Ducks a Dabbling

Yesterday we took a trip down to the seafront, hoping to photograph some feathered visitors to the area - Eider and Long-tailed ducks. We saw a few last month, but I never had my camera with me on the day and since then we've either been too busy or the weather too ghastly to try taking photos. Yesterday was a cold day, but not too windy, not too rainy, and the harbour was FULL of seabirds...

Here's  a close-up shot so you can see who is out there. Most of those are Eider ducks, but the big bird in the centre is a seagull and behind, to the right, are a pair of Long-tailed ducks.  There's another Long-tailed duck in the very front too. I just noticed him. The Eider duck females are brown and the males are a crisp white and black with a very tasteful pistachio-green nape. You can just make out the green on the back of their necks in the photo...

Here's a pair of Long-tailed ducks, the female, at the back, is mostly brown. You can just make out the male's long thin tail feathers in the water. 

A close-up of the male...

And another male who came paddling by...

There were two pairs quite near to where we were standing, busy diving for food. Hubby took this photo of them diving...

 There was a cormorant cruising up and down hunting fish.

He did eventually catch a big fish, but gulped it down so fast the photo is just a blur. LOL

There were lots more sea birds and ducks at the harbour entrance...

There was a very friendly couple taking photos by the harbour edge. The man kindly pointed out a rare bird that we'd have definitely overlooked without his expert eye. It was a pair of Common Scoters. They were too far out for us to get a decent photo, so I'm going to recommend that you check out the photo on the blog owned by the man who let us take a look through his scope. :-)

His name is David Slater, he has his own blog of bird and nature photographs and he also runs birdwatching tours and workshops. You'll find the photo of the Common Scoter here and more information on his bird tours, Birding Ecosse, here. 

I recommend checking out his blog, he has some lovely photos. :-)

The Perfect Sandwich

I've been trying to think of something to blog about and not doing too good. Winter means staying indoors as much as possible. I've pottered online a lot, I've done several jigsaw puzzles and sorted out files and folders on my computer, general maintenance and "spring cleaning", and I've watched TV.

Beyond that... the only thing we all do too much of over Christmas is... eat! And this year eating was even more exciting than usual because several gifts given were food. Hubby and I gave fancy ice cream and soup to my brother-in-law, dad got spreads, crackers and chutneys and hubby got assorted cheeses. We also bought a few joint family gift food items, so everyone could enjoy.

The result was the discovery of the most awesome sandwich ever. So good family here have demanded that I write about it, so that it is passed down through history. ;-)

The sandwich owes a big debt of gratitude to to one of the places we bought Christmas food gifts from -  Rannoch Smokery.  

They are based in Perthshire, but most of their meats, venison, lamb and beef, come from our area. They have a great online shop to order from. They do post worldwide, but you need to email them for details on your specific country postage, etc. They also have a recipe section, which is where hubby and I found inspiration to create our own perfect sandwich.  I used their smoked beef with mozzarella and beetroot chutney as my inspiration...

Our version was with Rannoch's smoked venison. It was:

White bread (farmhouse style), thin sliced red onion, lettuce, smoked venison and then hubby had Rannoch's Game sauce while I had some of Rannoch's beetroot and horseradish chutney (dad's Christmas gift!).

Hubby had his with brie cheese, but dad and I preferred it without cheese. 

It was delicious; so good we had the exact same sandwiches the next day, and the day after that... until all the venison was gone. *sniffle* :( It really was the perfect sandwich.

Slow Winter Days

Well... I keep waiting for inspiration and finding none. It's mid winter and I feel more like hibernating than writing!

Hope everyone is keeping well and I hope my brain returns soon - I think it went South with the swallows. ;-)

Tabla Solo in Jhaptal

I stumbled on this video today. I love it and I especially love the way he explains the music, with humour. :-)

Back to Your Arms Again

For our Wedding Anniversary I thought I'd post the song we danced to at our wedding, ten years ago. The Queen of my Heart by Westlife.

To be honest... I'd never actually listened to the words until today. We had the CD and hubby chose that song because I was his "Queen of my Heart." Today I went and looked up the words... and started crying, because some bits fit far better than I'd realised, especially the chorus:

I'll always look back
As I walk away
Its where we
Will last for eternity
And all of our tears
Will be lost in the rain
When I find my way
Back to your arms again
But until that day
You know you are...
The queen of my heart

It brought back vivid memories of walking away... again and again... the last time we were together before we married. We spent all of our engagement on other sides of the world, me in South Africa and him in Scotland. 

The vivid memory this song brought back for me was the day I left Scotland to return to Africa for those long months until we met again, just before our wedding. I returned home to South Africa via Edinburgh airport, a long drive down from Inverness so we left early in the morning. It is a stunning drive through the mountains, but every mile took me closer to leaving, so it was a very bitter-sweet journey.

So here we stand
In our secret place
With a sound of the crowd
So far away
And you take my hand
And it feels like home
We both understand
It's where we belong
So how do I say?
Do I say goodbye?

We arrived at Edinburgh on time, but the booking in desk had issues with the weight of my cases (their regulations were the complete opposite of South African airways) and we ended up spending our time frantically repacking my cases on a table in the coffee shop. I just had time to get them in and then had to dash for the plane. Not at all the way we wanted to spend our last moments together! We only had enough time for one last hug and then I had to go... except I didn't.

The departure area had been set up to take long queues by using rope barriers to make a square area zigzag back and forth. As a result I said goodbye and walked away... then had to turn and walk back, then turn and walk away again. For three turns I had to walk towards the man I loved and was leaving on the other side of the world, without any chance of another hug or kiss. So we stared and STARED at each other and we both tried to smile, then I'd turn and walk away again. It felt dreadful to be so close and yet so terrible far away.

I'll always look back
As I walk away
Its where we
Will last for eternity

By the last turn I was ready to howl. I pretty much cried all the way back to Africa and Sandy had an equally grim drive all the way back up to Inverness... alone. Well, we got through those months and we did meet again - this time in a South African airport a month before our wedding.

And all of our tears
Will be lost in the rain
When I find my way
Back to your arms again

Foilling in Love

Tomorrow is our tenth wedding Anniversary. Hubby went and looked  up the traditional gift for 10 and it is... tin or aluminium.

 Ehhh? Seems a bit dull for the first big milestone of marriage! What kind of gift is tin or aluminium?

All I could think of was tin foil hats...

Then it struck me... What else comes wrapped in sparkly bits of tin foil?

CHOCOLATE! :-D

I can see the obvious reason for a tin foil wedding anniversary now...   ;-)

it's all about foil-ling in love all over again!

glitter-graphics.com

Happy New Year!

glitter-graphics.com