(Saturday 12th September 2015)
Today was a Saturday with nothing planned and a poor forecast. In the last four weeks my motor-bike, my Mini and Anne’s Fusion have just passed their MOTs; Anne’s Fusion just yesterday. A lot of work. I thought I would be struggling with a steering joint, or a brake pipe, or a CV boot today. I have no services to take on my calendar. I can’t be bothered doing school work. Anne and Mairi were out. So I went for a walk.
I walked up the Boath Road, a nice dry morning as I set off. Here is looking out to the Soutars of Cromarty up the Firth. The fields are “white unto harvest”.

1. Visually – by allowing all these wind farms to be built. You can hardly take a photo in the Highlands now without a wind farm or pylon popping into the picture. Surely tourism will be affected.
2. Educationally – CFE is a disaster. Third year is now an utter waste of time. A supposedly skills based course. The greatest skill is retaining and using knowledge, not an ethereal skill sitting on its own. Things are so bad numeracy and literacy is smeared across the curriculum. This should be dealt with in primary. A diluted Chemistry curriculum – good Chemistry replaced by assessments obsessed with minutiae.
3. Morally – the allowing “gay” marriage. It is not marriage. Marriage by definition is between a man and woman and is for the good of relationships and families. It is a puny insult to God.
4. Politically – by becoming independent we will become a super nation something like Iceland or Belgium.






At the mile point from the house is a tree root that Charlie always touched and I’m afraid I always do the same. This is it.




Here is heather and bell heather both together. There has been a super show this year.


Mairi loved the walk up our road. The wee tree silhouetted on the right of the hill she always referred to as the “perfect tree”.






I could head back by this track. It goes to below where the archery was.






It started to drizzle. That was the forecast. I hoped it would stay off a bit longer. No wonder I’m looking so glum. Never took a selfie on my phone! This is the furthest out from home today. I passed two fisherman and a gillie. The rich people. But they were very pleasant.



I then headed down the Averon.




I usually stop and have a wee rest in this fishing hut. The fishermen I had just seen had left there car here and I didn’t want to interfere. It would have been nice to sit a wee while out of the drizzle.

This is where I could have come down.



Even fallen trees stop vehicles.




This is the end of the track along the Averon. The track seen going ahead takes you to a huge curve of the river. Mairi and I cycled here often. One day she lost her necklace. We never found it.





It goes up here to a field.

This field has been planted with trees some years ago. It seems a waste of good arable land.




Pheasants are reared here and then released for the rich people to shoot. Seems like “sport”.









I got back onto the Boath Road and took a picture of the wild flowers.


