Menootandaboot with The Adventurous Bear

Failte! It is I, Brom o' dun Omhain (Dunoon - temporarily).  On Monday, I told you about the visit with young Oscar from OZ - we got up to the bit about the castle in Rothesay, Isle of Bute.

Once we had finished there, we went into the Musiker for lunch (vego!); they had peanut butter and butternut squash soup with wonderful artisan bread. I just watched... After that, we piled back into the Ren and headed up a steep hill out of town to the Sheese Factory. A vegan cheese maker!!! Can you believe that aunty has been living here nearly four years and had never heard of this place??? It was exciting to find that one can go into the reception and buy fresh product at cheaper than supermarket prices. Oscar said he knew about it as he buys the product in OZ... aunty bought three different ones and got some apricot chutney as a gift. Oscar got the great chance to talk to the owner/manager, which he really enjoyed. Aunty forgot to take the Fudge in with her...

As we drove West Oscar said he hadn't yet photographed any Highland cattle. Like magic, a field was there with several in.

That's the bull, with the down-turned horns. The cows have up-turned horns. When the hair is long, that might be the only way to tell the difference - unless the farmer has ringed the bull through its nose. Unlike many species of cattle, the bull is not necessarily any bigger than the cows, so it is impawtant to know these things!
There were three cows and their calves in with this chap - it is time for him to be busy so there will be calves again next spring.

...of course, if you look really closely, there is another obvious clue to this being the bull...

...and if you look really closely here, there is another clue this is a cow...

After that it was on the road again over and down to Scalpsie bay so that Oscar could go find some seals.  He did. The Fudge's lens got a workout...

First there were the 'we are at the beach' shots.

Then the 'this IS the beach' shots...
then the one with Oscar and the seals - you may need to biggify.

Once we had finished here, it was into the car again and round to Ettrick bay hide to watch the birdies... and dogs and their peeps.

The day was waning and the wind was wounding, so at some point after five in the afternoon, we found our way back to the Hutch, via a stop at Jubilee Point on Loch Eck.
There were some new info boards up and we found out some of the myth of the area - (again, biggifying will aid the demystifying).

The next day dawned in more typical West Coast style... wet and misty. That didn't daunt the eco-warrior though, who wanted to do the walk up Puck's Glen. Aunty thought she'd give it a go too - the website said it was a 'one boot' walk. What?! At 45 degrees plus angle and very crumbly then very boggy? Aunty nearly landed face first in one place, over her ankles in yuk. She had me firmly tucked away in the orange bag. Part of the trouble was trying to juggle the brollie with the walking stick and removing one foot from the bog without loosing the shoe or the grip of the other. By the time she got back onto firm path, the young fella was well away. Thankfully, the walking stick was the one with the little seat attached. Aunty and I sat and meditated with only the music of the rain in the forest to distract us.

Aunty was in such a hurry to get 'out and about' in the morning,
she furgot me spurran...

It was blissful. We did have the occasionally passing foot traffic; we met Boo the Chow and her peeps, who were very concerned for Aunty - it wasn't long after the bog adventure and she was still shaking a bit. Then there was the six foreigners all chirpy and loud.

Then there was Duke the Akita and his peep who were also concerned for aunty. Duke gave fur-cuddles and the peep wondered if he could assist. All was okay though.

After an hour, aunty started slowly to descend again and very shortly we heard Oscar coming down behind.  I was glad to see him too.

At the car park, we met a couple of rangers so Oscar got some more insight which really excited him. We also found out that we had taken the 'down' route upwards - there is a much easier and definitely 'one boot' walk into the waterfalls further along the base of the hill. Now aunty knows, she may try again!

Back at the Hutch I snuggled with Licky the Lucky Puppy (who escaped the IKKY shoppe) and shared news of the adventure in the bog and how I was glad I was in the orange bag. It could have ended very messy otherwise. (Don't worry Mara, I felt safe at all times!)

We said Good bye to Oscar on Sunday morning, as he took off on the ferry and headed for Glencoe... things went a bit quiet for a while. Then another cousin from OZ appeared...