{"id":1246,"date":"2009-10-04T05:25:20","date_gmt":"2009-10-04T11:25:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/?p=1246"},"modified":"2009-10-20T22:15:25","modified_gmt":"2009-10-21T04:15:25","slug":"on-the-bonnie-banks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/2009\/10\/on-the-bonnie-banks\/","title":{"rendered":"“On the Bonnie Banks”"},"content":{"rendered":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/anderson_tartan_3.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1791\" title=\"anderson_tartan_3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/anderson_tartan_3.jpg\" alt=\"anderson_tartan_3\" width=\"226\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/anderson_tartan_3.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/anderson_tartan_3-75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/braveheart.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1342\" title=\"braveheart\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/braveheart.jpg\" alt=\"braveheart\" width=\"230\" height=\"336\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/braveheart.jpg 230w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/braveheart-205x300.jpg 205w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 230px) 100vw, 230px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">“ESP has made it back from the lowlands, did ye do battle on the English oer, on yer trip ESP?\u00a0 Tell me ye built spears twice the length of a man? Did ye unite the clans? Did ye…<br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Shhh!\u00a0 Relax William, I will tell you all about it, if you give me a minute, okay perhaps more than a minute, this is rather a muckle-long post!\u00a0 I suggest you grab a glass of your favorite beverage and if you have a slow connection, my apologies.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09186a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1266\" title=\"The Sleeper\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09186a-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"The Sleeper\" width=\"747\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09186a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09186a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09186a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Ahh the long and arduous journey to <span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">Mordor<\/span>, I mean the borders of Scotland. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Being a hobbit does have some distinct and obvious 757 ergonomic advantages, and sleep appears to come easily to these little creatures after the fourth Brandy Wine! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gollum.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1499\" title=\"gollum\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gollum.jpg\" alt=\"gollum\" width=\"400\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gollum.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gollum-300x288.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">“Tricksy Jet-Setting Hobbities”<\/span><\/em><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">I also noticed that hobbits never eat airline food, preferring to consume their own Lembas Bread.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/lembassmall.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1428\" title=\"lembassmall\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/lembassmall.jpg\" alt=\"lembassmall\" width=\"282\" height=\"215\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09180a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1265\" title=\"Insane on a Plane\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09180a-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Insane on a Plane\" width=\"798\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09180a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09180a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09180a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 798px) 100vw, 798px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Elves also seem to have an advantage on transatlantic crossings. This one must have climbed into my hand luggage before we left the Patch and carefully evaded security…well it is an elf after all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/robert-wadlow-6.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1429\" title=\"robert-wadlow-6\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/robert-wadlow-6.jpg\" alt=\"robert-wadlow-6\" width=\"341\" height=\"475\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/robert-wadlow-6.jpg 341w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/robert-wadlow-6-215x300.jpg 215w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Myself, on the other hand, was forced into an unnatural bolt-upright position on the plane, with my neck and head pushed down into my chest in the vane attempt to see some of the in-flight entertainment being played on the LCD on the back of the now reclined seat in front of me. Three-quarters into the journey and my legs apparently hatched a cunning plan against my well-being. While I drifted in and out of flight-consciousness they started to slowly wrap themselves in a constrictor fashion around my neck in a futile attempt to regain circulation and get selfishly comfortable. I awoke just in time for “breakfast” with one leg over my right shoulder, and my foot propping up the back of my head like an ill-conceived pillow, how this could have happened, I had absolutely no idea. I have never done yoga in my life.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/dr.strangelove.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1349\" title=\"dr.strangelove\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/dr.strangelove.jpg\" alt=\"dr.strangelove\" width=\"319\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/dr.strangelove.jpg 255w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/dr.strangelove-210x300.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 319px) 100vw, 319px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">By the end of the flight, and judging from the reactions of the flight attendants, I think I was beginning to resemble a crazed Dr Strangelove character, smacking my legs with a gloved fist to see if I could feel anything. It is no fun being tall on a plane, no fun at all.\u00a0 After a blurry, high-speed taxi ride from Glasgow airport we all finally emerged into some traditional bracing Scottish air. We dragged out our multitude of oddly sized cases that ironically mimicked my “everything but the kitchen sink” rainwater collection “system”, and clambered wearily toward our holiday cottage. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09428.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1308\" title=\"Moon over Solway Firth\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09428-1024x763.jpg\" alt=\"Moon over Solway Firth\" width=\"747\" height=\"556\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09428-1024x763.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09428-300x223.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09428.JPG 1948w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The brisk wind as we exited the cab came as a shock to the system, my blood must have thinned significantly from this summer’s scorching temperatures in Central Texas, or was it from my red-wine consumption?\u00a0 Whichever, it felt cold.