A day of Castles & Churches

We woke up on Sunday morning to rain, rain and more rain!!

Since neither Michael nor myself wanted to hike in the rain, we moved indoors instead!!

Our first stop was Inveraray Castle, home of the 13th Duke of Argyll and his family….

The foundation stone for the Castle was laid in 1746!! It took 43 years to complete and the 5th Duke was the first to live in it.

As expected, it was ornate, ostentatious, and had lots of gilt!!

I did enjoy this portrait of one of the past Dukes…..

This entryway was interesting with the weaponry being used for decorations!

We didn’t tarry long in the castle, but did enjoy morning tea before we left.

The next stop was to a slightly different type of castle…..

This one in need of some long overdue repairs!!

This castle stands on a rocky peninsula on Loch Awe. It was built in the mid-15th century but fell out of use and was in ruins by 1770.

It was interesting to see the architecture….

…and especially the rock masonry!

The final stop of the day was to Saint Conan’s Kirk (Kirk being the Scottish word for church)…..

The Kirk was hidden in the trees, making it hard to get a photo of the entire building, but we certainly enjoyed ogling all of the architectural details….

I love these stairs, but sure wouldn’t want to be forced to use them….

This window was interesting because it didn’t have any color in the glass…..

The more I look at it, the more I want to pull out fabrics and start re-creating it!!

I was impressed by the pipe organ…..

…until I realized that the “pipes” were strictly ornamental. They weren’t connected to the organ in any way!

It was fun to look up and see the wooden ceiling…..

…so different from the ornate ceilings of many UK Churches.

And of course, we were enamored with this “bunny gargoyle”…..

It looks as if the head is part of the gutter system.

And, I guess that these are owls…..

…but crudely carved.

On the way back to the lodge, we did a quick turn in the town of Inverary….

….until the rain sent us scurrying back to the car!!

All in all, it was a fun (non-physically taxing) day!!

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

Lessons learned!!

Last weekend I posted about our hiking times in the Scottish Highlands, but I didn’t tell you the whole story!!

IT WAS TOUGH WORK!!!

Some of the slopes were very steep, and the grassy tussocks were super easy to stumble over. There were many boggy areas, and often I would step into a hole filled with freezing water, feeling it rush into my boot.

Our first day out was particularly difficult. Part of that had to do with only 6 hours of sleep in the last 48 hours, but that wasn’t the only problem.

I found myself flailing around as I hiked. I was stepping HARD, almost stomping the ground and using my trekking pole to pull myself upward.

At the end of the day, I was exhausted and discouraged, especially since I had been promised that the next day would be even harder.

So I had a “come to Jesus” talk with myself!!

I KNOW how to hike. I KNOW how to stay balanced and not flail. So what was my problem?

I wasn’t concentrating on my walking, but rather on how bad I felt doing it!!

I told myself that the next day I would stay light on my feet rather than plodding, and I would concentrate on keeping my balance, without depending on the trekking pole to keep me upright.

And you know what…..

IT WORKED!!

With every step, I kept repeating…..”STAY LIGHT FOOTED” and STAY BALANCED”!!

Now, don’t get me wrong, at the end of the day I was exhausted, and my body told me that I had worked hard. However, my mind was in a much better place.

I was more able to enjoy the sun coming up…..

….and the gorgeous views…..

The difficulty hadn’t changed.

My MINDSET had!!

As I return to real life at home, I want to take this new mindset with me. No, I don’t have to worry about being light-of-foot or staying balanced, but I DO need to concentrate on what I am doing….whether in my office or my studio!!

And, even if I don’t want to be doing something, I still need to concentrate on what I am doing, and not on how I feel about it.

That was my LESSON LEARNED!!

Thanks for listening…..

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Scottish Highlands at their best

We have just returned from a 10-day trip to the Glasgow area of Scotland. The trip was split into several distinct parts….. exploring the Highlands, sightseeing in Glasgow and Dunoon, and one lovely day riding the “Jacobite Train”, also known as the “Hogwarts Express”!! I can’t wait to share it all with you!

Let’s start with the glorious Highlands. I have now seen them and…..

They met all of my expectations!!

The hiking was sometimes very hard, as I stumbled over tussocks of grass and stepped ankle deep into holes filled with freezing cold water…..

