Mar 29th A nice night for a walk

It had been a good spring day, bright with occasional showers. After too large a dinner we went out for a walk to get rid of some of it. As we got to the beach the sun was going behind clouds over Arran, looked like it was raining as well, but a lovely sight.

Sun setting behind clouds Arran

Mar 28th My new toy

Every boy loves his gadgets and as we grow older that does not change. I had been looking for a gps watch mainly to track my hillwalking routes but handy for other activities as well. After research I chose a Tom Tom Spark with built in heart monitor. Went for a run this morning but did not start it properly so no joy when I linked to my PC. Went for a walk tonight and all worked fine, downloading the route in map format. All good so far. Apologies for phone lack of focus.

Mar 26th Golf Western Gailes

I am fortunate to be able to walk along the beach and skirt the public rights of was alongside Western Gailes golf course, a classic course. Relatively benign on a sunny day, yes we do have them, but more often than not the wind blows and the course shows its teeth. Time then for the nineteenth hole and this is a nice clubhouse to have one in.

Western Gailes clubhouse

Mar 27th A starter course to remember Scotts Troon

It does take a lot for me to go wow when a plate of food is put in front of me, I know its sad but true. However, we tried to get into the sister restaurant Lido but it was full and we did not fancy an hour or so wait. Went up to Scotts as we had not been for about a year. I had the cold seafood starter, wow. Nothing fancy but a bowl of prawn cocktail, a bowl of mussels & clams, a langoustine, pickled herring, ciabatta bread, worth every penny, a happy diner.

Mar 25th Grandkids running number

One of the kids was chuffed to compete in an inter school cross country race recently. Here is a snap of her and her starting number.

Mar 24th Rain perk...waterfall

I don't know many people who do not like to see a waterfall when they are out for a walk. We don't want the rain but one positive by product is the glorious waterfalls we get in Scotland.

Mar 23rd Rain flattens flowers

With the recent good weather the spring flowers are coming through well but there is a sting in the tail as these mini tulips found when the rain battered down today.

Rain flattens flowers

Mar 22nd Catkin but what catkin

When I was out my walk today another sign of spring was the number of catkins hanging from trees. I think I read recently that there are 9 main types in Scotland. No idea what these are but they look pretty. Where is that tree book?

Catkin

Mar 21st Sunset Kentallen

The sunsets in the west of Scotland can be every bit as good as anywhere in the world. This snap does not do the colours justice. Sunset snap taken from Kentallen looking over Loch Leven towards the Morvern peninsula.

Sunset Kentallen

Mar 20th Isle of Rona from Skye

After the glorious weather it was inevitable that Scotland in March would revert to type with very low lying cloud so we took a trip round the Uig peninsula. We were fortunate to get the odd break and took this shot of the island of Rona with the mainland in the background. Plus got a really good view of a sea eagle through the binos, what a size, a true flying barn-door all right, brilliant.

Rona from Skye

Mar 19th Another fabulous meal Scorrybreac

We have ate well this trip and it finished in style. The Scorrybreac has only 8 tables and getting one was difficult but we managed in the end. Only a small menu as well but it was delicious. My wife thought that the peanut butter fondant ranked up there with one of the best desserts she has eaten, fine praise. Rated a Michelin star chef in the making.

Scorrybreac a fine meal

Mar 18th View from my morning run

I have began to go for a short morning run once a week and so far so good no reaction to the planter tendon problem. I like to run when I am away visiting somewhere mew and this beautiful run today was on Skye. Only problem was I turned right out of the hotel and round the corner the road just twisted and turned upwards, at least the run back was easy.

Skye morning run

Mar 17th Skye seal

Skye is just one of the many wonderous places in Scotland. Out for a stroll this morning we came across a small island slowly being swamped by the incoming tide. 10 minutes ago there were three of these seals but now there was one.

Skye seal

Mar 16th Finest eating

I had hoped to book this for my birthday but was surprised to find it fully booked for both a Monday & Tuesday, in March!! So, 3rd time lucky and the we attended the Three Chimneys for their Tasting Menu. Expensive but certainly not disappointing for a restaurant rated in the top 50 in the WORLD. If you get the chance go.

Three Kitchens Skye

Mar 15th Castle Stalker

Again another super cycling day this time heading down to Oban. The national cycle route follows the coast at this point so my snap of Castle Stalker is taken from a low viewpoint. Most pictures are taken from the road above, an impressive sight either way.

