Endurance season started!

Chamfron By Dand got the spin out in the posh wagon this weekend to do the 30km at Whitelees wind farm, averaging 12.7km/h with a final heart rate of 40. 

Keep Moving - Week 11

Feeling a bit limp on Sunday so just a gentle stroll to Dr Neils Garden which sits between Arthur Seat and Duddingston Loch.  An almost secret garden and it took us a few false starts to gain entry!  As it was our anniversary I shall also mention that our wedding venue Roulotte Retreat won the Mind, body and Soul section of Scotland's Greatest Escape and head into the final.

On Tuesday I was down in Duns so headed in the direction of the castle, I walked round the ancient curling pond, randomly called "Hen Poo" and up to Duns Law and the Covenanters Stone.  Other than a small stroll around Melrose on Saturday morning this was the extent of my weeks walks as I battled the "feels exactly like Covid but tests negative" bug!

Mini Chamfron meet!

Chamfron Colorado went to visit Chamfron By Dand and Firefly this weekend!

Keep Moving - Week 10

With a voucher for lunch in Kelso to use we headed back down to the Borders and the Bowmont Forest on Sunday.  Lots of felling and clearing of the Storm Arwen damage was evident but an appetite was worked up!  Monday saw me working a mile from Binning Wood so I had a lunch time hurtle round the perimeter under beautiful blue skies.  Thursday we still had the blue skies and a decent covering of snow so we headed round the by-pass to Bonaly Country Park for the first time, sadly it was bereft of the white stuff and a bit grey but we walked up to Bonaly reservoir and back round Torduff.  Definitely the gateway to some great walks round the Pentlands with views right across the Edinburgh skyline so one to keep on the list for a revisit.  Friday was a quick snowy spin around Duns then to finish the week it was back to the coast on Saturday.  

Having driven along the coast road and not met even one cyclist I was equally surprised to see a near empty Aberlady nature reserve car park, I had a small change of plans and stopped there.  There was not a breath of wind and the sun was blazing down so I headed out to the submarines.  I have a light fear of the sea, so although I had checked the tide times and checked them again I was wary venturing out without another soul in sight!  Having survived and not met any sinking sands in the bay I did a few more miles along the coast to Gullane and headed back through the Nature reserve, an absolutely glorious morning.

Return of the trail cam

New trail camera has had a test run in the garden, neighbours dog, many many cats and a stripey surprise!  

Chamfron updates

Rowena took Mojito on there first ever solo trip out, all went well and I think that is a massive milestone ticked off.  Rebecca was out with Chamfron Firefly at Lahill fun jump Ride with Kingdom Blazers, with her pick-up off to the great scrap yard in the sky she hired a 3.5t wagon, the ponies thought she'd won the lottery and Rebecca liked it a lot!  Chamfron Almendra has been out XC schooling ready for the start of the season and Chamfron Colorado has snow!

Keep Moving - Week 9

Staying local Sunday with my first trip to Newhailes House, an easy flat well trodden path around the fields, pleasant enough but a little uninspiring.  The shell grotto is roofless and missing the interior decoration which would of made it so spectacular back in it's heyday.  Weekday walks around the fields at home, nothing very exciting to report.  Then to finish up the week a stroll from Goose Green at Gullane all the way along the coast before turning off at Eyebroughy Beach where the prop memorial is located.  This memorial cairn is dedicated to the 15th Duke of Hamilton, it has a spy hole which perfectly frames the light house on the island of Fidra.  The propeller, from one of the Duke's biplanes, points towards a landmark in Fife which he used for navigation.  Walking back through Archerfield, the 55 million pound uplift makes it's a very different estate from the one of my youth where the highlight of the equestrian calendar was the "pick a fence" cross country.  The Ormiston crochet queen is on it for St Patrick's Day.