Unpredictable weather conditions force us to seek a local destination for our Sunday walk. With this in mind we head west of the Erskine Bridge for a stroll around the hills and farm-roads behind Langbank. Lovely vantage points and views over the Firth of Clyde and Dumbarton Castle and exceptional vistas of Glasgow were gained.
As we descended down from the hills we came across a colony of inquisitive Alpacas. We are informed by a passing resident of th
e area that these beasts are renowned for their soft fur and kind nature. Further investigation reveals that Alpacas control their internal parasites by using a communal dung pile, where they do not graze. Generally, males have much tidier, and fewer dung piles than females who tend to stand in a line and all go at once. One female approaches the dung pile and begins to urinate and/or defecate, and the rest of the herd often follows.
Bizarre behaviour which if replicated by all farm stock would prove to be a positive time saver for farmers around the world ;-)
Set off for Stronachlachar on the North West shore of Loch Katrine for another photo shoot of possibl
e entries for our 2010 calendar. Weather conditions were perfect and some exceptional photos were achieved. On completion of our photo shoot we walked along the no
n tourist route to The Royal Cottage which was purposely built for Queen Victoria when she came to open Loch Katrine Reservoir in 1859 and then subsequently used by Glasgow councillors as a holiday home. On our way there we detoured to see a water outlet from Loch Arklet with stunning waterfalls cascading over man-made steps.
We were saddened to see on our arrival at the royal cottage that it is now in a state of disrepair, but discovered a beautiful jetty and boathouse next to a dramatic egress of water from Loch Katrine to tunnels which then flow steadily towards Mugdock holding pools 26 miles south near Milngavie and from here it is dispersed to the households of the Greater Glasgow area and beyond.
Set off early for Rowardennan on the east shore of Loch Lomond in anticipation of February photo shoot for the 2010 calendar, only to be thwarted by poor visibility and low cloud.
In an effort to pass a few hours in the hope that the weather conditions would improve we slipped into our waterproofs and headed four miles north along the West Highland Way to the advantageous viewpoint that is Rubha Curraichd which affords beautiful views to the north of Loch Lomond. 
Nestled up there among the trees is a welcoming little bench for the weary walkers who have just climbed the long slow hill from the ptarmigan lodge and on it is inscribed this beautiful eulogy to a loved one: ‘Someone like you comes along once in a lifetime. Thank you for being in ours’, inspirational words and a thoughtful testament to a departed one.
On our return to Rowardennan we are fortunate to be viewed upon by wild goats grazing on the bark of trees as they came down from the hills to escape the snow line. Local folklore speculates that these feral goats have special dispensation decreed upon them by none other than Robert The Bruce, who, while in hiding in a local cave from English soldiers chased the goats from within the cave, on seeing the flock of goats grazing near the cave-mouth the soldiers supposed that no-one was inside; they reasoned that if anyone was in the cave the goats would have fled in fear. In gratitude for this deliverance Bruce later (when he became King of Scotland), passed a law that the goats were to be allowed to roam free forever. The descendants of those ‘By Royal Appointment’ feral goats are almost certainly the inquisitive beasts we captured today.
Awake to find that Newtonmore has received a six inch covering of snow during the evening 
with more heavy snow falling during breakfast.
In fear of being trapped in the Cairngorms overnight we decide to postpone our intended exploration of Loch An Eilean near Aviemore and head south via Kenmore, Loch Tay and then detour up Glen Lyon for some ‘Red Heart mask’ photo opportunities. The climb up towards the dam at Loch Lyon becomes increasingly fraught as we encounter snow drifts and an eventual road closure r
esulting in a 16 mile detour.
With the absence of a mobile phone and the remoteness of the location it was with great relief that we made it back to Killin and onwards to The Falls of Falloch for our final photo shoot under fading light conditions.
Back in Denistoun, Glasgow and Stuffed Peppers from Coia’s delicatessen on Duke Street with Lentil soup and lashings of pepper never tasted as good as they did this evening.
Perfect end to the perfect weekend!!