Castle Stalker

Mar 14th Fish no more

What a magnificent blue sky day but with some heat in the sunshine, what Scotland in March. I had a fantastic cycle around Lochaber today, stunning countryside with magnificent views. I came across this fishing boat at Loch Lhinnie which clearly was not going to catch any more fish.

Fishing boat wreck Loch Lhinnie

Mar 13th A surprise visit

It was a nice surprise when I got back from my cycle to find the kids had arrived for a quick visit. A nice memory to have of these 3 faces. Even better they helped me wash my bike.

Mar 12th River Irvine flood damage

You can see from the snap the devastation to the Irvine riverbank caused by the recent floods. This has affected both banks as you can see the right bank has lost almost all of its vegetation where it was covered in water. The left bank further down has seen the bank eroding. The brown trout season starts this week be interesting to see if there has been any effect on the fish.

River Irvine flood damage

Mar 11th Believe it or not but salmon can get here

I was out helping to do some environmental assessment work with the Ayrshire Rivers Trust. You can see from the snap that this now looks like a very small burn and it is a long way from the sea at this point. When the trust last electro-fished this water salmon parr were found. It is not a stocked water so they had to be the real thing, amazing. For obvious reasons the water will remain nameless.

Salmon water!!

Mar 10th Ayrshire Rivers Trust

An unashamedly plug for a great little relatively unknown group of people, some employed and some volunteers, who work very hard to ensure that the rivers of Ayrshire are kept in as good a state as possible which benefits everyone who uses all of the Ayrshires rivers and the beautiful surrounding countryside. If you don't know about them look up their webpage.
 http://www.ayrshireriverstrust.org/

Ayrshire Rivers Trust

Mar 9th Stunning blue sky morning Prestwick

I was out for a cycle this morning and no doubt like a few others deceived by the bright blue sky. There was also a very strong cold northerly wind which I was just about to meet head on when I turned the bike around. Still a lovely crisp morning looking out from Prestwick bay.

View from Prestwick

Mar 8th Sometimes only the simplist of food will do

Today was a quick in and out for lunch. A quick look in the fridge and some baked beans were in a container from the kids visit at the weekend. When was the last time I had beans on toast, lots of black pepper and Lea & Perrins sauce? Don't know but I did today and enjoyed it.

Comfort food

Mar 7th Golf Time

It was such a nice morning that I walked the 3 miles to the gym but along the way I decided that this weather was far too nice for indoors activity. My route goes along the part of Lochgreen golf course and that was to be my outdoor activity for later in the day. This shot is the 2nd tee, worse for wear due to the weather and an empty course, I hope it is quiet later.

Lochgreen 2nd tee

Mar 6th Some colour appearing in the garden

Despite the bracing northern winds there is growth and colour starting to come through in the garden. It does bring a smile to see the colour but please lets see an uplift in the temperature soon.

Garden colours

Mar 5th Food face time again

We had good fun with the girls over the weekend. As always when it is food time the youngest enjoys spreading some of it across her face.

Food face

Mar4th Ferry road to nowhere

For a number of years now there has been a ferry of sorts sailing between Troon and Larne. In recent years it was reduced to summer only but now it has been terminated for good and we are left with a big open space that is now fenced off, doing nothing and in effect another eyesore.

Ferry road to nowhere

Mar3rd Threatening winter skies

I was sitting doing stuff on the computer when I realised it had got dark a bit early. Looking out the window this is why, some snowy threatening dark winter clouds, it has been a long bleak spell.

Spring winter sky

Mar 2nd The best chippie The Wee Hurrie

Everyone in Scotland has a favourite fish and chip shop. In Troon we are lucky to have a nationally recognised one and it is well deserved. Tucked out of the way down by the harbour the haddock loin and fat fried chips with homemade tartare sauce reigns supreme. You can get many other things and is well worth a visit. On the menu tonight I note a Scottish lobster burger type thing with seafood sauce, sounds interesting, need to find out what that's all about.

Wee Hurrie Troon

Mar 1st There's money in sawdust

There are not many manufacturing/processing sites in Troon so this wood processing factory is probably one of the largest businesses in the town. I was once told that there are more wood lorries, either bringing in logs or taking out the finished wood, on the roads in Troon each day than the total of all other large lorries combined. All of the tree gets used including the sawdust as this picture shows.

Money in sawdust

Feb 29th Spot the Eider

At this time of the year eider ducks gather in large numbers around the west coast. Troon harbour always has its fair share, along with quite a few gulls. Beautiful colourings on the males in ivory, gold, black and whites, unmistakable.

Eiders Troon harbour