Category Archives: Scotland

Looking Up

Blog, Christmas, Holiday, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, , , , , , , , , ,

It feels a long time ago now, but last weekend with Valerie and Charles was wonderful. Having slept well after hot chocolate laced with brandy in the hot tub with Valerie, we all headed out on a drive through Kippen to Fintry. It’s a beautiful area of Scotland and one with some special memories for me. Thirty five years ago, as a vet student, I saw practice in Kippen. It was there that I was first sent in to do a consultation on my own on a lovely grey rabbit. There was also a parrot in the waiting room that used to meow at the dogs, then tell them to shut up, if they started to bark.

We stopped off at the Courtyard Cafe on Knockraich Farm for lunch. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas and the lights at the top of the page were above us as we dined. I had a ploughman’s lunch, followed by a mince pie with Bailey’s flavoured ice cream. It was delicious.

Having stopped off at Lidl, Valerie and I had another hot tub session m this time with gluhwein. The thought has just crossed my mind that I told mum yesterday that I barely drink alcohol, and now I’m making it sound as if we had a truly boozy weekend, but it was a lovely moment and the gluhwein was very reminiscent of Norwegian gløg. All it needed was some chopped nuts and raisins.

We went to the Christadelphian church service in Stirling on Sunday morning, where I was made to feel very welcome, as I have been on the other occasions I’ve attended. We stayed for a shared lunch and afterwards I rolled up my sleeves and did some of the washing up. I can feel a real sense of community there, which has been lost in many places, following Covid.

We headed off for a last coffee at the River House in Stirling. Valerie had promised me Christmas decorations and it didn’t disappoint. I love the contrast between the classic beauty of the Courtyard Cafe and the exuberant British, Nordic style decorations here below.

Back to work on Monday and a feeling of nervousness as I went out to blood sample some sheep that had moved from parts of England that are now under restrictions for Bluetongue. It’s too cold now for the mosquitoes that carry it to become infective, but the two sheep both came up a few months back, when the weather was warmer and before the restrictions were in place. Tracing a disease that isn’t spread by direct contact, and which may not show up for some months is a complicated business.

So far, it hasn’t been found up here, but we are staying vigilant. It had been a long time since I had taken blood samples from sheep, but the two visits went okay and I sent all the paperwork in by the next day. I haven’t heard back yet from the debriefing team, even though I spotted an error in one of the forms, so it will doubtless come winging back to me at some point. There are now confirmed cases of avian influenza down in Norfolk, so there could be busy times coming up.

Tuesday was an easier day; I visited a couple of vet practices. Most mixed vet practices in Scotland do some work for the government, checking for notifiable diseases like anthrax, brucellosis and TB. As part of my job, I go out and visit them, partly to check they have suitable equipment, but also for outreach. They are routinely out on many more farms than I am, and if they see anything that we could help with, I hope that they would feel that reaching out was possible. Vets used to work for the ministry for years, but now there’s a constant churning of staff and that continuity has been lost. Changing that will require the political will to improve and invest, so I’m not holding my breath, but in the meantime, I try to present a friendly face.

I also stopped off at ReadingLasses in Wigtown for a lunch of coffee and cake, with a good book to read. The cake was delicious, and this time I bought the book too.

And now, it’s the last weekend before Christmas and I’m going to spend some of it painting. The work on my house is progressing and, having painted the new shower room, the joiner came yesterday to fit the waterproof boards behind the shower. I made a start on one of the bedrooms last night. It still astonishes me how much of the paint sinks into the new plaster. It’s much harder work than normal painting, but also important to do a good job. Hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, I’ll be ready for visitors.

Anyway, I wish you all a peaceful and happy Christmas. Thanks for reading.

Food and Festivity

Blog, Christmas, Food, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, Yorkshire Dales, , , , , , , ,

This week I’ve been out for two Christmas dinners! Last weekend, despite Storm Darragh doing its best to keep me home, I made a run for Yorkshire on the Friday. Mum had booked us a meal at the lovely Middle Studfold Farm on Sunday and I didn’t want to miss it. Middle Studfold is a farm where they do bed and breakfast as well as meals at weekends. Set in Ribblesdale in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, it’s a gorgeous, stone farmhouse. The attached tearoom was tastefully decorated and wonderfully cosy.

We were soon pulling Christmas crackers and enjoying the Christmas music. I had chosen field mushroom with goats cheese as my starter and it didn’t disappoint.

Then came the traditional turkey with trimmings. The parsnip was particularly delicious, mashed and flavoured with horseradish and the stuffing has inspired me to experiment with adding chestnuts to my usual recipe.

