The latest news and views from rain and windswept Scotland. Did I miss summer?

The Olympics in Paris have now started and the opening ceremony was quite spectacular, although you had to have a fair deal of stamina and settle down for a marathon. It just dragged on for hour after hour. Yet great for the city of Paris, the French tourist board highlighted all the major visitor attractions. Yet it seemed very disjointed. The weather didn’t help. The organises expected sun, they received incessant non relenting rain. In fact plastic ponchos seemed to take centre stage as the athletes bounced along the river Seine towards the Eiffel Tower.

For me the highlights were the flying artists in colourful gowns attached to the end of flexible swinging poles that danced through the air. Along with the nod to the French Revolution. Headless females dresses in red holding their head in hand. Amazing. And of course the finale of lighting the flame. A giant cauldron attached to a balloon. Live flames under a hydrogen balloon? In fact would imagine it’s water mist and lights.

Lady Garga seemed overshadowed by pink feathers. Expected her to appear in the buff any moment. Perhaps the weather halted that.

Celina Dion’s striking performance tethered up high on the Eiffel Tower singing an Edith Piaf favourite, L’Hymme A L’Amoure was very emotional.

The officials seemed to have a problem earlier in the day when they raised the Olympic flag upside down. 

But it’s the actual plethora of never ending sport that l can’t wait to see. Let’s hope the UK can continue with their recent successes.

Plenty of cruise ships continue to use Greenock on their Northern Europe tours.

Wednesday 24 July — Jewel of the Seas (90,000)

Friday 26 July — Queen Anne (113,000)

Wednesday 31 July — Regal Princess (142,000)

Thursday 1 August — Silver Spirit (36,000)

Friday 2 August — Norwegian Dawn (92,250)

Saturday 3 August — Mein Schiff 3 (99,000)

Sunday 4 August — Aurora (76,150)

Tuesday 6 August — Jewel of the Seas (90,000)

Monday 12 August — Regal Princess (142,000) [departs 2am on 13 August]

Tuesday 13 August — AIDAbella (69,000)

Thursday 15 August — Carnival Legend (88,500) [departs 2am on 16 August]

Monday 19 August — Nautica (30,000)

Saturday 24 August — Mein Schiff 3 (99,000)

Sunday 25 August — Regal Princess (142,000)

Monday 26 August — Marina (66,000)

Tuesday 3 September — Caribbean Princess (113,000)

Wednesday 4 September — Marina (66,000)

Wednesday 4 September — Le Dumont D’Urville (9,900)

Thursday 5 September — Queen Mary 2 (150,000)

Monday 9 September — Celebrity Apex (130,800)

Tuesday 10 September — Disney Dream (130,000)

Thursday 12 September — Crystal Symphony (51,000)

Thursday 17 September — Regal Princess (142,000)

Saturday 21 September — World Voyager (10,000)

Monday 30 September — Regal Princess (142,000)

More slow worms enjoying the sun on my compost heap.

The mating season for slow worms kicks off in May and males become aggressive towards each other. During courtship, the male takes hold of the female by biting her head or neck, and they intertwine their bodies. Courtship may last for as long as 10 hours! Females incubate the eggs internally, 'giving birth' to an average of eight young in summer.

My Pinter 2 brewing barrel, now defunct has been repurposed as an owl house. Seven metres up in a tree, kitted out with bedding already in place. Hopefully a small owl or tawny will find it during the Autumn.

Been actively trying to attract even more varieties of bird into Grassy Bottom. Odd bits of wood have been reformed into bird houses. Offcuts from our own roof make a perfect waterproof roofing material. 

Sections of the Japanese garden are flourishing with odd pops of colour from the small alpine additions

Our new beauty being packed in readiness for our first trial run away.

Our first trip, albeit only for one night,  out in our new VW California Ocean. 

Drives beautifully, and great to be high up, especially on single track roads that rise and fall, along with blind switch back bends. 

Took us about four days to get the van packed and prepared for the ONE night away. Everything was moved around and repositioned at least three times until we were happy with the final storage slot. Hate rattles and bangs whilst driving, so everything was squeezed tightly together. Gillie kettle with kindling and lighter packed, then replaced with old fashioned whistle kettle, which then is replaced by a small electric travel kettle. This process continues with virtually every commodity. Exhausting. 

