Unmissable offer

Not something a normally would consider doing but a friend has decided to do a very generous thing which someone might fancy taking up the offer. There is currently an ebay auction with all proceeds going to Cancer Research for a lovely cottage in Aultbea. There's more info on the cottage here. It's a fantastic area to be based for Fisherfield, An Teallach and Torridon. So if you fancy a bargain whilst donating to Cancer Research then get on ebay.

The view over the Minch from the cottage

Thought provoking in so many ways

A Tweet came through from Andy Kirkpatrick's Twitter feed that made me want to follow the link

A Blog inspired by a one legged man going into a brothel

So I followed the link to read this post. So many things in this post got me thinking about the assumptions that we place on all aspects of our life.

Good luck Andy for getting some sponsorship for Karen and for the rest of the disabled sports people out there

Snap

Looks like someone is on my wavelength. I'd thought about having a cafe.......................

Stalled

The body really is quite a remarkable thing. Mine however has a tendency to surprise me and not always in a positive way. It's now 5 months since my op and unfortunately for me, my knee is still not playing the game the way it's meant to. All involved are trying to remain positive as after all it is still early days. 

The annoying thing is that any activity more than what most of us active peeps would regards as a taster is still causing such acute inflammation in the joint that the ice pack is my permanent companion. Not really an ideal situation. The walking is totally frustrating as even a wander round the shops still seems like a major expedition.  Being able to go for a wee pootle on the bike so long as it's flat as a flat thing and I take my time is at least keeping me sane - ish. It really is quite fortunate that there is a few sections of nice flat National Cycle Network nearby and some glorious coastal views that are never the same to keep me from wearying. So fingers crossed that I'll wake up one morning and my body will have decided enough of this carry on.

Getting Topical

There is a topic that appears to be in the news practically every day at the moment, some of that possibly due to the fact that there just happens to be an election coming up. Oh am I sounding cynical............................

The topic is renewable energy though in Scotland's case that might as well just be labelled as wind power.  I'm not professing to be an expert on this or anything but. i just want others to have a wee think about it and what it means for the whole of the UK.

What pricked my attention was Alan Sloman's post on his blog about a proposed windfarm. I thought about my surrounding area and what impact the windfarms around me have had. I'm in the central belt and you can't drive too far without coming across one in this populated corridor. The biggest is Whitelee on Eaglesham Moor with 140 turbines. I can see it all the way from the windfarm at Ardrossan on a clear day. OK some of these are in areas that spoil the view but I take the attitude that this is the central belt. This is where most of the energy is required for and although they spoil some views sacrifices have to be made to give us what we demand.

I do however draw the line at putting these windfarms into areas where its impact on the areas natural beauty far outweighs any energy and economic benefit. Some of this is borne out in the John Muir Trust Report on the efficiency of this renewable energy, something that the Scottish Renewables disputes. But I am cautious when reading any of these reports as all data can be presented in such a way to attempt to win any argument. What I do know is that wind power is not the sole answer.  As ever its an all eggs in one basket approach from all quarters.

For me it's about learning from the past to make the future better. Yes we need to look at renewables but we also need to look at what we already have working and making it usable for the future. It might not fit into the new green agenda but we have carbon fuels that need to be made more efficient and we have nuclear power which also has it's place in this debate. It's also about minimising the impact on those areas of wilderness which we will never get back and mostly for the benefit of those who live no where near it for them to care. So make sure you ask the canvassers when they come chapping on your door what their party's take is on this topic and get your views heard.

 

Trying to revive memories

With the knee still restricting activities we hadn't planned anything for this weekend. The weather was supposed to be rain slowing to showers but we were pleasantly surprised when we got lovely sunshine. The urge to get out and about was itching away at me so I persuaded Steve that a drive in a southerly direction would keep us amused for a wee while. I had a hankering to go see a place that I hadn't been to since I was a wee girl.

Being from Lanarkshire we don't have anything in the way of beaches so summer holidays always meant day trips to the Ayrshire coast. My memories of these days out are somewhat hazy though I do have one vivid recollection of the seagull that stole my fish from my lap as I ate it on Ayr front!!! Girvan was the destination, somewhere I remember being taken but not a lot else. So off we set taking the scenic route.

View of Arran from above Dunure

Dunure Castle

Naval manoeuvres in Firth of Clyde

The first thing that strikes you as you stand on Girvan seafront  is the huge lump of Ailsa Craig. I've never been over though Steve has. He'd told me it's an entertaining  crossing but worth it. As we wandered along the front we were entertained by a huge flock of starlings having a feeding frenzy on the beach, not something you see every day. It was quite bracing along the harbour wall. The weather had started to revert to the forecast that we were expecting so we didn't spend a huge amount of time in Girvan. The sad thing was that it didn't bring back any memories at all. It made me wonder how in this modern age places like Girvan actually survive as even in this very short visit we hadn't seen much to keep us in the place, not even nostalgia.

Starlings having a feeding frenzy on the beach