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The ESP tribe (non Naboo) had finally made it to Powfoot, a tiny coastal village on the Solway Firth, in South-West Scotland.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Map-of-Scotland-1641-1892.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1361\" title=\"Map of Scotland 1641-1892\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Map-of-Scotland-1641-1892.jpg\" alt=\"Map of Scotland 1641-1892\" width=\"450\" height=\"592\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Map-of-Scotland-1641-1892.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Map-of-Scotland-1641-1892-228x300.jpg 228w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">You can see the Solway Firth written at an angle at the bottom of this map above and to the left of the “E” in England.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09416a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1304\" title=\"The Land of Nod\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09416a-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"The Land of Nod\" width=\"747\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09416a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09416a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09416a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">After the long, and I have to say, well behaved flight, the airborne unit hunkered down under some warm quilts in their barracks to recharge their batteries, and reset their tiny internal body clocks. Ahh, home sweet new home.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09293a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1285\" title=\"Farmer Giles\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09293a-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Farmer Giles\" width=\"747\" height=\"996\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09293a-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09293a-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09293a.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 747px) 100vw, 747px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">We were awoken the next morning by the distinctive smell of silage and a local farmer,<\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">on a rather ramshackle tractor.\u00a0\u00a0 He left us with a dozen of the most amazing fresh eggs which were used to prepare one of my all time favorite heart-attack-on-a-plate dishes…<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1365\" title=\"full_english_breakfast1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast1.jpg\" alt=\"full_english_breakfast1\" width=\"407\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast1.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast1-300x196.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 407px) 100vw, 407px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The traditional English Breakfast,\u00a0 <span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><em>(promise me not to tell William)<\/em><\/span>. Fueled up and ready to go out, our first port of call was a visit to a car-boot sale. Basically for any non-British readers this is a large field that people drive onto and then sell stuff they no longer want out of the back of their cars, a portable flea-market.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09217.JPG\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09217.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-1273\" title=\"Soft Grass\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09217-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Soft Grass\" width=\"335\" height=\"253\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Although it never occurred to me to get a picture of the cars and merchandise, I did get a picture of the field that the event is held in every week…and oh, how soft the grass was. No stickers, no thorns, no poison ivy. A dandelion\u00a0 picking frenzy naturally ensued.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09207a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1269\" title=\"The Dandelion clock\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09207a-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The Dandelion clock\" width=\"746\" height=\"996\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09207a-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09207a-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09207a.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Followed by some…<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09419.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1305\" title=\"Dandelion chain, Taraxacum\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09419-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Dandelion chain, Taraxacum\" width=\"742\" height=\"990\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09419-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09419-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09419.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 742px) 100vw, 742px\" \/><\/a>\n<h1><em><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Dandelion<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Taraxcum officinale<\/span><\/em><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><em><em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"> <\/span><\/em><\/em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">chains. <\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09209a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1270\" title=\"Dandelion seed pod\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09209a-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Dandelion seed pod\" width=\"797\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09209a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09209a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09209a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 797px) 100vw, 797px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Dandelion is a very common herb from the sunflower family. The designation “officinale” indicates that the herb was officially listed as a medicinal. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Young leaves can be eaten as spring greens. Roots can be ground and used as a coffee substitute, mild laxative, or to treat heartburn.\u00a0 Tea and wine can be made from the flowers, and the flowers can be fried in batter and eaten, a little healthier perhaps than the infamous Scottish deep-fried Mars Bar.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/deep-fried-marsbar.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1480\" title=\"deep-fried marsbar\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/deep-fried-marsbar.jpg\" alt=\"deep-fried marsbar\" width=\"296\" height=\"290\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/deep-fried-marsbar.jpg 404w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/deep-fried-marsbar-300x293.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 296px) 100vw, 296px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Car-boot sale was a great success, fitting us out with warmer clothes that cost only a pound or two, clothes that would become invaluable on the colder days of our trip, crucial for…<\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09251a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1280\" title=\"The Local Pub\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09251a-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"The Local Pub\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09251a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09251a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09251a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">cold and windy excursions to the local pub,<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09306.