A breath of fresh air from Scotland

Welcome to "Man with two dogs" - the family website for dog owners and dog walkers.

This is my countryside diary which appears each Saturday in the Courier & Advertiser newspaper.

Archive for August, 2006

Memory lane

Saturday, August 26th, 2006
Weekly

THIS WEEK’S piece comes from the Borders where the Doyenne and I are visiting son James and his family. They live in a secret, out-of-the-way corner five miles from Peebles. It’s well off the main road, so quite safe for grandchildren to race about in complete freedom. (more…)

Written for Weekly |

Distant views

Saturday, August 19th, 2006
Weekly

FOOD FOR free from the countryside is one of life’s fulfilling experiences. I was picking wild raspberries for a couple of days, which takes rather more effort than popping into the supermarket and lifting a couple of punnets off the shelf. (more…)

Written for Weekly |

Swimming Moles

Saturday, August 12th, 2006
Weekly

IT MUST have been a particularly successful breeding season for buzzards for we are nearly driven demented by their incessant, keening cries round the house. They’re handsome birds to look at, but their whining, repetitive call is quite at odds with their fierce appearance. I can’t think that there’s enough feeding to support them all, so perhaps some will move on simply to survive. (more…)

Written for Weekly |

Harvesting the Salmon

Saturday, August 5th, 2006
Weekly

THE PULLAR family who own and operate the salmon netting station at Usan, just south of Montrose, go out twice a day in their traditional salmon cobles to harvest the salmon from the bag nets, which are set in deep water just off the rocky shore between Fishtown of Usan and Ethiehaven. It’s an ancient method of fishing which has changed little in its essential methods over several centuries, although nets and ropes are now manufactured from polypropylene and other man-made fibres. (more…)

Written for Weekly |