Menoturalismic; Country Overload

...no, it's not possible to overload on country vibes! Uncle Andrew is now the last of the war generation on Mum's side of the family. He lives high on the hillsides above Galashiels at a place called Hawksnest. The place where my grandparents shifted to when the Meggat Valley was flooded as a reservoir. They had left behind in that valley three previous generations of shepherds in the family Shiel. The house was named for them: Shielhope. The low-arable holding that Grandad took over upon yon hills was known as Springfield, but the original name was not forgotten. When Grandad died, Andrew took over, as his elder brother had passed away. Being the youngest of the five Shiel siblings, he was only a toddler when they moved to Hawksnest. He has only ever left it since for one reason... when he played Rugby for Scotland and toured New Zealand. His wife did manage to get him overseas on a couple of holidays, but only twice, to the best of my recall. He is a man of those hills, part of the very earth, like the trees and thistles.

When Andrew retired from farming, neither of his offspring was interested in continuing the line, so Springfield was sold. However, two fields were retained. In one, the livestock of his son-in-law come to graze and provide Andrew with continued links to animals. On the other sits the new house that Pam wanted built - a semi-mansion, truth be told - in which he now rattles like a pea because she died suddenly after barely a year of living in it. That was fifteen years ago. It is named Shielhope.

The baby rabbits were rampant. Cute - but nothing much can be grown in the vege garden! And there were these...

I am reserving the rest of the cattle shots for a Nature Friday post. Plus, this Thursday, there will be a video showing the hillside.

Oh, and there was a bit of this...

Come back for Saturday Sounds this week to see it in action!

I spent two nights of blissful country sounds - House Martins, Larks, various Tits, lowing of cattle and bleating of sheep... and simple whispering of the breeze in the trees and grass. Well - no - I actually spent most of the day listening to Andrew. He's up there on his own for most of any given week, so when he gets an ear, he uses it! Bless 'im. 

Then I had to move on. Thursday, July 4th, was looming. Over here, that meant voting!