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1338\" title=\"Pilfering pinecones\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09306-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Pilfering pinecones\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09306-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09306-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09306.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">impromptu pine cone collecting along the coastal road and for<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09346.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1293\" title=\"Rockcliff\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09346-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Rockcliff\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09346-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09346-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09346.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">cool days flying kites on the beach,\u00a0 (knotted handkerchiefs on our heads, naturally).\u00a0 If you look closely on the horizon, you can see the large wind turbines that are popping up all over Scotland. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The Solway Firth estuary is the third largest estuary in the UK and it has a reputation for its incredibly fast tides, hidden channels and deadly quicksands. A perfect place for the kids!\u00a0 It is said in local folklore that a galloping horse cannot out-run the water as it rushes into the estuary from the incoming tide. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/solway_railway_viaduct_2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1488\" title=\"solway_railway_viaduct_2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/solway_railway_viaduct_2.jpg\" alt=\"solway_railway_viaduct_2\" width=\"800\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/solway_railway_viaduct_2.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/solway_railway_viaduct_2-300x190.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Between 1869 and 1921, the estuary was crossed by the Solway Junction Railway viaduct, the line was built to transport iron ore, but the railway was not a financial success.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09631.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1386\" title=\"bridge to nowhere\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09631-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"bridge to nowhere\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09631-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09631-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09631.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">After the railway ceased operating, the bridge provided a popular footpath for local residents (Scotland was “dry” on a Sunday) to travel to England where a pint or ten frothing ales could be had before the long breezy, bridge-stagger home. It would have been a great place for a fish and chip van.\u00a0 At the end of January 1881 a freak ice event in the Solway destroyed a couple of sections of the bridge<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><span style=\"color: #660000; font-size: x-small;\"> <\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">What was left of the viaduct was finally demolished between 1931 and 1933, I took a walk down the beach to see what was left of it…not pretty! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09630.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1248\" title=\"Criffel, southern Galloway\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09630-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Criffel, southern Galloway\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09630-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09630-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09630.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Though the sight looking back across the Solway toward the mountain of Criffel made the walk worthwhile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09230a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1274\" title=\"Water Grass\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09230a-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Water Grass\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09230a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09230a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09230a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">In areas all down the Northern coastline of the Solway you can find these amazing erosional terraces cut into the Puccinellia-dominated high-marsh surface. Puccinellia, or Common Salt-Marsh grass is a genus of grasses which are known as <strong>alkali grass<\/strong>. These grasses grow in wet environments, often in saline or alkaline conditions, forming an incredibly dense mat of vegetation.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09497.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1317\" title=\"Solway Firth flatlands\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09497-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Solway Firth flatlands\" width=\"799\" height=\"599\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09497-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09497-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09497.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">These mounds provided me with a constant state of panic at the prospect of a twisted ankle of broken leg as my antelopes hopped from one lump to another.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09231a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1275\" title=\"Water Grass\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09231a-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Water Grass\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09231a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09231a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09231a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09232a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1276\" title=\"Water Grass\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09232a-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Water Grass\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09232a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09232a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09232a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><a title=\"User:Fice\" href=\"http:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/wiki\/User:Fice\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">These grassy puzzle pieces react and adjust to sea level and to the shifting positions of the streams that stream through them, with every passing tide. These active marshes are terraced with as many as four levels, which reflect periodic shifts and meandering of channels in the marshland or periods of increased tidal scour when high tides co-inside with severe storms during periods of strong winds.