I had to head up the road soon afterwards, but it would have been wonderful to have lingered over dinner and perhaps stayed overnight. I would highly recommend it for a lovely warm Yorkshire Dales welcome.

It was a good week at work and I revisited one of my welfare cases and found no further problems, so I was able to close the case for now, which was a good feeling in the run up to Christmas. Because of the way the algorithms are set up, there will be another inspection, likely within the next year, which is also good as we will be able to monitor whether the changes are continuing. I hope they are as it felt like a positive visit with real progress being made.

There was a second festive feast for me this week with A Novel Approach, the writing group I am involved with in Lockerbie. We’ve had a couple of mini writing retreats recently, which I have enjoyed enormously and now it was time to celebrate. I decided against the turkey this time, though everyone else’s did look very good. I had a beef collop on clapshot with a haggis fritter. If that all needs translating, a collop seems to be a slice of meat and the word is thought to be derived from escalope. It was circular and I had wondered whether it was from the cheek, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Clapshot is mixed potato and swede. The haggis fritter probably speaks for itself and it was all served with a whisky infused gravy, so there was a lovely Scottish flavour to the whole thing.

Regular readers might remember that I am using the Second Nature app, kindly provided by the NHS and despite all this food, I am still following it. The principle of having half your plate filled with vegetables, quarter with protein and quarter with complex carbs is actually quite easy to fit in with meals out. Even though I don’t follow it perfectly, it’s far easier than having to weigh everything at every meal and I have lost one and a half stone so far, but that is why there are rarely cake pictures on here these days. That’s not to say it never happens, but it’s now a rare treat and most of the time I vote for the healthier option.

Somerton House Hotel where we had our Christmas meal was also decorated. I love the whole build up to Christmas. It lends such cosiness to the darkest days of the winter.

And now I am at Valerie’s for the weekend. I fear there may be cake in the near future as she has proposed a visit to Fintry and a garden centre today. Last night I was greeted by various gardens and houses crammed with lights and illuminations and I was reminded of walking round the village at this time of year, when the children were young, searching out the “crazy houses” with their wonderful light shows. Yesterday evening’s soak in the hot tub with hot chocolate was a relaxing start to the weekend. Now I can hear people outside scraping ice from car windows, so maybe tonight, I will have the hot tub on ice experience.
Have a lovely weekend all and thanks for reading!

Tractors and Turkey Dinners

Blog, Christmas, Food, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Writing, , , , ,

Last weekend, despite the storm, a group of us gathered at Donna’s for an afternoon of gin tasting. My favourite was a Marks and Spencer Clemantine gin liqueur with bits of gold leaf in it, that had a light bulb in the base of the bottle so that it lit up with a kind of snow globe effect. Happily, we were pouring our own drinks, which is good for me, as these days I am a lightweight when it comes to alcohol and a taste really is enough. Unfortunately, I didn’t realise the bottle lit up when I took my photo.

As the light faded outside, Donna told us that the annual Christmas Tractor and Truck Run would be passing by in the early evening. It’s an annual event, started by farmers, in aid of the neonatal unit at the local hospital. Every year, farmers and truck drivers decorate their vehicles and drive them from Lockerbie to Dumfries. So at around six in the evening, we braved the drizzle and went outside to watch as what seemed like hundreds of agricultural vehicles trundled past. It was an incredibly cheery event and lots of the drivers had brought their children along, so it felt like a lovely family occasion. It was also a wonderful reminder of how strong the farming community is in our area.

I had booked Thursday and Friday off, so it was a short working week. I worked mostly from home as I had some studying to do for an examination in Veterinary Public Health, which I sat (and happily passed) on Tuesday. The main reason I had planned the time off was because I belong to a writers’ group, which had a mini writing retreat booked for Thursday, so on Thursday morning, seven of us gathered in the library in Lockerbie to work on our stories. I don’t often mention writing any more on here as it’s been so slow in recent years, but I am approaching the half-way point of a novel about a vet on the west coast of Scotland. It’s set in the lead up to Christmas, so I’m working on it more-or-less daily right now. I know, from experience, that writing about Christmas in May is oddly discombobulating.

Progress is finally being made on my rooms upstairs. This week the plasterer has been in most days and now, one of the bedrooms is really starting to take shape. It’s been very cheering to have him in the house. He’s obviously happy at his work as he plays music and sings along to it as he’s working, which Triar and ai have enjoyed. His rendition of How Much Is That Doggy In The Window was a real blast from the past! Later today, I shall go and buy some paint. It really does feel that things are moving along.

