Tag: photos
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Torridon, Scotland
I didn’t think we could top our day yesterday, in terms of scenery and entertainment but we did. This time we went north to Torridon, a remote village in the Western Highlands. Much of the road there was single track and we saw very few other vehicles. It’s hard to believe we are on the…
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The Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye
We visited the The Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye today, as well as a couple of other places. I’ll let my photos tell the story. Loch Carron: Balmacara, heading towards Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to the Isle of Skye. The last time I visited the Isle of Skye was a little…
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The Beast from the East
We haven’t been as badly affected as other parts of the country by the extreme weather. We’re close to the sea which always helps to moderate the temperature but we also haven’t had the huge snow drifts they’ve had elsewhere. No one is panic buying food and it hasn’t been particularly cold. That said, we’ve…
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Sisters
I got to see my sister on my recent trip to France. And my niece and nephew. It was my niece’s birthday. I have visited Antibes several times over the past 20 years. This next photo of me was taken on one of my first trips, when I was about 21. I’m now 42 and…
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First day of spring
I’ve never seen so much snow outside our front door before. Aberdeen is looking gorgeous this morning for the first day of spring. I flew back to Aberdeen from Nice yesterday afternoon and I’m very lucky to be here. All other airports in Scotland were closed and all BA and Flybe flights in and out…
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Antibes, France
I’ve been quiet for a little while because the past week I’ve been in Antibes for a team meeting. Here’s my team (photo courtesy of CK): We are nine Happiness Engineers working from six different countries. I met three of my team members for the first time last week which was great. I love working…
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Craigendarroch, Ballater, Scotland
Today we walked up Craigendarroch which means hill of oak (craig = hill or crag/rock, and darroch = oak). It’s a steep, rocky hill overlooking the village of Ballater. From the ground it doesn’t look very inviting because of the rocky cliffs and indeed the women behind the reception desk in our hotel tried to…
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Ice-skating at the Christmas markets
Sometimes life feels like Groundhog Day. Has it really been a year since we went ice-skating at the Christmas markets? We went again today and it felt like we just did this yesterday but it has been a full year. I love ice-skating. What I like most is the physical activity without all the sweating.…
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Snow, castles, and a squirrel mug
Snow or castle? That was the question we asked ourselves yesterday when deciding what to do today. Fortuitously, we got both at Castle Fraser. The snow we had this week hasn’t completely melted at Castle Fraser and we got a taste of it on our walk around the estate. Here’s the family portrait. And the…
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A £6,000 Highland Cow
After a very soggy weekend Edinburgh put on a splendid day for us yesterday. I took lots of lovely photos from high places: first the ferris wheel and later the Scott Monument. Starting with the ferris wheel: This is our view at breakfast. We stayed at Motel One on Princess St. There are two Motel…
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A new Doctor Who and speed tourism
The 13th Doctor Who was announced today and sadly, it’s not me. I suppose this shouldn’t come as a surprise since I didn’t audition for the part but just in case Jodie Whittaker changes her mind, I’m available. If there are any BBC casting people reading this then this is a FYI. Today was so…
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Downward dog on the dragon’s head
We went castling again today. I’ll see whether you can guess which castle we visited. It was drizzly but this didn’t spoil the fun. The carved dragon’s head is new. Downward dog … sort of. The Laird. The brave sentry is protecting the castle from Vikings.
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A rainbow in Duthie Park
I took this photo of a rainbow in Duthie Park last night at around 7pm.
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Burn O’Vat
Someone recommended Burn O’Vat on my Scolty Hill post from last week and so we decided to check it out today. It’s a WOW place. How have I never discovered it before? It’s at the Muir of Dinnet Nature Reserve which is about 34 miles west of Aberdeen. There’s a terrific visitor centre there. The main attraction is the Burn O’Vat…
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I swam in the North Sea in winter
A couple of years ago I swam at Balmedie Beach. It was March and so I just missed out on being able to say I swam in the North Sea in winter. We’re currently staying at a secluded spot up on the Fraserburgh coast an hour or so north of Aberdeen and so I decided to…
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The view from the cycle path today
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Newburgh seal colony, Scotland
About 16 miles north of Aberdeen is a little village called Newburgh. We went there for lunch today, to the Newburgh Inn. The food was terrific. I highly recommend it. They put on a typical Sunday roast pub lunch but there were a couple of options for vegetarians. I had a chick pea and sweet potato…
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The photographer’s muse
One of my Aussie friends is a photographer and many years ago I was a muse of sorts for his art. Last week he was sorting through some photos and found some of these old ones. Here they are, photos taken of me in my home about 15 years ago. Stewart is very talented and…
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Highland Safaris, Aberfeldy
We went on a Highland Safari today and it was the highlight of my week. It was sensational. The sun came out, there was snow on the ground, the views were superb, and I felt like I was on top of the world. We went up into the hills on a guided tour in two…
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Red Deer Centre, Aberfeldy
Just outside Aberfeldy is a red deer centre where you can feed some deer and get up close to a barn owl. We took the children there this afternoon and it was wonderful. I’ve never seen deer up close let alone hand-fed one. It looks like Daniel is feeding his hand to the stag in this…
