What no treats!!!

Today we return to an old favourite, Millstone Hill.

In younger days I would scarcely have noticed the gradient, but I will admit it now seems quite steep.

It was a warm day (yes really!) so I needed to rehydrate when we reached the top.

And now finally I was ready to pose for my summit shot.

Can you believe Gail had forgotten to bring treats?

Another photo? I don't think so...

Happy Nature Friday!

Sun, sea and sand? Well, two out of three...

The sky was clear and blue in Aberdeen on Sunday and I was all excited when Gail said that she and her friend Kirsty were taking me for a walk to the Forvie Sands Nature Reserve, just a twenty minute drive up the coast. 

My turn to experience a sunny day at the beach, having missed out last week!

I have to say that, as we proceeded through the dunes, Gail's earlier application of sunblock was looking a tad optimistic.

I was a good boy and stayed the right side of the fence marking the 'no go' area where four species of tern are nesting in the sands at this time of year. 

Gail and Kirsty paused a moment to admire the sharply defined delicacy of the birds swooping overhead, but I soon lost patience with matters ornithological.

After about a mile we reached the deserted beach and I overheard Gail trying to talk herself and Kirsty into believing that the sea fog was in fact a blessing, as it meant we had the place to ourselves and I wouldn't get too hot.

However, I'm not sure she was convinced that my intense interest in decomposing substances on the beach was also a blessing...

Was she fibbing?

I saw this photo on Gail's phone a few days ago and I thought she was fibbing when she claimed she'd been out on another bike ride with her friends in NE Scotland.

Surely she had taken a quick flight to a beach somewhere warm and sunny. Portugal perhaps? 

But then I saw a second photo and concluded perhaps she hadn't been fibbing after all. 

Gail says the photos were taken on the coast at Whitehills, near Banff. And now it's perhaps the turn of my Canadian readers to be confused! They will be wondering what has happened to the Rocky Mountains. Very rapid erosion perhaps? Swallowed by a subduction zone?

Just to clarify - Banff in Scotland (the original Banff, incidentally) really is by the sea, and has lovely beaches nearby. Or so I'm told, although I'm still waiting to be taken there...

Meanwhile here's a picture of me bouncing along the bonnie banks of the River Dee yesterday afternoon, when Aberdeen was a chilly and haar enshrouded 12ºC but ten miles inland at Drumoak we entered a different and delightful climate zone.

To be honest, I don't so often feel bouncy these days. But I still have my moments! 

I don't like Thursday mornings...

If I block off the exit route, do you think Gail will take me out for a nice walk rather than meet up with her friends for their regular Thursday bike ride?  

Unfortunately, my strategy doesn't seem to be working.

Looks like I might need to call in support from my Big Dog pals.

I couldn't help but notice Gail took out her 'winter bike' last week. When she returned several hours later, her clothing several saturations wetter, she observed that for once she'd made the right choice of bicycle... 

I did get a short walk down to the river, eventually.