Path Work - Quoich Water, Loch Brandy, Glas Allt & Jock's Road

So my maintenance contract has come to an end for this year.  It's a sad moment as I've enjoyed most of it, but the season is now over and we're not sure what next year will bring in this area (mainly due to funding and things like Brexit).  Due to the end of season I only have two weeks to write about.

We finally finished the work on the Quoich Water path on Mar Lodge Estate that, I have to admit, was beginning to drag on a little even for my enthusiasm for being outside.  So that is a whole lot of area trimmed, dug to form a tray and then filled with cobble and surfacing, along with some landscaping on the old path and some stone work to help cross a stream.  It took a while but it quite stable now and, river erosion permitting, should last a few years.

Then I went on a weeks holiday whilst my colleagues carried on working on path maintenance.

The last week was mainly spent on the Balmoral Estate and boy was the weather different from the heat and sun we had been used to over this summer.  A lot of wind, a lot of fog, and a lot of rain.  Damp right through to your bones rain.

On the first day I headed up the Loch Brandy path and up The Snub to clear out the water bars and cross drains, and do some landscaping on some of the braids that had begone to more on the sides of the path.  

There were some issues with water erosion on the path, but hopefully, now that the drains are clear, that should be reduced for the coming year at least.

Next was Glas Allt.  I didn't get too many pictures on this one as the weather was so bad I was worried by phone would get wrecked by it.  First stop was clearing the silt traps at the top of the path.  These do a very good job at collecting any surfacing that washes off the path into the drains, stopping it from disappearing down the side of the hill.  Such a good job in fact that it took us quite a bit longer then expected to empty them all, but at least the paths look well surfaced again.

After that we spent time at the bottom of the path to deal with some really obvious and bad erosion caused by footfall and the amount of water that comes down this section.  It meant adding some step rises, doubling up the water bars, and landscaping some of the worst eroded sides of the path to hold the ground in place.  No easy feat seeing as there weren't too many stones easily available in this area.  But hopefully this will help fold the path in place from now on and help protect the path further down as well.  Despite the rain this was actually one of the most satisfying sections we have done because of the erosion issue. 

The last day was spent in what is my favourite Glen of them all, Glen Doll.  We were working on this side of Jock's Road, from the shelter beside The Lunkard down.  As before this was mainly about clearing out the drainage systems, but some step rises were need in certain areas as well and these were added.  

This really was the best place to end our maintenance season as, even in bad weather, this Glen is absolutely stunning and what I instantly think of when I'm thinking about the Cairngorms.  We even got to listen to the stags roaring as rutting season has begun.  

The IPCC Report 2018

During 2016 Paris climate talks the policymakers commissioned the UN Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) to provide a 'Special Report' on the impact that a global warming of 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels would have and this was published last week.  As always, it is quite a dry report, but fall of important information about where we are so far and how it looks for the future (and you do get used to the style pretty quickly).

So here are some of what I think are the key points:

• Human activities has caused an estimated warming of around 1.0℃ above pre-industrial levels, ranging from 0.8℃ to 1.2℃ and in keeping with estimated rises for this period.  At the current rate we expect the temperature to rise to 1.5℃ between 2030 and 2052.
• Warming from human activity from the pre-industrial period until present will continue for at least millennia and carry on affecting our climate, but are unlikely to cause the rise in temperature to 1.5℃ on their own if we are able to reach and maintain 'net-zero global anthropogenic CO2 emissions'.  However, in the future negative emissions in the future may be required in the future to prevent an increase in further warming due to earth systems feedback, to reduce sea level rise and sea acidification.
• The impact on natural and human systems will be greater at 1.5℃ then it is at 1.0℃, and greater at 2.0℃ then it is at 1.5℃.  This is quite an obvious statement, but these are some of the examples of how different:
• Keeping global warming at 1.5℃ rather than 2.0℃ may reduce the number of people exposed to climate induced water stress by 50%.
• Sea level rise will be 0.1m less in 1.5℃ global warming then 2.0℃ putting an estimated 10 million less people at risk and reducing the loss of coastal habitats.
• The loss of coral reefs at 2.0℃, at greater then 99%, is higher then at 1.5℃, at 70% to 90% (though, to be fair, both are pretty bad).
• A sea-ice-free summer Arctic Ocean is likely to occur once every century at 1.5℃ but once every decade at 2.0℃.
• The increased impact of climate change on the oceans will affect our fishing industries with one model showing projected decrease in global annual catch of 1.5 million tonnes for an increase of 1.5℃, but a decrease of 3.0 million tonnes for 2.0℃ of global warming.
• Poverty and disadvantages are expected to increase in some populations, especially in those that rely on agricultural and coastal livelihoods, but by limiting temperature rise to 1.5℃ rather than 2.0℃ reduces the number of people exposed to this risk by several hundred million by 2050.
• The current targets set by nations at the Paris Agreement are not enough to limit global warming to 1.5℃.  For this to happen carbon emissions need to start falling well before 2030.
• We will need to cut our emissions by about 45% by 2030, reducing it to zero by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5℃.  For a global warming in 2.0℃ that would be a reduction in our emissions of about 20% by 2030 and zero by 2075.  To limit global warming to 1.5℃ we will need to make 'rapid and far-reaching' changes to energy systems (with renewable energy supplying 70-85% of our energy and coals 0%), land systems (converting land for feed-crops to energy-crops and reforestation), and urban and infrastructure systems (low energy public transport), as well as industrial systems (such as carbon capture and the use of sustainable bio-based feedstocks).
• From the four pathways IPCC mapped out to achieve the 1.5℃ only increase in global warming (showing different combinations of land use and technological change) reforestation, adoption of carbon capture technology, changes to electric transportation, and significant changes to our behaviour were shown to be essential in all of them.
• If done properly, these changes could not only reduce climate change to 1.5℃ but also help sustainable development and help reduce poverty overall (I did find this repeated statement quite interesting as it removes the planet vs human argument people like to have as an excuse not to do anything).
• They admit that there is a knowledge gap and insufficient data to calculate the true cost of 'climate-resilient investments', but have estimated that reaching the 1.5℃  target may cost three to four times as much as the 2.0℃  targets.  However, adaptation costs will be far higher in the 2.0 global warming scenarios and far outweigh the cost of doing nothing.

'Needless to say the response to the IPCC 2018 Report by the world's governments has been overwhelming' is unfortunately not a statement I'm going to be making.  Instead it was the business as usual reaction with statements of 'this is terrible' but no actual changes implemented and even some governments stating it has nothing to do with humans (you know who they are, I'm not going to mention them here).  And what has the UK Government done?  Sent a letter to our Committee on Climate Change (CCC) asking for advise on if further action is needed to meet the Paris Agreement of 2016.  Way to go at really grabbing the climate bull by the horns, it's not like it's extinction threatening or anything.  

I have to admit I was hoping for something a bit more urgent on the subject, but I'm not surprised by the response.  This is one subject that's always put on the back burning whilst they deal with something 'more important'.  However, we've been given only 12 years to reduce out carbon emissions by 45% and the report has made it clear that the 1.5℃ rise in temperature isn't just going to be bad for island communities, but for everyone.  '2.0℃ because we're not a tiny island' just isn't going to cut it.  More than anything this report reminds me that it's really important that I take action myself.  Whilst the governments need to step up and play their part (and we really need to start putting the pressure on them to do so), how I live my life also has an impact and by living more sustainably in all areas of my life I can be a part of the process that helps steer us to the 1.5℃ only rise in global temperature.  Relying on others to do it all just isn't going to cut it. 

Goals 2018 Update #3

So, we've now finished the third quarter of the year and I have to admit that this quarter has definitely not been as good as the last.  Let's just jump right into it.

Minimising

This is the one area which has been successful.  I have finished going through and decluttering what I have left at my parents house (though I haven't been able to bring the last of the items back with me) and I have been using up my beauty and toiletries products.  I've also carried on getting rid of items that I've just not been using and I really can't see myself using in the future.  Also, once I've read a book, watched a movie, or am no longer into a CD I'm just donating those as well.  I have brought a few products this month, mainly storage items, but these have been items that I've thought about a lot before purchasing and this had a specific purpose in mind.  

For the last quarter I'll just keep doing the same as before - working on my project use up and getting rid of items I no longer use or want.

Healthy Eating

Well this area has been a complete disaster.  Not only have I not done a very good at going vegan, I've actually gone backwards on the sugar front which has also led me to eating some gluten with bloating, skin itching consequences.  Finding items that are both gluten free and vegan has also been a bit of a struggle.  Basically my excuse is that I've been stressed about some things in my personal life and it has led to me to eating sugary things, which then set off the little sugar addition I have, which led to the fall down the sugar rabbit hole.  It's really not a good reason for allowing myself to get back on the sugar roller coaster and there are much healthier ways to deal with issues which I need to start implementing again.  On the plus side, I have been making much more of my meals from scratch with almost no processed foods during the week (and these meals are meals that have been made for me), it's what I've been taking in between meals that has been the problem.