Most importantly, packed a pad and pen to record the must haves, and those that were a waste of space and those items definitely required that had been left behind. Materialised that the pad & pen had been mislaid. Thank god for notepad on iPhone. 

It’s a learning curve l tell myself. 

The whole point of the night away is to see if we can remember how everything works. In fact we soon find bits of equipment we didn’t even know were retro fitted. There are buttons, switches, handles, leavers all over the place. Mind blowing. Spent the past four nights reading VW manuals, written in tradition Germanic style. GREAT FOR INSOMNIA.

Took us an hour to drive the 24 miles from Innellan to the Glendaruel Caravan Park. Albeit we had to detour to fill up with diesel.

Arrived in Glendaruel. Get your mouth around that name. Becomes clearer once you realise it’s a Glen (Scottish for Valley) And the Ruel is the river that runs through it into Loch Ruel. Chose the location because of the fishing. Furthermore the the campsite looked quiet, had good facilities with electric hookup and the write up was positive. But more importantly, the river ran through their grounds. The river was reputedly good for salmon, sea trout and wild brown trout. More importantly the West Bank was included in my Dunoon angling ticket.

Chose a nice level site and immediately set about erecting the blow up awning. One of these drive away additions to give you more space. The downside being, they take up half your available storage space in the van. So in the end, you end up with a storage tent and nothing to go into it, other than the table and chairs when you take cover from for the rain. And the big red warning labels soon stop you using your Cadac stove on the table to cook with. 

It came with the typical Chinese translated instructions. Incomprehensible. But after getting it the wrong way around, having difficulty in getting the air to stay in the support beams we eventually managed. Only to realise we needed to attached the tent to the van prior to erecting. Later realised we needed to have purchased a so called ”drive away kit”.

Once done off we went on a circular walk around the site and to check out the river for accessibility. Nothing worse than a beautiful river bubbling with fish and no access to cast a fly. But all was well. Judith rested on a log, whilst l drowned a few flies with moderate success twenty minutes. Although the cows in the field thought our presence worthy of investigation. Judith, being weary and wise was quickly over the fence out of harms way. Fortunately the cattle soon found me boring and retuned to graze, leaving me alone to continue with my fishing. 

Returned and relaxed around our table preparing tea under the sun before heading out once again, rod in hand to entice the fish whilst amusing the local livestock.

Nothing better that eating out in the fresh air

Trusty Cadac stove, marvellous invention. Compact, energy efficient, cooks well and easy to clean.

First small brownie caught in the early evening on the river Ruel. This section is owned by the campsite is rather overgrown, so difficult to fish in certain places. Steep banks , tree canopies overhanging the water. Casting has to be precise. Left a couple of flies in the branches.

Heather coming into bloom

The dreaded Hogweed, growing freely. In the past many gardeners thought the plant to be architectural, which it is. A little like Angelica. Unfortunately contact with the plant can cause severe skin rashes, burning blisters and long-lasting scars.

Policeman’s Helmet

Hedgerow full of Meadowsweet dancing in the breeze, full of pollen seeking insects

Following morning head down river. Met up with the Dunoon bailiff who kindly gave me some pointers on various pools to fish. But the water was very low, so unlikely to see any salmon or sea trout.

First cast and straight into a small brown trout, returned for another day.

The bailiff was telling me that they had removed hundreds of small brown trout earlier in the year. These had been taken to a trout fishery for feeding up before being milked. These are then retuned as larger fish, whilst the milked eggs are hatched on. Fantastic work to improve brown trout stocks. Knew they did it with Salmon but never realised that they did this with the wild brown trout.

Pity l hadn’t brought my waders, some of the areas were inaccessible due to the heavy tree cover on the banks. Needed to be able to walk down the centre of the river.  Then again, l hadn’t packed my life jacket.

After some good sport, Judith and l headed off for a walk, stooping off at the ancient graveyard to view a few ancient burial stones.

Kilmodan Church in the Ancient Village of Clachan of Glendaruel with its ornate burial stones

Gorgeous little church.

