Sunday, June 26, 2011

Some Scottish sights...

No photos of a finished quilt yet, I have been distracted this week by visitors and runaway dogs! I think the runaway dog story probably deserves a post entirely of it's own, so I'll save that tale for later, but still lots to tell...

On Friday we took our first boat trip on Scotland's famous Loch Ness and saw the ruins of Urquhart Castle. It's by this ruin that the majority of Loch Ness monster sightings occur, but sadly Nessie didn't come out to play for us on this particular day, maybe next time...


This trip happened to be Bella the Beagle's first time on a boat, and she decided to use the opportunity to make friends with a family of German tourists... All those sad puppy dog eyes and cute looks, it was really quite shameless!

Bella making friends

Beagle friends

Yesterday we stayed closer to home and walked along the old railway track between Elgin & Lossiemouth. The track was ripped out 45 years ago, but there is still 5 miles of dead straight deserted gravel pathway that takes us from our home to the coast.

The track was closed as a result of a massive overhaul of the UK's railways in the 1960s. Over a period of 10 years about 4,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations were closed across Britain to cut costs. There are abandoned tracks like these all over the British Isles in various states of decay. It's quite eerie that this one looks like the sleepers and track were only removed yesterday.

Disused railway track between Elgin & Lossiemouth

When we arrived in Lossiemouth we were treated to a military parade in honour of Armed Forces Day. We vaguely knew that the parade was coming through the town, but not that they would be marching right past the table we were having lunch at...

Parade in Lossiemouth for Armed Forces Day 2011

And then my old friends the Red Arrows did a display over the Moray Firth for us. This must be about the thirtieth time I have seen them this year. The skies weren't as blue as Cyprus, but I did manage to inject some colour into the photo, thanks to some spectators!

Red Arrows display at Lossiemouth, Scotland for Armed Forces Day 2011

Our visitors have left today and so we have a bundle of washing and housework to get on with, then tomorrow it's on with the quilt binding.... Some results this week I promise!

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