Sand Road Truckers...

February is always a cold month here on the coast in East Lothian.
The National TV news says it is the wettest winter ever and news shows severe flooding etc down in the south of England and Wales, and there has been a lot of coastal damage- something we seem to have missed here in SE Scotland.
Yes there is tidal erosion in recent weeks here in East Lothian but it is of sand dunes built up from wind driven sand that has been washed out and deposited elsewhere on our coast and not chunks of coastline disappearing into the sea as shown further south on the east coast. We have been really lucky here in East Lothian this winter so far...

We have been lucky in our county with the weather forecasts too. We have missed most of the heavy rain fore casted this month and there has until today only been a sprinkling of snow on the Lammermuirs.

But ask anyone who works outside on the east coast and they will tell you that damp cold weather feels a lot colder than any ice or snow does, In our Highland Mountains it is the cold damp that kills people with Hypothermia. This year the damp cold air has been really cold here on the coast at sea level.
Been a lot of cold Green keepers like myself who will vouch for this in the last few weeks.
I think this year it has been so cold with a damp feel in the air it really makes you appreciate the warmer days to come, and a warm house to sit in during an evening after a cold damp day outdoors...

I am saving for a wood burning stove with back boiler for my house, but until then will continue to enjoy sitting in front of my open fire-natures TV, i watch my friends who visit with their eyes glued to the whirling and flickering flames that are forever changing-no artificial flame can reproduce that warm atmosphere that a real fire has...

Cycling still goes on through winter for myself whatever the weather, you just have to adapt and ride the right bike for the conditions; from commuting on freebie bikes through the mud and road salt encrusted roads,  to cycling on the clean-mud free coastline on a fatbike-taken to work on the back of the car with the FatBOB Trailer in the boot, and then after work making the most of the increasing hours of daylight and enjoying a beach ride and collecting tidal wood washed up in our River Tyne Estuary at John Muir Park at Dunbar...

A walk through this lot left from the last River Tyne spate in the Estuary finds a lot of seasoned hard wood logs washed down into the bay. Too heavy to carry on foot but ok to transport with a Fatbike and Fat tyre trailer back to the car park...

Probably twice the 4130 cro moly BOB trailers weight limit i continue to be amazed at the strenght of this trailer and the old Pugsley to be able to cycle off of the coast pulling this weight!...

5 loads and 2 hours later were back home with a car load of hardwood Oak and Beach, and also some Scots Pine...

After another electric chainsaw massacre...

And split with `Old Faithful`, my dads Hickory shafted axe he gave me along with a small Kindling axe-both he bought over 45 years ago!...

Already seasoned this lot will be dry enough in a week to burn on the fire...

Free coastal heating...Fun to collect, exercise to spilt... enjoyment to sit in front of with a nice cider after a day working outside in the damp cold...