Whence these stories?

It had been a long, long, dreary summer, and Algy had often found himself hopelessly lost in the dense Scotch mist which smothered the land and the sea, blown hither and yon by the gales and drenched by the persistent rain, but as the world turned and the wind swung round to the north at last, a bitter squall from the arctic swept down across the ocean and drove all before it as it chased the clinging mists away. And when the wind finally dropped the sun came out and lit up the land in all its autumn glory, and Algy found himself safely at home once more… Tired but happy, he picked a comfortable spot on a bed of drying grasses and fallen leaves, and settled down comfortably in the sunshine to enjoy the unusual luxury of a quiet afternoon’s reading:

Should you ask me, whence these stories?
Whence these legends and traditions,
With the odors of the forest,
With the dew and damp of meadows,
With the curling smoke of wigwams,
With the rushing of great rivers,
With their frequent repetitions,
And their wild reverberations,
As of thunder in the mountains?
I should answer, I should tell you,
“From the forests and the prairies,
From the great lakes of the Northland,
From the land of the Ojibways,
From the land of the Dacotahs,
From the mountains, moors, and fenlands
Where the heron, the Shuh-shuh-gah,
Feeds among the reeds and rushes.

[Algy is reading the famous opening lines from The Song of Hiawatha by the 19th century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]

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Algy reclined on a sunny rock beneath his cliff-side nest and listened to the sounds of the sea, seething and swirling all around him. He could think of no better way to spend a bright summer’s afternoon, and he hoped that the tide would not rise too soon…

Algy sends you all lots of fluffy seaside hugs, and this picture postcard from his stay-at-home vacation on the wild west coast of Scotland. He hopes you are enjoying a happy and peaceful Sunday xoxo

Algy has his very own rock garden, just a stone’s throw from his
nest. It lies between the cliff face and the sea, and it’s full of
flowers and low shrubby bushes which grow all higgledy-piggledy among
the rocks. It is not much to look at in the cold, dark months, when the Atlantic storms batter the
coast, but in the late summer and very early
autumn it is in its glory, with beautiful ling and bell heather to
tempt the bees and other insects with the fragrance of honey, and many
late-flowering wildflowers, most of them in shades of purple or
creamy-white. Green mosses and ferns grow in the deep, dank hollows
between the rocks, and along the concealed burn which runs down to the
sea there is a large swathe of aromatic bog myrtle. It’s a beautiful
spot, and if the weather should happen to be fine, Algy spends many
happy hours among the flowers in his garden, inhaling the fragrance and
admiring the view.

Algy wishes you all a happy Sunday afternoon and evening  xoxo

The wind was straight from the north and bitingly cold, but the colours on the sea were beautiful. So Algy tucked himself down into a soft patch of seaweed in the most sheltered spot he could find, and fluffed up his feathers as best he could in such a damp and sticky situation. He had decided to while away the chilly Sunday afternoon just watching the play of light on the water.

Algy hopes that you have all been whiling away your Sunday afternoons in a similarly happy and carefree way 🙂

The woodlands bordered the loch, and in some places the ground dropped away steeply towards the water. Algy found himself a new perch in a twisted oak tree at the top of a slope, where he could relax and watch the play of light and water through the new spring leaves of the trees lower down the hillside. All around him, the woodland birds were singing their spring songs, and rustling among the leaves and on the mossy ground below as they went about their business. It was a lovely spot in which to while away a Sunday afternoon, and Algy hopes that you too will find such a beautiful spot in which to relax and rest :))

Algy retreated to a higher spot, and found a nice wee sun trap between two mounds of rock. The perfect place for a Sunday afternoon rest – at least until the tide sweeps in! Sea shells were scattered across the pale sand around him, in patterns created by the previous ebb. Algy just loves the way that these patterns constantly shift with every new tide. The beach really is never the same twice.

Algy hopes that you all have a wonderful, lazy Sunday afternoon 🙂