snow is a reminder that the warmer days of spring and summer are a bit away yet. That gives time for some planning of additional exploring and the current political travails need escaping for a while and it is as yet unclear what they will mean for overseas explorations. Meanwhile, I hope to do more domestic exploring than a recent day trip to Lincoln.
