Landscape 1

Fierce gold and ochre sky late in afternoon

This late afternoon shot came as a result of seeing this incredible ochre sky blend with the low clouds and create a massive sort of gold and reddish presence in the sky and I was able to use a filter that enhanced it in the sky area but left the ground area, from about half way down the trees, as if they were shot normally - and the result was this unusual-looking mixture, which I really like. This land is on the edge of a large NHS piece of land and the dense dark green trees/shrubs in the background, behind the trees, are no all gone and a low building housing a large doctors’ surgery is there, and this shot would mot be possible now, because it would look all ‘townyfied’ and not have the same impact so, a piece of history here really.

Natural tunnel through the underbrush in a local forest.

In all sorts of different lighting, this small overhung tunnel through the trees and shrubs, has different colours and shades playing around and within it. This day was a clear day and the colour are sharp and the whole thing looks like being worth exploring, in spite of the fact that it only really takes you to the next bit of the land here and the overhanging trees and twigs soon get left behind. Nice though, because you come at it from a small dip so you can see into it with your eyes pretty much at ground level before getting to where you can see it as in this shot - so it is a bit of an adventure !

An old part of the forest

This old, out-of-the-way part of the forest, does not often see people. The undisturbed crocus bed around the tree has been doing that for countless generations, since around the year 1500 in the Lowlands of Scotland .and keeps coming back each year, gracing us with muted colours against the massed greens of old trees and foliage that almost seem to be old. There’s light coming down through the canopy and it all has an ancient feel to it. A stillness, when you just stand there and let the time go for a bit. A deep stillness. We all rush too much, and call it normal. The ‘normal’ of this place tells you a very different story.

A small stand of trees in sunlight

This small outcrop of trees edges one of several fields where horses graze and, from time to time, wander through these shady parts of their habitat, peeling of bits of bark or ripping up delicious fast growing weeds. A ‘natural’ place which, if you walk through, they come, nosily, wanting to know what you are or if you have nice foods to give them, But it’s definitely their place not yours and don’t go there if you have fear of horses because it communicates itself to them and they will chase you.

Pink flowers in woodland

These vibrant pink flowers, and the deeper ochres of those same flowers up higher, in deeper shade, were just hanging there, on the edge of this small swell of a bank of trees, as I walked through this bit of the forest, which did not seem, to have these flowers there, only a short time before. The rain that had been here a few hours earlier may have freshened them up, and the sunlight on this part of the canopy, just edging these great little flowers, took me by pleasant surprise and the general cacophony of all of the material around these flowers, was just as you see it - unstoppable summer energy !

Mountains of Arran from Broddick harbour

A variably clear sunny day, for Arran, with the scudding shadows on the land and the blueish sky reflected in the waters. A day people come here for. I you want hilly golf courses this is the place to find them ! Fresh air and a sense of being ‘away from it all’

Tree growing out of a steel girder. 1

A late winter shot with the sun full on the beautiful colours and architectures on display here, as these two steel girder lays across the full width of a river, and the vegetation has taken hold and grown successfully here - including this amazingly successful tree ! There used to be a bridge laying on top of these girders but after that was decommissioned Nature took over and now look ! A plethora of great colours and, at the tail end of winter, all these skeleton tree shapes lit up strongly, making a wonderful tableau not often seen here, in exactly this way.

Tree growing out of a steel girder. 2

A late winter shot with the sun full on the beautiful colours and architectures on display here, as these two steel girder lays across the full width of a river, and the vegetation has taken hold and grown successfully here - including this amazingly successful tree ! There used to be a bridge laying on top of these girders but after that was decommissioned Nature took over and now look ! A plethora of great colours and, at the tail end of winter, all these skeleton tree shapes lit up strongly, making a wonderful tableau not often seen here.

Stairway to resting place !

This lovely little raised sitting place was built several hundred years ago on a private estate which is now open parkland, so that folk could suit on this now very degraded bench and look out over the small river back up, across the extensive grounds, to the castle, with all its’ panoply and pomp. There’s a small stand of dark evergreen bushy trees round the back and sides of that seat and, even though the original idea and layout was so long ago, the general idea and a sort of secluded peacefulness still exists up there, even though it is massively overgrown and largely unlooked after. A bit of step into yesteryear, wondering who these people were, who used to sit on this secluded bench, and what they saw or thought, did or didn’t do, while they still had their precious chances to choose. We can see something of what poor and criminal chances-to-choose look like as we see what the thinking, decisions and actions of just one so-called ‘man’ do to, in this case, The Ukraine in February & March 2022. Inexcusably immoral choices which will hurt those who made them much more and for far longer than those who have been so criminally affected by them. It is ever so, and the diminutively unthinking and dishonourable aggressors of history never seem to learn the lessons of history re such unnecessary poor and rejctable choices, and the ultimate effect such self-centred choices inevitably have on those who choose to enable such criminal choices to be enacted. They last less than ten years before they’re gone - in one of several many ways, just gone.

Isle of Arran from West Kilbride Hill

Cold winters’ day. Sun from the south east, casting those nice landscape shadows and clouds rolling in from the west, son to cover it completely and render it invisible again. Sometimes you can see this beautiful island clearly and other times there is nothing there but cloud or mist. Today you get to see a little of the lie of the land and the big hills on this eastern side. ‘When there’s snow on Arran it’s gonna get cold !’

