February 2025

14th

Out for a walk today, along Alewater.

A middle-aged woman (Leonie) with blonde hair wearing a knit hat and a grey fleece jacket. She is holding a compact digital camera and is standing on a path next to a field. In the background, there's a small village or collection of houses under a bright, sunny sky. The overall impression is one of a leisurely outdoor excursion, perhaps a casual photography outing in a rural setting.
Tranquil river scene under a partly cloudy sky. The sun is shining brightly, with its light reflecting on the gently flowing water. The river bends gently, creating a small, grassy island or peninsula in the middle. The far bank is lined with bare winter trees, and rolling hills are visible in the background.
A Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo) in flight against a clear blue sky. The bird is centrally positioned and is the sole focus of the image.

This bridge is being...

Panoramic view of an old stone bridge spanning a river. The bridge is partially enclosed by a low stone wall, and a temporary metal fence is partially visible, suggesting ongoing maintenance or repair work. The surrounding landscape is largely flat farmland, with bare winter trees lining the riverbank. The sky is partly cloudy with bright sunshine.
Panoramic view of an old stone bridge over a waterway. A metal staircase leads up to the bridge from the right. On the right of the stairs, a small informational sign is visible, and to the left, the bridge spans over what appears to be a dry or low water level. The area is overgrown with vegetation, and a field stretches in the background. The sky is partly cloudy.

Repaired by the council.

Leonie standing at the top of a metal staircase that descends towards a small stream. The stairs are rusty and appear somewhat old and worn, and are bordered by a black handrail. The surrounding area is overgrown with grass and vegetation. A portion of Leonie's patterned skirt is visible at the bottom of the frame. To the left, there's a weathered stone wall and a wooden post with a small sign. The overall impression is one of a rustic, perhaps somewhat secluded, outdoor location.

Snowdrops have bloomed in Ancrum Wood.

Woodland floor carpeted with snowdrops, small white flowers blooming amongst fallen leaves and twigs. The background is a dense stand of leafless trees, suggesting it's likely winter or early spring. A large tree trunk dominates the foreground. The overall impression is one of quiet natural beauty in a temperate deciduous forest.

Since resettling in the Scottish Borders my health began failing me, maybe it's I've lived this world hard, for over half a century!

This website, to this day has 9,926 items, totalling 3.9 GB.

13th

Fan on my Optiplex 3070 micro is spinning hour after hour at max speed, making the air in my living room smell of circuit board.

Disassembled components of a small form factor computer. The parts are spread out on a dark wooden surface. Visible components include: a motherboard, a solid-state drive (SSD) labelled Samsung 1TB 870 QVO a cooling fan assembly, and what appears to be a screen or display panel. The overall impression is one of repair or upgrade work in progress. There's no overt emotional expression or narrative, the image is purely descriptive of disassembled computer hardware. The moral is neutral; it simply documents a technical process.

Humming is extremely irritating, I've cleaned the inside of the computer, maybe I need to repaste the heat sink, or replace the fan.

11th

Cooked Charlie a steak pie.

Baked pie with a pastry top designed to look like a tractor. The tractor design is formed using pieces of pastry to create the body, wheels, and even small details. The pie crust is golden brown and appears to be baked to a crisp.

Pleased with the pastry.

9th

Doing housework today, white snowdrops, our first flowers of the year have appeared through our lawn in the front garden at Woodburn Farmhouse.

Cluster of snowdrops ( Galanthus ) in bloom, growing in a patch of grass. The snowdrops are in the foreground, and in the background, a partly visible dark-coloured pickup truck can be seen parked near a wooden fence and gate. The overall impression is one of early spring in a rural setting, with the snowdrops suggesting the arrival of warmer weather. The raindrops on the snowdrops hint at recent precipitation.
A rustic, whitewashed cottage with a green bay window. In the foreground, an old, weathered plow rests on a lawn dotted with snowdrops. The scene suggests a quiet, perhaps rural, setting. The juxtaposition of the antiquated plough with the more modern house and the delicate snowdrops creates a sense of time passing and the enduring beauty of nature.

Remembering last year, a woman in Borthwick valley posted a picture of her white snowdrops shaped into the word "black"; such a weird statement.