Whisper

A 'whisper' image for the  Beyond Layers course with Kim Klassen.  Taken in Scotland after a short holiday with lots of good weather when other parts of the UK were under water.  It's often the other way round!

Cairngorms, Scotland

Happy Easter everyone! It was 2o degrees here last week!

Resident snail

Becoming a rare sight these days, these phone boxes often end up in somebody's garden as a large garden ornament. This one, still in use on the west coast of Scotland, had its own resident snail which moved around from pane to pane. It must have made little sorties to find food!

A short break ...

..... on the west coast of Scotland - beautiful in all kinds of weather!

..... and some more

This time we travelled 9 hours in the opposite direction for a holiday in NW highlands of Scotland to a small town called Lochinver. Spectacular scenery in all directions and some good places to climb!

Playing with shapes

A photo of pottery waiting to be painted at the Highland Stoneware factory in Lochinver ended up slightly differently after using selection and move tools in Paint Shop Pro!

(My) eye-catching

The real star of a visit to Scotland is the scenery, but a few other treats caught my eye!

You could end up with a smaller bank balance if you visited the Highland Stoneware factory (hardly big enough to be called a factory) in Lochinver. Really interesting to see the artists at work.  You could wander around taking pics without restriction.

No words needed!

Cape Wrath

One of the reasons we went to this part of Scotland was so that we could go to Cape Wrath  (meaning "turning point") which lies at the most North-Westerly point of the mainland and is wild and uninhabited due to the fact that the land is used as a MoD bombing and targeting range.  We knew we had to go by ferry and then mini-bus for the last 12 miles, but had no idea whether the ferry would hold 20?  50?  In the end it was only John and his dog and 8 passengers at a time!  Not a cloud in the sky (very unusual) and a FIRE-RED klaxon next to the lighthouse. Love it!

Beaches and big skies

So many beaches to choose from! And all nearly deserted.  This beach was on the way  to the Summer Isles.

Another day in Scotland

Another two days actually! On this day we walked to the Kirkaig Falls near Lochinver

and then followed the path on to magnificent views of Suilven.
Another day we decided to go to Sandwood Bay. only reached by a 9 mile round walk, one of the best beaches in the uk (but we have some of the best in Northumberland as well!).




After all that walking we had to treat ourselves to a hot chocolate at Cocoa Mountain in the Balnakeil Craft Village near Durness. Expensive, but not to be missed!

Scotland and a great holiday!

Just back from an amazing week in the north-west corner of Scotland where the weather was for the most part more like that of a Greek island (not often you can say that!) and the scenery spectacular.


This was the view from our chalet near Lochinver - very quiet, with lots of bird life and deer which came down to the water at dusk and dawn. The views were amazing and the roads , often single-track, nearly empty.




How about this lovely rusty roof! This was on the walk from Lochinver to the beach at Achmelvich.


More pics later!

The open road

Having made good use of the bus passes this week it was the turn of the bike today. Off to one of our favourite rides - to Kielder and then the Scottish borders and back through Carter Bar on the Scottish-English border. Hardly any traffic and warm sun all the way. Open skies above ....

Seeing with new eyes

When we were off to see the geese

Later we found ourselves in the bird hide at Wigtown and used the ranger's powerful telescope to watch the geese fattening themselves up on grass in readiness for the long journey north. Are we turning into twitchers?

Beauty in unexpected places

On our wanderings after the wild geese we passed this old decaying tree - well, you have to get your camera out .. !

WIP