#3goodthings [15 September 2013]

In honesty I find some aspects of the summer months on social media difficult, especially seeing those who only appear at these times because they have exotic holiday photos to share (and really how do they have the budget to take adult children with them too?)

Needless to say this now launches straight into pot-kettle-black because a bumper week for #3goodthings is based mainly round a few days holiday in Scotland, including landscape, the Scotsman's family history, local social history and some cake.. #grateful


9 Sep

afternoon tea at cloud 23 (a very late birthdays celebration)
watching the panoramic views while eating
seeing another rainbow


++++


10 Sep (in Scotland)

colourful architecture in Kirkudbright (a town of artist studios and a Scottish St Ives)
Wigtown, place of fifteen second hand book shops (and not much else), home to the Wigtown Book Festival and dwelling of the Scotsman's shoemaking ancestors

stones at Cairn Holy


++++


11 Sep (in Scotland)

driving past loads of fields of cattle and sheep and finally finding a whole family of 'belties' in a field by themselves (a breed local to Dumfries and Galloway only)

rain on the roof of the Leadhills Miners Library making the roof shine (it is the oldest subscription library in Britain, established in 1741 by a group of local Lead Miners)

Rab, the genial hotel owner and friend you never knew you had


++++


12 Sep (Leadhills, in Scotland)
being able to look inside the beautifully renovated cottage that used to belong to the Scotsman's grandfather (we happened to follow the new owner down the street)

sitting in the peaceful and beautiful cemetery at Leadhills, in untypical weather

exploring the site of an abandoned Lead Mine outside the Leadhills where many of The Scotsman’s ancestors once worked

++++

13 Sep (in Scotland)

a walk to another abandoned Lead Mine at Woodhead where more of The Scotsman’s ancestors once worked

totally unspoiled landscape on the walk with beautiful natural colours 

seeing an artisan stone mason at work restoring headstones in a churchyard

++++

14 Sep (in Scotland)

chance to take reflective water photos in Douglas

meeting ‘Jean’ who was at school with The Scotsman's father, her body is full of stents but her mind is sharp as a tack

and leaving Leadhills knowing we will return soon

270 gifts

#lentphotos - 15 - a quiet place

OK so Scotland wins again, Fort William this time.  This was one of the few times we have stayed in or passed through the town in good weather.  We took a post-supper walk down towards the shores of Loch Linnhe and found a viewpoint in a car park.  I was still at the stage of hit and miss with the technical aspects of the camera and took a few photos.  Happily they turned out pretty well and capture the stillness of this quiet place.

Sadly attempts to photograph the top of Ben Nevis, which was just about visible behind this vista on the horizon failed and by the next day the clouds were back.  Can’t win them all!

#lentphotos - 07 - quiet

crofter's cottage

Sollas, North Uist, Outer Hebrides

I make no apologies for posting a number of photos of North Uist on the blog (there will be more).  

This is a well-known scene on the island which encapsulates the breathtaking peace and quiet of the surroundings and is frequently used in tourist information.  We were fortunate on the day we visited that the weather was favourable and therefore the photo opportunities were good.

Its picture postcard tranquility disguises the fact that real, every-day life is hard for North Uist inhabitants.  The peat stack against the outbuilding will disappear during the winter months; it will be used as fuel for warmth during the harsh winter months.

For the visitor it is a quiet place to wait, to drench thoughts in the expanse and restfulness of the view, to taste saltiness on the wind, with the occasional interjection of a seabird's cry.