Back again in my glorious piece of Heaven in beloved Scotland…
Lady Penelope, my beloved baby Jaguar was waiting for me… She’s a bit old and has a few wrinkles, but don’t we all… 🙂
One of my projects is to save Edward the Eagle…
Drinks with family…
View from the end of my driveway…
Rudolph Hess? Yes! After his flight from the Third Reich to Scotland, Hess was interned in Buchanan Castle which by then had been requisitioned by the army to use as a military hospital.
This is what the castle looked like in the 1890s…
…and driving toward it, one could for a moment be forgiven for thinking it still was a stately home…
…until one gets closer…………
…and leaving the estate, was surprised to find, standing in a field…
~ Bella
After an extended period of inclement weather, finally the sun decided to visit…
So the next morning I rugged up (it was 6 degrees C), popped the top of the car (yes, I am that crazy), and went exploring!
My first objective was to find the Fortingall Yew Tree – the oldest tree in Europe…
…and there he is behind that wall – well, I say ‘he’ since for hundreds of years the tree has been known to be a male (yes, yew trees are either male or female)… However, it has recently started sprouting berries – something only female yew trees do!
On the way around the cemetary to the tree, I was thinking about the changes that tree must have witnessed over FIVE THOUSAND YEARS!
…and then, lo and behold, the pavement agreed! 🙂
Although not as physically impressive looking as the Angel Oak in America (I visited that before I started uploading my photos here – at some point I might make time to upload those shots), or its sister, the oldest tree in Ireland, the Fortingall Yew Tree was truly majestic.
From here it was heading back in the general direction of home to the picturesque village of Killin and the glorious Falls of Dochart…
…and arriving safely back home…
…oh, and then that night (well, in the early hours of the following morning) we all sat out and watched the meteor Leonid shower!
Truly magical!
~ Bella
On my way home from the safari park, I went via the Falkirk wheel – the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world…
A rather ‘interesting’ name for a town…
…and then home…
…and the following day I decided to work outside beside the fire, and cook my very first pizza over my fire pit!
OK, so the bottom was charcoal, but it tasted delicious!
~ Bella
…continued…
…and we even had a real-life pipe major give us instruction on the bagpipes…
…and two rainbows on the way home…
…to have such wonderful friends… I am so very, very blessed…
“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature.”
~ Bella
…continued…
…and so after another full day, we went back and changed into our ‘bling’ for a glorious evening at Fruin Farm…
…to be continued…
The last weekend in September friends from all over the world to belatedly celebrate my birthday… with many of them staying here on the loch…
…and it seemed a shame to have so many amazing people with amazing talents, intellects, and knowledge to be in the one place and not to share those gifts with each other, so we turned it into our very own private ‘think tank’ / ‘thank tank’!
…then back to the loch for dinner…
…and although we all said we were not going to stay up too late, this group started texting me at 2:15am! 🙂
…to be continued…
Friends from several countries flew in for my belated birthday celebration. In addition to being one of my dearest friends, Tom and I work on several projects together so he flew in early from the States before being joined by his wife, daughter and son-in-law a few days later.
I decided to show Tom what my ‘Luxurious Nomad’ lifestyle was like re combining work and exploring and so decided to go for a mini-road-trip to Inverary and St Conan’s Kirk, working in the car and in a pub we found along the way…
~ Bella
Some may be aware of Rosslyn Chapel from the works by Dan Brown – but this enigmatic building has been on my bucket list for many years prior to the consipracy novels…
Before entering the Chapel, one passes the Old Rosslyn Inn building – I had no idea of its existence, nor its many illustrious visitors…
Now under the stewardship of the current Earl of Rosslyn, Rosslyn Chapel has been owned by the same family since its foundation in 1446!
Unfortunately, there are no photographs allowed to be taken inside the Chapel, however there is an abundance of images online – I would suggest checking them out as it is quite extraordinary.
…next we head off to Edinburgh to drop one of my Louis cases into the LV doctor…
…and this (on top of the hill) is Edinburgh Castle…
…a strange sight on the way home…
…and now back safe and sound after a lovely day!
~ Bella