My car went in for its MOT yesterday and happily, it passed with no more work to be done. I had booked to go out for lunch with Donna, who drove out to The Boathouse at Glencaple, which is couple of miles outside Dumfries on the bank of the Nith. The setting is stunning and, with the winter sun being low in the sky, despite the clouds, there was a real golden glow over the landscape.

I had hoped for a Christmas menu and wasn’t disappointed. Having quickly convinced Donna that a sharing platter of festive goodies was the way to go, the waiter somehow or other managed to persuade us that what we really wanted was a sharing platter each! Despite the fact that it somewhat missed the point of being a sharing platter, we were soon tucking into turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets and sprouts, with cranberry sauce. We had to ask for more gravy, but the waiter was fortunately very obbliging. Of course, there was way too much food, so the eventual outcome was that I brought home a good sized box of leftovers, so yesterday evening, I had my first turkey sandwich of the year and today, I still have another full Chrismas dinner to eat.

And as a final note, I should mention that Triar has also been getting ready for Christmas. Every year, he gets a new Kong bear as a present. In the old days, he used to destroy these relatively quickly, but at six years old, he has learned the art of toy preservation. I was starting to be concerned that we might get to Christmas with Bear still relatively intact, but I should have known Triar was merely becoming a master of timing.

So thank you for reading. Have a good week all!

Hot Drinks and Formal Meetings

Blog, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, , , , , ,

It’s been an odd kind of week. Foremost in my mind, as I write this, is my car. I put it in for an MOT and service on Monday, then received a message that before the MOT could begin, I should get new tyres put on the back of the car. I was surprised as it had new tyres put on less than a year ago when I bought it. It seems that the new tyres were put on without the tracking being corrected, even though I specifically asked for that to be done.

I thought perhaps, it having been a year, that I had knocked the tracking off somehow, but when the BMW garage tried to adjust it, it wasn’t possible as the parts had seized. In addition, though only two tyres were worn, they were not the standard tyres for my car and the line had been discontinued. So four new tyres and a lot of money later, I am now able to put my car back in for its MOT. I hope they don’t find anything else wrong. It’s a reminder though, that buying cars is a minefield and that even garages with a good reputation can fail to carry out the checks they ought to.

Having not had my car, I haven’t been out on many visits this week, which is a shame as the weather has been beautiful, if a little chilly. While lots of you in the U.K. have had snow, we’ve just had beautiful, clear, frosty days. It has been so cold that the head of field services in Scotland has decreed that, should we be out more than five hours on any visit, in addition to the £7 we are allowed to claim for lunches, we can reclaim £3 extra for having bought a hot drink. Sadly, I can’t take advantage of this generous offer as I haven’t been on any long visits.

On Thursday I had a formal meeting with my line manager about my attendance. Having had five days off back in July, for neurological issues, and two days off for a cold a couple of weeks back, it seems I hit a “consideration point” for my attendance. I was shocked to find that, in the U.K. civil service, this kicks in after only six days absence in any twelve month period. Six days!
The letter I received was unpleasant. It said, amongst other things:

“One of the purposes of the meeting is to enable me to consider whether to give you a
Written Improvement Warning. We will also consider whether any of the reasons for not
issuing one apply in your circumstances. Following our meeting, I will decide whether or
not you should be given a Written Improvement Warning. I must remind you that if I do
this and your attendance level does not improve within the specified timescale, your
employment with […] could be affected.”

While my line manager had assured me this was merely procedure he had to follow, it was still a kick in the teeth. Back in Norway, I was on a temporary contract when these neuro problems hit and eventually I lost my job because of it. I then spent some time in the wilderness, unable to get another job in the area, as the vet world was so small that everyone in the locality knew I had unresolved problems. (That said, my entire Arctic adventure was triggered by this, so good did come of it). However, I swore to myself I would never, ever put myself back in the position where I was likely to lose my job if my health went downhill again, so this whole experience felt unsettling.

Because of my concern, I did contact my union, who were very reassuring. The rep suggested I should ask for the neuro week off to be discounted from my six day consideration point. Having a five day absence in July meant that even one day’s absence before next July would trigger another letter and meeting. In the event, that didn’t happen, but instead, HR have agreed that my consideration point should be raised to twelve days instead of six. I hope I don’t need them, but having worked three days from bed last time I was unwell, for fear of triggering this kind of event, it’s good to know I have a couple of days grace, should I need it before July.

Last week, I only posted about the first half of my holiday. The second half was just as enjoyable. It was a gentle week, with morning tours, lunch out, then restful afternoons back in the cosy cottage. On Wednesday, we went to Egglestone Abbey, which looked glorious in the late autumn sunshine. Those monks certainly picked a beautiful place to build their home!

Thursday saw us visiting High Force waterfall, which was spectacular.

