No, not another Heartbleed scare, since the last post, we’ve both had problems with low grade viruses that seem to specialise in producing sore throats and green lumps. Still as the better weather threatens to become more apparent things should improve. Fingers crossed!
The trees from Taynuilt Trees finally got planted. Each on its own little mound to stop it drowning like the first ones that we did when we first arrived. So far, they seem fine but I suppose it will be next Spring before we will be able to see how well they have coped with the winter. We planted alder, elder, blackthorn, cherry and rose hedging which with the self seeded willow and hazel will hopefully survive the deer, the swamps and me strimming!
We have also put up more bird boxes and think that we have nesting blue tits in one of them. It was a close run thing with a very persistent starling trying to enlarge the opening but finally giving up and letting the squawking blue tits have it for themselves. We put up other boxes but haven’t had any takers. They don’t have branches around them and I wonder if the birds just feel too vulnerable. Suse got a bird feeder from Emily and Richard for Mother’s Day and we’ve had loads of fun watching the chaffies and wagtails.
Suse made her first trip to her medical Qigong course at Eskdalemuir and on the same weekend the Fynesiders competed in the Mid Argyll Music Festival. We had meetings about electronic timing at the Kintyre Way Relay. Emily, Richard and Caitlin visited us and we squeezed in yet more orienteering at Fearnoch. Emily and I ran around together which was an interesting prelude to our trip to Morpeth the following weekend.
Despite both of us being under the weather with left over virus symptoms, I think we did fine. Emily had Richard’s road bike and left me for dead on the hills but we both kept each other going and seemed to enjoy it. We went in the campervan and stayed in a very nice country park between Newbigging by the Sea and Morpeth. We even managed a trip to Hadrian’s Wall on the way down – somewhere that I don’t remember visiting before. I think we both suffered a bit for it afterwards but I’d do something like it again especially if was a bit less expensive.