Rambling Russells

It was a dull, grey, morning as we set off for Dundee, but the weather man said the sun would emerge later - and they are always right aren't they?? As we travelled up the A74M towards Moffat the clouds were very low over the hills, making it rather spooky-looking, this pre Halloween weekend. Along with the browns and greens on the hills and the oranges and yellows of the trees  it was feeling very autumnal. The weather man was right though - as we travelled on the sun did come out to shine very brightly. We crossed the Kincardine Bridge heading from Stirlingshire towards Dunfermline in Fife. The bridge was built in 1936 as a swing bridge, allowing ships to pass as they sailed along the Forth, but the lack of shipping in later years meant it was permanently sealed shut in 1989. Pittencrief Park in Dunfermline has been a destination of ours before and as we knew it had a café we searched it out today for a stopping off point for lunch. Delicious home-made soup and sandwich...

Setting off on a rather grey morning, with some drizzle, we headed off down the M6, pausing at Old Holly Farm near Garstang for a short break. The farm is a family run, dairy farm offering visitors the experience of a real working farm. A farm shop, café and play-barn surround the farm and its animals. Free entry to everything, except the play-barn, meant it was busy even on a miserable day. Moving on we made our way to the Foxfield Railway, a preserved standard-gauge line south-east of Stoke that was originally built in the 19th century to serve a local colliery. The Foxfield Light Railway Society was formed in 1965 and offers rides on steam and diesel trains - although today it also had a vintage vehicle rally. The car park was full of a huge variety of vehicles - even before we got to the station! The drizzle had left off by now so we were happy to wander around. We had just missed a train leaving the station as we arrived so after checking out the cars we had a wander around...

Sunday proved to be a very lazy day with a misty drizzle falling for most of the morning. It did improve slightly in the afternoon but we couldn't be bothered to move very far. We did spot the otter among the rocks for a short time but otherwise it was 2 swans drifting past and the seal bobbing in the water - as they have done most days. We have seen a good few different birds during the last week visiting the beach or the wall and post in the garden. We have had oystercatchers roaming up and down the shore, along with pipits, pied wagtails, curlew, goosander, ringed plover, turnstones and gulls. Cormorants and gannets fly past regularly, occasionally diving into the water and the robin frequently sits on the garden post. Our most amazing sight so far has to the sparrowhawk that came and sat on the wall right in front of the window. No time to take a photo - it had gone almost before I realised what it was! A much more pleasant morning greeted us on Monday when we loo...