More Bits and Bobs (Misc Things)

Winter is on it's way.

The time changed for us last weekend, which means it is no longer dark when I start out walking in the mornings, which is nice.

But the temperatures are starting to drop. Some mornings my legs freeze and other mornings, like today, it is just lovely. And by 'lovely,' I mean it is not especially cold, drizzly rain and NO WIND.

Our winter clothes arrived just in time.

Oh, for those of you who did not see it on FB - after 3 months in US storage, 6 weeks at sea, and a 2 week sightseeing trip of Customs in London, our shipment arrived in Thurso.

Of course, 80% of it was my sewing stuff (fabric stash, batting, and Daisy - my long arm machine) and the rest was winter clothes and small, miscellaneous items).




 Our apartment is 3 bedrooms, for which I am thankful, with little storage space, which felt very comfortable with the minimal stuff we had, so now it is feeling a little full.

I walk a lot through town and I've noticed something. People tend to move to the right side of the path when I approach them.

Now, in the US, we drive on the right side and walk on the right side. Have you noticed that?

The exception to that would be in malls and airports. In those two places, people seem to walk willy-nilly all over the place.

But on streets, we normally walk to the right, don't we? And isn't there something that says you should walk towards/facing oncoming traffic? For safety, right? That way you see what is approaching you. But if the people here move to the right of the path or sidewalk, it forces me to the right side as well, which means I am now next to traffic that is coming from behind me.  I would think that they drive on the left and that it would follow that you walk to the left. Just another interesting observation of 'things' here.

But, speaking of paths and sidewalks,  as I walked to Katrina's to play Mah Jongg yesterday, I took a little more notice of the sidewalk I was on.
Because it was raining.
And because I was carrying an umbrella.

It wasn't until I passed someone coming the other way that I noticed there was not enough room on the sidewalk for both of us, let alone the umbrella as well!  Sidewalks for one!


On another note, I finally saw seals on the river!  A couple of days ago as we walked, Katrina pointed one out. I had been looking in the wrong places. I assumed I would see seals swimming in the water. But it seems that you are most likely to see them resting on the rocks and seaweed. They are just the same color as the rocks and seaweed, so you have to look carefully.

Thurso beach 

Since then I saw two more seals on yesterday's walk - out in Thurso Bay. No, I do not mean those amazing Scottish seals that stand up and ride the waves (surfers) - although I saw more of those out yesterday and today - surfing on the waves.

Again, those of you not on FB missed the short video I caught of surfers on the waves. They looked like seals from a distance, so I kept my eye on them until I got closer and then, suddenly, one stood up and rode the wave in!  LOL!


Once I am able to figure out how to get videos to play on this, I think I will make a whole post of just video clips that I have not been able to play on this blog yet.

I did not take this picture, but it is where they surf  

Speaking of surfing - there was a surfing competition here on Saturday. And just as I predicted, the weather changed for it. The winds were like 50 mph and raining on and off. But I was determined to see a part of the surfing contest - in spite of the weather. I looked online. Nothing. NO information.  I found information about the big spring championship, but nothing on the fall one. So, I decided we would just venture out about noon to see what we could see. And even though the pier is only a 10 minute walk from home, the driving wind caused us to drive over. And when we got there, the waves were fabulous!  But absolutely not one surfer!  Did they cancel it? Why would  they do that? The waves looked perfect!

on the way to St. Mary's Chapel

Later, when we were in the fishing supply store (Mike was enquiring about deep sea fishing), we asked what they might know about the surfing.

A kind lady opened her phone and found the competition showing live on the internet!

Turns out, there are 4 or 5 beaches in the area that the surfers use. If the waves are not good at one, or if they change and get too hard, they will just up and change beaches!

At this time, they happened to be at Reay Beach, about 10 miles away. We ever-so-briefly thought about driving over there to watch, but the idea of having to park and walk to the beach and stand in the driving wind make it very undesirable.  So we didn't.

And sadly, the next day, we learned that we could have driven our car up far enough to have watched from the comfort and warmth and protection of our car.  :(

It looks like we should be here for the spring championships and they say the weather is better then, anyway.

Leah, Katrina, Kirsteen and me

The girls and I explored two new places last week.  St.  Mary's Chapel - about 5 miles outside of town, and a little walk in the town of Glengolly.

Yes, I said Glengolly, by golly!  Isn't that a fun name?

And even though I called it a town, I'm not sure it's technically big enough to be a town.

It was a fun little path that started at an old distillery on the river with a waterfall,  surrounded by grazing sheep.

The people who created the path, put in several places to sit down to enjoy the view, including a picnic table in one spot. There are little creatures hiding  in the tall grass - fun things to be watching out for as you walk.

Geise Distillery (pronounced 'geese')

This is what is left of St. Mary's Chapel and cemetery.

It was a nice little walk through a sheep field, across a bridge, up and over a field to the edge of a cliff, where this was at the top.

I contemplated whether or not people in that day had pot luck lunches after the services and how they might have sat on the grass overlooking the crashing sea while they ate.

Speaking of walks, Mike and I drove out to Latheronwheel a couple of weeks ago for a little walk. We walked down along the water, crossed this very cool grass-covered bridge and then walked up and over the tops of the cliffs for a while.

When we returned, we walked up the road and down a path that took us along a river.

It was such a relaxing and calm and peaceful place. And then we saw a cool little bird house. And then another. And then some tree stumps with little doors and suddenly we found we were in a fairy glen!

Now, how cool is that?

As soon as I arrived in Thurso, Leah immediately gave me 2 little pocket-sized books about local walks. They have been a really great resource.

And also entertaining.

The directions are often like, "Just before the lighthouse, there is a gate to the left. Go through this and climb the slope beyond, then swing right when the fence ends to the right and continue along a rough, grassy path, crossing a number of stiles, to the massive cliffs..."

We have enjoyed taking so many walks nearby. (and by 'nearby,' I mean within an hour's drive). There are lots of things to see. Beautiful beaches. Ruins. Cairns. Stacks. Brochs. Peat bogs. Rock walls. I never seem to tire of looking at the sea coast and the amazing cliffs. And sometimes you get a little surprise, like the fairy glen.

So, winter is coming and I think we will start looking for some indoor things to do for a while.

Like, BINGO.

A sunset sky last weekend. It was like the sky was on fire.