From the Level Crossing

25.8C with blue sky and fluffy clouds, and a good breeze.

My morning watering of the plants in the containers and in the greenhouse has become a more regular chore than the last few summers with the compensation coming in plants looking healthy and harvests both now and to come. I like to do it before breakfast, then I can sit for a while in the brightness and cool in the conservatory or just spend some time looking at the photos on Blip.

Maeve the Deerhound and I set off for our walk just after 10 am. The heat was beginning to build but there was a breeze again and it was pleasant as we walked up the country road towards the church. We walked through the graveyard, which has been recently mowed, and enjoyed the shade of the trees and old stone building as we passed by.

When we got into the field with the bridle path there were Martins swooping over the edge of the field and the hedgerow. They reminded me of the little group of bats Apothecary7 and I had watched last night as we walked Maeve in the cool of the late evening. They were performing their aerobatics over the gardens and the road. They come very close as they dive and roll in the air. Maeve and I stopped for a moment or two and watched the birds fly. The crop in the field was swaying and rolling to the rhythm of the gusts with shining tones of green and gold sweeping away from us into the distance. Beyond the field we could see the Bellrock lighthouse clearly today, and there is a rig out in the water not far from the horizon. We stopped two or three times on our wander down the path to enjoy the views. Today when a train passed, it was heading South.

We walked along the cycle path and went through the gate into the narrow little field by the railway line. We carried on across the field and went over the level crossing. On the shore side we stopped and I got this picture across the little field on the shore side, looking over the ground where the hay bales were recently gathered to Westhaven with the boats lying in the shallow water in the channel in the rocks. In the distance there is the Fife coast where, if you could make it out, St Andrews is just above the line of rocks running out from the shore.

We wandered along the dry soft sand and stones towards the Fishermen's huts. As we approached we could see the owner of 'Shamara II' working in the shallows with his recent recruit moving creels from the water to the platform at the back of the blue tractor. His wife was standing by the tractor tidying the ropes as the creels came in. The boat was moored nearby and it looked like they had pushed the creels into the water and were having to transfer them in stages to the tractor. Yesterday they had been able to get the tractor much nearer the boat. It looked like very hard work. Not the first time we have seen them doing it this way though. Maeve and I sat for a while on the bench in the dunes and thought that with the tide on the way out it might be better to wait until they could get the tractor down onto the sand next to the creels rather than wade through the water carrying them.

As we wandered up to the cottages on East Row we met the man who lives at the end cottage. He stopped to chat and told me he was watering his neighbour's garden as they are away for a few days. We walked along to the houses and he detached a hose from the outside tap on his neighbours house and poured some fresh water into a metal dog dish for Maeve who had a long drink. The dish usually sits in the porch, but we must look out for it in future. The lady from the end cottage came out to say hello too. She was about to set the table in the garden for lunch.

Maeve and I continued on our way back over the road bridge across the railway and round by the other Panbride church before walking up the road that leads out of Carnoustie. We turn off just at the last house and make our way back along the road that leads out into the country where we turn again for home before the road leads up to the country church.

Back in our house Maeve had some fresh water and lay in the breeze coming in the kitchen door. I have since had lunch in the conservatory which doesn't get the full sun until mid afternoon so was still not too hot. I just sat with a sandwich and read my book and listened to the wind chimes. I might have nodded off for just a moment :-)

Very warm afternoon !