The day starts in near perfect sunny winter conditions as we capture our photo-shoot of two re
d hearts masks on the rocky peninsular at Hopeman. This glorious and unpredicted weather stays with us as we drive east along the Moray Coast to Findlater Castle and Gardenstown, and then onwards to the tranquil and isolated village of Crovie, an old fishing village at the bottom of a cliff with no recognisable street where visitors are asked to park there cars half way up the hill before walking down in to the near deserted village.
After an invigorating walk along the promenade at Crovie we drive 3 miles along the Moray coastline in search of Hells Lum cave which despite its remote location we manage to locate but fail to enter due to the fading light conditions and gro+1.jpg)
wing intent of the north wind blowing off the Moray Firth. With an idyllic winter sunset fading we arrived in Pennan. Sadly the quaint, whitewashed town is now populated by only two people and a cat and the famous hotel is now closed for business while it awaits new owners to try and reinvigorate interest in the famous location of Bill Forsyth’s pastiche of greed, village life and the multi-conglomerate; ‘Local Hero’.
As darkness fully envelops us we quickly travel south to the Glen Hotel in Newtonmore (15 miles south of Aviemore) arriving just before cut off time for the evening meal at 9pm.
As a Christmas present for each other we had prearranged that we would share a weekend awa
y sometime in January, the first day of this arrangement took us up the A82 towards Hopeman on the Moray Firth via Fort Augustus, Urquhart Castle and Fort George. To fully utilise this mini-break we travel with a couple of giant red heart masks that Emma intends to use in a proposed photo/art project and also on board are some calendar templates that we aim to use in a calendar project that we are putting together for 2010. On arrival we quickly source some locations for the calendar shots. Assembled enticingly alongside the beautiful white beach is an eclectic collection of multi coloured beach huts. As the light fades we manage to capture a few shots before enjoying an exhilarating stroll along the jagged and dramatic coastline from Hopeman to a smugglers cove, before returning to an evening meal in the Station Hotel and some light aperitifs in a local hostelry.
In search of family history we set off to find Emma’s ancestral pile ‘The Skeldon Estate’ near Dalrymple in Ayrshire. Our in
vestigations unveil that the house and estate are up for sale at £6.95 million but sadly for us we can not find anyone around the estate to furnish us with details as to how progress any claims that Emma may have to the stately pile, although we do make good use of the owners absence and capture some snaps of the elegant staircase and grandiose entrance built by Duke of Portland in 1867.
With our dreams of instant wealth shattered we drive west to Girvan on the Ayrshire coast where we encounter exceptionally strong winds as we park by the magnificent beach in a town that now looks past it’s heyday of the 50s and 60s when everyone and their granny escaped the industrial squalor of Glasgow and the west central belt and headed for the Ayrshire coast. Although the town may have seen better days the views across to Ailsa Craig (Paddies Milestone) can never be replaced and make the sojourn to this neglected port worth the effort.
Our first excursion of 2009 saw Eric run a 5k race from Holyrood Park in Edinburgh around th
e steep and winding road up Arthurs Seat returning to Holyrood Park where the World Cross Country Championships were being held in conjunction and finishing 226th out of an entry of 1884 and 17th overall for his age category.
As a warm down we ventured in to the city centre and witnessed a large turn out marching peacefully along Princess Street against the ongoing hostilities in Palestine, from here we took the brief walk to The Fruit Market art gallery beside Waverley station where amongst the other avant-garde exhibits we watched the Luis Buñuel /Salvador Dalí film ‘Un Chien andalou’ which has the renowned and disturbing opening scene of a woman’s eyeball being sliced with an open razor.
With this stomach churning image engrained in our consciousness we navigate eastwards to Leith docks and the nautical interior designed Britannia Spice restaurant which provides us with an attentive service and 1st class menu.
e area that these beasts are renowned for their soft fur and kind nature. Further investigation reveals that Alpacas control their internal parasites by using a communal dung pile, where they do not graze. Generally, males have much tidier, and fewer dung piles than females who tend to stand in a line and all go at once. One female approaches the dung pile and begins to urinate and/or defecate, and the rest of the herd often follows. 
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