Friday morning was spent exploring the grounds of Raby Castle.

All in all, it was a good week, though I may have to take a shorter trip next year, to see the gardens we visited in their full spring or summer glory.

Anyway, if you’re in the U.K. and you’ve woken to some weather (freezing rain, driven by wind here from an inspection through the window) stay warm. I wish you a good week, and thanks for reading.

Autumn Sunrises

Blog, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, Vet, , , , ,

The storm came last Sunday, as forecast. It wailed around the thick walls of my snug little house and wuthered in the chimney. Despite having no doors on the rooms upstairs, my living room stayed warm and cosy. I grew up in houses where the central heating was in minimal use and one room was kept warm with a fire, so it was nothing new. With Triar snuggling on his sheepskin rug beside me, we weathered the storm in comfort.

Triar seems to have recovered well, for which I am enormously thankful. I was out with a colleague from the local authority on Wednesday. He also lives alone with his dog and we discussed how much a dog becomes part of your life when it’s just you and them. My morning walks down Blackbird Lane are shared with Triar and without him, I might never have walked there. More than anything else, those walks help me stay centred and because Triar enjoys exploring all the scents under the hedgerows, we take our time. As he sniffs around, I enjoy the birdsong.

Wednesday was a particularly beautiful morning, calm at sunrise, with mist rising over the fields and the birds were in full song. It’s a while since I used my Merlin App, but the Dawn chorus was so beautiful that I pulled the phone out of my pocket and switched it on. As well as the inevitable blackbirds, sparrows and robin (his sweet little song always lifts my heart) I picked up the song thrush that breaks snails on my patio, a long tailed tit and a goldcrest, among other things.

I took some photos too… of course I did!

Despite knowing I had a potentially difficult day ahead, there was a true moment of peace, there in Blackbird Lane.

I’m not sure whether it’s the time of year, or whether it’s the fact that the other vet that works with me has been seconded to another department, but the welfare referrals have gone crazy in the last two weeks. My lovely line manager has been away, so these were passed on by other managers from another region and I think there were seven of them altogether. Wednesday’s sounded most urgent and there’s at least one that (in my opinion) isn’t an indicator of poor welfare at all, but it is overwhelming.

When I say it might be the time of year, several of them came from slaughterhouses. As winter approaches, the farmers send off their old stock that will struggle through the cold weather, so inevitably those include animals with problems. Part of my job involves reminding farmers that welfare doesn’t end on the farm, but needs to continue until the end of the animal’s life. If it isn’t fit to travel, or perhaps it is, but shouldn’t go far, then they need to work out whether it should be taken to a local abattoir, or culled on the farm without going anywhere.

Too many farmers rely on someone coming to collect their cull cows and “organize all that,” when they should be making the arrangements themselves. Difficult to change the mindset, when that’s what they’ve always done but it’s a discussion I’ll be having a lot. Getting the best price for the meat or taking the most convenient path shouldn’t be the standard. Given the animal has given them the best part of its life, its welfare in death should be given decent consideration. If taking that cow with overgrown hooves to the local abattoir saves them from me and the local authority turning up to inspect all their animals and paperwork, that’s surely a good thing? Even if that’s their only incentive, I try to make it count.

Anyway, it’s almost breakfast time, so I shall wind this up. Triar and I came down to Yorkshire yesterday evening on the train. It’s not too expensive and as winter comes in, it might be more relaxing than driving, so we gave it a try. Luckily, Triar is an old hand on trains now. Here he is, under the table.

Have a good week all. Thanks for reading.

Before the Storm

Blog, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Vet, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

There were two beautiful mornings in Blackbird Lane the week before last that I want to share with you. I took the photo at the top of the page and the one below on Monday the 7th.

Mist hung above the fields, but the light was beautiful, catching the wonderful clarity of the raindrops, left there by a shower.

Four days later, it was frosty and again, I couldn’t resist taking photographs in the sparkling morning light.

I was taken out for a driver training course on the Thursday. The instructor asked why I was there. I must have triggered something when I answered some questions at work about my driving, but the only one I can think of was that I said I drive when I’m tired. If anyone working in field services (as I do) said they never drive when tired, they are not being entirely truthful. After a long day on a physical job on a farm, we all have to get home. That’s just how it is. Anyway I drove the instructor to Tebay service station and had a coffee and a pie, then drove her back. She says I’m a good driver, so no complaints about that one!

Last Sunday, I met an old friend from university and had a meal with him in Lockerbie. We then decided to go and look at a section of the west side of Hadrian’s wall, as it wasn’t too far away. It’s an impressive sight, even now: well constructed and taller than I am, so I couldn’t see over it. It was originally four metres high when it was built almost 2000 years ago. It must have been very commanding and Hadrian must have been very alarmed by all the evil Scots!

