Mainly Grey

21 January 2013 12:36

On Saturday we walked along the esplanade, as I said earlier and I took a few photos of the scene, just before the snow came and blasted us, you can see it coming to get us in the clouds. There is actually snow on the hills across on the other side of the Forth but unfortunatley you can’t see them in this photo.

Kirkcaldy shore 1

I took the photo below from the same position, just looking in the other direction, it’s at this point that the Firth of Forth flows into the North Sea and the next land which you get to is Denmark, so I’m told.

Kirkcaldy shore 2

Our walk today (Sunday) took us to the Beveridge Park – again and if you look closely you’ll see that this part of the boating pond is frozen, about half of it has thin ice on it.

Beveridge Park pond in January.

The local family of swans had just been fed by a family of humans and it was obviously time for them to do a bit of preening, stocktaking their feathers.

The swans 2

As you can see, the cygnets are in between their parents and are as big as they are now, just haven’t quite lost all of their brown feathers. In another couple of months daddy swan, the aggressive beastie that he is will force the cygnets to leave for pastures new and so the whole thing will start all over again. I wonder if they’ll manage more offspring this year, this is the first time they’ve ever had two cygnets and they often have none at all. They’re a bit rubbish as parents really, I think because the male swan spends most of his time chasing after geese, ducks and dogs – yes dogs! He apparently drowned a spaniel which was swimming in the pond, he just grabbed it by the back of its neck and held it under – that’s nature red in tooth and claw!

The swans 3

Anyway, as you can see, this is truly ‘shades of grey’ as Scotland often is whatever the season. It really makes you crave warm, vibrant colours, I think the Scandinavians feel the same about bright colours. I know I have a cheek to moan because most of Scotland seems to be under snow at the moment but – roll on the spring!

I imagine that if you live in a warm, bright colourful place, you might want to rest your retinas from time to time, if so you can do so looking at these very grey photos of a grey place.

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Categories: Local interest, Scotland

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The Fountain in Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy.

7 November 2012 23:29

We’re still in Beveridge Park, at the lily pond and fountain now.
I really wanted to get a photo of the different autumnal shades of the trees which is why the fountain is in the corner of this photo.

Beveridge Park fountain & trees 1

I just had to take one of the fountain on centre stage though. I love fountains and although this is a very tame one, it’s a trickle rather than a fount, it’s still a thing of beauty, especially on the lovely autumn day when I took the photo.

Beveridge Park fountain & trees 2

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Categories: Local interest, Towns

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Autumn in the Park

7 November 2012 00:13

We rarely get two days in a row with the same weather so when you get a good day, you just have to go out there and grab it as tomorrow will probably be grey if not wet. That’s why I found myself at my local park getting some fresh if chilly air and exercise. I took my camera of course, just to let you see what autumn is like in Kirkcaldy in Fife. Are you coming for a wee walk?

These trees are at the beginning of the pathway which leads all the way around the perimeter of what is a large Victorian Park.

leaves & trees 4

The path gets quite steep here and I used to get quite puffed out by this stage of the walk. I sometimes had to stop and pretend to be tying a shoe lace or something, just to catch my breath but it’s no bother to wheech up it now.

leaves & trees 3
We’re at the top of the hill and looking back now, I think, there were men in the park gathering up the leaves using machines, shame on them!

Trees 1

This is the view from the path, down into the main part of the park, there are the usual play areas for wee ones and skate board thingy for the bigger ones. Luckily the trees screen all of that.

Trees 4

Another stand of trees, there are lots of them dotted around, unfortunately there are none of our native red squirrels here, only those American grey squirrels, they get everywhere!

Trees 2

After walking all around the edge of the park it’s time to veer into the centre for a walk around the boating pond, it’s much like any other one with an island in the middle where the birds can nest safely. The boats have all been tidied away for winter, they’re swan shaped.

The Boat Pond

And here it is again from the other side. It’s hard to believe that there was a film of ice on the pond just the other day, well I did say that we don’t get two days together the same here.

The Boating Pond 2

That’s the end of today’s jaunt, I hope you enjoyed the breath of fresh air and exercise!

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Categories: Local interest, Scenery, Towns

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Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland

22 August 2012 23:30

Beveridge Park in Kirkcaldy is one of those lovely old parks which sprang up at the back end of the 19th century. The postcard below shows the lovely old gate posts and gates as they were originally. Sadly they’ve gone from bad to worse in recent years. In common with most parks and homes the gates and railings disappeared sometime during World War II. They were removed as part of the war effort, the metal was supposed to be needed for war work – building ships or aeroplanes and the like.

