back to school ...

Now I know how a pupil feels in a classroom when they are finding the work difficult. Tonight was my first ever bass guitar lesson and I've been getting more and more nervous all week. Two weeks ago I bought a bass, probably inspired by (the beautiful Gemma Evans from) The Answering Machine, although to be honest I've always listened to the bass line in songs for years. In the late 70s one of my favourite bands was Magazine with the mighty Barry Adamson on bass . To use a terrible phrase, he was "awesome". Have a listen to "A song from under the floorboards". My favourite gig of all time was Magazine supported by Simple Minds at Clouds in Edinburgh. I also got into reggae about the same time and saw lots of Jamaican bands that were very popular courtesy of John Peel and the punk movement.

Back to tonight. After some subtle questioning of pupils I managed to get the name of a bass teacher who actually lives very close to Alford - Chris Paterson. I've arranged weekly lessons and at £16 per week I'd better improve quickly if I want early retirement. The half hour really flew by and I came away with the tabs for "Chasing Cars" by Snow Patrol. Chris has a very reassuring manner and I'm hoping for good things.

Tomorrow it's off to Stonehaven to buy a gig bag to keep the rain off my shiny bass. Surprisingly, Ma Simpson's shop is just about the cheapest on the internet. Hopefully I'll get a short walk near Dunnottar if it's not too wet.

joy and pain

... but mostly pain. This was a reminder of why I prefer to walk in the valleys rather than on the tops. Woke up to lovely blue skies so it was a quick breakfast and then off to Glen Buchat hoping to find a possible wild camp location. The car was parked by 1030 hours and I was soon on the move. I decided to go up the landrover track after it became clear that the path marked on the map resembled a boggy burn. Unfortunately for me, the landrover track went straight up the hill and I needed several stops to admire the view (or get my breath back!).

Once on the top near Meikle Firbriggs the going was much easier as I followed a flat track beside a new electrified fence. The weather looked quite sunny and clear towards the coasts north and east but there were big grey clouds rolling in from the south. They quickly obscured the sun and made for flat photos.

Once at the top of Creag an Sgor I took a few photos and tried to find a wild camp spot (for future reference) but the ground was very wet and boggy on the slopes and the plateau was mainly rock so it looks like wild camping is out for this hill.

On the way down I decided to try the boggy diagonal path and was glad that I hadn't used it for my ascent. It was obvious that the man-made path was acting as a channel for water and it was awkward walking beside the path through the heather and stones.

Passed some lovely juniper bushes near the bottom and scared lots of grouse throughout the walk. Once off the hill I passed a very intact lime kiln near Whitehillock Farm but it was surrounded by more electric fencing so I could not get near enough for a good photo.

It turned out to be an enjoyable walk on the whole but I'm not really a fan of struggling up slopes without the aid of an oxygen tank! No doubt my hillwalking buddies will be laughing at my fitness level but old age doesn't come itself.

Photos now uploaded to flickr and I'm now enjoying a beer while half-watching Scotland getting thrashed by New Zealand at rugby. Let's hope Atletico Madrid win later on. And no, I'm not watching either Strictly or X-Factor ...

btw apologies to Maze for nicking their song title "joy and pain".