This week has been a real mixed bag. I was meant to be heading off to Bury St Edmunds today, to do some bluetongue surveillance, but on Tuesday, I was told that there was tracing work to be done here in Scotland and I couldn’t be spared. I was a bit frustrated as I was looking forward to getting away and doing some outbreak work.

The high point of my week was on Tuesday, when I visited a vet practice for a routine inspection over Wigtown way. It went well and I decided to spend lunchtime in a cafe in Wigtown called ReadingLasses. They had run out of soup and were only serving coffee and cake, so I chose a coffee and martini cake, which really was as delicious as it looks. Wigtown is also Scotland’s book town, as I’ve mentioned before, and as you can see in the photo below, and maybe guessed from its name, ReadingLasses was filled with books by and about women. I read the first two chapters of a book about crofting life with my cake and will definitely return for the following two next time I’m over that way.

Thursday wasn’t so good. I woke up and found that Triar’s breathing was not right. He was obviously struggling a bit, needing more effort to breathe out than was normal. I had woken at six and the vet didn’t open until 8:30 – he wasn’t bad enough to warrant an out of hours call – so I had a frightening couple of hours, during which my lovely friend Lara called me and calmed me down, talking through what to do.

By some miracle, the vet Triar knows had an appointment at 8:45, so I rushed Triar there. I think he has some kind of inflammation in his lungs, or pneumonia, but don’t know what’s causing it. He’s had a steroid injection and is doing a bit better, but for now, I’m waiting and monitoring and hoping he goes in the right direction. Lung problems in dogs can be difficult to diagnose and treat. This is the one time I wish I was working in practice, as I would do way more tests, though of course that can also cause more problems. Patience is very hard though and the realization of how precious he is to me was brought home by the wave of emotion. I was no use for work on Thursday morning and fortunately, my manager was very understanding.

So after all, I am very grateful to not be heading off to Bury St Edmunds today. Triar and I will have a quiet weekend together. The weather warnings say there’s a storm on the way, so we will shelter together here and hope for better things next week.

The Shetland Files

Blog, Food, Holiday, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, , , , , , , , , ,

I had a wonderful week in Shetland. It’s the first time I have visited. Years ago, I might have been daunted by the idea of an overnight ferry, but having travelled on two with Triar, almost a year ago, I was looking forward to it. I had booked a cabin as I wanted a good night’s sleep at the start of my holiday. I retreated there early and spent a comfortable night cocooned in a warm bed as the boat carried me north.

I walked to Lindsay’s house in the morning, where she had cooked me a wonderful breakfast. The house is lovely, warm and welcoming like Lindsay herself, and with an amazing view over the sea. It was at Lindsay’s suggestion that I had decided to go to the Wool Week festival, though my plans had evolved as I had contacted an old friend, who had invited me to stay on her croft on Whalsay. So Melanie joined us, just as Lindsay and I were about to eat and we left together soon afterwards, having arranged to meet Lindsay and the friends who were coming to stay with her, on Wednesday.

The last time I saw Melanie was in 1986. We attended a huge comprehensive school together and mostly met up in the music room and singing in choirs at Christmas concerts. What a strange feeling it was to meet someone at 55 that I hadn’t seen since we were 17, but wonderful all the same. Soon we were catching up on ancient history and all the years in between and it was a great start to my holiday.

She drove me to Jarlshof – an ancient dwelling place, where people had lived from about 5-6,000 years ago, right up until the 1600s. Ancient brochs were superseded by Norse longhouses when the Vikings arrived. Later there was a laird’s house, parts of which were still standing. It would take years to begin to understand the site, but it was fascinating to walk round, trying to imagine those primitive lives, huddling through the long dark winters, before the arrival of glass windows, central heating and electric lights.

We then went to the ruined St Ninian’s Church on St Ninian’s Isle – almost an island, but connected to the mainland by a “sand tombolo” – which is a sandy beach with sea on both sides.

As we headed towards the Whalsay Ferry, it started to rain and a rainbow formed over the landscape, which felt like an omen for a good week to come.

I expected to enjoy writing this entry – and I am as I had a wonderful week – but it struck me as. I paused to make coffee, that back when I left school in 1986, it was stupendously unlikely that I would have caught up with Melanie again. I liked her very much, but we had never been close “at each other’s houses” friends.

