The main body is made out of plywood joined together in a hexagon shape,the sails are made of PVC with aluminium rods attached to stainless steel bar going through the top of the windmill which goes through two bearings.

The sail angles are fully adjustable with grub screws.

Finished article below

These are the pictures of the tomatoes turning red.

Also I am growing cucumbers in my green house. Which are progressing really well too.

Today my wife and i went to Langholm to do some hill walking and we took our faithful friend Ben (Our Dog).

We walked up from the town to the top of Whita Hill to see the Sir John Malcolm monument, it was about a 5 mile walk up and back down the route we used.

Langholm is located 21 miles north of Carlisle, England and 24 miles south of Hawick, on the A7 trunk road. From the south, the town is the gateway to some of the most the spectacular scenery that Southern Scotland has to offer. Rich in history, Langholm was the centre of the Border Reiver insurrections, Scotland’s equivalent of the ‘Wild West’.

Rich in history, Langholm has been the mother to many famous sons, including Thomas Telford, the famous Civil Engineer and the ‘Father of Modern Civil Engineering’, William Julius Mickle, Poet and Author of ‘There’s Nae Luck Aboot The Hoose’, and more recently, Christopher Murray Grieve, who wrote under the pseudonym of Hugh MacDiarmid, Scotland’s greatest poet of modern times, to whom a Memorial (by Sculptor Jake Harvey) was erected on the slopes of Whita Hill in 1988.

It is not generally known that the famous actor, the late James Robertson Justice, was born in the Crown Hotel as a consequence of his mother having to make an emergency break in her journey. Sadly he never claimed any connection with the town.

The town is also the home of the Armstrong Clan and had a visit from Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, who received the freedom of the town.

Industrially, Langholm is prominent in the tweed industry, and is home to such famous names as Reid and Taylor, Arthur Bell Scotch Tweeds, and The Edinburgh Woollen Mill Ltd., which is now part of Grampian Holdings. In a different field, Border Fine Arts is one of the foremost manufacturers of hand painted figurines in the world. Collectively, these companies have been able to secure a high level of employment in the town.

Sir John Malcolm

(May 2, 1769 – 1833) was a Scottish soldier, statesman, and historian, born at Burnfoot, Dumfriesshire on the 2nd of May, 1769.

In 1782 Sir John Malcolm entered the service of the East India Company; and a part of his success is to be ascribed to the zeal with which he applied himself at first to study the manners and languages of the east. Having distinguished himself at the siege of Seringapatam in 1792, he was appointed by Lord Cornwallis to the situation of Persian interpreter to a British force serving with a native prince. In 1795, on his return from a short visit to his native country, on account of his health, he performed some useful services in General Clarke’s expedition at the Cape of Good Hope, for which he received the thanks of the Madras government, and was appointed secretary to the commander-in-chief.

      Views of Langholm from the hill 

    On the way back down ben got to hot and decided to roll in the grass to cool himself down.

We climbed up the hill to very top which is a 1000ft incline, at the top is Loch Skene and it is the only large natural upland loch in the southern uplands outwith Galloway.

Since the last Ice-Age, a huge moraine has held water in the rock basin. It is over 500m above sea level and the stark craigs rise around 300m higher.

The loch remains unpolluted and relatively undisturbed and its shores have a desolate yet tranquil atmosphere. Golden eagles once built on the islet at the south end, but the last one was killed in the 19th century.

Britain’s rarest fish, the vendace, has recently been introduced to Loch Skene as part of a species recovery programme.

Looming over its impressive craigs (Scots for ‘crags’), White Coomb appears distant and remote. A ‘coomb’ is a cleft in the hills. At 821m it is the highest hill in Dumfriesshire and there are extensive views from its table-top. The cairns marking the summit maybe Bronze Age in origin.

The climb up to the top was worthwhile as the Loch was fantastic, even our dog Ben enjoyed the day.

The photos below are of our journey to Grey Mares Tail and our climb to the top and back down.

This is my clematis.

So went out today and purchased new bearings and fitted them.I am now back in action..

The only thing is that my garden is quite big and i have 80/90 metres of hedge and it can be quite a long and arduous task to cut it. Although i must admit a  green hedge looks a lot better in my opinion to a fence.

I hope to be eating my tomatoes by August.

This is the 2nd time that my wife has met her friend, but the first time in Edinburgh.

It was a glorious day and the drive up to Edinburgh was very picturesque.

We arrived in Edinburgh just after 11am and we went to meet my wife’s friend. I had never met her before and i enjoyed meeting her she was very nice.

My wife and daughter went off shopping with her friend and my son and i went in search of something more interesting to do –  no shops for us lol.

We went up The Scott Monument  http://www.rampantscotland.com/visit/blvisitscott.htm. My son and i both got a certificate to say we climbed the 287 steps to the top of the Monument. the view was absolutely stunning.

After the Scott Monument we went to see the Castle http://www.edinburghcastle.biz/

We went to the famous Jimmy Chungs Chinese Buffett restaraunt for our Lunch http://www.jimmychungs.com/locate/loc_edin_waverley.htm

It was delicious and after that we had a walk down to see Waverley train station as my son likes train spotting and he was amazed that there was 20 platforms.

After several hours of wandering around the girls rang to say they had finished shopping. We all  et up again and had a delicious ice cream at Thortons.

It was a fantastic day and my wife and daughter have already arranged another visit to meether friend.

The day was realxing andthe views around and in Edinburgh are stunning. It is such a beautiful City. If you have never been you must arrange a visit  http://www.edinburgh.org/guide/

Here is a selection of the photographs that i took.

The Scott monument

Princess Street From Scott Monument

Edinburgh Castle