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Back to the here and now.  Up early to get the Flickr photostream updated, get the blog patched together and flesh out the Day One.  By 9.00am it was light enough to get some photos in St Mo’s.  No animals around and no insect life in the way of damsels or dragons to photograph, so it was autumn leaves.  I make this promise every year that I won’t photograph the autumn leaves, but it always fails.  The colours this year seem extra vibrant and encourage me even more to record them.  I forgot to mention that along with the dragons and damsels, the swallows seem to have left us in the last two or three weeks, probably more like two weeks.  They were late leaving this year, probably because the feeding season for them had extended due to the warm days of September.  It wasn’t too warm when I left the house this morning.  The weather station said 7ºc.  It felt colder to start with, but warmed up quickly.

Went for a gym and swim in the afternoon when Scamp had her ladies round.  A bit of gentle exercise to test my ankle and hopefully not put too much strain on it.  Decided to upgrade my gym key to more machines.  Then I found that I’d left the key in my trunks when I went for a swim.  According to the girl on reception, they’re pretty indestructible.  It’s sitting in a cup full of dry rice on the heater now, hopefully drying off for my appointment at the gym on Thursday.

Salsa at night, but again, being careful and only doing one class.  I felt that was enough.  No point in just sitting around all the time, but I need to just add a bit of gentle exercise.

This morning the sky in Skye looks a lot better.  High level cloud and so far it’s dry.  I think we’re heading for Portree ( the big city).  Who knows where after that.  I need to catch up on my sketching at least.

So we park at Duntulm watching the sea when some english idiots squeeze their black people-carrier reg KF15 CDN right between us and the fence, completely obscuring our view. Some people are born ignorant, some have to learn. They walk among us.

We drove round to Uig again.  It’s a sort of ritual with us when we go to Skye.  We drive round the top of the island to Uig, then down the west side.  Sometimes we drive up Quiraing and on to the high road to Uig, but somehow, all roads lead to Uig.  Today, for a change we drove into this thriving metropolis and stopped for a while to watch the world go by.  After the excitement of Uig, we drove back down to Portree and then couldn’t decide where to have lunch.  We weren’t going to the bakers again, that was definitely not on the cards.  Good scones, but dodgy, watered down coffee.  Even Murd agreed about the coffee.  So, what about a drive down to Sligachan and have lunch there.  Drove the nine or ten miles down entranced by the views of the Cuillins (why don’t spellcheckers understand Scottish words like Quiraing, Sligachan and Cuillins?).  Tried a multiple exposure shot of the river to process later in Photoshop into a fake slow shutter speed shot.  Took a load of shots of the constantly changing cloudscapes on the peaks.  Such a wild looking place.  Unfortunately the lunch bar at the hotel was closed for the season and, as it was Jackie’s Fish Pie for dinner, we didn’t really want to spoil our appetite with a full lunch, so we headed back to the Capital City of Portree.  Had lunch in the cafe, just the ordinary cafe, not the Arriba one.  Scamp was desperate to see inside the newly reopened SYHA hostel run by our niece Jac, daughter of Jackie – confused?  Don’t be.  Met Jac and had a look in the hostel that used to be a chip shop!!  After that we headed back up the road for that fish pie.

We had an hour or so to spare when we got back so Scamp trusted me to go for a walk down at the slip by myself as long as I was careful.  But I’m always careful, am I not?  Anyway, it was quite cold there.  Bumped into Murd who was taking the dog for a walk and a wander for himself.  He was talking to a bloke from Newcastle who was travelling around in a van.  The bloke thought Murd with his boiler suit on was in charge of the parking at the slip.  They easily slid into conversation and were best mates by the time he left.  I’m not sure if he was there on purpose to make sure I was being careful or whether it was just coincidence.  Anyway, took a few photos of the gloaming light on the water and on the cliffs at Applecross across the water, then went to the ‘beach’ where I met two blokes who were looking for the dinosaur footprints.  I told them where I had been told they were, currently under about a foot of water.  They found ‘another one’ and got some photos of it.  They seemed happy.  Who’s to say they weren’t right.

Fish pie and a wee dram were calling quite insistently now, so it was time to go.

