Isle of Lewis 2009

Back on the Isle of Lewis visiting Jenny and Murdo. This time I was accompanied by my friend Yvonne. Jenny was working but lent us the car to do the cultural tour on the first day.

Dal Beg - one of our favourite beaches.

Me by Yvonne

Yvonne by me

Inside a blackhouse at the blackhouse village.

A couple of photos of the weather and views in front of 'Ghinda', Jenny and Murdo's home.


On Thursday, Yvonne and I walked around the loch with Neve. Neve found a group of grouse which she kept putting up. After the 2 hour walk we picked up Jenny from Stornoway. The hut in the photo is on the peat road coming back from Stornoway.



Yvonne and I made our first visit to the Castle grounds then went off to Tolsta with Jenny in the afternoon.





Before setting out to view Harris, I woke up early to photograph the Callanish Stones at sunrise.




Check out this sheep on Harris.


Murdo drove us out to Uig on Sunday. We hoped for the usual empty Lewis but at lunch we were joined by four cars!!! I have never seen it so busy.







The weather forecast for Monday was not good - windy and wet. Just the weather to visit the Butt of Lewis and the Ness lighthouse and see the waves crashing on the rocks. I have several photos of waves but you will have to make do with the shells on the rock!


I also had a task on the trips out. Jenny wanted photos of some of the many baths which lie around Lewis. She was making up a calendar for friends. I ended up taking 79 images of 24 baths. Here are a few with some we decorated.






Yvonne and I managed to help out the local economy by shopping in Stornoway on Tuesday then walked around the castle grounds. Yvonne managed to catch me posing. After that I was photographing the weather in front of the house again.




A revisit of some of our favourite places on Wednesday. Dal Beg featured of course. I experimented with photos of waves again. This photo is similar to the painting I bought for Murdo and Jenny at the Skoon Art Cafe. Painted by Andrew Craig. There is a similar one earlier which I have a painting of except the painting has machair flowers on it. I had to make do with dune grass.





The rainbow over the neighbours.


A few photos of Neve and the handsome Max.

Around the UK with Crystal Symphony

Mum and I enjoyed a 10 day cruise around the UK on the Crystal Symphony. We were welcomed into our overnight stop in Edinburgh by a lone piper. I am not sure if it was the tram works, the credit crunch or the fact it was a Tuesday instead of Thursday, but the Fringe was quieter than last year. The only thing of interest was this beautiful hair/headdress. I took a few photos of the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. The Chinese riders with their "horses" were my favourite.



















In Belfast, we took a City sightseeing tour to all the usual sights. There is a lot of building work at the site of Titantic's birth - ready for the 100th anniversary in 2012. There was an HMS Caroline there but I only managed the first few letters in the photo! Stormont was going to have a dome so would have looked liked the White House but I think they ran out of money.







This building was built at the height of Titantic's bow. Add on her decks and funnels to get an idea of her final size.



In Liverpool, we were able to walk off the ship into the town. We made our way to Albert Dock for coffee at the Tate and a stroll around the sculptures. I was almost back on the ship when I saw a miniature of the Superlambanana and had to make my way to Hatton Street to see the original. It was sculptured by the Japanese based artist Taro Chiezo in 1998. "This 17' artwork was created to warn of the dangers of genetically modified food and is appropriate to the city of Liverpool due to the port's rich history in the trade of lambs & bananas."






I was looking forward to seeing the Book of Kells exhibition at Trinity College, Dublin and it didn't disappoint. Bewleys coffee shop was fabulous. I would have liked to have taken photos of their stained glass windows. Mum and I wandered through St Stephen's Park and Meridon Square before taking the shuttle back to the ship. I failed to get a good photo of the beautiful bridge being built in the shape of an Irish harp.






The rough seas meant we could not tender at Waterford and Guernsey was cancelled. Luckily Crystal found a private dock so we did make Waterford. Mum and I found a lovely bookshop but Waterford did not have anything for my camera. I think this ruin is the Irish Tintern Abbey. I tried to get the green of the fields but was not too successful.


Dover port closed due to high wind so we docked early in Southampton. I woke at 1.30am to see a beautiful moon and wished I had my tripod. I tried a Turner experiment!