All Hallows Eve, I believe

In Australia it is the evening of October 31. I refuse to call this eve Halloween. I do not wish to cut holes in pumpkins, nor do I want to dress up as anything ghoulish. Mind you, my husband is playing a game in which plenty of characters are running around going 'awwwr' or 'ggerrrr', so that's ghoulish enough for me. I could wear my (his) black Heroes IV dragon t-shirt. Or I could go and consult Pandora on the matter. We've been working on a new skirt piece, and it's very colourful. A picture will appear sometime soon.
I was going to write about red squirrels tonight. The red squirrel is endangered, and we didn't see any during our time in Scotland. We saw plenty of grey squirrels in Oxford and in London though.
I just went looking for information on the red squirrel and found this quote from http://www.red-squirrels.org.uk/index.asp

‘The 132 years since the introduction of the American grey squirrel has seen the rapid demise of our native red. Scotland in now home to over 75% of the entire UK red squirrel population. We are their best and last chance’.

This website is the Red Squirrels in South Scotland Society (RSSS).  The red squirrel population has been decimated by Squirrelpox, a viruscarried by the introduced grey squirrel (which are unaffected by the virus). Here's a lovely pic I found over at http://www.prlog.org/10598445-wildlife-and-nature-based-tourism-benefits-scotlands-economy.html

I was reminded of all this last time I read about the native fauna found in Glencoe Wood via the wonderful www.highlandtitles.com website.

Well, I'm also reminded about our own Tasmanian Devil which has almost been wiped out in Tasmania in recent times. It's not as cute and cuddly looking as this little red fellow, but is in acute crisis right now, a large proportion of the population suffering from Devil Facial Tumour Disease.

Read more about this at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_are_Tasmanian_Devils_endangered

Now I might go and find Pandora, show her some pictures of Tasmanian Devils, and I shall return my thoughts to Scotland, Glencoe Wood, and our little plot of land.

A time for some pictures

After our last cup of tea, Pandora left some of her skirts behind

Winter is back and I'm drinking Milo

I was never this cold in Scotland! Today there's been a gusty southerly and the temperature has dropped back to Winter levels. It's nearly November and we should be having mild weather. Looking longingly at pics online of the Scottish highlands. There are lovely pics of Glencoe Wood on the www.highlandtitles.com website. Oh, to be there now, drinking tea, or even better, a lovely Scottish single malt whisky, sitting in front of a tent on our small chunk of land. The closest we've been to Glencoe Wood is Fort William. We were in Scotland in 2008-2009, and we travelled by train from Edinburgh to Fort William, then the train trip to Mallaig, planning to catch the ferry to Skye. What a gorgeous train trip! There weren't many travellers on that train, and we had a bit of a guided tour by a holidaying bus driver who knew the countryside really well. Our ferry to Skye first had to do a 6-hour trip around the Small Isles, and as it was a glorious blue-sky but freezing cold day, who could refuse that? And late in the afternoon the ferry returned to Mallaig then took us over to Skye. We fell in love, of course. Perhaps we'd already been in love with Skye. We were there a few days, went on a car tour all over the island, but the highlight was going for a car trip with our B&B hosts 'out the back' of Sleat, and the scenery and the company was splendid. All too soon we had to leave, but with a promise of returning to see our new friends and their wonderful island. Sigh. I'd go back tomorrow.

Where's all the rain gone?

The weekend is almost over and it hasn't rained much. Plenty of clouds about but nothing happening.
Last night I had a good look at the Scottish Woodland Alliance at www.lairdswood.org.uk - and here's a quote from their home page: "A major funding pledge from Lochaber Highland Estates (CI) Ltd will enable up to 1,000 hectares of new woodland to be created in Scotland over the next ten years. The SWA vision is based on a 200 year timescale to benefit future generations as the trees mature over this century and beyond."
In Australia there are many areas of forest, and particularly old forest, which are or have been under threat for some time. What we Aussies didn't realise is how little ancient forest is left in Scotland. 1%!
I have a lot more to read and have long finished my tea, so I'm off.

My first cup of tea

Pandora and I have been acquainted for some time. She has been in my creative life and activity since the early 1990s. Today we share a cup of tea to celebrate my recent metamorphosis into Lady Catherine, proud landowner, along with my husband, Laird Peter, of a lovely, but very small chunk of land in our beloved Scotland. Laird Peter subscribes to Scotland Magazine, and one day he noted on their homepage (on their website) a very small ad for highlandtitles.com in which they advertised their involvement in the Scottish Woodland Alliance project to restore the Caledonian Forest, and namely, Glencoe Wood.
Laird Peter was overjoyed when I responded enthusiastically to the prospect of purchasing a lot each of 100 square feet. What a wonderful conservation idea! The Highland Titles packages arrived at our door, and so chuffed were we to know that we have helped, in a very small way, to protect and restore a very important piece of Scotland and its future. Family and friends, while amused at our titles, know full well how serious we are about this project. Laird Peter has since found a wonderful aerial picture of the Wood on google earth, and we can hardly wait to visit the place and stand on our very own land.
So, I heartily recommend this wonderful cause to all. We live in Australia, have been to Scotland once, and have Scottish ancestry, of which we are very proud.
http://www.highlandtitles.com is well worth a visit.
Now for that celebratory cup of tea.