Path Work - Glen Dee, Glen Derry, Lairig an Laoigh, Gledie Burn & Beinn a' Bhúird

The weather has definitely changed for this week then from the last few and much more in line with the type of weather I am used to working in in Scotland.  We're still in Mar Lodge, but we have moved around the estate a little bit more.

The first day was in Glen Dee on the path that takes you to Glen Geusachan.  There are a number of stone drains across the path and there was an issue with erosion on the outer side of the drain and moving the splash stone.  It took us a while to find the stones for this as there was definitely few and far between, but we managed to protect the sides of the drain and reset the splash point.

On the way back we did get to have a quick look at the Chest of Dee, definitely looks like a good swimming location should the weather get nicer and we have time. A girl can dream. 😏

The next couple of days was spent on the Mar Lodge side of the Lairig an Laoigh path.  The start was spent with me clearing the drainage feature from the top of this path to the location we were working on. Then we found a section that had some issues of water erosion which meant there was also no surfacing and a lot of rubble making it much more difficult to walk on.  I added some step rises to the path, added cobble to raise, harden and stabilise the sections before adding the surfacing.  Our burrow pit ended up being a bit away from the path and over quite a bit of heather, so a really good leg work out for the day.  My colleague also worked on a section of the path that needed a revetment to help stop the water flowing on the path.

The last couple of days of the first week was spent by the Derry Dam bridge on a section of the path that gets used a lot but which is a little bit eroded.  We picked this section because the weather for these couple of days was meant to be particularly bad and one was very, very windy with a lot of rain, which definitely made work more interesting.

The next week was spent clearing a lot of vegetation which had grown and spread so much that it was now blocking the flow of water away from path on the west path on Glen Dee.  We also cleared the drains on the path on Gledie Burn (which takes you to Glenfiddich) and Beinn a' Bhúird.  It was a little back breaking after a while, but should get easier as I get stronger.

Beinn a' Bhúird was particularly beautiful with an amazing sky which looked almost unreal.  This is definitely a beautiful, relatively easy path, and well worth a walk.

As usual we got to see a variety of wildlife which is always great and I'm trying to learn as much as I can.

Mini Film Review: A Plastic Ocean

This movie follows journalist and filmmaker Craig Leeson (who also directs this film) and world record free-diver Tanya Streeter as they travel around the world looking at the impact of plastic found in our oceans.  It starts with Craig Leeson first seeing large amounts of plastic in the ocean when filming a documentary on blue whales and then looks at why and how it gets to the ocean, the effects it is having on the marine ecosystem, and the effects it is having on us.

I was aware of the issue of plastic in our oceans and on us before watching this film, but this was a real eye opener as to just how bad it actually is.  Visually seeing the amount of plastic in the ocean and the direct affect it has on the ocean's wildlife has much more of an impact then just reading about it.  The most difficult part for me was watching how plastic floating in the ocean affects seabird chicks, it's not an easy watch at all.  I think for many people the biggest impact will be finding out the how the plastic is getting from the ocean and into us, and how we are ingesting chemicals from plastic when we consume food and drink kept in plastic packaging.

Seeing as this movie was made in 2016 I do find it a little bit disturbing that so little has been done in the intervening year and that, as a society, we're only looking at reducing our plastic rubbish now.  This has definitely been an extra incentive to reduce my plastic consumption and a reminder that we can play a part in every aspect of our lives.  Every time I think of getting something in plastic I will think about those poor chicks.

Path Work - Coire Etchachan & Lairig Ghru

For these last two weeks we have mainly been working on Coire Etchachan, a beautiful but steep path up from the Hutchison Memorial Hut to Loch Etchachan which is just over 2 hour walk from Derry Lodge.

In the first week we started work about three quarters up the path by adding some step rises and some stone pitching.  We didn't get to finish the work that week, but did finish it this week.  I worked on the step rises, which was put in to help reduce the steepness of the path and hold the surfacing in place.

The next day we went back to the work we started on the Lairig Ghru and finished removing the stones which was causing people to walk around increasing the size of the path.  As well as adding the additional step rises there and tidying up the area (I've added the before photo here as well).  After this we cleaned out the rest of the drainage features on this path.

