At this time of year you need to be prepared to grab your chance for a walk when the weather is good.  Fortunately we're in a position to do that, as if there is a dry spell during the day we can both sneak off with the dogs for a quick walk without feeling guilty about leaving work undone, as we can work at any time.  It is one of the joys of not being constrained by 9.00 - 5.00 jobs.  Of course in reality you're working from the moment you sit down with your morning cup of coffee until you're curled up in front of the fire with your evening cocoa.  But that is another story.

The last few days have been wet.  Very, very wet!  In parts of Scotland the rain has caused some serious problems.  The hens have spent most of their time sheltering under the trailer in the garden, and the dogs have been very reluctant to put their noses out the front door.  But today there were patches of bright sunshine, and so we took advantage and headed to the hills.

As usual our first stop was at The Old Soldiers.  For some unknown reason Lexie loves this spot.  She spends ages walking in and out the different doors of the ruined house:



or simply standing looking at the view.  It doesn't seem that long since the bracken was beautifully green (even though I think it is a hateful plant) but it has already turned into the colour to which it gives its name:



The trees are losing their leaves very quickly now, and the path which passes the front door of the house is covered in autumn leaves:



We crept quietly past a secret spot where we know a barn owl hides during the day, just sneaking a quick photograph while trying not to disturb it:



Coming back down towards Lexies Loch it was clear that autumn is very definitely here.  The colours are stunning, and at this time of year the leaves can drop overnight so you have to try and catch them on camera when you can, because if we go out again tomorrow it may all look very different.





I know that many laugh off the theory of heavy fruiting trees being an indication of a hard winter to come, but if it is true then we are definitely in for a hard winter.   I've never seen the rowan trees fruiting so heavily up here.  My poor body is not quite going to know where it is in the weeks to come as I'll be heading off to Australia to visit family soon.  At the moment our temperatures are sitting around 9 Deg. C during the day, and my Mum tells me that temperatures have been up in the mid 30's in Brisbane!   Although I'll be away the shop will remain open and Stevan will be chief dispatch officer for the time I'm away.   However before setting off to Australia I have 2 more events to attend in Glasgow.  You can read more about these events at the end of this post.