Back then, unless you kept up with someone’s address or landline, there was no way to keep in contact. I moved, because my parents moved, and then I went to university. I kept in touch with one friend – Sharon Dickson. We shared a flat for a year at uni. But other than that, it was unlikely I’d catch up with anyone else. If you moved, life moved on. You met new people, only keeping in touch with the closest of friends by phone or letter.

Though the internet is officially understood to have been created in 1983, that’s not something we would have heard of. When I was at school, most of the upper classes (there were 14 classes, each with 30 pupils in my year, so we were streamed) would not have taken “secretarial studies”. Ironic to look back at how that subject was viewed as secondary, as learning to type would have been tremendously useful.

After the internet became more widespread in the early 2000s, I had contact from two “early adopters” who got in touch through Friends Reunited, but until Facebook came along in 2004 (eighteen years after I left school) it was stupendously unlikely I would have accidentally bumped in to Melanie. We both left the town we grew up in far behind. So I guess I have Mark Zuckerberg and co to thank for the way things have turned out.

Having lived in various northern and remote places, I was interested to see what Shetland life was like. As I mentioned before, Melanie lives in a croft on Whalsay, one of the islands that is connected to the Shetland mainland by a ferry. Every time we crossed to the mainland, life was punctuated by that half hour journey.

The time we got up was related to which ferry we would catch. If you didn’t book the ferry, there might not be space and you might have to wait for the next. I was incredibly glad I was being driven around by someone who knew exactly how the whole thing worked, but that punctuation of life – ruled by the comings and goings of a boat – is very different from anywhere I’ve lived.

The croft itself was beautiful: a lovely warm home in that austere landscape, where trees don’t grow, but the sea is all around and the yellowing autumn grass was bounded by drystone walls. There were animals too: otters and seals in the sea, ponies, sheep and goats on the land.

As befits a croft, Melanie and her husband own about twenty sheep. Her husband has part ownership of a sophisticated fishing boat too, and as the week went by, I was privileged to share some traditional food, including a kind of stew of mutton chops, eaten with bannocks – scones cooked on a griddle, rather than in the oven, and also some of the fish caught from the boat. The mutton is served on the island at weddings and it was delicious. Melanie’s husband is a very good cook.

I took some photos of the changing light as the days passed and it was impossible not to fall in love with the place where Melanie has built her life.

Melanie, I and her friend Claire, went out to a few of the classes that made up Wool Week. There were so many of them, and I can’t knit or crochet, but Melanie booked three for us, the first stitching with wool, the second, felting and the third was called Weaving the Landscape.

I haven’t finished the stitching project. It was impossible to do so in the afternoon lesson. I brought back wool though and, if I can borrow an embroidery ring and needles from my mum, I may be able to finish it. The felting class was fabulous. We made otters, and though mine is not anatomically perfect, I was very pleased with my efforts.

Weaving the landscape was also utterly engrossing. It took me all day to create a tiny two inch cloth, but hopefully you can see how inspired I was by the sunset photos of rising mist over the lochan beside the croft.

We met up with Lindsay at the mart on Wednesday , where the sale of Shetland ponies was under way. After that, Melanie and I had lunch with Lindsay and her friends. It was a lovely relaxed occasion. Who could have imagined what 4,000 guineas worth of tiny horse looked like?

All too soon though, the week was over. The weather changed on the last day. I don’t know if you have watched the series, Shetland, but there is a shot in the opening titles, I think, where a small piece of plastic, caught on barbed wire, flutters frantically in the wind, This is my version of that shot! I think the sheets might have dried quickly, even though the temperature had dropped.

The boat was due to leave at five thirty in the afternoon, so I spent a last day with Melanie touring parts of the island. I bought souvenirs and ate the most enormous plate of cod and chips in a cafe in Lerwick.

All too soon, it was time to get back on the boat. I took a few, precious last shots as we sailed away from Lerwick, but my abiding memories are of the warmth of my welcome to the islands and my desire is to go back next year, and do it all again. Thank you Lindsay, for encouraging me to go to Shetland, and most importantly, thank you Melanie for a wonderful week.

Criffel, Scone, Dunsinane and Castlerigg

Blog, Hillwalking, Holiday, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, , , , , , ,

This post is filled with photos and is more than a week late. I have been away on holiday in Shetland and didn’t manage to post this a week ago on Friday or Saturday because there wasn’t great internet where Inwas staying on Friday night and I was travelling all of the next day. I’m home now, so will do my best to fill in a bit of information between the pictures I had already downloaded.

The first pictures are of Criffel, which I walked up with Triar. At 569m, starting near sea level, it was on the ambitious side for me. Indeed when I saw the above view, I felt I had bitten off more than I could chew, but I decided to give it a go. After all, I could always stop half way up…

Reader, I could not stop! There were good views over the Solway, though it was too cloudy/misty to see over to the Lake District. Perhaps I will try it again sometime on a clearer day.