The Kilmodam stones comprise nine late medieval grave slabs and one reformation slab from 1636. A further stone was believed to be the head of a medieval cross, but it is now thought to be a stone pillar worn down by its use as a tethering post.

Headstone with carving depicting his profession as a cooper.

 Inscription reads - Here lyes interred the remains of Daniel Black cooper in Greenock son of John Black boatman their, who departed this life the 19th of June 1778 aged 28 years to whose memory this stone is erected. 

Parked up and set out on a circular forest walk, climbing up high with great views over the glen. Visiting, a holy well “MODAN'S WELL”, burial chambers, Lephinkill Chambered Cairn, and the remains of the Village of Auchategan of Stonafian Forest. Along with modern whimsical carvings and sections of the forest that had recently been cut. Not very professionally l may add. Left the area in a real state. Must have been cowboys. Nevertheless, the upkeep of the track was amazing. Someone must have been out with the strimmer to clear away bracken and tall grass along the whole route, quite something, considering the difficult terrain.

Impromptu stone seat after a stiff climb up the hill

Someone with a sense of humour and time on his hands 

Jeremy & Kaleb’s Season 3 Banter | Clarkson’s FarmYouTube · Amazon Prime Video UK & IE11 minutes, 55 seconds1 month ago 

Have been binging on Clarkson's Farm, Prime series 1-3. Clarkson's Farm | The Arbuturian

Watched this with our friends from oz, but had missed series one. But we were so enthralled decided to start from the beginning. Absolutely loved it. Once We had started watching it, we couldn’t stop and had to force ourselves to turn it off each night. A real mix of characters that add quirkiness and humour, but an underlying message that takes you through the tortures besetting farming today. The series shows how tough farming can be and that even if you’re an expert, and don’t have to deal with entrenched  bureaucrats you can’t control the weather. 

Initially his antics were ridiculed by the professionals, now he has proved a beacon, that has shone a light on the hardships of producing food for the nation. 

We need a staggering amount of food to feed our growing population, and we only produce about half of what we eat now. So we need dedicated enthusiastic farmers, loads of them. You can’t rely on Europe, Donald Trump or the Chinese to feed us in an emergency. These days we rely on globally distributed food sources. But realistically we need a food system that can cope with global disasters. Let’s not forget the empty shelves in our stores during covid.

Little snippets that caught my attention whilst browsing the news. Some sandwich suppliers are introducing a surcharge to insure your sandwich. The owners of the Cheesy Toast Shack in St Andrews, Fife, say that seagulls are decimating their business. They are swooping down and stealing the goodies out of people’s hands. The financial hit by offering free replacements is costing them hundreds of pounds a day.

The 'desperate' owners are now 'seriously considering' adding gull insurance

And whilst on the subject of sandwiches, did you know that eating a ham sandwich a day could significantly increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that eating just 50g of processed meat, equivalent to two slices of ham increased the risk of developing the disease by 15%. Real sorry for the seagulls!

There is always a way round a problem. 

A waste disposal company in London refused to allow one of its London street cleaners to accept a gift of £3,000 raised by locals for him to go on holiday. Bromley Council’s rules forbade him from accepting the gift of money. 

But it all turned out ok when a travel agent set up a competition for a free trip with very specific criteria: applicants had to “love Elvis Presley, be aged between 62 and 64, be loved by the local community, be a street cleaner in Beckenham and have the surname Spiers”. 

Spiers “won”, and this time the waste disposal company had no objections.

Farrow and Ball, whose much-loved paint names are apparently not “vegan friendly”. 

Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)have demanded the firm “update” the names of colours that it says “normalise the exploitation of animals”, such as Dead Salmon, Smoked Trout and Potted Shrimp. The animal rights group suggests changing the colour Skimmed Milk White to Oat Milk and Dorset Cream to Dorset Vegan Cream. Elephant’s Breath and Mouse’s Back are apparently safe. For now.

The wonders of nature and the effect we humans are having on them.

Brazilian sharks are testing positive for cocaine, says The Daily Telegraph. When gak geeks examined 13 sharpnose sharks off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, every one of them contained traces of the narcotic, and at levels 100 times higher than previously found in aquatic creatures. It is not clear how the sharks ingested so much of the Brazilian marching powder, but working theories include drainage spillover from illicit drug labs, the excrement of heavy drug users, or even “bales of cocaine that were lost or dumped overboard by drug smugglers”.

