Graveyards - both old and ancient

Part two of our lovely day out on Sunday - you know we couldn't possibly have gone out for a whole day and not found at least one graveyard to wander around. We stopped in Dores to explore this lovely space which is a mixture of modern and old headstones.

I loved this epitaph - below the person's name and dates was this beautiful sentiment and a picture of a dog. Oh that we all could have this said about us after we have departed this life.

It's a really picturesque spot with the mountains surrounding the village and Loch Ness there for all to enjoy.

Loved this grave with the mismatched headstones and bluebells adorning the grave - nature providing the flowers which is quite fitting as one of the meanings behind bluebells is everlasting love.

I'm assuming that this person was a musician due to this lovely ornate carving on the headstone.

As we continued on our merry way we came across this family in a field - the baby heavy horse is nearly as big as a normal sized horse.

We then found a very, very, very old graveyard - the Clava Cairns which are between us and Inverness. These are burial cairns that date back 4,000 years and are surrounded by standing stones. It's such a well preserved site and has a really serene feeling to the site - we might have to visit on the summer solstice and watch the sun come up.

Ken channelling the vibes from the stones of the people that were here in the past - some of the stones are quite large.

Railway viaduct which makes me think that Hogwarts Express will come steaming past any minute.

That's the end of our fabulous day out so until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a really wonderful week.

Pamela & Ken
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Day trip to Fort Augustus

What a fabulous weekend it was - sunshine and time with my beloved. We headed out for a lovely Sunday drive down the side of Loch Ness. Our destination was Fort Augustus at the bottom of the loch - it's 50 miles from home.

One thing you're guaranteed of in Fort Augustus is tourists, of many different nationalities - it's very popular. We saw this great camper van in the car park - it's a hire van from Wicked Campers and the paint job is crazy.

As you would expect in any town near Loch Ness, there is a bit of a monster theme going on.

There are several lock gates ascending up to the next part of the Caledonian Canal, which is a pleasant area for a walk. The Caledonian canal is from Inverness to Fort William and is 60 miles long - it's a great place to walk along and is part of the the Great Glen Way.

Whilst we were there they opened the bridge to let boats into the start of the locks - above picture it's closed, and below picture it's open.

We of course had to stop for cake though we did have a sensible sandwich first - we took turns holding Bramble so that the other could eat. Bramble was very popular with the tourists and had people stop to fuss over her from Germany, USA, Japan, and somewhere in Scandinavia.

When we went back to the carpark we found this fabulous tour bus with a wonderful company name and as you can see the bus is made to look like a Hairy Highland Coo (that's cow for the non Scottish amongst you).

I should mention that as we started to drive out of the car park two cyclists pointed out to us that we had left the back of the car open - Bramble was getting super air conditioned.

This picture is taken from the very bottom end of Loch Ness - still no sign of the monster.

We drove back home up the less touristy side of Loch Ness where a lot of the road is single track with passing places. It's incredibly beautiful with a stark wildness as far as the eye can see.

Bramble in her luxury transport home - you can see why it was a slight problem if we'd driven off with the back up.

We stopped by a river in a pretty little picnic spot and it's a place we will have to come back to with food next time. It's a lovely spot under the trees and so peaceful with the only sounds being nature.

Bramble having her first experience of a river - she was brave enough to stick her mouth and nose in, but thankfully not much more as I think she might have been washed away she's so little.

Look Ken, the back of the car is open.

Further along the road we stopped to admire all the bluebells on the hillside - I love it when they're in amongst fallen trees as there's a synergy of the dead branches and the spring flowers.

It was when we stopped here that we encountered two young people walking along the road with backpacks - both looking rather fed up. Ken couldn't resist asking them how their day was going, and discovered that because of the lack of buses on a Sunday they'd had to walk from Inverness to Foyers, which they were nearly at - that's 19 miles!! I wonder who's responsibility it was to check travel arrangements on their holiday and I think it would have been an interesting atmosphere in their tent that night. Oh well, when they go home to America it will be a really funny anecdote they can share with people.

Love the wild rhododendrons that you find amongst the trees.

Really well carved wooden highland coo in front of someone's house.

There is more to come of our day out but until then, be good, stay safe, and if you're in Tasmania I hope that you're safe, dry, and warm.

Pamela & Ken
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Sunshine, cake, and a graveyard

A gorgeous day in the highlands so we went out for a drive with no fixed destination in mind apart from knowing there had to be cake. Of course we took Bramble with us - she's the latest addition to our family and as you can see she's just too cute for words. I think she may feature quite heavily in future blog posts.

We stopped in Carrbridge for cake, sitting outside in the glorious sunshine. Bramble was very good and attracted lots of attention from people walking past. We're getting her used to sights and sounds out in the big world. Don't worry, despite what it looks like she didn't get any cake.

I love all the poppies that are in bloom now - these orange ones are stunning.

As we were driving aimlessly we came across this fabulous graveyard - how lucky was that? It is the graveyard for Clan Grant so that is the most common name on the headstones. The two large buildings in the below photo are mausoleums.

It's a really lovely space which is obviously looked after, but not to the point that it's too manicured - nature and time are still having an impact.

Beautiful Celtic cross.

It was quite a momentous occasion as it was Bramble's first graveyard - look how tiny she is next to that headstone.

There were some really interesting designs on the headstones and thistles and Celtic motifs featured quite heavily.

This is what happens most of the time when I try to get a picture of Bramble - she has so much energy and rarely stops moving.

Loved this old gate - such a simple design but simply stunning.

Lots of the headstones are covered with a patchwork of moss which gives it a beautifully marbled look.

This grave really appealed to me (I know I'm weird) as it's slowly sinking into the ground and has wildflowers growing around it.

Another motley headstone - gorgeous.

That's it for our Saturday drive. Until next time, be good, stay safe, and eat cake.

Pamela and Ken
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