The last day of that week was spent on the path that goes through Robbers Copse.  The major work was done on a large stone that was causing people to walk off the path and erode the vegetation on the side.  The path had also been eroded enough that the roots were showing.  We moved the stone and added some surfacing so help protect the roots.

Next week was pretty much spent on Coire Etchachan.  We cleared the drainage features on this path and did some additional work to help make the path more stable and walkable.  This included adding some additional treads to a waterbar to hold back the surfacing that was running into the bar with the water.

There were also some steps where the erosion of the path below the stone had made these particular high and difficult to use.  We reduced the height be adding an additional step rise infront of the previous stone and adding additional surfacing, as wellness landscaping the area.

On the last day we did some work on one of the paths through Glen Derry.  I completely forgot to take my phone and so I have no actual photos (complete fail there, total fail George).  Some of the drains beside the paths had become blocked which was causing the water to run onto the path, even in this weather.  So the day was spent digging out the ditches so that they were functioning again.

And that's it.  Definitely a lot of walking this week and another two weeks of beautiful blue skies and lots of sun.  We tried to take one of our breaks at the Hutchison Memorial Hut to get us out of the sun for a least a short period of time and it was definitely a welcome break.

Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products

So it's June already, hasn't this year gone fast.  I thought using up the products would slow down but I've actually managed to use up two products this month. Go me. 😁

Let's start with the Neutrogena anti-aging hand cream.  I didn't think I was going to use this up this quickly, but the amount of sun we've been having this month and the fact I have been outside all day long has meant that there has been a lot of reapplying.  Having the extra moisture of this with the SPF has been great, but as Neutrogena is not cruelty free and there are other options I won't be getting this product again.  I've also reached my goal of having only one hand cream now.

The next item was the Pacifica roll-on perfume in Island Vanilla.  The more I used this the more product the ball released at each application (hopefully that makes sense), so I used proportionally more of it each time.  I do like the smell, but I don't like the roller ball application and the scent doesn't last so I wouldn't buy this product again.  However Pacifica is a cruelty free company so I will try other products of theirs.

Whilst I haven't finished the Burt’s Bees hand salve I have used a lot of this over the last month.  My work does dry my hands a fair bit so they do need moisture at night and, at the moment, this is what I'm using.  I think it'll be gone by next month.

And now for the other products.  Barbara Day eye primer is still plodding along nicely.  I can actually see into the tube now and there's a fair amount gone - yay, finally!  It will still be a long time before this is finished and will probably last all through 2018.  I don't know if the product has started to deteriorate or if it's a change in the face products I'm using or heat, but the eye shadows are definitely not staying on as long as they used to.

The NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale has gone down a little, but as I don't use it a lot as it only goes on my undereyes I'm not expecting it to be a fast mover.  It does help hide the darkness under my eyes, but possibly not as much as I would like.

The Living Nature eye liner in Midnight is moving along in the same steady fashion.  It is going a little faster now that I am also using it in in my lower lash line, but there is no way I'm going to use this up by the end of the year.  Not unless I start eating it.

I've only photographed the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Rose here as that's the only one I've really been wearing this month.  I have been putting the Gosh lipstick in Plum on my cheeks just not enough to make any difference to the length of it.  I'm going to really concentrate on the Rose lipstick this month (this should be especially easy as I'm off for a week this month) and hopefully get it almost finished.

I have actually been remembering to use the Argan Oil hair treatment this time, but you only need one pump each time so it is definitely a slow mover.  I think this will be one that lasts for a few years, unfortunately.  It does make !y hair very soft so I guess that's not a bad thing.

The last two products are not part of my project use up but which I am no longer using and decided to just get rid of.  The first is the travel sized Superdrug nail polish remover.  This works very well and I had almost finished it, but as I no longer have any nail polish to remove it seems pointless to keep it.  The other is the Barry M Iron Mani nail hardener.  I had thought that I would carry on using this even after I had stopped using nail polish.  However, in the end I haven't used it at all and my nails are doing fine without it.  So it's going, which is a shame as I haven't used that much of it.

My progress so far:

• Project Use Up 2018
• Project Use Up Update #1 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #2 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #3 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #4