I'm being watched by....Soviet spies....I think...

You will have to agree, it is a clever disguise!  But, I'm no fool!

Carefully noting my position and description

Check out the one on the left.  I think she is telecommuting on the super interweb highway to the superiors in the infamous Ram Brigade.

Thats it.  I've been ID'd

;-)

Isle of Harris

This is the beautiful Isle of Harris.  Jonathan, Scott and I drove down there on Friday for the day.  Pretty hard to describe this wild and wonderful place so I hope the pictured do it justice

Evidently, the end of the rainbow is at the far western arm of Loch Seaforth in Harris.  Search as we might, couldn't find the pot of gold.  Beginning to think it is an Irish myth hoisted on the Scots to keep them busy.  Worked!! 

Jonathan took us to this open market just south of Tarbert.  The crofter provides fresh mussels, shell fish, home-made breads and rolls and and hot snacks.  All self serve and with an "honesty box" for payment. 

Mussels, lobster, crab - always fresh and always directly from the bay at the end of the croft 

 "Honesty Box"

Random Pictures from the Isle of Lewis,

The Atlantic coast near the town of  Ness

Evening unset skies over the Brigh

Beautifully smoked salmon from Uig on the Atlantic coast along with whiskey from the same region  of the island.

Pleasure craft in the Stornoway harbour

Traditional designed and hand build sail boats of the Hebrides

The tough little black-faced sheep of the Hebrides.  These are hardy and gentle little animals.  Comical to watch for any length of time.

Yes, you can market the ice cold water around the Isle of Lewis as well as the cold wet moorlands and hills.  Just add a bit of sizzle to the company name - that ought ta do it!

Beautiful colours of the Hebrides!

You can see where the Harris Tweeds get their inspiration.  Lots of purple, green, brown, blue and a dozen hues in between.

You can see the weather coming!

One of the really interesting things about living so close to the ocean is that you can see the weather approaching from a long way off.  Gives you time to get your rain wear out of the truck and protect your camera.  Well, that's the theory....I've tested it lately and it works 50% of the time ;-)

Arthur's Seat

One of the most beautiful views of Edinburgh is from the top of Arthur's seat.  It is a hill near the University of  Edinburgh and legend has it (spurred on no doubt, by medieval advertisers - think of the show SUITS with chain mail and swords and knuckle dragging servants)  that King Arthur and the Round Table used this location.  Pretty dubious as there are about a dozen more hills around Great Britain with the same name and legend surrounding it.  More likely is that the name comes from a gaelic term referring to the height an arrow can fly.  
Anyway, you get a special view of the city and surrounding land and seascapes.

The climb up can be either cross country (see picture below) or up a winding staircase of rock.  You would not want to trip on these sharp edges if you value your shins/knees/Roman nose etc.

A lot of people create their own path beside the rock steps and it is actually easier to ascend the hill on this path!

This is the cross-country trail.  Alister and I took this route up and I am pretty confident that within the year (or maybe two) Alister will forgive me.  It was quite a steep pitch!   

Another view of the cross country approach.

This is the view from the adjacent hill top to Arthur's Seat

At the top, you get a beautiful view of the entire town.

Zoomed in on the Castle from the top of Arthur's Seat

Funny Stuff

How to scream like a "wee girly".

They had a fund raising event for breast cancer research the other night.  The event took place after all the performers were safely back at the dormitory so it was very well attended.  I think it started around 0100 hrs in the morning or shortly before.  You can safely assume that alcohol was implicated....  nuff said.  
Anyway, volunteers did what enthusiastic volunteers always do, turn to their friends and say "hold my beer and watch this!!"  There were a number of trained technicians there who specialized in waxing legs so the fund raiser was based on male (mostly..ok, all) volunteers getting their legs waxed and other members of the bands pulling the tape off in any manner they chose.  They paid for this privilege....  So the hall was filled with hoots and hollers as hair was removed in the most agonizing fashion possible by creative, masochistic (and partially drunk) friends could come up with.  
Here is a pic of the result..

Overheard from a tourist after seeing our RCMP insignia

"Harry, what does RCMP stand for?"
"Not sure, but I think it is Roman Catholic Mountain Police
(....seriously!!  One of our band members was going to tell them that the Pope was the Drum Major...)

JK Rowling and Harry Potter

The prolific and highly successful JK Rowling wrote her Harry Potter books from a small coffee shop off the Royal Mile in Edinburgh.  It has become shrine-like to aspiring writers and fans of the series.  

Looking at Edinburgh, with its gothic architecture, hidden "Closes", subterranean streets and corridors coupled with famous and infamous characters - well, you can see how someone with a beautiful imagination like "Jo" Rowling could create wild mythic characters and scenario.

The Scott Memorial (Sir Walter Scott)

Look closely at the gargoyles - yikes

Not sure, but bet these brick inlays mean something....

Lots of little, narrow, kinda spooky "Closes"  Nothing special in daylight, but as the sun sets.......just sayin'

HMY Britannia

Lorne Clifford and I went for a tour of  Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia this morning.  This ship was built in Glasgow in 1953 and was active until 1997 when it was de-commissioned.  It is now tied up in Edinburgh for the public to visit. 

This is the HMY Britannia permanently tied up at the dock in Edinburgh (Leith) 

This is view from the bridge

This is Prince Philip's sailing yacht Bloodhound tied up along side Britannia

This is the commemorative bell for HMY Britannia

This is the eating area where guests would enjoy breakfast and lunch

The story behind the monkey is funny.  The crew would hide the monkey every morning in a different place around the ship.  I guess this game made the crew to search high and low around the ship and find things that needed cleaning or repairs.  

The Wombat.  Another crew game.  When the fan came on, the wombat would go flying.  This became a "lively"game of catch the wombat/ chuck the wombat.

The State Room for formal meals.  Great leaders from around the world have dined with the royal family over the years.  Nelson Mandella, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, kings and queens from dozens of different countries along with dignitaries from business and entertainment world.

Around the walls of the ship are a number of beautifully adorned gifts to the royal family.  This is just one cabined of many with gold, silver and ivory carved gifts.

Accommodations for the senior non-commissioned officers.  6 to a room.

For my friend Ed Kalau!  I always wanted my engine rooms to look like this.

Low pressure and high pressure boilers.

Boiler controls

More accomodations

Mockup of the ships controls

This is from the State Room.  It is hand-carved from one solid piece of oak!

Typical Marine soldiers accomodations.  12 to a room.  Crew size was over 200