Compo

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Posts posted by Compo

  1. Out and about on New Year's day in the hinterlands of Caithness. The day dawned well and the walk was fine but cold.  Here's a few shots of the route. 

     

    Pampas dawn in the garden.

     

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    Braemore - the start of the walk

     

    IMG-5606-Braemore.jpg

     

    Signpost at Braemore. There are no villages for around 40 miles in that direction - those are names of areas of the moor.

     

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    Maiden Pap and Smean

     

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    Lochan Nam Bo Riabhach (Translation: The little lake of the brindled cow)

     

    IMG-5613-lochan-nam-bo-Riabach-Little-la

     

    A long and lonely track across the moors

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    Nora Batty on the long and lonely track to nowhere

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    Cloud rising from the flanks of Morven - poretending to be a volcano

     

    IMG-5626-Morven-cloud.jpg

     

    Walking over the moors involves crossing hundreds of deep rivulets like this one. It is impossible to walk far of the track without getting wet!

     

    IMG-5619-rivulet.jpg

     

     

     

    • Like 7
  2. Incidentally, Ethiopia now has one of thte fastest growing economies in the world. Since the end of the war that caused all the trouble in the 1980s., the government has teamed up with China and the Chinese are putting in roads all over the place and extracting minerals like they are going out of fashion. The resultant wealth is filtering down through the population and there are probably fewer rough sleepers in their cities than we have here in UK.

    • Like 1
  3. Waddo: A typical Ethiopian dinner consists of a spicy sauce, vegetables par boiled until just Al Jolson Dente and a large, flat, fermented pancake-like bread called Injera. Pudding is usually either Creme caramel or Bula (A kind of semolina made from the innards of the Ensette plant). One then finishes with wery strong coffee in a tiny cup and cake or biscuit.  It takes a bit of getting used to but it is certainly different. :)

     

  4. Awoke to a frozen tent early this mornming so I went out fro a bike ride in the dark. Yes I know...I'm bonkers. Came back and had a quick breakfast before going out into the moors for a long walk. The day turned out fine and sunny but a bit on the cold side, with a chilly breeze. I have just finished cooking an Ethiopian style meal for tea and I am looking forward to it, so without further ado let me say that photos will be available of the moors, possibly tomorrow,  if any turn out ok. 

    • Like 2
  5. On 12/25/2019 at 8:32 PM, Beekay said:

    Talking of addictions, a Radiographer I  worked with was addicted to Sinex nasal spray. He could get through a bottle a day !

     

    Was his name John Anderson (Formerly Wisniewski)? I knew a bloke of this name who became addicted to these nasal sprays as a teenager and last time I heard from him he was still getting through them like they were going out of fashion!

  6. Out and about on Boxing Day. I followed the river known locally as "Dunbeath Water" for about six miles before turning back in the gloom of late afternoon semi-darkness. I have posted photos of the lower strath before so this time I will just post images from beyond the lower strath.

     

    The river known as Dunbeath Water.

     

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    Ruinous croft house on the moor. Victim of the unscrupulous "Highland Clearances" of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

     

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    The "White Cemetery" at Tutnaguial. This small cemetery is stands all alone, roughly 3 miles into the moors from the village of Dunbeath. It is still in occasional use and acccessed by a moorland track.

     

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    Frozen river surface.

     

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    Moorland waterfall

     

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    Artificial weir built to assist Salmon fishermen by creating a pool for the fish to rest on their way upstream to spawn.

     

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    • Like 5
  7. Referring to Jonab's comments on servants puts me in mind of my time in Ethiopia. When we first arrived we were offered a servant. This seemed a bit  on the imperial superior attitude side and so I refused. I was then taken aside and had it explained to me that all ex-pats are expected to provide employment for at least one local person, without which the local people would have serious problems due to the lack of employment in the country that was, at that time, at war with itself.  I took the servant and  paid her to work full-time but asked her to only come in part-time. That seems to  have been a good compromise and all were satisfied with the arrangement.

  8. 'er indoors bought me a sonic cleaner for my birthday so that I could clean bits and bobs with ease. When she asked what I would like for Xmas I said "A can of cleaning fluid to go with the cleaner you bought me for my birthday." So she looked it up and came back to me with "I can't get you that....it only costs a few pounds; it would be much of a present."  I argued that it is what I want and I'd rather have that than an expensive gift that I neither need nor want.  No good though, there's a bag of presents by the tree and there's only me in the house - unless she's inviting loads of guests around for Xmas morning gift giving!

    • Upvote 1
  9. So, there I was waiting for the sun to go down in the corner of the mountain called Morven (Today is the day that the sun sets right in the bottom left corner of the mountain).   Bright sunshine all day and just minutes before sunset - a bloody great cloud appeared in the spot where the sun was due to set. Worse still, it disappeared just moments after sunset! GRRRRR!

  10. Beekay: The clock that was to be replaced (original clock) was a backwards movement clock and was always kept on GMT. That one is now repaired and the new broken one will replace it in the shed when the card is stuck back where it belongs. The second new clock will go into the garage and be run on normal time but of course, backwards. The original one, now about twenty two years old, will find a new home in the polytunnel during Spring, Summr and Autumn but will move to the potting shed during winter.  Living in an old railway station means that one has to keep time - unlike new railways that call half an hour late, on-time!

    • Like 1