Some minor set backs.

I’ve been having such a good time I suppose it was to be expected that my luck would even out at some point.  So, after a reboot, my laptop informed my that it was suffering from a “fatal system error”.  It was pretty blunt about it, no other hints at what the problem might be, and no room for maneuver.

I’m fairly sure the hard drive had some bad blocks on it, but this was disappointing.  And I don’t have the tools on me to test the hard drive, etc to narrow down the problem.  So at the moment I’m having to rely on the very charitable IT folks at Findhorn to find out what I can recover.

In the mean time I can continue to let you know what I’m up to, but it might not look as pretty.  I’m currently doing a spot more work in the TFL office, and, since Jane’s move to Dundreggan, staying in my van.  The weather is slightly contrary to what I’d consider ideal.  In the daytime the sun is out, the birds sing, spring is in the air, there is a hint of warmth.  The park looks lovely while I sit in the TFL office browsing the net for a new laptop.  At night the stars come out, the sky is clear, and the temperature falls beyond freezing.  This morning I found it most difficult to extract myself from my two sleeping bags.  I then had to scrape the ice from the inside of the windows to see the ice on the outside of the windows.

The cold weather seems to be affecting some of my other ‘toys’.  The van roof only raises after it’s been driven a while, and the flow to the tap inside has failed completely due to ice in the system.  And my mobile now only works after it’s been left on a radiator for an hour in the mornings.  Without this process it will happily ring when someone calls, but none of the buttons work, so the call cannot be taken.

The tree nursery work week that I was supposed to be leading this week was initially postponed, and has now been cancelled.  Apparently it’s not possible to prepare the trees to be shipped out for planting, as they are covered in snow.  However, I do plan to spend some time at the Plodda during the week beginning March 13th, helping Gill out with the work that needs doing, assuming things have thawed out a bit by then.

I have some more pics of Forest Lodge to post at some point, including some of the igloo that Ross and Jordan built.  Hopefully things will be sorted in due course.  To finish on some positives, this morning I saw Shelduck on Findhorn bay when I woke.  The bay looked fantastic, with snowy hills behind it, and all the surrounding pools iced over.  There were also plenty of oystercatcher, curlew, and geese about.  Unfortunately the geese were too far away for me to see what they were, but it’s great to hear them chattering away to each other at night.

Ok, things have now (11th) improved, so I’ve added my last Forest Lodge post, and added some pics below…

Some Shelduck and other waders feeding in the bay on what is a pretty cold morning

This 60 second exposure shot shows the flight path of a plane being flown repeatedly around the airbase, with Forres in the distance