“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Well used, but justifiably so.

LRNY

Beautiful Series Land Rover spotted in New York. See how it stands out from all the mono-shaped, dull looking, homogeneous vehicles parked on the street?
I don’t know who this car belongs to but whoever it is has class and taste.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Campbell

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Edmund Burke

“I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”

Friedrich Nietzsche

Great Days Every Day

That’s my motto for 2010. There’s good to be found everywhere. Where there’s good there’s great. Have a Great Day.

Ben Lomond

Sunday 10th January 2010. Four adventurers decided that a calm, snowy walk would do them the world of good. We chose Ben Lomond to get an easy-ish Munro in at the beginning of the year. The road to Rowardennan was a bit tricky but no real test for Fawlty Basil. Off we set along an extremely icy path, picking our way carefully out onto the hill. We hit the hill and the wind hit us and it only got steadily more steady as we climbed. Meeting like minded climbers (most with crampons and ice-axes) along the way we started the battle against the bruising wind.
See the views here
The higher we got, the harder the wind was, reaching an estimated 50 m.p.h. near the top. We were well prepared in terms of warmth for a good trek and we knew the forecast. The wind was tough but the snow it whipped up from the ground and into our faces was tougher. At points it was hard to walk, the temptation to hit all fours was strong. Leaning in at a 45 degree angle against the wind left us all with aches down one side of our bodies. We made it though against the odds. The whisky in the Oak Tree Inn was smoother and sweeter because of it.

My three layers of Finisterre and two layers of Howies kept me toastie, dry and extremely comfortable without looking like an outdork. It’s great to reach the peak in style!

The Do Lectures

The idea is a simple one. That people who Do things, can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things too. Do visit the site and see how they Do it.
David Hieatt is one of the original founders of Howies clothing company. He is also one of the founders of The Do Lectures and regularly posts inspirational stuff up on the blog. His tone is down to earth and realistic. Like this great piece. Enjoy.
The path of a Doer. Set yourself a goal

Morning Cow

Sometimes an enforced diversion can have beautiful results. A Highland cow wondering where all the grass went. Back roads are better than motorways.

Splutter Cough

Adventures on the way to the coast this morning! I bought 15 litres of vegetable oil from a large supermarket retailer who don’t need publicized on this particular blog to top up the 25 litres of regular diesel I put in the tank last night. The theory is that you should, in winter, be able to run on a 50:50 basis without a problem. In summer the ration can go as high as 70% veg to 30% diesel. I added my 15 litres this morning (works out at around 85p per litre). Started the engine, no problem and a slightly clunky run through traffic which I put down to the freezing cold morning. Pointed Basil’s bonnet southwest onto the motorway and off we go! Well, when I say ‘off we go’ I really mean ‘off-on-slow-speed up we go’. I ended up clunking up the hard shoulder for two junctions like it was a clown car. Came off the motorway to divert to the back road and no sooner had I come off the motorway the engine ran super smooth all the way. The moral of the story is not to store veg oil overnight in a Land Rover in very sub-zero temperatures.

Got some lovely pics on the way though… (see above)

Kuyichi

Kyuchi
You can discuss the ethics of fashion and consumerism all you want, but there are brands out there that make good clothes that are also eco and ethic-conscious. I wholeheartedly believe that if you need to buy, you can buy eco without having to look completely mung-bean. I found two pairs of these jeans in a barn full of ‘discounted-fashion’, the organic cotton label catching my eye first. On first wearing these are bloody good, they look great and I don’t have the sensation of pesticides osmotically creeping through my skin.