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09624.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1333\" title=\"Sea-Weed\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09624-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Sea-Weed\" width=\"748\" height=\"563\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Further past the marshes there are expansive mud-flats with the occasional tiny sprig of this unidentified, brightly colored. sea-weed. Another coastal feature visible from out cottage was this circular feature…any guesses what this is?<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09503.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1320\" title=\"Victorian Swimming Pool\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09503-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Victorian Swimming Pool\" width=\"748\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09503-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09503-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09503.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Here is a clue:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/beauties1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1397\" title=\"beauties\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/beauties1-300x174.jpg\" alt=\"beauties\" width=\"300\" height=\"174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/beauties1-300x174.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/beauties1.jpg 550w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Yes, this used to be a Victorian swimming pool. I surmise that the tide would fill this up so that water was still available to swim or paddle in when the tide went out. I guess over the years the sand has built up around this bizarre structure. The land mass on the horizon is the English Cumbrian coastline.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09500a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1318\" title=\"Solway Sunset\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09500a-1023x887.jpg\" alt=\"Solway Sunset\" width=\"796\" height=\"691\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09500a-1023x887.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09500a-300x260.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09500a.JPG 1772w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><em>“Walk like a Cumbrian”<br \/>\n<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">And the sun went down once again on the cottage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09429.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1402\" title=\"Moonrise over Solway\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Moonrise over Solway\" width=\"795\" height=\"596\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09429-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09429-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09429.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 795px) 100vw, 795px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">One of the brightest stars in the sky as it turns out is actually the sun hitting the space station! But I could not get a good shot of it, so you will have to settle for the moon instead. And for a night-time story pertinent to the area…<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><strong>The Solway Firth Photo, 1964 (Spaceman)<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><strong> <\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ufocasebook.com\/solwayfirth.jpg\" alt=\"Solway Firth\" hspace=\"8\" align=\"left\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">On 24th May 1964, Jim Templeton, a fireman from Carlisle in the North of England, took his young daughter out to the marches overlooking the Solway Firth to take some photographs. Nothing untoward happened, although both he and his wife noticed an unusual aura in the atmosphere. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">There was a kind of electric charge in the air, though no storm came. Even nearby cows seemed upset by it. <\/span><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Some days later Mr Templeton got his photographs processed by the chemist, who said that it was a pity that the man who had walked past had spoilt the best shot of Elizabeth holding a bunch of flowers. Jim was puzzled. There had been nobody else on the marshes nearby at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">But sure enough, on the picture in question there was a figure in a silvery white space suit projecting at an odd angle into the air behind the girl’s back, as if an unwanted snooper had wrecked the shot. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The case was reported to the police and taken up by Kodak, the film manufacturers, who offered free film for life to anyone who could solve the mystery when their experts failed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">It was not, as the police at first guessed, a simple double exposure with one negative accidentally printed on top of another during processing. It was, as Chief Superintendent Oldcorn quickly <span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">concluded, just “one of those things… a freak picture.”<\/span> source: by Landon Howell<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast11.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1441\" title=\"full_english_breakfast1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast11.jpg\" alt=\"full_english_breakfast1\" width=\"392\" height=\"254\" \/><\/a><strong><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"> <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Moving on.. another full English breakfast, another mild heart twinge, and a day trip out to…<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Copy-of-DSC09341.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1256\" title=\"Rockcliff\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Copy-of-DSC09341-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Rockcliff\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Copy-of-DSC09341-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Copy-of-DSC09341-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/Copy-of-DSC09341.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/strong><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><strong><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"> <\/span><\/em><\/strong><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">the aptly named village of Rockcliff, further down the Dumfries and Galloway coastline.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09345.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1292\" title=\"Seaweed Pod\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09345-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Seaweed Pod\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09345-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09345-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09345.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09344.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1291\" title=\"Rock Pools\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09344-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Rock Pools\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09344-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09344-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09344.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09343.