New made to measure trous

Aboyne Mid Deeside, originally uploaded by ecotorch.

First outing for my new Cabrach ventile 'made to measure' walking trousers from Hilltrek.co.uk this afternoon. A cold and high wind chill day and I am please to say the new trous kept out the wind. A wee bit of powder snow around and that sometimes blew up my legs, maybe an inner elastic finish in future designs? This is my first ventile material product. I like the feel of the finish, felt like I had been wearing the trousers for months. My last pair of hiking trousers were more high tech and involved washing them to keep them waterproof, while yet to see these trousers in the wet the work in a more natural way, the fibres expand thus preventing the water from getting to you. This appeals to the eco in me, sort of fits in with the natural environment I like to be part of. So, bring on the rain through it looks like it will be more snow. . .

Huntly Castle

Huntly, originally uploaded by ecotorch.

From my limited history, this was the seat of the Gordon Clan, the so called 'Cock of the North'. The castle now in ruins the current head of the Gordon, The Marquis of Huntly resides at Aboyne Castle, Deeside. But how did that switch of homes come about?

Scotland - England - Wales - Scotland

I made my first ever visit to Wales last weekend, friends wedding took me there. What a great place, when I first found out where I was going I looking up their website and when I saw a picture of the scenery I commented, looks like home from home. And so it proved to be, we arrived in darkness that hide Wales but when I woke up, the Valley shone bright and I even managed to scale a local hill that opened up the whole of the Brecon area.



I then crossed the border to England before heading home to Aberdeenshire.

Measuring guide

Following on from my last post on my made to measure trousers I am getting made by my local outdoor clothing manufacturer Hilltrek. I am lucky in that I am a 10 minute walk from their store but I did use their website to place the order. Their website has a form to input your personalized measurements on and this comes with instructions on taking those sizes but nothing beats learning from doing, so I volunteered myself as a 'model' in a video entitled, The HILLTREK Made to Measure Guide. Hopefully this will make it clearer and easier for inputting those personalized measurements.

hilltrek - made to measure hiking trousers

I started the process of buying a new pair of hiking trousers today from Hilltrek, the local outdoor manufacturer and retailer in Aboyne.



The specific trouser is the Cabrach Ventile® Trousers - Double - Made to Measure . My last pair were purchased from Hilltrek but they were not made to measure, but after years spent in the hills walking to free skiing they have seen better days.

I am a big fan of product personalization so I am real excited to be purchasing a made to measure trouser this time around. In the past I have purchased a few made to measure items, water proof over trousers, mainly used in my student days and back then I did more biking so I asked Hilltrek to add reflectors and Velcro to keep the trousers tight to my legs. You just cannot do that on an item purchased from the peg.

A fleece and a long time ago I got my first ski jacket made. I recall getting to visit the store to select the colours and to get sided-up. This was a long time ago but the jacket is still great, it has picked up a couple of repairs but it still does the business at Glenshee, even on the wildest of days.

We are going to document the whole process of making my new hiking trousers on this and the hilltrek blog. The first stage was to enter my leg size, leg length, waits and knee level on this webpage. We will next pick up the story at the Hilltrek store to see how the information from the website turns into a real personalized product.

Fungle burn alternations again

Autumn Settled In, originally uploaded by ecotorch.

In the summer the fungle burn took a pounding with flood water and I was in shock to see parts of the burn re-configured. I had been just a couple of weeks since I had passed the burn but yet again I was surprised to see a new look fungle burn. This time man-made. A narrowing of the weir, I expect it will allow the wee trouts easier access up the burn.

Brave Butterworth @ Autumn

The Butterworth Gallery hosted the opening of the Autumn Collection of paintings at the weekend. The headline painting is this one by Howard.


A brave use of colour that illuminates the Aberdeenshire country side in harvest. The darkness in the sky holding an insight into the shorter days ahead. The painting looks even better when you see it in the Gallery.

Mary also brought a standout painting to the exhibition. This time the subject was more personal, a character filled portrait of her niece complete with pink party dress. If you are in Deeside, take the turn at Potarch and head for Ballogie to give you eyes some autumn cheer.

Aboyne Spring - a poem

Green greets the eye
A celebration of vert
New neon tips prick forth
Bursts of brightest green

The theatre of the valley
An audience of dressed trees
Needles new pristine
A patchwork quilt land

Scenery sets the picture
Green tints exhaust
The artists pallet
Buds break and bloom

Broom bristles tickle
Then shoot golden drops
Rhodies blossom bold
Pink, magenta colors glow

Evening light sets low
Bark lit amber
The greens grow up
Days lengthen
Spring smiles at summer