….but the scenery made up for all of the hard work!!

The thing that surprised me most was the diversity of the environment.

In most places, we were in view of one of the 30,000 Lochs (lakes) in the country….

Some were tiny. As a kid in Texas, we would have called them a “stock tank”. But others were enormous and the far bank seemed to disappear magically into the distance…..

Many areas were covered in forests….

…. others were rocky plinths with no vegetation to speak of…..

…..and some were simply rolling hills of scrubby grass…..

One of the most interesting things that we stumbled on was this rock hut, high up on one of the mountains…..

(Don’t you love the sheep in the background?)

The builder of this hut uses it as a spiritual retreat, and we could see evidence of his shrine inside the hut…..

Apparently, he is now well into his 80’s, but he still comes here often!!

He also erected this Gaelic Cross that is visible from many areas of the Highlands…..

I will leave you with one of my favorite phtos……

This is Bruno, next to a rock cairn that our guide, Martin, is building. He adds a new stone to it every time he is at the top of this particular mountain.

Many cairns are built as a marker of gratitude and I have to say that I am truly grateful for our days in this glorious area of the world!!

There’s lots more to see, so keep coming back!!

Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

Plans for a 15-hour plane flight

You can call me crazy, but I RELISH a long plane flight!! I have time…..

to think,
to plan,
to sleep,
to watch TV Sit-coms or movies,
to listen to music
to play games on my phone
to play in Procreate (that reminds me, I need to find the online course that I purchased)

There is NO pressing need clutching for my attention, no errand to run, no client email to answer!

This evening we begin the 15-hour flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, and I am ECSTATIC!

I thought about planning a quilting project to take with me, but as I reported yesterday, I am creatively spent.

I am looking forward to the trip, to the amazing animals and countryside that I will see, to the markets that I will visit in Maputo, Mozambique, and to again experiencing the beauty of the Kalahari Dessert.

As we travel, I will be posting some stories from the trip, but may not be able to link them to Facebook or any groups.

SO…..if you don’t want to miss the trip, be sure to subscribe to the blog…..

The End is Near

After our time on the Reserve and return to camp, we realized that Michael had accomplished all his goals for the trip, so we changed some tickets and shortened our trip by a few days.

On our last day in camp, we asked to spend most of the time relaxing (which was amazing!!!) but we did make one last drive up into the mountains….

Sadly, it was time to break camp and start the trip back home the following day. Since we were the last travelers through Babine camp, it wasn’t just US leaving…. it was EVERYTHING associated with the camp!!

While we packed our bags and cleaned out our cabin, Michael and Tammy proceeded to take down the two tents…..

……AND dismantle the Teepee….

There were LOTS of ropes involved!!

The last thing to go was the Starlink technology…..

It was certainly a luxury to have fast internet.

At last the truck and trailer were loaded and we made one final stop to pick up the inflatable…..

We then had….

a quick barge trip across the lake,
a long drive to Prince George,
an overnight at the BonVoyage Inn (and Greek food dinner),
flight to Vancouver,
afternoon and evening in the hotel catching up on blogs and other work,
flight to Salt Lake City,
3 hour layover,
flight to Atlanta,
ride to our home with “Driver’s Seat” doing the driving.

WHEW…..it was great to fall into our own bed and enjoy a great night’s sleep!!

This trip has been amazing. Although rustic, I grew to have a deep affection for the Babine Camp….even the outhouse!! As I made my final walk from the “No and Go”, I reflected that I would miss this peaceful and relaxing place.

We have met wonderful, kind people, seen sights that many will never have the opportunity to see, and enjoyed the hospitality of Michael and Tammy at Driftwood Valley Outfitters!! Thanks guys!!

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One last thing, as we were flying to Vancouver, an exciting event happened back in Prince George….. Desmond and Devondre GRADUATED HIGH SCHOOL…..

This is a HUGE accomplishment for these two young men, for the people of the Takla Lake First Nation Reserve AND for Michael Schneider and his “Driftwood Outdoor Guide and Business Apprenticeship Program”.

WELL DONE!!!

Tomorrow we will resume our regularly scheduled programming. Be sure to come back!!

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Thank you…….