Beveridge Park Gates, Kirkcaldy

Of course it was just a propaganda con to make the British people feel that they were contributing and helping Britain fight the Nazi terror. The metalwork just rusted away in dumps as it wasn’t the correct sort of metal. I’m annoyed about that because it would cost about £3,000 to replace ours!

I’m even more annoyed about the state of the gates now. I took the photo below just a couple of weeks ago and as you can see one of the lovely old red sandstone gateposts has gone. Apparently it was demolished by the back end of a circus trailer as it went through the gateway. That was over a year ago and absolutely nothing has happened since then.

Beveridge Park Gates 2012

I know it can take a long time for insurance claims to be settled but over a year seems just too long. Has there been a problem with the insurance, was the circus vehicle insured, who was stupid enough to allow a circus to set up business in the park? I think we should be told.

The entrance to the park is a pitiful sight when compared with how it used to look. New gates should have been commissioned for the centenary celebrations, it would be nice to think that the powers that be might think about doing it now or when they eventually get around to rebuilding the gatepost – if they ever do!

The Kirkcaldy Council should sort out the park gateway, instead of spending bucketloads of money on things like speed bumps which are completely useless, their only function seems to be to give work to the local car repair workshops as the bumps wreck the sills of some cars, no matter how they go across them, no matter how careful they are.

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Categories: Local interest

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Shipping Movements

6 August 2012 23:09

This post will probably only be of interest to people who live near a coastline – as I do. Usually there are at least a few container ships and tankers anchored in the Firth of Forth, near where I live. I live close to the exact same stretch of coastline which gave Adam Smith the Scottish economist his ideas, but he was watching a lot more ships coming and going in those days. I’ve always wondered what they’re all doing and where they are going, but when I saw this ship (below) I just had to find out what on earth she is.

Solitaire, A Swiss Army Knife Ship

I call her a Swiss army knife of a ship because she has all sorts of bits and pieces hanging off her, I’ve never seen anything quite like her. Anyway, it turns out that she is called The Solitaire and she is the world’s largest pipe-layer. She is absolutely enormous and she has been in the Forth for a couple of weeks now as she is between contracts at the moment. They don’t have to pay berthing fees if she is anchored mid-river. She’s off to China in the autumn to have her crane upgraded from 300 tonnes to 850 tonnes.

Solitaire was embroiled in a fair bit of controversy a few years ago, when she was sabotaged off the coast of Ireland by people protesting the Corrib gas pipeline and its construction. Apparently, the pipelay stinger (the lower of the two white bits hanging off the back of the vessel) was completely detached, forcing Solitaire to limp to Greenock for urgent repairs.

If you want to know the names and details of ships all you have to do is visit this website.

There has been quite a lot of ship movement out there recently, I’m hoping that that means the economy is improving a wee bit. I know, I’m clutching at straws!

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Categories: Coast, Local interest

Scotland’s Light

18 June 2012 22:14

I don’t really keep up with Hollywood, in fact I wouldn’t even recognise the so-called household names who are involved in the film industry nowadays. I still think of Meryl Streep as a bit of a newcomer. So it was only when I watched the Scottish evening news earlier that I learned about this new Disney animation movie called Brave, set in Scotland apparently.

Alex Salmond, Scotland’s First Minister is jumping on the bandwagon and is over in Hollywood whilest the film is being promoted and is going to be attending Brave’s premier. I suppose if you think that there’s no such thing as bad publicity then you might as well go with it. Apparently they think the film will be great for Scottish tourism. It might turn out to be quite an entertaining watch but if we’re relying on Disney to get tourists to Scotland I can’t help thinking we’re in a really bad way.

Come to Scotland for the scenery, history, geology, archaeology, food (yes) the whisky (if you’re that way inclined), hill-walking, climbing, white water rafting, the Edinburgh Festival (if you must), great museums and art galleries, lochs and castles galore, stately homes and palaces and purer air. Maybe even come for the people, well some of them!

If you want someone else’s opinion on Scotland have a read at Deborah Orr’s article which appeared in Friday’s Guardian. You can read it here where there are links to lovely scenery.

The thing that I love most about summer in Scotland is the light. At the moment it’s 10 o’clock at night and it’s not far off broad daylight outside. I was gardening until just half an hour ago and I still could easily as there are no problems with seeing what I’m doing. It’s a big contrast to living in the south of England where you don’t get the benefit of the light nights. Honestly, you haven’t lived until you’ve experienced the gloaming in some rural setting, you could almost believe in fairies!

Have a look at the lovely Scotland in the Gloaming site. I have to thank Peggy Ann for pointing me in its direction – via the US.