“My wife is coming.”
“She has a jacket.”
“It is a sheep. ”
“What’s her name?”
“It is Lorenzio.”
“Ok. I’ll let her through. ”
A little snippet of conversation outside Eilean Donan Castle. It’s amazing what you hear some times.
Having said that, he was Spanish and I wonder how I would have dealt with that if I was in Spain with my limited grasp of the language which runs to “Two beers” and “Where’s the toilet, please?”

Earlier we sat having breakfast at the hotel, watching the clouds rolling across the mountains and the light changing on their lower slopes. I did think about grabbing my camera, then decided that watching it was better than photographing it. Maybe my brain cells will retain it for longer than the hard disk would.

The drive up to Skye was eventless and through some beautiful scenery. We stopped for coffee and a scone at Eilean Donan Castle, the famous biscuit tin. That was where the Spanish lesson came from.

I had to forego the usual dram at dinner time to make sure I was legal to go for a drive at night to try to capture the Northern Lights, but the lights were out tonight. Scary drive though. Driving in pitch black on a single track road with passing places populated with the island’s sheep. I think the cloud cover was too heavy tonight and I don’t think it will be any better tomorrow. Rain is predicted. However, I’ve had a wee dram now and it, combined with paracetamol has stopped me thinking about the occasional jerk of pain from my ankle.

By the way, Lorenzio was wearing a sheepskin jacket.

Left at just after mid day for the drive up to Skye. It was bucketing down. Hardly taking time to rain. By the time we got to Stirling it was easing off a bit and when we left the motorway for the Callander road Scamp said she could see blue sky. Sure enough, the clouds were lifting and the rain was easing off to an intermittent drizzle. For some reason, police were stopping south bound cars for what looked like a spot check at Tyndrum. Don’t know why that was, but there was nothing on the north bound side. Stopped at Rannoch Moor to get some photos and walking across the long grass by the river, I saw (and photographed) a dragonfly. The climate is very strange this year. Dragonflies in October? Unheard of. Immediately after that I fell and twisted my ankle. I thought it was much worse because I heard a definite ‘click’ as I fell in a pot hole. Thought it might be broken, but although it’s plenty sore, there’s no swelling yet and I can move it. Silly auld bugger. Still, I got the shot I was aiming for, so it’s all right. Sitting in the ‘bunkhouse without bunks’ at the Loch Leven Hotel. Actually very nice looking, and the bunkhouse, which looks like a converted out building is fine. May go for a walk later.

Went for a walk under the Ballachulish bridge and got some shots of the low sun. It was cold, but not freezing. Decided to go along the path to Bishop’s Bay. The path was quite gloomy through a pine wood, but opened out onto a rocky headland. A woman we passed said we should risk the slimy rocks because the views over the top were amazing. So, I’ve got a dodgy ankle which is giving me gyp. I just stayed on the save ground. Nah, don’t be stupid, there’s photos ready for the taking there! Up and over the (not very) slimy rocks and through the oak trees at the top to see the glorious view up the loch. One of those places where you could just sit down and enjoy the light and the colours. Unfortunately, Scamp hadn’t risked the (almost not) slimy rocks, so I had to grab a few shots and go back down to meet her before she got worried that I’d broken my ankle this time. Memorable.

Dinner in the hotel at night and a nice pint of micro brewery (actually nano brewery) IPA and a great waitress with a bit of a sense of humour playing vinyl albums because that’s what they do on a Wednesday. Glad Scamp booked this hotel.

As usual, click the photo to see larger images.

I was up early this morning, just after 7.00, trying to finish off yesterday’s marathon file management work. Eventually got it sorted. Now I’ve got to work out the code to keep it working the way I want. I’ve got a few ideas about how to progress, but they’re a bit clunky. There must be an elegant solution just waiting to be found.

Got fed up sitting in the house watching the rain, so I went in to Glasgow on the train after I finally got parked at the station. That place is a nightmare. I’d hate to have to drive there each morning to get to work. Actually, I’d just hate going to work now 🙂 Thankfully I don’t have to. Got the Pentel brush pen I was looking for to use with #Inktober. Then I got three water brushes in Millers or whatever it is now for less than the cost of one anywhere else. I’m presently writing this on the train on the way home, still looking for that elegant solution.

Harissa Chicken with Chickpeas for dinner tonight, and it actually worked. I’ve given up any ideas I had of going on Bake Off. It’s Masterchef for me now. That way I’ll be able to tell that fat, baldy bastard Wallace to shut his fat face, and cook Harissa Chicken with Chickpeas as my signature dish!

