August 2008 - Posts
Hi again. 
Many people wrongly assume that the National Trust only has a set of crumbly old castles in its portfolio, but there are also some very beautiful gardens too for those who like their outdoors. Many of the castles and grand country mansions have their own gardens of course but Pitmedden is an example of a garden run by NTS which is set on its own. 
I'm no expert on plantlife, or much else for that matter, but I know there are some very nice colours and textures and smells to excite the senses.
There are a fair number of stone features and buildings as well as a pond, fountain and so on
So I would encourage you all to pay a visit sometime to a gardens near you and i'm not even on commission (sadly).
Bye for now. Hopefully my next post will be from a nearby auction mart.
The Keith show took place on a sunday and monday earlier this month. The weather was fairly good with a few black clouds (not quite as dark as the sunset above but getting close to it on occasions) and just a spot or two of rain. There was a new show secretary this year who must have ben pretty pleased with how it all went. You don't realise how many people are needed to set up such an event with 60 on the committee as well as the office holders and stewards. A lot of work behind the scenes. If you've ever walked around the trade stands and wondered how much it costs to run a stall yourself, well at this show a pitch of about 20ft by 20ft would cost you from about £120 to £160 depending on location. You pay more for stuff like electricity supply on top of that. They make a special effort here to help those exhibiting for the first time which is good to see. To enter a sheep for example would only cost you £4 or half that if you were a member, and the overall show champ gets about £100, plus trophy, sash and prestige. The grand parade of livestock was very good. As was some of the hardware on display 
The crowd were very impressed by the visiting jamaican steel band who got a round of applause when they played a selection of scottish favourites including "Flower of Scotland".
There was a good educational stand which gave you the chance to grind your own corn by hand and had a cute calf (amongst other animals) outside to attract the youngsters 
Some of the sheep on display were quite good too with a variety of hairstyles and attitudes.
but perhaps pride of place should go to the "blackies"
Thats all for now, so i'll end with a picture celebrating all the hard work which goes into harvesting at this time of year, bye for now
This year's 144th show at Turriff (NE Scotland) was blessed by slightly better weather than last year. In 2007 the show was decimated first by Foot and mouth restrictions and then by torrential rain on the sunday evening. Sure, there was plenty of rain this year too and the littlest ones had plenty of puddles to splash in but at least we left the showground without needing a tractor tow ! It's the biggest 2 day agricultural show in Scotland with around 40,000 visitors.
This year included special events for Aberdeen Angus Cattle (national show) and Charollais sheep (special anniversary). 
There were the usual wide range of trade stalls with 20 for agricultural machinery and around 50 offering agricultural supplies and services. There were one ore two unusual touches including jousting
and some surprisingly approachable husky dogs.
The younger fraternity were encouraged by free entry for the under 14's and the usual selection of rides. On the Sunday there had been around 700 horses and ponies and 500 dogs. Today, monday, around 400 cattle, 450 sheep, 50 clydesdales
and 250 poultry entries. There was a forresty related area with the giant woodchipping machine drawing a large crowd.
The cute and cuddly vote was probably won by the highland calf.
Less cuddly was the impressive jacob sheep with its magnificent horns. The general standard of livestock and stockmanship was very good I thought. 
The woman stood next to me said this was a very impressive display of backsides. I'm not sure if she was referring to the sheep or the handlers ! 
Altogether a good day out. Next posting will probably be after the Keith Show next week, stay posted !