The Ladies Are Back

When we arrived here at Upper Park last summer, the fields were alive with the sounds of sheep baaing and cows mooing. (I'm talking rural Scotland here, just for context.)

It was a time of abundant poo.

A time of these weird poo-loving flies, and nosy neighbors.

It was a time of opening and closing gates. To keep the sheep in here, out of here. In there, not here. Driving up to the house meant stopping at gate one, getting out of the car, opening gate, getting back in the car, driving forward, getting out of the car, closing gate, getting back into car, driving.

And then, a little further on, doing the exact same thing again.

It was a time of... patience.

I won't even talk about the frustrations of driving through herds of sheep and cattle, except to point out that they don't always like to move.

Anyway, then came winter. The four legged beasts moved down to lower pastures. The fields were clear of everything but pheasants and quail - and the occasional deer. Granted, pheasants have their own strange relationship with automobiles. They tend to run down the track as we drive, getting more and more frantic, but continuing to follow the track. Everywhere it turns they turn. As does our car...

Last month, there was the great pheasant slaughter. Lordly-folks with guns, minions to herd the birds toward them. You know how it goes. Feathers flew. Birds splattered. After that...

Ah, the solitude.

Gradually, the poo dissolved. The flies vanished. Saba (our carnivore) grew calmer without the constant moving display of prey.

Until today.

The girls are back. They arrived in all their glorious abundance. Oh joy.

The cows can't be far behind.

Oh, the flies too.

Wintery Upper Park

After a mild and very wet autumn, we've just had the weather turn wintery here at Upper Park...

Sure, it's pretty, but we live up a 1/2 mile track - mostly uphill (or downhill, as the case may be). We've had to park the car at the bottom of the track and hike it in and out. Here are the kids heading off to school.

Apparently, Maya's not loving it...

The Sky Above Upper Park...

...changes all the time. In one instant, though, it looked like this:


The next instant it didn't.

The View From The Kitchen On A Summer Evening

Saba Surveys His New Holdings

Just a brief post as I'm getting my feet under myself in Scotland. Very good to be here with the family, living at the aptly named Upper Park. Lots of a adjusting to do.

Like, it's so hard not to run over pheasants. (Not to want to run over pheasants, I mean. They're bloody annoying!)

The dog, however, is already home.


(He's looking for pheasants.)

The Dog And His Boy

Me, the dog, the cat, and lots of stuff are safely in Scotland. Just 24hrs of traveling. Now it's done. Lots of good things about this, but let me just show you a happy dog and a happy boy. Reunited...


If that's not proof that dogs can smile I don't know what is!