Drivng back from Ellon the other day I spotted what I thought would be a great picture:  there was a lovely patch of late daffodils growing round the Hatton village sign on the main road.  But the best laid schemes….Lily the dog and I set off to walk along the verge and take the picture when the light was in the right direction.  But when we got there I noticed that someone had fixed a big pole onto the sign with a video camera on the top.   It really spoiled the picture!  I will have to wait for next year to get the photograph I wanted.

Now on Monday I read in the P&J that “Road bosses are considering traffic-calming measures on a north-east trunk road over pedestrian safety fears.”  There was a picture of the Hatton turn-off and the bus shelter.  Bear Scotland installed the cameras to monitor the number of people crossing the road there and a decision is awaited about what should be done  to improve pedestrian safety.

The traffic does hurtle along the road and you do have to take extra care when crossing.  I certainly became aware of the speed and the volume of the traffic as Lily and I walked along the verge.  She was not happy at all, and we could feel the rush of the wind as the big lorries passed.

So I have recycled my Hatton sign daffodil photograph as a road safety picture and I had a go at taking a better picture of the bus shelter area than appeared in the P&J, trying to get the impression of the speed of the lorry as it hurtled past in a blur.  And just my luck, a Number 60 bus on its way to Aberden stopped just at the right moment for me.