Oh, yes, and the elegant solution I was harping on about? I found it. It was a simple one line rule in Hazel and I could have used it yesterday and saved my wee NAS drive from almost going into meltdown.

I’m fed up with the rain now. Turn off the taps please.

More mono stuff below for Inktober.

Today it was to be either Cramond or Mugdock Country Park. I chose Cramond. Arrived there in brilliant sunshine and that’s the way it stayed all day. The tide was out and we toyed with the idea of crossing to the island, but Scamp wasn’t too sure as the path was quite slippery. I took some photos of the ‘Toblerones’ and then we walked up the river almost to the road bridge. Beautiful colours all the way. Saw a heron sitting on its knees on a small falls. Because its knees bend backwards, it looks like its claws are playing a piano – you have to see it to understand. Click on the picture to be transported to the Flickr page for a better view. On the way back we stopped at the Falls cafe for coffee and a scone. Sat in the walled garden under an apple tree. Could have been in the Mediterranean!

Came home and had to water the plants. Who would have thought we’d have to do that at the very end of September!

Tried to go to Salsa at night, but traffic in Glasgow was at a standstill, so gave up and came home. Bummer.

Late getting up this morning. Mainly because I was equally late getting to bed last night. Hoping to be a bit more regulated tonight.

Went for a gym and swim at lunch time then undid all that good work with a fry up for lunch. I did an extra work-out later by cycling to get some photos and some more brambles. Got about 400g of the little black bundles. Managed some photos of the hay bales before they are gone for this year. Half of them have been moved to storage already.

Found a catty reply to one of my crits on Flickr. Some people only want to hear good things about their photos. Admittedly, I too like good comments, but am realistic enough to take criticism where it’s due. Some others though simply want praise and lots of it. That’s why there are so many of the post 1 comment 2, 4, 8, 16, … groups. I’ve never felt the need to get on Flickr’s revered list, but one way to make sure you get there is to get lots of comments and favourites and one sure way to get those accolades is to pay for them by praising others. That is why those post 1 comment ‘x’ sites proliferate. The worst offending ones even have sparkly, gaudy GIFs as badges. Please, spare me the indignity.

Finished a great book last night. The main reason for my late bed. Mr Penumbra’s 24 hour bookshop (I hope I spelled that correctly, Hazy) is an excellent book. Someone described it as “a mystery story without a murder.” A very gentle book with lots of hidden meanings. I think I wrote about it in a previous blog. Certainly worth a read.

Right, I’m done here and am off to bed. Early(ish) for once.

Went for lunch to Tea Jenny’s in Falkirk today. Scamp’s choice as the main (for ‘main’ read Only) wage earner.

Actually the day started much, much earlier. I got up at 2.30am to see the start of the lunar eclipse and prepare for the ‘Blood Moon’. As I peered blearily from the bedroom window, I could indeed see that the eclipse was in progress, but the moon didn’t seem all that much bigger than normal. I left it an hour for the eclipse to reach totality and when I went back to look, somebody had stolen the moon! It simply wasn’t there. An hour earlier it was shining in an almost cloudless sky. That’s what they get for having a blood moon, at night, in Cumbernauld. They should have known someone would nick it. Guaranteed, somebody will be selling it down the Barras at the weekend. “Here mate. Want tae buy a bit o’ the Blud Moon? Aye, mate, guaranteed genuine. Ma brother works wi’ NASA and he got it cheap. Only a fiver a slice. Three fur a tenner.”

Back to Tea Jenny’s and lunch was quite good. Burger was very filling and the tea cosies were a sight to behold as usual.

After that it was a pretty ordinary day. Felt a bit fidgety around 6.15pm when we should be getting ready for salsa which was not on as the STUC was closed today. One of the few places that closes now for September Weekend.

No, that’s not the Blood Moon on the left of the picture, that’s our ‘big’ apple from our apple tree. The first dessert apple it’s produced that you can actually eat. Previous years’ apples have been small and sour, so this is a step forward. On the right you can see the tea cosy on my pot of Kenyan tea in Tea Jenny’s.

No interrupted sleep tonight because the blood moon is gone until 2033 which is just after half past eight!