Menootanaboot; Southward Bound

My month back at home base came to an end. September came in with full autumnal force: windy, wet, and plummeting temperatures. Typical, when I was due back on the road! Hey ho. At least there was a pretty bow to send me on my way...

The first part of my road south was to the park up at Sanquhar, which has featured here before. I hadn't intended to stay more than one night, but ended up there for three, because the weather was truly foul and any planned garden visiting was going to be pointless. Thus, the interim places of Dumries and Annan were written off on this trip. From Sanquhar, I went directly down to Carlisle.

I had found a charging point that was in a nature reserve, so could combine The Grey's feed with my spending time in nature. Gosling Sike is under the care of the Cumbria Wildlife Trust. I had a lovely chat with the manager of the centre, who told me a little of the farming background of the place, and how the trust had returned the sike (stream) to its original course and wetland nature, by making five new ponds and planting all relevant water plants. Immediately adjacent to the fairly new centre building is the garden and orchard. One can then walk through the grazing field, where the sheep are, and on into the wetlands area. It is possible to continue walking all the way through to Tarraby Woods, to the lane and back by the main road to complete a circuit. (See the yellow line I've drawn as a rough indication.) Had I more time, I'd have done that... worth another trip! As it was, I managed to spend the two hours while the van sucked juice, enjoying the garden, the sheep and the wetland walk. The weather here, although overcast, was very pleasant, thank goodness. The electricity was cheap, too... 

I took lots of photos of the abundant autumn fruits in the garden and hedgerows... they will be shared tomorrow for Nature Friday! I managed to get one, and one only, photo of this Small Copper. Lycaena phlaeas. Very distant, but I was grateful to have captured it at all, given it's the only one I've seen all season.

I didn't take any of the wetland, as it was all bullrushes and not much else was happening at the time of day I was there. 

It was the perfect break after what had been the best part of a two-hour drive - more than my usual run - and that I still had an hour of driving to do before getting parked for the night. Getting through Carlisle after school hours was tiresome, but couldn't be avoided without a major long loop. Along the A66, I pulled off near Troutbeck Inn, where there was a bit of wasteland. Not attractive, but serviceable for an overnight. 

That was me officially in The Lake District at last, south of the border (SotB label created). Why was I here and not wandering the Bonny Land as usual? Well, because I was on my way to visit my dear wee nephdog, Nobby, of course!!! We'll get to that visit in a couple of weeks, but first, I have to share what I did during the day before I got to his place.

However, if you are a little impatient (and I don't blame you!), you can read Nobby's latest (and last) post over at his blog today. He has some news...