I thought going down would be easier and, at first, it was. By the time 8 was three quarters of the way down, I was wondering if I was going to make it. My legs were so tired they were beginning to malfunction and there was a very real possibility of falling on my face, but I made it there and back without doing that, and of that I am very pleased.

After that there was another trip to Perth to learn about veterinary risk assessments. I met Sue again and this time, we went for a scone at Scone.

Triar thought he’d try his paw at being King of Scotland, but this is only a replica Stone of Scone, and anyway, I didn’t have a crown, so for now, we’re stuck with King Charles.

Despite being autumnal, there were some very pleasing parts of the gardens at Scone Palace.

On Tuesday, now on historical Scottish kings, Sue suggested we should climb Dunsinane Hill, to visit Macbeth, so we did. Again, it wasn’t the best weather, but it was an interesting hilltop with a flat peak where you could see there had been walls and structures in the past, though there wasn’t a great deal left. The views were wonderful though and it must have been a great lookout post.

Wednesday saw me driving back to Dumfries, where I had a day and a half of whirlwind work, trying to ensure I had everything vital done before heading off on holiday.

On Friday, I drove down to Yorkshire to drop off Triar at Mum and Dad’s. We wandered into the Lake District on the way down, to visit Castlerigg Stone Circle, which was lovely, but relatively busy for a non-weekend in late September. I guess to find it really quiet, I may have to try at dawn on a chilly Tuesday in February.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I shall post about my Shetland trip next week. I did so much that it will take some time to write the post. Suffice it to say, I had a wonderful week, catching up with old friends and making some new ones, while learning a whole load the crofting life in Shetland and making some interesting things out of wool.

Have a good week all!

From Crewe to Kirkconnell Flow

Blog, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, Travel, , , , , , ,

I seem to be in a perpetual state of travel at the moment. After Perth, I had a night in Airth, then down to Yorkshire, and from Yorkshire, I headed directly to Crewe, not having spent a single night in my own bed. Luckily in Crewe, I was staying in a Premier Inn. I guess some would find their ubiquity boring, but I rather like knowing exactly what the room will be like, and what’s on the breakfast menu, even if I’ve never been to that particular hotel before.

This week’s training was on dealing with outbreaks of notifiable disease, with particular attention to bird flu, or avian influenza, as it’s called officially. It was quite sobering to hear the accounts of a couple of vets who arrived two years before me, and found themselves dealing with outbreak cases within a few weeks of arriving. That must have been a baptism of fire, given all the kit you have to wear, including hoods that cover your entire head and blow air over your face and require you to keep an eye on the battery levels if you’re in the sheds too long.

There was a day of practical training, out on a chicken farm. I’ve seen lots of broilers before – chickens bred for meat – so I was interested to see this one, which had laying hens. Though the hens were all inside, so not free range, they were not in cages, which I was glad about. Unlike the broilers, who were mostly on the floor, with a few perches and “toys” to interact with if they wanted, these hens were much more energetic and had different levels to walk on and metal bars to navigate across. It seemed a relatively good environment to me.

We saw some chickens being euthanized. It wasn’t particularly pleasant to watch, though the aim is to have high welfare throughout the process – hopefully actually higher than they would have in a slaughterhouse. There are various roles I might have to take if I go out to a notifiable disease case and one is the Welfare Vet. It’s important that I know the correct way everything should be done.

It wouldn’t necessarily be a big, commercial farm either. If I had to deal with someone’s pet chickens, I would want to be able to explain to them about what might happen, to prepare them for what they might see, just as I used to do when I euthanized people’s dogs when I was in practice. Dying doesn’t always look peaceful, even when there is no suffering involved.

We also carried out some post mortems. If I’m first on the scene, I have to be capable of carrying out some basic diagnostic procedures. Ultimately, all notifiable diseases will be diagnosed via tests sent to an official laboratory, but if I can rule out notifiable disease without it getting that far, it can save a lot of disruption. It can take twenty four hours for the tests to come back and until then, depending on which disease is suspected, movement restrictions will be in place, not just for the farm we’re on, but potentially for a large area surrounding that. With suspicion of foot and mouth, the whole country might potentially be brought to a standstill, so it’s incredibly important that the key vet is competent and backed up with a competent team.

At some point, I will be sent out to a report case where there is suspicion of a notifiable disease. While I know it will be daunting when it does happen, I feel better prepared now than I was before.

I finally got home on Thursday and have spent the last two nights in my own bed. As my friend Lara can confirm, I only own super-comfortable beds, so being home is always pretty nice! On my way up the road from Yorkshire, I stopped at Gretna Outlet to buy myself a new weekend happiness kit.