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1290\" title=\"Seaweed mass\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09343-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Seaweed mass\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09343-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09343-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09343.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Lots of rock pools, lots of seaweed (it is not called sea-WEED, for nothing you know, and even more sea shells. I pushed aside some of this seaweed with my boot…<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09373.JPG\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">to reveal a bunch of these toffee-apple red sea-anemones.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09353.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1295\" title=\"Anemone\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09353-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Anemone\" width=\"796\" height=\"598\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09353-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09353-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09353.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Guess who was obsessed with the rock pools?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Yup,<\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> he was in up to his shins in water before we had a chance to say <em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">“don’t go into the rock pool with your shoes and socks on”.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09350a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1409\" title=\"DSC09350a\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09350a-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"DSC09350a\" width=\"748\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09350a-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09350a-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09350a.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">oh yes, he was in hog’s heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09373.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1298\" title=\"Shell Beach\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09373-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Shell Beach\" width=\"749\" height=\"998\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09373-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09373-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09373.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">And guess who was obsessed with the sea-shells?\u00a0 This part of the beach was so deep in shells it was hard to walk!<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09374.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1299\" title=\"Sea Shells\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09374-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Sea Shells\" width=\"748\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09374-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09374-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09374.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09377.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1340\" title=\"Sea-shell beach\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09377-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Sea-shell beach\" width=\"748\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09377-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09377-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09377.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">It also made a great sound when you walked on it, there is something really satisfying about crunching your way across a beach full of these sea shells, It made me wonder how crushed sea shells would function as a deep top layer mulch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><a href=\"..\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09347.JPG\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09347.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1294\" title=\"Rockcliff\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09347-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Rockcliff\" width=\"796\" height=\"597\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09347-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09347-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09347.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 796px) 100vw, 796px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/em><\/strong><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">As the tide went out we headed back to the cottage armed with a rather large collection of sea shells’ in a plastic bag. Unbeknownst to us some of the clams in that bag were whole. Although the shells had been washed in soapy water that night and placed in a cupboard, a couple of days of festering later and that cupboard smelled like something you could go through your whole life without smelling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast12.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1442\" title=\"full_english_breakfast1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast12.jpg\" alt=\"full_english_breakfast1\" width=\"258\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast12.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/full_english_breakfast12-300x196.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 258px) 100vw, 258px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">After this morning’s “arresting” breakfast, I hopped in the shower and started twirling a bewildering array of controls and dials in an attempt to a) obtain water and b) set the water to a non-scolding temperature <em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">(a seemingly impossible task)<\/span><\/em>. This took a lot longer than anticipated. Finally stepping under the stream all was going quite normally as showers generally do, until something caught my attention at the lip of the bathtub… and it was quite large.\u00a0 At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, I wish they were. First “over the top” of the bathtub lip came a long extended, searching leg, which subsequently hauled over the abundantly sized body of this…<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09639.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1250\" title=\"House Spider\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09639-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"House Spider\" width=\"748\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09639-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09639-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09639.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a>Instinct told me to clamber over to the opposite side of the tub to perform an ungainly escape.\u00a0 I grabbed a nearby towel and inched my way to the bathroom door, I believe I was actually muttering to myself at this point, something like “stay there, just stay there, that’s my boy, no-body’s going to hurt you”.\u00a0 I beat a hasty retreat through the door, and immediately poked my head back around to where I had last seen it, but it had gone! Something about the draft coming in from the door must have attracted it because the next thing I saw was this thing galloping and bounding at full tilt across the bathroom floor <em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">(and it could run)<\/span><\/em> directly toward me. I slid down the hallway stairs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09637.