Ullapool visit

Ullapool is a fishing village on the West Coast of Scottish Highlands shown on this map;

 Kerysdale view

Loch Gairloch (bay)

View over to Skye

Loch Inverewe 

The Inverewe gardens are really special. Although they are at such a Northern latitude, these gardens were established in Victorian times as a Sub Tropical garden!!! The bay gave protection and it is South facing and benefits from the warm Gulf current which comes up from Florida, USA.

This is a selection of South African plants. Quite amazing to see them growing up here!

Paula and Mary in the garden

Corrieshalloch Gorge

 

Ullapool Harbour

Daffodil Season

April is Daffodil season and we have included some photos.

Brodie Castle is renowned for it's variety of Daffodils

 Brodie Castle garden

Brodie Castle with no daffs!

The main path going from Brodie Castle to the lake

 

Marie Curie Cancer Trust has a small field just off the traffic circle in Elgin called "Field of Hope"

We also have a lot of daffodils which must have been planted 30-50 years ago.

There is a bank alongside the road which displays a wonderful sight of Primroses. It is uncultivated and many people know about this rare sight in the woods

Close-up of one of the Primroses

Paula loves steam emgines! We went on the Stathspey Railways which goes from Aviemore in the Cairngorms.

Paula admiring the engine

 The Drivers

The Great Glen, Geese and Castles

Autumn is now fully here and the clocks went back this weekend. The colours of the trees with the soft sunlight on them makes Autumn special

We were a bit surprised to recognise the frontispiece of the October Edition of Knock News. The title is 'Aikenway Autumn'. Our property is on the right. If you want to see more photos taken in our area, please go to speysideimages.co.uk/

Most of the bus shelters are plain affairs, but occasionally one comes across something special. This one is in the middle of no-where and has magazines and plants!

Here is another bus shelter cut out of a Yew Tree, but it needs a trim!

 The River Spey has been in spate twice in the last two months due to deluges. We took this video near Aikenway Castle close to us.

 A few pictures of Cawdor Castle outside Nairn. I took this shot of our friend Marian together with Paula when Marian visited us some months ago.

Leith Hall on the way to Aberdeen has a nice garden. Here are some pictures. Sorry, it was misty that morning!

  Paula continues to work on her garden and this picture was taken late Summer.

Every Autumn one can hear sounds high up of geese flying in from Iceland and other colder part. They pass over Scotland, naturally, looking for warmer climes. They fly in 'V' formation very high up. What an interesting sight! The video clip below gives some idea :

Migrating Geese click on the wording, not the picture

Pluscarden Abbey was founded in Mediaeval times by Benedictine Monks and destroyed by Henry VIII along with most Abbeys in Britain, but luckily a large part of the fabric of the buildings remained and the Benedictine Monks reoccupied it in the 1940's. Wonderful choral events are held here and the acoustics are excellent.

Here is a clip of the Monks singing the Alleluia. Just click on the blue link below:

Abbey Benedictine Monks vocal clip

 Inverness is the Capital of the Highlands and sits on the River Ness on the Moray Firth.

The River Ness opens up into the Loch Ness, Monsters and all! Boats must negotiate these multiple Locks before they enter the Loch.

This is a view at the head of the Loch before it opens wider into the Great Glen.

This body of fresh water is the largest in Britain. In fact all the storage dams, reservoirs and lakes in Britain could fit into Loch Ness!

The ruins of Urquhart Castle overlook the Loch

Our local church, St Margaret's had a Wedding last week. The flowers were really beautiful so I took a few pictures

Thanks for viewing my blog.