 It seems that many countries are joining the anti-tourism band waggon, protests are becoming widespread. Even Juneau in Alaska, is considering “ship-free Saturdays” to reduce the impact of cruise passengers. Read Simon Calder’s take on it. Amsterdam, Barcelona, Venice and a couple of dozen other locations are actively discouraging visitors. 

 

Whereas everywhere else on earth recognises the benefit of the tourist pound/dollar, and many are desperate to welcome you. For the past quarter-century Northern Ireland has enticed far fewer visitors than it deserves. At the opposite end of Europe, Albania would love some of the Adriatic overspill from Dubrovnik in southern Croatia.

 

Even the French: the hoteliers, restaurateurs and taxi drivers of Paris are complaining about what local media are calling Le Flop: due to the impact of the Olympic Games.

Royal Navy's Fleet Flagship, The Queen Elizabeth cuts through the mist and drizzle this Sunday morning as she heads along the Clyde towards Loch Long for resupplying with arms.

Clouds looming as you look along Innellan foreshore to Bute and Arran.

It’s August and we are watching the Olympics with the fire on. Never before have we needed heating on at this time of year. Weather going to pot.

Summer is drawing to a close and for us up in Innellan, Scotland the weather has been dismal.

June and July were colder than average, dull yet in the most part dry. But as July ended and August commenced l awoke to an Autumnal feel. In fact the temperature dipped towards freezing. No wonder my tomatoes are struggling to turn red in the greenhouse.

The Western Isles report that they have had  50% less sunshine this summer than normally expected in July. Yet North East and South East Scotland were wet - in some spots up to double the amount of rain than normal. 

And it’s all down to the jet stream which blows west to east across the Atlantic and drives our weather in Scotland. Yet they are promising a warmer tail end this August. 

As a weatherman commented. 

Summer in Scotland is often best served with a good dollop of hope, so we'll remain optimistic.

If you didn’t see this in my last blog, you must check this amazing trip up the highest mountain in the world.

 

 

Watch the latest video that charts the entire route to the top of Mount Everest, its something else. A four minute video that tracks the route to the top.

From Khumbu Glacier’s dangerous ice towers to the “soaring walls” above the Western Cwm – and captures the “incredible vertical rise” that mountaineers must tackle after leaving Camp IV. Watch the full four-minute video here.

During this year’s climbing season in the Himalayas, the Nepalese government sent a team of soldiers and Sherpas to collect rubbish from Mount Everest. In total, they removed 11 tons of general waste from near the peak – old tents, food packaging, oxygen bottles, ropes, and so on – along with four dead bodies and a skeleton. The oldest items were some rechargeable batteries from a torch used on an expedition in 1957.

Quote

“I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.”
Winston Churchill

Once again the Friday night kayaking was cancelled due to bad weather. Force five with gusts of eight. Not the best. But Sunday was marvellous. The sun was out, only a slight wind and no swells. 

Headed out with a group of friends from Toward and managed to paddle down Loch Striven. Passed the salmon farm. First time l had seen it, but it was enormous. Seven separate netted bays with massive fish jumping and splashing around. Imagine they are trying the smash off the sea lice that effects them so badly.

Encountered two separate pods of porpoise. One quite close. You could hear them clearing their air vent as they surfaced.

8k out and 8k back. Slept well that night, with the sun, sea air and the effort expelled paddling. 

Banksy, the graffiti artist reemerged with gusto this week, when an ibex goat appeared near Kew Bridge, in Richmond, west London, followed by murals of elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans and a cat, which appeared in various locations across the capital - and swimming piranhas appearing overnight in a police box in the City of London on Sunday. And now a mounting Rhino. Wonder what’s coming next?

Headed across the water this week. Whilst waiting for the CalMac foot passenger ferry to arrive, we were fortunate to see the Waverley arrive to pick up tourists from the adjoining jetty. A magnificent piece of engineering. And more impressive to see it up close. Often hear before you see when it’s on it’s summer schedule up and down the Clyde.