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1249\" title=\"House Spider\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09637-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"House Spider\" width=\"749\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09637-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09637-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09637.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The spider finally came to rest in the corner of the bathroom door where I took these shots before shepherding\u00a0 the creature into a vessel and taking it outdoors…<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09640.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1251\" title=\"Spider Control\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09640-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Spider Control\" width=\"311\" height=\"415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09640-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09640-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09640.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 311px) 100vw, 311px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Okay so perhaps I was not the one doing the shepherding, but I did throw out explicit capturing directions from the relative safety of the top landing.\u00a0 This was of course a house spider<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><em><em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Tegenaria duellica <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><strong><em><em><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">and in the UK they can get large…who said everything was bigger in Texas. <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">They become more noticeable in autumn, which is their mating season.\u00a0 The males are often seen scuttling across a room or falling into bath tubs as they move around in search of a female.\u00a0 This one was a male, having longer legs than the female of the species. House spiders can survive for several months without food or water.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">After this mornings excitement, I decided I needed to do something calming, I took a walk around the village to see what I could see.<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC092381.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1336\" title=\"gnarly tree\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC092381-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"gnarly tree\" width=\"748\" height=\"997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC092381-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC092381-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC092381.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">This gnarly old tree caught my attention over the hedg<span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">erows<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09243.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1278\" title=\"Crab Apples\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09243-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Crab Apples\" width=\"749\" height=\"562\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09243-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09243-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09243.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Around the corner from our cottage there were a few cooking apple trees and a couple of red and green crab-apple trees packed with fruit, we sneaked a couple of the cooking apples, <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gurning.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1449\" title=\"gurning\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gurning.jpg\" alt=\"gurning\" width=\"200\" height=\"214\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">and ate them with grimacing faces.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09244a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Crab Apples\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09244a-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Crab Apples\" width=\"750\" height=\"1003\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Here is the green tree.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09236.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1334\" title=\"Flower Bed\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09236-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Flower Bed\" width=\"748\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09236-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09236-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09236.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">A central flower bed in what used to be an old Victorian bowling green immediately caught someones attention, she always gets onto me for not planting colorful flowers, I just find it hard to get excited about such masses of gaudy colors. Pride of Barbados and Canna Lily are just about my limit for hot colors.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09307.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1286\" title=\"DSC09307\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09307-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"DSC09307\" width=\"748\" height=\"560\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09307-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09307-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09307.JPG 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">In front of the village are large expanses of grasses, no wonder the <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">rare Natterjack Toad <\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">toads like this area.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09614a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-large wp-image-1331\" title=\"Pampas Grass\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09614a-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Pampas Grass\" width=\"351\" height=\"468\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09614a-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09614a-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09614a.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 351px) 100vw, 351px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09616a.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-large wp-image-1332\" title=\"Miscanthus\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09616a-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Miscanthus\" width=\"342\" height=\"459\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Pampas and Miscanthus grasses get to ridiculous sizes here, in the relatively mild and wet climate. Look at these two monsters guarding the corners of these two neighborhood gardens.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09394.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1301\" title=\"DSC09394\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09394-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"DSC09394\" width=\"748\" height=\"997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09394-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09394-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09394.