4/10/2015

Join me on a Highlands Road Trip ...


While I was away (by the way, I'm home now - yeah, I know, even I can barely keep up with where I am, but for now I'm home), the Builder and I took a wee run around the Stratherrick and Loch Ness areas.

(And before I go any further, y'all DO know that a 'run' means a trip in the car....? None of you actually imagined for a minute that I was, you know, actually running? Phew, glad y'all were on the right tracks because after all, y'all know me well enough by now to know that I only run in emergency situations, and even then for a maximum of ten yards or so. Anyway, back to our car trip...)


I feel a bit the-king-is-dead-long-live-the-king ..esque. After all, I love the scenery here - the beaches, the sunsets, the moor and such like. Y'all know I love my island. But it seems like no sooner have we decided to move than here I am singing the praises of the scenery in another part of Scotland. Of course, the simple truth is this: Scotland is beautiful. Whether it's our beaches in Lewis, or the hills and lochs of the Great Glen, Scotland is stunningly scenic.

I have to be honest - its beauty just takes my breath away! Whilst on our road trip, I stopped the car a couple of times to take photos.

Okay, so it was more than a couple of times. A dozen.... or so. Well, what's a person to DO? Everywhere I looked, the beauty screamed out to stop, savour, and photograph. Except it didn't scream. The scenery I beheld doesn't scream. It is strong, and silent.

And very, very beautiful.



Looking down onto Loch Ruthven. 




The hills, the emptiness, the isolated croft house ... so Scottish, so emotive.




Those who live in this home are not so isolated nowadays. The internet, roads, and transport mean that they can speak to people and meet with them on a daily basis. But when I see these kinds of scenes, my mind always imagines what it was like in the earlier part of the 20th century, and in earlier times. Was the lady of the house lonely? Did she feel the isolation? Or was it so 'normal' that she didn't ever stop and think of it? Was she so busy raising her brood, gathering eggs, cooking and cleaning that she didn't have a minute of her day to feel loneliness?

I guess she may have had seasons of her life when life was busy, and other times when her distance from others may have been more keenly felt.

Of course, I have no way of knowing ... but these are often my thoughts driving though Highland Scotland.



I don't wish to bore you with an overdose of photos,



but I can't but give you some glimpses of what I saw.


Driving through Stratherrick, we passed the Free Presbyterian church. Again, my imagination saw past days of Godly men and women meeting to gather here each Lord's Day. I'm not sure if a congregation still meets here, but if they don't, then the people will have transport to drive to other villages or towns. 



And just beyond the church was this memorial.


To the glory of God and in memory of the men from Stratherrick who fell in the Great War 1914 - 1918

Their name shall live forever.
Bidh an ainm agus an cliĆ¹ buan.




You fed up of photos yet?



Another isolated home; another opportunity for my thoughts to run riot.




I stopped the car every mile or so (and that's a lot of stops when we were driving a lot of miles ;) ). I could have stopped the car every yard or so!


We drove through the village of Foyers, which is now a definite must-visit-here-in-the-summer place. It was so pretty, and just beyond, almost hidden from our view was this campsite.


Right on the shores of Loch Ness.

What a fantastic time the holidaymakers must have been having over their Easter holiday with beautifully sunny weather over the past days.


And then, finally, we ourselves came alongside Loch Ness.


The sun was just dipping below the hills on the western side of the Loch.



Through the gorse bushes and the branches, you can (almost!) see Urquart Castle and the picturesque village of Drumnadrochit.


And just as Loch Ness ends and Loch Dochfour begins, directly across from Aldourie Castle Estate, is this bonny building.


I've yet to find out what it is, or was, but I shall make it my business to find out and will let y'all when I find out. 


And so there you have it. I'm so glad you were able to join us on our wee run the other evening. Methinks there will be plenty more to follow ...



20 comments:

  1. Loch Ness is beautiful! I would love to see it in person.

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    1. It really is, Lillibeth. Can't wait to see more of it and have some picnics by its shores :)

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  2. I took so many photos in Scotland! It is stunningly beautiful! I too like to think of the lives of those who lived in the past in some of the remote places. I'll always be grateful for my trip to your beautiful country!

