Mike Forsyth Scottish Borders blogs

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mike — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:21:33 +0000

The New Year begins in earnest.

A walk around Bowmont forest to discover the 'story cache' and add in a chapter to a slowly growing novel, then a trip around and into the bowels of the magical and dangerous Cessford Castle. Our keg of Yule Fuel (absoutely delicious) was empty shortly followed by an empty keg of Farne Island (yummee) from Hadrian and Border Breweries. So looks like a drier start to 2009.

Dragging myself free from the chores of returning stuff that was delivered but didn't work during the hols, off wine and out of date produce I thought it was time to reflect on the holiday purchases.

Merry Christmas 2008

mike — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:18:46 +0000

It is important to realise that at this time of year there are fundamental reasons that Christmas exists - and after listening to all superb 10 hours of 'A Man Born to Be King' by Dorothy L Sayers (yes it was a crime after all and a bit of mystery too) my interest was piqued to see what else this great man was teaching the world and lo I came across this Christmas message for everyone from Jesus (Luke 14:26)

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple.

So Goodwill to all men and women but not to the family or yourself - makes sense to me - although I guess the Roman leaders needed psychiatric treatment themselves

Hobble, Hobble, Toil and Trouble

mike — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 12:13:39 +0000

Life with Alasdair had never been smooth, it was now going to hit a rough patch again. We knew he was going to be involved in a motorbike accident as he had so many near misses and when the phone rang our hearts were in our mouth.

On the weekend before his first day at school he decided to run out in front of his friend Russel's motorbike who was unable to stop and hit his leg. The first we knew was when one of his friends kindly called and let us know he was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Piecing together the tale a good samaritan with first aid had stopped anyone moving him and had someone call an ambulance. So it was a motorbike accident just not his motorbike!

Jeddart Slugs

mike — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:10:35 +0000

One night in Jedburgh, famed for Jethart Snails a 'nippie sweetie', Ali's friend Ben had a gig in the Carter's Rest, a local hostelry. There are many reasons to visit Jedburgh - the food at the Indian restaurant, the superb ruined Abbey, James Hutton's Unconformity and being on the jury at the Sheriff Court. The Carter's Rest was never in that list and being absent from the Good Beer Guide wasn't a particular recommendation either.

So there we were with a separated housewife with her amply bosomed daughter, my son with his leg in a plaster and his facially bejewelled friend, my wife showing that she was spending through the recession to save Marks and Spencers and myself. Yes Kelso had arrived in Jedburgh for a night out.

Widdershins

mike — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:47:53 +0100

The plan was clear - circumnavigation of Holy Island (Lindisfarne) with Ollie Jay from active4seasons in Northumberland and a group of his experienced kayakers. What was an initial good thought to muscle into the group turned into reality as I drove over the tidal causeway and stood on the harbour of Holy Island on the Saturday morning looking at a calm water with my packed lunch in a dry bag.

An attractive swedish blonde and a London homeopath with my dream kayak, the feathercraft K1, arrived followed shortly by a couple of doctors, a vet on the phone dealing with an injured animal and Ollie with my kayak and wet suit. We assembled all the gear and got the kayaks ready and parked the vehicles in the overpriced car park and made ourselves familiar with the gospel of ByLaws - no tripods on cameras and no launching and landing of watersport equipment other than the harbour (I guessed that included sea kayaks). I did bring my action figure Jesus to travel with me to stop me capsizing with his walks on water action.

North by NorthWest, North East and South

mike — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:24:38 +0100

From Skye North by NorthWest to Gairloch via single track roads and lots of road works with fed up STOP/GO men and very fast cars trying to get home - yes you can get overtaking on single track roads at dusk....

The road opened out to normal A roads but I was unprepared for the race track that was the road to Gairloch - fantastic surface and long long stretch. For legal reasons I am not even going to type what I was doing or what other cars were there - fantastic scenery and a fantastic road. The destination was going to be Ullapool but darkness was descending and I wasn't sure if the Loopallu festival was still on taking all accommodation for miles around so settled for the Old Inn at Gairloch. And what a fantastic resting spot that is - great seafood (I got the last mussels and great scallops with beetroot mash) then retired to the bar to help the best man of the wedding the next day with his speech.

Well Kent

mike — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 10:28:12 +0100

Kent is delightful, surprising because of its proximity to London and that it contains the least offensive vowel option (some people do find Immanuel Kant offensive). Using our B&B in Ash as a base we toured the coast via Sandwich and up to the Isle of Thanet (no longer an island due to silting) and the Ramsgate, Margate and Broadstairs seaside resorts.

Ramsgate looked past its best and Broadstairs was where Dickens wrote Bleak House, unimaginitevly in Bleak House, but was certainly a jewel of a seaside resort. Margate, however, has the unmissable Shell Grotto, a magical underground shell walled tunnel with a friendly chatty owner. Along the coast is Reculver where the dambusters tested their bouncing bomb and where Reculver Church acts as a navigational point on the coastline.

Norfolk and Good

mike — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:57:41 +0100

As Noel Coward wrote "Very Flat, Norfolk". And it is. I did expect a lot more waterways though and it wasn't quite the bucolic venetian landscape I was led to believe. The Broads are man made dug out peat surface mines which flooded and a few canals interconnect - although there is the spendid Denver Sluice which protects Cambridgeshire from flooding where various waterways, including the splendidly named Great Ouse, all interconnect and are redirected during high waters with a locking system to let boats through. Not quite the engineering triumph of the Neptune Staircase or Falkirk Wheel, but a pretty impressive and complex aquatic structure. They could do with a model to show how it all works.

Roll and Rock

mike — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:16:59 +0100

I had read the book Sea Kayaking by Gordon Brown and, apart from wondering why the Prime Minister had the time to both ruin our economy and write a book on sea kayaking, was inspired enough by it to book onto the Skyak course. I had previously tried to drown myself in Kelso Swimming Pool and now felt ready for the open sea. Kim typically encouraged me as she assumed it was dangerous.

I breakfasted at the Eilean Iarmain, a cooked highland breakfast to keep the cold out and picked up my email by standing at the midgie covered bench overlooking the loch. When suddenly a girl appeared with kayak dropped it in the water and stepped in and paddled over to the island in the distance, got out with a strimmer and started to strim away! This was kayaking in real life.

Highland Fling

mike — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:11:15 +0100

Kim was to drop Stuart off at his geological field trip at Helmsdale and head to Plockton and I was to swim up. With 'Wild Swimming' book beside me I tore up to the Real Food Cafe at Tyndrum for fish and chips then into Glen Etive for a wild swim in a brown water pool under a creamy waterfall. Bubbles rose from the opaque water like some sea monster waiting for me, air pushed by waterfall through porous rock I rationally told myself, as I dropped into the brown freezing water for a naked swim and to rescue my sandal which fell in earlier. Check out where this pool is and make sure there are no distilleries down stream.