"There Are Bad Times Just Around The Corner" by Noel Coward

I listen to Sarah Kennedy on Radio 2 every morning as I wake up.

This morning I heard this song being played having been written and sung by Noel Coward. She said that it was probably very apt at the moment with all the flooding around the country and everyone in despair.

Seems very apt with all this bad wet weather!

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Extracts from Noel Coward's song written at the begining of WW2 in 1940.

They're out of sorts in Sunderland

And terribly cross in Kent

They're down in Hull

And the isle of Mull

Is seething with discontent

They're nervous in northumberland
And Devon is down the drain

They're filled with wrath on Firth of Forth

And sullen on Salisbury plain

In Dublin they're depressed lads

Maybe because they're Celts
For drake is hurrying West, lads

And so is everyone else

Hurray! Hurray! Hurray!

Misery is here to stay

There are bad times just around the corner
There are dark clouds hurtling through the sky
And it's no good whining

About a silver lining

For we know from experience they won't roll by

With a scowl and a frown we'll keep our peckers down

And prepare for depression and doom and dread

We're going to unpack our troubles from our old kit bag

And wait until we drop down dead

There are bad times just around the corner
And the outlook's absolutely vile

There are home fires smoking from Windermere to Woking

And we're not going to tighten our belt and

Smile Smile Smile

At the sound of shots

We'd just as soon as not

Get a hot water bottle and go to bed

We're going to unpack our troubles from our old kit bag

And wait until we drop down deadI like your story

Land of Hope and Glory

Wait until we drop down dead

"Get Off Of My Cloud" by The Rolling Stones

Another good walk on Tuesday to Mount Keen with John W.

Mount Keen @ 939m is the most easterly Munro in Scotland (A Munro being the name given to hills in Scotland over 914.4 m there being a total of 284). The assent we took was from the end of Glenesk where there is a car park. The initial approach is up Glen Mark for 3.5km to the Queens Well, a granite imperial crown which sits on top of a natural spring bubbling out of the ground and marks the spot where Queen Victoria and her entourage stopped for a picnic on one of their jaunts over the hills from Balmoral in September 1861.

Then we headed on a track up the narrow glen of the Ladder Burn to 670m and then by a path which leads towards the summit, a distance of 9kilometres, 680m ascent.

When we arrived at the top it was covered by cloud and a chilly, high wind was blowing so we sheltered among boulders to have our lunch of oatcakes, cheese, apples and an orange. The cloud lifted a bit to let us take some photos that you see here. John has stitched some photos together to make a few panorama views. - thanks, John

Having a laugh and lunch at the top and it was a "silly hat" kind of day too!

(but it does keep you warm)

"Almost There" by Andy Williams

Click on the photo to see a larger image that you can read.

John and I completed the seaward section of the Speyside Way last week. We walked 10 miles from Fochabers to Buckie. A nice walk in a beautiful Country. See my updated photos - CLICK HERE.

Now we only have to complete the top section from Aviemore to Nethy Bridge and plan to do that in late autumn. There is also a spur from Tomintoul to Ballindalloch that we will plan in the future.

"Song To A Seagull" by Joni Mitchell

I saw this in our local paper this morning and thought that the press may find it good enough to print and sure enough it is in Yahoo news tonight and I am sure it will be in some of the major papers tomorrow.


GULL-TY AS CHARGED
12:41 - 20 July 2007 - P & J newspaper
He's becoming the number one tourist attraction in the centre of Aberdeen. Up with the lark from his home near the beach every morning, Sam the Seagull heads down to his local store at the Castlegate to do his shopping. By 7am he's sitting outside the glass doors of RS McColl waiting patiently for the staff to open up. As soon as his way is clear the pesky seagull pops inside, turns first left and tootles across to his favourite breakfast - Doritos. Then he scoops the packet into his beak and hops back outside again without stopping to pay his 50p. Just a few feet outside the shop Sam gets tucked into his crisps.But then the problems start. His lazy mates spot his loot and go in for the attack. Soon they are all gorging Sam's goodies and he's lucky if he gets just one of the delicacies for himself. Shop staff and customers who have seen Sam's shoplifting performance are amazed.Assistant Amanda Parks, 20, from Mastrick said: "It's fantastic to see him. "He was just sitting looking at me outside the glass doors this morning almost pleading with me to open up. "As soon as I did he popped in and snatched the Doritos. Tangy cheese flavour seemed to be his favourite."Then he toddled out again."But that's when the others dived on him. It seems such a shame after he'd done the shopping."Another shop assistant 22-year-old Sriaram Nagarajan said: "We saw him do this once about two weeks ago and thought it was just a one off. "But over the past few days he's become a regular. He always seems to go for the Doritos but maybe that's just because they are on the bottom shelf and they are the easiest for him to get at."

"Sail Away" by David Gray

It was kept secret by the Hudson Bay Company at the time but my Great Uncle was the first person to captain a boat through the Northwest Passage in one season over the top of Canada in 1937.

If you are interested please Click on this LINK to find out more.

"Many Rivers To Cross" by UB40

I knew when I took a look & Photographed this bridge earlier this year that it was something very special and now it seems I am not alone. See article from the Press & Journal inserted below for details. Click here for photos of the Bridge.

ICONIC NORTH-EAST STRUCTURE RECOGNISED
Press & Journal; 08:50 - 04 July 2007
One of the north-east's most iconic structures will be designated as an international civil engineering landmark at a ceremony today. Civil engineers from Britain and the United States will gather at the historic Thomas Telford Bridge which spans the River Spey at Craigellachie to mark the occasion. A plaque will be unveiled on the bridge by members of the Institution of Civil Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers in Telford's honour. The ceremony is part of a programme of events being held during the summer to coincide with the 250th anniversary of his birth. Opened in 1814, the 150ft-span bridge is the oldest surviving example of Telford's prefabricated lozenge-lattice cast-iron arch design. It was cast in sections at an ironworks in north Wales and transported by sea to Speymouth from where it was conveyed to the construction site by horse-drawn wagon. The bridge continued to carry traffic over the Spey until the early 1970s when a new road bridge was built just downstream. The picturesque structure attracts thousands of visitors every year and is one of Moray's most photographed landmarks.Telford was born in the Borders and went on to become one of the greatest civil engineers of his time. Among his most celebrated feats of engineering is the Caledonian Canal.In Moray alone he was responsible not only for the Craigellachie Bridge but also the original Spey Bridge at Fochabers, Burghead harbour, the Spynie Canal, Cullen pier and Tomintoul Church. Later this year it is planned to create a Thomas Telford Trail linking all of Telford's surviving construction projects in Moray.