    Deanna

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    1. Oh, that's great that you were able to come. Where did you visit, Deanna? Oh, and I'm glad there are others who imagine past lives too :)
      A x

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  3. It is beautiful. Thank you SO MUCH for all the pictures. I love them! Can't wait to see where you are moving! Blessings my friend!

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    1. I can't wait to *know* where we're moving! (well, we do have an idea of general area, but so much uncertainty right now .... learning to trust more and lean on my Beloved more :) )
      A x

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  4. Thanks for bringing me along on your run. I am so in love with Scotland. My mind does the same thing when I see places, I write the stories in my head about them. BTW, I think you need to write a book. Because you know we all would buy it. I'm still thinking about the blog you wrote about peat because I'd wondered about it all my life. :) It was a big move that brought me into writing, the Lord placed me four blocks from the only Christian writers group in the state. I'm praying for your upcoming move and that the Lord bless you greatly.

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    1. Mindy, thank you for your kind comments, and thank you so much for praying for us. We need God's guidance, and are seeking to do His will.
      Anne x

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  5. LOVE the pictures! I often randomly stop the car to take pictures, if I am driving. I struggle, somewhat, to get Robert to do likewise!

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    1. The ever-patient Builder allowed me all my stops! Mind you, he was feeling so ill, I was driving, and he simply sat back and enjoyed in the views :)
      A x

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  6. Beautiful photos, Anne! Looks like s wonderful place to explore!

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    1. Yes, Keri. It's definitely given me an appetite TO explore the area! I love, love, love throwing some flasks and some picnic food into the car, and just driving.... so these places will give ample picnic spots in the time to come, I hope :)
      A x

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  7. I was in Scotland 20 years ago and I am still enchanted by it...thanks for a great post. You always bring a smile.

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    1. Thank you, Laura :) . So much of what's in Scotland is still just as it was 20 years ago... which is nice :)
      Ax

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  8. Oh man, would it be bad to tell you TAKE MORE PICTURES??!! I could use *you* as my Scotland picture tour guide. This was a pleasure reading and looking at all the beautiful country side and charming houses.

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  9. I thought I would just let you know that there is still a small Free Presbyterian congregation in Stratherrick. They don't have a service every week but the church is still used and my sister keeps it clean and fresh. I will let you know about the other white building when I see her next.

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    1. I'm late in seeing these last comments. That's so interesting, and thank you for letting me know! I was telling my dad the other day about some of the beautiful places we saw, and he remembers being at a communion service in that church over 30 years ago! I had no idea he'd been :)
      A x

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  10. Looks absolutely beautiful. And I love the pictures of the solitary homes ~ they really do make one just sit and wonder!

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  11. Will you be living close to any of this? I would love to get the map out and do the route of where you've been, where you're going ect. It is all so lovely. Okay, here is what the woman in the isolated farm house feels, by the way…. she loves being out there, she is busy, and she delights in her work and her family, she doesn't feel isolated, until her children grow up one by one and move away, then she begins to feel the isolation and loneliness; then, it does not seem so beautiful anymore, except on certain days, when the sun is shining, and she is not weighed down with missing them. She is happy of course, because she has a wonderful husband and is blessed in so many ways, but there is a constant hole in her heart and her purpose where the others were, and it doesn't go away. But when one or two of them return, with family in tow, then the blankness disappears, and she knows the joy of life again… ha ha. Well, there is my dramatic explanation of the woman in the isolated farm. Perhaps it is not like that… perhaps she is full to overflowing with husband, children and grandchildren, all close, coming and going and pitching in together. That is the best picture. I will say, that living far out in the country is a very beautiful thing, and not at all lonely, unless those that you love are not with you, and I suppose if you have lived there all of your life, and you are a very practical person, you get on with life out there, even when the children have grown, you must rearrange your purpose. Ha ha, well, I bet you didn't realize you would get so much feedback from such a little bit of musing, The picture of the farmhouse looked very like our countryside in Colorado, and I just couldn't seem to help myself. Anne, I do pray many blessings for you all and that the Lord will provide abundant grace in your move and in all that you have to do. I loved all of the pictures, and enjoyed a nice catch up.
    Love and blessings, Pam

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    1. Oh Pam, thank you for your musings! I loved them .... and felt VERY glad that you are now very close to your dear girls and their precious families. Gorgeous as Colorado is, *nothing* is as beautiful as being with our loved ones...
      Thank you xx

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