 

The Waverly is the last Seagoing passenger carrying paddle steamer in the world. Built in 1946 she sailed from Craigendoran on the Firth of Clyde to Arrochar on Loch Long until 1973. She was then bought by the paddle steamer preservation society and has been restored to her 1947 appearance and now operates passenger excursions .

A few pieces collected from the greenhouse this morning. All of a sudden everything has started to produce fruit. 

Our cucumbers are starting to produce, yet not the normal elongated dark green type. These are light green torpedoes. Crispy and delicious.

Been busy this week making and fitting a door canopy for the entrance into the apartment that we let out on Airbnb. Used some of the roofing offcuts, so it marries in quite nicely.

https://airbnb.com/h/parkers-home-spectacular-views-innellan-scotland

Have also sorted out my water collection points. Find it tedious to keep filling watering cans from the tap on the water butts. So have built two water butts out of pallet wood and lined them with pond liner. So much easier and quicker to just dip in the watering can. 

The two plastic water butts have been repositioned and off load into the new wooden trough 

Nettle soup, ready for transferring into a sealed container before it stinks the area out. A great additive for the plants and vegetables. High in potassium and nitrogen. Perfect for leafy veg.

Hydrangeas are flourishing through the damp weather. Unlike myself.

For the past three weeks have been trying to shake off a bad cold. Turns out that it’s now developed into pneumonia, so have to take it easy and rest until the antibiotics do their job.

A real bummer. Was booked on a trip in the kayak with the club for a couple of days. Heading from Ardentinny via Loch Long into Loch Goil and up to Lochgoilhead.  Staying overnight at Carrick Castle. A couple of short trips around the area before paddling back. 

The doctor was not impressed that l thought l could still get fit enough to do the trip. He laughed at the suggestion. 

So l suppose l won’t be going.

I do feel like Sxxt.

This clip tickled my weird sense of humour. 

There’s a new summer fashion trend, says The Times: “Haute Scruff”. The look is characterised by crumpled clothes and straggly hair, an aversion to flashiness and fads, and a “back-to-basics approach all round”. 

Not so new for me. I have been dressing down for some time now. In fact, ever since l retired from proper work. Especially in the garden.

Storm Lilian - the 12th named storm of the season - is bringing gales and heavy rain and a Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain have been issued by the Met Office as there may disruption to travel, potential for trees to come down or for damage to buildings. Fortunately for us it’s further south, hitting the Welsh West coast and the Isle of man. The force 10 storm force winds could get up to 70mph as it hits the coast.https://x.com/scottduncanwx/status/1826660701139861955?s=61&t=-gX9gCQekQDeOrqrmah-ZQ

Nevertheless, we do eventually get gale force winds and horizontal rain. Feel sorry for our American guest who have come over from Edinburgh to see the more rugged side of Scotland. They did have one pleasant day. Put together a road trip that took in Botanical gardens, a couple of hill walks, loch views and a couple of food and drink stops. Which they thoroughly enjoyed. 

On the wet day they hunkered down in front of the fire, watched the marine traffic through the mist and rain, read and played pool. So was all bad.

Guidebook for days trip around The Holy Loch

https://www.airbnb.com/slink/2xipmmta

Nuclear submarine heading out through the mist and rain. Small protection vessels being pummelled by the waves and high winds.

Good job l didn’t manage to go on the kayaking trip this weekend. Weather overnight was horrendous. The wind and rain would have made sleep in the tent impossible. On the return journey back to Dunoon, all the kayakers had to abandon their journey as the seas were too dangerous. They returned to Castle Carrick and organised transport for their kayaks. Such a shame, but the weather is unpredictable.

Meanwhile l was wrapped up in a blanket in front of the fire with my feet up, being cosseted by Judith.

Although my mind was still working overtime. The building plot of land next to us has come back on the market. Albeit at an inflated price, but l still would like to design and build another house, but smaller than our existing. The thought was ignited by reading about a Norwegian house that has been designed so efficiently, that it not only provides all the energy to run the house. It in fact produces three times more electricity than needed.

It was designed to have 100% zero emissions, and incorporates a ridiculous number of clever tricks and gadgets to truly make it a friend to the environment, according to https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2898884/A-REAL-powerhouse-Ecohome-comes-complete-heated-pool-sauna-produces-THREE-times-electricity-needs.html