A Ghostly Road Travelled

 There was a blanket of autumnal mist hanging over the town when I woke this morning, so after breakfast I jumped into the car and headed up to the White Yett to try and get some shots of the mist in the valley. I stopped on the way up to survey the mist and see how it was lying, it had started to disperse but this was no bad thing as it leaned to more interesting photographs. 

When I arrived at the car park at the McDiarmid memorial there was white car already parked which I didn't take much notice of and thought someone was up to take advantage of the morning. As I intended to go for a pedal later and didn't want to put to much exertion on my foot so I had a short walk to the White Yett and  got some hopefully nice shots, they are mixed bag but it was a pleasure to get out and enjoy the morning. 

Just as I got home I received a text from Tootlepedal inviting me for coffee but as he was at the White Yett could I give him time to get home, the white car was his, he had taken a stroll to the Monument, so it'll be interesting to see his photos. We had coffee in the garden which is clinging fiercely to a very colourful pallet before some serious frost comes and does damage. Mrs. Tootlepedal who is rather out of sorts at the moment came out for a short stroll round the garden to see all was in order and we had a little chat. Tootlepedal kindly dug up a couple of buddleia for me that had rooted wildly in the garden. 

A ghostly road ahead

I didn't go by unnoticed

I love a winding wall

The sparkling webs on the grass caught my eye.

The MacDiarmid memorial is always a good subject for a photograph

After a light lunch I set off on the ebike to do a 20 mile circuit down by Canonbie and through Evertown and back via the Bloch. This was to take my mileage to over 100 miles for the month. I didn't take any shots on this trip as I feel as though I have exhausted any photo opportunities for the  time being but I'll take that as a challenge and endeavor to look for something different in future.

As I didn't take any photos on the pedal I'll leave you with some monochrome shots I took this morning on the monochrome setting on the Lumix.

Under Construction

 There was some signs of frost when I got up this morning but it didn't last long as the sun was out and slowly the temperature started to rise. After a leisurely breakfast and a look at yesterdays paper I checked the thermometer, and as the temperature had risen to 10°c I decided to get into my cycling togs and take advantage of the good weather and get out on the ebike. 

My plan was to follow one of Tootlepedal's routes to see how the construction of the Solway Wind Farm is progressing and set off up Wauchope. As there was little or no breeze and the sun was in all it's glory this must've encouraged other cyclists to come out and enjoy the pleasant climate as I have never met or been passed by as many cyclists when I've been out pedaling before, this was good to see and I got lots of cheery waves as they passed by. 

Looking back towards home

Making my way steadily up Callister, even on my ebike I wasn't a match for some of the serious cyclists as I was overtaken a couple of times during the climb but I was undeterred and carried on at a pleasant leisurely pace for the rest of the journey.

Stopped breifly to look at this willow plantation that Tootlepedal mentioned in a recent post.

This ruined cottage caught my eye as I passed, it's hard to imagine that generations of families were raised here.

Looking towards the wind farm in the distance

Assembling the crane to construct the turbines must be as complicated as the turbines

Under construction

These I presume are the power lines leading from the wind farm....

....they resemble something out of a science fiction B Movie to me.

I continued on through this lovely beech avenue

For all the times I've cycled by this beech tree at Barngleishhead I have never stopped and took my time to look and see how magnificent it is

I arrived home to find that I had completed the pedal in a respectable time of 1hr 42mins for the 20 mile trip. This was another good pedal and had little trouble from my foot I'm pleased to say, my main problem is my pain from my coccyx which has taken the pleasure out of a few of my trips but I recently purchased a good pair of cycling shorts and taken good advice from fellow cyclists I am now finding I can am pedaling greater distances before I start to get uncomfortable.

Good To Get Out

 After a late breakfast I decided to take advantage of the morning sunshine and get out on my ebike and give my foot a bit of a test. This was intended to be a relatively short pedal up to Wauchope school house and back, but when I got there and was having no trouble from my foot or any other part of my anatomy I decided to go continue round my favourite route by way of Barnglieshead. This is a distance of approximately 15 miles which is quite short in cycling terms but at the moment it suits me.

This was a nice relaxed pedal and it was really good to get out again and remain relatively pain free.

The following shots are just a few I took with my phone just to record the journey.

In the afternoon I took a run over the hill hoping to see the heather which I believe has been in full Bloom this year but unfortunately I was a few days too late as it was past its best, and had taken on an autumnal look. I stopped for a short while and and admired the views.

I discovered that I had a stowaway when I parked up.

Having just composed this blog in the evening I would just like to say that my foot pain now is nothing more than a niggle hopefully this continues but I will not be over doing it in the coming weeks. 

Sunny Beach

I have just returned from a two week break at Sunny Beach on the shores of the Black Sea in Bulgaria. I had Kenny and George for company and we were joined for a large part of the stay by Kenny's brother Cliff and his friend Paddy, they were located about a mile from our Hotel but we managed to meet up on a regular basis.

We had a couple of days to spare before Paddy and Cliff Arrived so we did a bit of exploring, avoiding prehistoric tourists on the way.

The area had rather tacky but colourful stalls.

Beach Volleyball was popular.

We took a boat trip to the ancient city of Nessebar

Sadly I haven't quite managed to capture the feel of the place with its narrow winding cobbled streets. Every available space was used to sell wares to the tourists although again a bit tacky I found this rather a attractive as it added colour and character to the place. To find out more about Nessebar click here.

We returned to Nessebar later with Cliff and Paddy where we had a nice afternoon showing them the ancient city. Unfortunately the day was marred by Kenny getting his pocket picked by two young girls working in tandem as we boarded the bus back to Sunny Beach, so it pays to be very careful and vigilant. 

In reflection, we had a good time, nice hotel ( we were given an upgrade to deluxe accommodation, with pool and sea view) the food was varied and presentable, (the sweets were to die for, the best we've ever had). Whether I would go back is questionable as I don't think I seen the real Bulgaria by any means, but maybe some day.

My apologies for this post being rather erratic but travel fatigue is catching up.