Though it wasn’t the weekend yet, Triar and I went out to Kirkconnell Flow Nature Reserve last night to start breaking my new boots in, ready for some more Perthshire hills next week. Kirkconnell flow is an ancient, raised, peat bog. Very rare apparently and stunningly beautiful yesterday evening in the golden light. We walked along the edge and through the forest, which reminded me of the forests in the north of Norway, with their tall pines and smaller silver birches sheltering underneath.

I was enjoying it so much that we did the outer circuit first and then the shorter inner circuit. I have a walk planned for today as well. Nothing too strenuous and good, well marked paths so getting lost is not possible. It’s about time I started exploring Dumfries and Galloway on foot and not just in my car.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a good week.

Perth Peaks and The Japanese Garden at Dollar

Blog, Hillwalking, In Darkness and In Light, Scotland, The Vet Who Came In from the Cold, , , , , , ,

I spent a good part of this week in Perth, doing duty vet training on Tuesday and (human) first aid training on Wednesday. I have so many photos to share that it’s going to be hard to choose. I was staying in the Salutation Hotel with my colleague Sue. It was an interesting hotel, built in 1699: all maze-like corridors, uneven floors and a breakfast room that looked like a Jane Austen era assembly rooms, with a huge arched window and vaulted ceiling. For the purposes of this blog however, perhaps its most significant feature was its lack of car-parking.

There were plenty of car parks in Perth, near the hotel, but all of them required tickets, except between the hours of six at night and eight in the morning. Having finished our duty vet training on Tuesday, Sue proposed a visit to Branklyn Gardens on the edge if the city. Mum and Dad stayed there earlier this year, so it seemed like a pleasant idea. Sue is apparently quite the gardener and she looked at the plants with great interest. For me, the foliage was the real draw. It will be even better in a few weeks when autumn sets in properly.

Lovely as it was, it closed at five, which left another hour to kill, before the car park was cost-free. Sue had noticed that there was a path from the gardens up to a folly on Kinnoull Hill that she wanted to see. The path was steep and rough though, and as I have been struggling with balance and fitness, I decided it was too much for me.

I set off to drive back to the hotel, but on the way, I saw a road sign that said Kinnoull Hill parking. I drove up the narrow lane, which took me round to the other side of the hill, where I found tracks up to the peak that were much gentler. I decided to head up the hill and see how far I got. Perhaps, if I reached the summit, I might meet Sue there, but if not, I’d still have had a nice walk.

It was very slow going, but I met two lovely dogs on the way and stopped for doggy cuddles. In Triar’s absence, that was lovely. Reaching the summit was a wonderful moment. It’s been a long time since I got to the top of any hill and the views over the Tay valley were stunning. I texted Sue to tell her where I was. I think she’d already been there, but she came back to meet me and persuaded me that, having come so far, I should walk a little further to see the tower.

The tower looks like a ruined castle, but it was actually built as a folly – ready ruined – by one of the Earls of Kinnoull, who thought it would look romantic in its rocky cliff setting. It was absolutely worth the extra walk.

The next day was the first aid course, which was very thorough. I had done defibrillator training in Norway, about five years ago, but I’d forgotten how useful they were, telling you what to do, even to the point of how fast your heart compressions should be during CPR. Here’s the lovely Lesley in a sling. For some reason, she was trying to remember the Brownie Guide spiel. It was that kind of day!

That evening, with the same car park restrictions, Sue suggested walking up Moncreiffe Hill. Again, we split up, and she found a car park with a longer, steeper climb. This time, we met at Moredun Hill Fort – or at least what is left of it. Built over 2000 years ago, excavations at the site have suggested that the hill may have had special significance as a Pictish royal centre. The only structure now above ground though, is a rough cairn that marks the top of the hill.

As Sue arrived at the top of the hill, she brought a rainbow with her, which added to the loveliness of the moment! My second hilltop in two days.

After another night’s sleep, it was time to head back south, but Sue had one last suggestion for the return journey. She had been to the Japanese Garden in Dollar and thought I would like it, so we met in Dollar for a coffee and then visited the garden. This was my first visit to a Japanese garden and I have to confess, it is stunningly beautiful. I took far too many photos! Everything was perfectly framed, as if designed for an enthusiast with a mobile phone, though the garden was designed long before those were even thought of!

We ended our visit with a scone, which was delicious. And now I want to take my parents on a trip to Dollar, so they can experience it too. Anyway, thanks to Sue, this was a very memorable trip to Perth. Thank you as well, for reading. See you next week!