So the goal for the last quarter is to get myself back off the sugar and the gluten, and back to a healthier less allergy based diet.  This is going to be a little bit of a struggle and I'm expecting to have sugar gremlins dancing in my brain, but this is important to my general well-being and to reduce the allergies I have reducing my need to take antihistamines.  Once I've managed this I'll get back onto moving to a more vegan diet (something that should probably coincide with getting off sugar as most of my meals are vegan and most of my 'treats' not).

Finances

This one has been a mixed goal on the success front.  I've been keeping to budgeting, learning more about my spending habits and where I need to improve, but still keeping within my budget total whilst putting money into my pension and savings.  One thing I haven't been able to do with find a sideline I could do to add to my income stream.   This will need to be something that requires the equivalent of one work day hours, but I'm struggling to find something that would fit with the skills I have and don't have.  I'm going to keep looking but if anyone has any ideas please let me know.  

The goals for this last quarter will be to really get to grips with my budget, carry on reducing my spending (which fits with minimising my things), and keep looking for a sideline to do.  I'll also need to look for a winter job as path work reduces over this time of the year.  It might be that I'll be going for an admin job, but we'll see how that goes.  Obviously I'd prefer an outdoor job, but that might not be a possibility.

There is an additional goal I have managed to complete this year that was a long running goal I had kept ignoring, and that was to get my will written.  It's not that I'm particularly afraid of death or worried that writing a will would somehow jinx myself, it's just that it wasn't high on my priority of things to do.  I also don't have a large amount of stuff so it seemed a bit pointless, but I decided to get stop being silly and just get it done, especially as I do have some family heirlooms that would need to be passed on.  I'll be signing it this month and can now cross this off my running to dos.

To say that some of the goals this quarter were a bit of a flop would be an understatement, but rather then just use this as an excuse to let myself slide back into being unhealthy I'm going to use this as an opportunity to learn a little bit more about myself and improve.  I'm getting back on that wagon and will hopefully build some safety rails to stop myself falling off again.  

I hope that you've had a successful goal achieving time this quarter and, if not, I hope that you've learnt something new about yourself and why you might not have got as far as you had hoped.  Three more months to go now, time to buckle down and get it done. 😀

Project Use Up Update #9

This month has seen the same slow steady use up with nothing actually finished as last month.  There has been some good progress in some of the products, mainly the lipsticks, but I think it'll still be a couple of months before anything actually goes.

As before we'll start with the Barbara Day Even Smoother eye primer in Vanilla.  I'm using this every time I wear make up, but again, there's no obvious change from the outside.  I am tempted to actually remove this product from the tube to give me a better idea of how this is doing, I just need to find a container.

You can see how much of the Argan Oil hair treatment has gone, but the progress here is probably just as slow as the eye primer.  As before, I use this every time I wash my hair (about twice a week) so the progress is slow but steady.

I have finally been able to reach the edge of the NYX Dark Circle Concealer Corrector in Light / Pale and will now start increasing the size of this.  I don't think I'll be able to finish this by the end of the year, but I am now on the final run and don't think it'll be long before I need to buy a new concealer.  Do you have any recommendations on more natural concealers worth spending the money on?

I've been using the Living Nature eye liner in Midnight a little bit more by slightly changing the style of my make up.  This has meant that my progress has been a bit better this month then last.  It's still going to be roughly another six months before this is gone, but at least I've worked out how to get through it quicker.

My lipsticks is definitely the area where I've seen the most progress, probably because I've had a week off where I could wear makeup almost every day.  I made sure that I wore the MUA lipstick in Raven as least a couple of times during the week to really work on getting through this one.  There is a possibility that this will be gone by the end of October, but it will need some extra work on that.  The other lipstick I've been concentrating on is the Gosh Velvet lipstick in Matte Rose.  This is a really nice, easy lipstick wear, but it's matte properties does mean that it stays on longer then other lipsticks and, therefore, takes a little longer to get through.

And that's it.  Not a particularly long blog this time, but there is definitely the usual lull in progress you normally get in a project pan around this time of year.  I'm aiming to definitely finish the lipsticks by the end of the year, but I think expecting the other items to be finished is probably a bit unrealistic.

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 
• Project Use Up Update #5 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #6 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #7 and Other Products
• Project Use Up Update #8 and Other Products