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">The flower spikes on this<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><strong><em><em><strong><em><em><strong><em><em><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Gunnera manicata <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n<p><strong><em><em><strong><em><em><strong><em><em><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><em><strong><em><em><strong><em><em><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"><em><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"> <\/span><\/span><\/em><\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">or giant rhubarb, and aptly named dinosaur food were striking.\u00a0 Each spike was host to thousands of tiny little copper seeds. The leaves on this one had seen better days, it will die to the ground in Scotland in the Winter.<\/span><\/p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09395.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1302\" title=\"DSC09395\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09395-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"DSC09395\" width=\"748\" height=\"997\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09395-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09395-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09395.JPG 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gunnera-inverewe.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1457\" title=\"gunnera\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/gunnera-inverewe.jpg\" alt=\"gunnera\" width=\"256\" height=\"192\" \/><\/a>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Did I mention just how big these can get!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<h1><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">Down The Burn, Davie<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">As down the burn they took their way,<br \/>\nAnd thro’ the flowery dale;<br \/>\nHis cheek to hers he aft did lay,<br \/>\nAnd love was aye the tale:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">With “Mary, when shall we return,<br \/>\nSic pleasure to renew?”<br \/>\nQuoth Mary-“Love, I like the burn,<br \/>\nAnd aye shall follow you.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Robert Burns.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC091981.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1460\" title=\"DSC09198\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC091981-1023x937.jpg\" alt=\"DSC09198\" width=\"748\" height=\"685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC091981-1023x937.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC091981-300x274.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC091981.JPG 1677w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 748px) 100vw, 748px\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">I finished my walk around the village, and paused on this bridge overlooking the burn, the thought of the spider still fresh in my head.\u00a0 My mind wandered to another spider of legendary status, a spider that purportedly inspired <\/span><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><strong>King Robert the Bruce I<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"> in a cave only a few miles from here…<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/The-Brucet.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1462\" title=\"The Bruce\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/The-Brucet.JPG\" alt=\"The Bruce\" width=\"220\" height=\"268\" \/><\/a><\/span><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">Robert was Knight and Overlord of Annandale. In 1306 he was crowned King of Scotland and henceforth tried to free Scotland from the English enemy.\u00a0 After being defeated at a battle, Bruce escaped and found a hideout in a cave. Hiding in a cave for three months, Bruce was at the lowest point of his life. He thought about leaving the country and never coming back.\u00a0 While waiting, he watched a spider building a web in the cave’s entrance. The spider fell down time after time, but finally he succeeded with his web. So Bruce decided also to retry his fight and told his men:<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">“If at first you don’t succeed, try try and try again”.<\/span><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><em> <\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><em>Old legend.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09604.JPG\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"Solway Firth\" src=\"http:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/10\/DSC09604-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Solway Firth\" width=\"748\" height=\"561\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\">And the sun went down once again on the cottage, only this time it will come up in my final Powfoot post.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Stay Tuned for:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\">\u201cOn the Bonnie Banks, the sequel\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<p><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: MS Sans Serif; font-size: small;\"><strong> <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h1>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: MS Sans Serif; color: #ff6600; font-size: small;\"><strong><em><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"> <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: MS Sans Serif; font-size: small;\"><span style=\"color: #c0c0c0;\"><span style=\"font-size: small;\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small;\"><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\"><span style=\"font-family: MS Sans Serif; font-size: small;\">All material \u00a9 2009 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized<br \/>\nintergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and<br \/>\npunishable by\u00a0 late\u00a0 (and extremely unpleasant)<br \/>\n14th century planet Earth techniques.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><span style=\"font-size: medium;\"><em><span style=\"color: #99cc00;\"> <\/span><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>“ESP has made it back from the lowlands, did ye do battle on the English oer, on yer trip ESP?\u00a0 Tell me ye built spears twice the length of a man? Did ye unite the clans? Did ye… Shhh!\u00a0 Relax William, I will tell you all about it, if you give me a minute, okay […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[70,69],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1246","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-fall-2009","7":"category-scotland"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>"On the Bonnie Banks" - East Side Patch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eastsidepatch.com\/2009\/10\/on-the-bonnie-banks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""On the Bonnie Banks" - East Side Patch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“ESP has made it back from the lowlands, did ye do battle on the English oer, on yer trip ESP?\u00a0 Tell me ye built spears twice the length of a man? 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Zone: 8b. Welcome to the East Side Patch. This site tracks the inhabitants of a house and garden on the east side of Austin. All material \u00a9 2021 for eastsidepatch. 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