Thermal

The Loanhead of Daviot stone circle on a cold & frosty November dawn.

I would have liked to have got out to a few circles over Christmas but too much snow got in the way – maybe later in the month.

More circles on my Bigstones website.

Growing tired of being slothful (ironic, no?) and wasting weekend mornings in bed, I ventured up at half five last Sunday morning and took the short drive to East Aquhorthies stone circle.

Dawn was due to break at just after 7 and when I parked the car with half an hour to spare, the sky was already lightening. A short walk up the farm track and I was at the 4000 year old prehistoric site and sorted out my tripod and camera. I am surprised by how un-spooky it is arriving at these places in the dark – you would think it would be creepy being in the middle of nowhere in the early hours, but I would definitely rather be there than walking the streets of a city at that time.

Nonetheless I could feel eyes boring in to my back as I waited for the sun to crest the horizon. Slowly turning I found myself face to face with a cow wearing the most human ‘what the f…. heck are you doing here?’ expression I have ever seen on an animal. Satisfied I didn’t want any of it’s grass it went back to chewing.

Dawn broke and I started firing off the camera. It’s amazing how fast the sun comes up once it’s made up its mind, and the light was continually changing as it advanced across the fields towards me. Pinks, oranges, reds and yellow all came through with varying intensity. Then, in less than 20 minutes, it was gone. The sun slipped above the clouds and wasn’t seen again for the rest of the day.

But I saw it:

More photos at my Stone Circle website, and you can see this photo larger on my Flickr page.

It’s seen a few: The 4000 year old Tyrebagger stone circle.

I took this photo in September for a photography competition but didn’t get anywhere. Which wouldn’t be so bad but the finalists were almost without exception awful – haloed HDR abominations, dull subjects and shots that looked like the camera went off by accident. Still, I’m not bitter.

Anyway, I like it and it was worth walking up a hill in the dark at 5am…… I think.

An amazing piece of luck saw us book this break about a month ago, and somehow pick 3 days in Northern Scotland in April, where a cloud wasn’t to be seen and we had weather you wouldn’t be upset with in August!

We headed north out of Aberdeenshire, into Moray and up the A85 via Aberlour and Grantown on Spey, before stopping in Aviemore. As we drove into town, there was a sign pointing to a ‘Stone Circle’, so we followed it and there was!

4000 years old, and it’s fate was to end up built into a housing estate. Oh well. It was still very complete, and the mountains that ring Aviemore gave you a chance to appreciate it some more.

Although it was lovely and warm, definitely T-shirt weather, the mountains surrounding the town were still well snow covered:

It’s a lovely setting, although the town pretty much consists of a railway station, and about 400 outdoor shops. Nothing wrong with that, as I could happily browse hiking gear for hours (and did) and we picked up the boys sleeping bags for our camping trip later in the year. Those who know him, won’t be surprised to learn that Patrick chose a pink one….

Following the minor road through the valleys and lochs, we made our way to Ruthven Barracks:

An amazing construction, built at the time of the Jacobite uprising to quell the unruly Scots it was burnt down by the survivors of Culloden. As is obvious, it was built on the site of a much earlier castle, and has tremendous views all around. Two RAF Tornado’s took the opportunity to fly around (not over) the barracks while we were inside, but I wasn’t fast enough with the camera….

A leisurely drive down the A9 towards Pitlochry, took us to Queens View at Loch Tummel, one of Queen Victoria’s favourite spots (hence the name). To see the view (and it is spectacular) you’ll have to visit Autofocused during the week, but I’ll finish with a picture of the monkeys mugging for the camera at the viewpoint:

Tom on the left!

With that we made our way to our hotel in Perth, ready for tomorrows trip to Pitlochry….

Ouch, my puns get worse.

Erika has found this brilliant photo blog, consisting of dozens of photos of balancing stones. No, wait come back! Look at this:

Unbelievable isn’t it? There are dozens of photos like this, some of which you think must be glued, some are natural, and there’s some ancient stone circles as well, ‘cos the human race has been doing this a while…

The blog is The Rocker, and is well worth a look. I know what I’ll be doing next time I’m out

Use Stumble? If you like The Rocker, remember to click ‘I like it’ when viewing the page, and give them a boost of traffic. Someone may do the same for you one day…

Despite the incessant rain today, we got off our butts and headed for the hills. Half hours drive from home, we’re in the foothills of the Grampians and we went for a 6 mile hike up Greenhill, going via Whitehill Stone Circle.

The rain was pretty much constant for most of the walk, blowing around and usually driving into our faces. I don’t mind walking in rain, but it rather limited the chances of getting my camera out, which was a shame, because the views from the top of Greenhill were 360 degrees around, comprising of bleak moorland, rolling farmland and in the distance the ‘real’ Grampians.

Thankfully, it eased up on our return trip, just in time for visiting 4000 year old Whitehill Stone Circle.

The first thought on Tom’s mind was a snack, namely some fruity loaf we had baked this morning:

Whitehill is a little battered, with all but 3 of the stones fallen, but they’re still here, grey and pink granites, with quartz scattered in behind the recumbent stone – the one deliberately lain on it’s side, and along which the moon moves during the major moonrise.

At least the rain gave me a chance to be ‘arty’ This is some sheep fleece caught on one of the standing stone, and bejeweled with rain drops.

It was a lovely, if tiring walk, and when we got home, the boys put away their Sunday lunch with gusto, and are now fast asleep. I won’t be far behind them.

Slightly un-wordless this week…

This wonderful painting of Callanish was painted for us by Kathryn of Mazoo Online Gallery, and is now on our lounge wall. Do check out her other pictures, and she has just started blogging as well – say hi here.
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I don’t need no stinkin’ spelcheker

Big sky, wide horizon, South Ythsie Stone Circle. I like Aberdeenshire.

The thing I have enjoyed most about blogging since starting 3 months ago, has been the chance to virtually meet and chat to so many different and interesting people from around the world (and Pinksy).

It’s cool that from a comment left by Kathryn on Blog-Op, I’ve managed to help her set up her first WordPress blog, and as a result to discover her amazing art. Normally, I’d be the first person to run away when someone mentions abstract art, but her work is stunning, the use of colours, the sense of depth, the feeling to it all. So struck by the art in her online gallery were Steph and I, we commissioned Kathryn to produce a painting using one of my photos as a basis (it was one I used for a recent Wordless Wednesday). This is the result:

I mentioned to Kathryn that Callanish is a temple of the moon, and her intepretation is stunning. I would love it if you could drop into her new blog and say hi – she’s not long started, and its always nice to get some visitors and comments. If you like our painting, or the stunning one she posted on the 31st Jan, do visit her online gallery as well. She ships all around the world, and there’s a good range of prices (in dollars as well as pounds) - treat yourself to some original art   It’s the first time we have, and we’ll definitely do it again!

Thanks Kathryn

Probably not, unless you live in the north of Scotland. Anyway, it’s my home from above:

The super observant among you may be able to spot my garden by it’s odd shape. Google Earth is a fun toy, we can actually spot our neighbours car on this shot, and looking at my Mum’s old house in London, you can see her car really clearly outside her house. I’ve not noticed any nude sunbathers though…

Here’s two more of my area: Aberdeen city and Tyrebagger Stone Circle, which is just down the road:

I know the Aberdeen one’s a bit far out, but you can clearly see the Rivers Don (top) and Dee which give the city it’s name. Anyone else willing to do some local sightseeing on their blog?