A Walk In The Country - Etsy Treasury

'A Walk In The Country' by FireHorseTextiles

Some of the pleasures of walking in the countryside... flowers, trees, animals and insects

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woodland pony - wooden anima... carnivalamigo $22

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Moniaive and Bardennoch Hill Walk

Rob and I are just back from a beautiful (if rather taxing!) walk.

It is found on P88 of this book:-

The book claims that it is a 7.5km walk, but our sat nav tracker made it over 10km, so be warned that it will take more than the two hours stated.

Here are two photos Rob took, of the old School Master's House in Moniaive and a cockerell and young chick that we saw on our walk.

 

The walk takes you out of the picturesque village of Moniaive, up through woodland and over two hills (Bardennoch), back down, skirting some more forest, through farmland and back to a single track road which leads back to Moniaive. There are several steep slopes to negotiate (going up Bardennoch Hill and again when you reach the single track road), but some beautiful views of green fields, trees, hedgerows, streams and the occasional farm building or folly. (See photo collage below. Click for a larger image.)

 The weather was lovely - lots of sun early on, with some white clouds appearing to give some dappled shade later in the walk.

The Green Tea House was our lunch venue, where we ate:- lentil & tomato soup, followed by mango meringue (me) and goats' cheese quiche, potato wedges & salad, followed by pecan tart (Rob). We both had coffee and a cold drink. The bill came to £24.20. The coffee and other drinks were good; the food was quite nice, and the cafe is certainly more spacious than at its old location, with outdoor seating, too.

Brydekirk to Annan River Walk

Rob and I decided to go for a slightly longer walk today - a six mile circular walk from Brydekirk to Annan along the banks of the River Annan, and back. The directions for the walk can be found on page 14, option C of the Annan Walking Booklet.

 We saw many different bird species, including herons (one shown below), dippers, mallards, goosander (I think!), and the usual smaller birds.

This is the Jubilee Suspension Bridge, one of four bridges along this stretch of the river.

 

There were carpets of wildflowers in the woods and fields along the way. Lots of wood anemones, bluebells, forget-me-nots (below) and more.

 A view of the weir.

 

 

 Approaching Annan.

We stopped in Annan for a coffee and a sit down before starting on the return journey to Brydekirk, on the opposite river bank, passing through the Park in Annan.

 

Hedgerow Series #1

While walking our dog (Henry), Rob and I enjoy seeing the ever-changing variety of plants in the hedgerows around our house in southern Scotland. It seemed like a good opportunity to try out our new camera and take some photos of the plants throughout the year, and perhaps learn some of the names for the plants we photograph.

The sloes are just beginning to ripen.



These are the fruit of the Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa). Having tried them fresh from the tree, I would not recommend them raw: they are extremely astringent. They make a beautiful liqueur, called 'sloe gin'. The sloes are pricked with a fork, then infused in a mixture of gin and sugar for three months, before the liquer is drained off the fruit, filtered and bottled. I have since been given the tip that freezing the fruit first, splits the skin and saves having to prick each one with a fork.

Roger Phillips, in his book "Wild Food" ISBN 978-0-330-28069-3, also mentions recipes for Sloe Jelly, Sloe and Apple Cheese and Sloe Wine.