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Categories: Local interest, Museums, Scenery, Scottish History

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Diamond Jubilee Beacons

4 June 2012 23:59

I love the idea of lighting beacons on hills to celebrate important occasions, so here are some lovely photos of the Diamond Jubilee beacons. A couple of them are near me, the Edinburgh one and the ‘beacons’ on the East Lomond in Fife.

I’m just sorry that they are from The Mail newspaper, but nobody else seems to have any online at the moment.

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Categories: Local interest, Towns

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A Country Walk in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, part 4

16 May 2012 23:38

These are some more of the photos which I took when we went for another walk into the farmland beyond Beveridge Park in Kirkcaldy, Fife.

Country Path Again

More hills and trees

Trees

Hills and trees 2

Hills and trees 1

From a distance it looks like quite a few of the trees are still comletely bare but they all have some growth I’m sure, although they are definitely further behind than usual. We’ve had such weird weather recently that they really don’t know whether it’s spring or winter.

Going for a good walk is an enjoyable way of burning off some calories and cheaper than joining a gym, in fact it costs nothing but time. It’s a shame we don’t all have somewhere nearby us which we can go and have a wander around to get some fresh air.

Wouldn’t it be lovely if the scientists could invent something like the holo-deck on Star Trek and you could decide where you wanted to spend your leisure time and suddenly just be there. Where would you choose to go?

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Categories: Local interest, Scenery

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A Country Walk in Kirkcaldy, Fife part 3

15 May 2012 23:39

Do you remember we went for a walk about two months ago, down the Wizard’s Walk and into the farmland on the edge of Beveridge Park. You can see those posts here and here.

These are the photos which we took on Sunday, just to compare the leaf growth later in the season.

rural path

This is the crop growing in what was that bare ploughed field. As you can see, a lot of the trees still seem to be very bare.

hills and trees

The same field a bit further on. I have no idea what the crop is.
a field in Kirkcaldy

a crop hills and trees

One of the trees which is well in leaf now, some of them still have very little green showing. I believe this is a field maple.

Tree and flowers

Last time I didn’t take any photos of the golf course which is on the left hand side as you walk up the hill into the farmland but it might be of interest to golfers.

Kirkcaldy Golf Course

I must admit there are some lovely trees on the course.

Kirkcaldy Golf Course

Obviously this is just a teeny wee bit of the course. It was designed by Tom Morris in 1904 and if you’re interested in learning more about Kirkcaldy Golf Club, have a look here.

Kirkcaldy Golf Course

More photos tomorrow.

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Categories: Local interest, Scenery, Towns

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Wedding Dress Tales

15 May 2012 00:08

I was mooching around the PDSA (People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals) charity shop in Kirkcaldy last week, really just to have a look at the books which had been donated, you never know your luck. But I couldn’t help being struck by this long rack of wedding dresses, I just had to have a closer look.

wedding dresses

Now I was never the sort of girl who dreamt of traipsing down the aisle in a big frock, I really had to have my arm twisted, I would have preferred a much quieter wedding and I didn’t buy a dress until less than a week before the wedding, it was cream, just in case you’re interested because I don’t like bright Daz white, it’s especially unflattering if you have pale skin and red hair as I do. But having got the dress, I must admit that I wouldn’t ever part with it. It’s living in a white plastic bag now because its box fell apart and I’ve been trailing it around various house moves over the last 36 odd years – very odd actually!
wedding dresses

So I just had to ask the lady in the PDSA charity shop if the dresses had all been donated, and apparently they have been. If only they could speak, they would have some tales to tell I’m sure.

There are some absolute crackers of dresses there, if you happen to be looking for such a thing. Ranging from the 1960s right up to much more recent bridal fashions. There are a couple of lovely 1970s designs, similar to my own dress – think Victorian nightdress. A few of the 1980s designs were bought by a film company recently for use in a film

This one was my favourite, sort of champagne/pale cream coloured, with beautiful embroidered roses on the bodice and sleeves. I can only think that these dresses all belonged to women who ended up getting divorced and didn’t want any reminders of the day at all.

wedding dresses

It’s very sad, but maybe things will work out better the next time they take a trip down that aisle. And for any potential brides looking for a bargain – get yourself down to the Kirkcaldy High Street branch of the PDSA. The dresses cost from between £35 and £50 and when you consider that I saw a new wedding dress on sale further along the High Street – just £675 – that was it half price too. It was a hideous thing which best resembled a ruched nylon net curtain. I’d definitely plump for a lovely second-hand dress, after all it’s recycling and if you’re at all bothered about that word second-hand – just call it vintage. And of course, you’re helping sick animals at the same time.

I was sorely tempted to start a wedding dress collection, people do collect them you know, then I remembered, I’m supposed to be decluttering!

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Categories: Fashion, Local interest, Textiles

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