Art, sheep, and Loch Affric in the sunshine

I've just had a fabulous week off from work and we had lots of time to explore and do things that we enjoy. Today's post is about one of our days out when we didn't know where we were going to end up but found all sorts of magical things along the way.

The first place we stopped was Beauly where we had lunch and I was very pleased to find they had Bundaberg Ginger Beer - a piece of Australia in the Highlands.

On our journey we came across an old church with a giant metal lizard on the wall - it's the Kilmorack Gallery. It's a really lovely use of an old place of worship and there were some beautiful paintings and sculptures within.

Across the road is the old Kilmorack Graveyard which was great to have a wander around.

Our journey continued and our next find was this beautifully carved wooden eagle - such an iconic bird here in the highlands.

It's a good thing that my beloved did an evasive driving course when he was in the police, as I regularly will suddenly tell him to stop the car or pull over when I spot something interesting. This is a perfect example - beautiful countryside all around and this mama sheep and her cute little lamb are choosing to rest in front of a power station.

Eventually we came to a stop at Loch Affric, which is quite a distance from home - we live where the blue dot is, and the loch is under the red marker.

The loch has an 11.25mile circular walk around it, but as it was getting late in the day we just did a short walk up one side of it.

The scenery is absolutely stunning with lots of very tall trees.

If you look closely at the mountain, just below the cloud, you'll see a patch of white - it's a little patch of snow that is clinging on into the summer.

Bramble was loving our walk, running all over the place, hiding in the undergrowth, and running into muddy puddles.

She ended up becoming a very mucky pup.

 So many beautiful colours alongside the path we were walking on.

Ken getting Bramble Jelly to have a swim to wash off the mud she had collected.

A very wet but much cleaner puppy dog.

As we drove back from Loch Affric we stopped at the carpark for Dog Falls, and had a bit of a wander (and made use of the public toilets).

If you look at the tree in the middle you'll see it is clinging onto the ground below it - there is a shadow beneath it from the roots that are sticking out into thin air.

My beloved checking the temperature of the water as one of our challenges for the next month or two is to go wild swimming either in a loch or a river.

Sunny selfie.

The pool of water on the right of the picture looks like a perfect place to swim.

 Ken clambering around the rocks.

On our way home we went past this lovely little school with lots of beautiful artwork on the buildings.

This hill was covered with yellow gorse, so it has a yellow sheen all over it.

It was a beautiful day out exploring more of this special part of the world.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and take time to enjoy your corner of the world this week.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Final picture is Lord Rocky Horror contemplating world domination.