Tag: photos
-
More pics of Glencoe
The last time I was in Glencoe was more than 20 years ago and I’d forgotten how beautiful it is. Unlike the east coast of Scotland the mountains here are rugged and domineering and make one feel small and insignificant which is comforting. April is a wonderful time of year to tour Scotland because there’s…
-
Oban, Stalker Castle, and Glencoe
We visited the Oban Distillery in Oban today and did the tour. Kids are allowed on this tour which is great because Daniel and Elizabeth find it very interesting and distilleries are fascinating places. As is often the case with these things the process is much more complicated than you think and I’m always left…
-
Ice on the River Dee
There are big chunks of ice on the River Dee today. I took pics. It’s very pretty.
-
Merry Christmas 2018
One of the nice things about having a blog is it becomes an historical record of what I’ve done or where I was at a particular moment in time. I sometimes wonder what I was doing for Christmas in 2012 or 2013 and all I need to do is go back through the archives of…
-
Malt whisky country
We finished our weekend in malt whisky country with a trip to the Glenfiddich distillery in Dufftown. Before leaving Glenlivet this morning – which is where we spent our weekend – I got this nice photo of the Glenlivet distillery from afar. The drive from Glenlivet to Glenfiddich is not very far: about 10 miles…
-
Autumnal snow
It’s not often we get to see snow and autumn colours simultaneously but that’s exactly what we got today. We drove past this next distillery on our way to Grantown on Spey and the building looked particularly striking in the snow. It was one of those, “Wow, look at that!” moments in the car. I…
-
The Glenlivet
The Glenlivet Whisky Distillery is about 1.5 hours north-west of Aberdeen in a beautiful, rural pocket of the Cairngorms. It’s surrounded by forests, rivers, hills, and farmland. The buildings are black in this next photo because the whisky production process attracts microorganisms causing it to go black. A fungus – Baudoinia compniacensis – feeds on…
-
Aberdeenshire in the Autumn
A photographer friend of ours visited for a few days this week and took off before dawn each morning to capture the sunrise. One morning he got this shot of Dunnottar Castle which then made The Times the next day: Isn’t is marvellous? You can see the full version on his site at https://www.bigladder.co.uk/ We decided…
-
Gathering llamas with the Queen
We had a fantastic weekend away at Glenshee Ecocamp and the Braemar Gathering. We stayed in a vintage train wagon which has been converted into off-grid accommodation. It was wonderful! Very quiet and peaceful (except for our noisy kids!) and lots of stunning scenery including a starlit sky at night. The kids were not bothered…
-
The Bridge House Stables
We’re just back from a fantastic weekend away staying at the Bridge House Stables in Perthshire. It’s an old bridge built in 1881 over the River Ardle and now let as two holiday homes. The interior has been tastefully renovated and in keeping with the age of the bridge. Straddling the river means you can…
-
The weekly yield
This is what I picked from my allotment yesterday. There is more I could have picked but didn’t, like kale, swiss chard, spinach, beetroot, and potatoes. The tomatoes are some kind of tiger variety and are meant to look stripy. I’m really happy to get them because a couple of months ago the plants looked…
-
Balmoral Castle
I have had the best four days. I can’t even begin to describe how fantastic it has been. Friday was Dunnottar Castle, Saturday was a cycle ride to Newton Dee & Shakespeare at Drum Castle in the evening, Sunday we went to the Moscow State Circus, and today we visited Balmoral Castle. My sister has…
-
Shakespeare at Drum Castle
We saw the Merchant of Venice at Drum Castle last night by Illyria. It was brilliant and the acting was superb. The cast of just five meant they all played several roles and the changing of costumes and accents was flawless. We saw them once before with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and as then, we…
-
A medieval castle
My sister is visiting us which gave me an excuse to go to Dunnottar Castle. I never tire of the dramatic coastline around the castle with its precipitous cliffs and rocky islands in the sea. The castle itself is a medieval ruined fortress with some exciting history. The Scottish crown jewels were hidden there in…
-
A pear tree in a whisky barrel
The local school was selling fruit trees for fund-raising and I bought a pear tree. They were meant to be dwarf/patio varieties which appealed to me because although I have a large garden, it’s full of established shrubs and trees already and I don’t have space for another large tree. I already have two plum…
-
Blue poppy
The Himalayan blue poppy is flowering in my garden again. I always love watching the garden spring into life after winter. The changes are so pronounced and so quick. Every week there’s something new.
-
A bit of wind at Loch Muick
My father is visiting and as a day trip today we decided to check out Loch Muick. It’s a large fresh water loch bordering the Balmoral estate, just south of Ballater. We have never been there before despite making countless trips to Ballater. The loch is surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs with lots…
-
Throwback Thursday
Me after eating chocolate cake: Share your own photo from the past to the comments. It doesn’t have to be a baby photo. It just has to be before today. Update I posted some instructions on how to upload images to the comment box on WordPress.com Or you can post the image to your own…
-
The Applecross Pensinsula
Yesterday we drove over The Bealach na Bà which was terrifying. It’s like driving into the jaws of a giant mythical creature. The towering cliffs that rise on either side and seem to engulf you as you get higher are the beast’s teeth. I’ve taken a screenshot of the route on Google Maps. It’s only 11…
-
The Bealach na Bà
I summoned the courage to drive the Bealach na Bà today and it was a hair-raising and buttock-clenching experience. The road rises to 626m in just 5 miles with an almost 20% gradient in parts and is the steepest ascent of any road in the UK. It’s a two-way, single-track road with several hair-pin bends. If…