Isle of Arran from the west coast of Scotland North of Irvine

Crystal clear blue skies in winter and snow half way down those Arran hills make a lovely backdrop to the hoses ion this part of the mainland. The truncated cone shape of what was the live volcano there when this island was on the equator, millennia ago, before making its’ leisurely way north, to come to rest in the Firth of Clyde area, where it’s been ever since. Lovely to see it as clear as this. Not often possible because of the cloud and mist that just descends all down that eastern side of the place and makes it look like there’s nothing there but endless weather fronts. Today got us this shot - which is a blessing indeed.

Isle of Arran from the west coast of Scotland above Irvine 1

This was a still clear day, showing off this beautiful island in the strong mid morning sunlight. That sea is an hours’ ferry journey each way and not often with flat water like this. The snow line coming halfway down those big hills over there tells you it will be cold overnight - typically in the minus single digits. This is old farmland, up and down most of this part of the west coast of Scotland and you have some if it in the foreground of this shot. A peaceful place with centuries of good land management and crop husbandry by families and folk who have long ago found out what to do and do it well - year after year. You want good potatoes, for instance ? - come up here !

Isle of Arran from the west coast of Scotland above Irvine 2

Another clear, blue-skied day, and a great backdrop to the marina at the back of the buildings (see the masts) and that old church which has been there for hundreds of years. An ancient place, this part of the west coast of Scotland, with ancient traditions and ‘canny’ folk. Plenty of beaches like this but it’s cold. The wind is the predominant feature here but nothing compared to the Highlands and Islands at the north end of Scotland where folk get used to walking along, pretty much at a thirty degree angle going forward !

Inland waterway on a still day 1

This beautiful bit of an elongated inland waterway is just left a bit of the top of Loch Lomond in Scotland, at a small place called Arrochar, on the drive further west to Inverary. On this day the water was still and this great series of reflections was just sitting there - right ton top of the water ! The remnants of snow on those lower hills tells you that further up there is more, and it was colder, the further away west of this bit of water we went. Getting to Inverary from here, you cut across winding westerly roads sandwiched between ever higher large snowy hills and the temperature just plummets till it spits you out at the top of yet another long inland waterway, at Cairndow, from where you go round the northern spur of that waterway and then down the west side of it to that great and friendly smallish town of Inverary. A happy place, with great water scenery all around the eastern side of it. This is all ‘big country’. You can’t mess around without effective clothing and all the necessary emergency supplies. Survival is definitely a ’think-ahead thing’ up here !

Inland waterway on a still day 2

This beautiful bit of an elongated inland waterway is just left a bit of the top of Loch Lomond in Scotland, at a small place called Arrochar, on the drive further west to Inverary. On this day the water was still and this great series of reflections was just sitting there - right ton top of the water ! The remnants of snow on those lower hills tells you that further up there is more, and it was colder, the further away west of this bit of water we went. Getting to Inverary from here, you cut across winding westerly roads sandwiched between ever higher large snowy hills and the temperature just plummets till it spits you out at the top of yet another long inland waterway, at Cairndow, from where you go round the northern spur of that waterway and then down the west side of it to that great and friendly smallish town of Inverary. A happy place, with great water scenery all around the eastern side of it. This is all ‘big country’. You can’t mess around without effective clothing and all the necessary emergency supplies. Survival is definitely a ’think-ahead thing’ up here !

Inland waterway on a still day 3

This beautiful bit of an elongated inland waterway is just left a bit of the top of Loch Lomond in Scotland, at a small place called Arrochar, on the drive further west to Inverary. The snow on the lower hills tells you that further up there is more, and it was colder, the further away west of this bit of water we went. This erious looking bit of a mountain is part of what you drive through as you go further west and yes, it is ! cold. Getting to Inverary from here, you cut across winding westerly roads sandwiched between ever higher large snowy hills and the temperature just plummets till it spits you out at the top of yet another long inland waterway, at Cairndow, from where you go round the northern spur of that waterway and then down the west side of it to that great and friendly smallish town of Inverary. A happy place, with great water scenery all around the eastern side of it. This is all ‘big country’. You can’t mess around without effective clothing and all the necessary emergency supplies. Survival is definitely a ’think-ahead thing’ up here !

A water view from Inverary

This is the eastern scenic view from the small area where boats can tie up, on the eastern edge of Inverary. Those are the big cold hills you drive through to get here. On this day, the cold was definitely something to be aware of, and the overcast day was interspersed with bits of blue sky and searing warm sunlight that glared the white snow everywhere and made this sot what it is. There was a small professional fishing boat called the ;Vital Spark’, just to the left of where this shot was taken, and you can see that pic a bit further on. There’s a great sweet shop in Inverary - every conceivable confectionery you could think of, and then some, all in jars and in browsable places - out which it is impossible to exit without having bought something !

The double bridge on the eastern approach to Inverary

This littler protected hillside, losing any snowfall quite quickly, is one of the long shots available from the eastern edge of Inverary. A lovely hillside with great trees and calm reflections. A ‘Real World’ away from all the time-wasting hustle and bustle of what we so often mistakenly mostly call Real life’

The ‘Vital Spark’ fishing boat

Here’s the local professional fishing boat, off the eastern edge of Inverary. Tough boats like this have been plying Scottish waters forever - along with their equally tough crews. Not a job for the faint-hearted ! Some of that lovely ‘snowy-river’ shot is in the background

Inland waterway view from Inverary

If you have the money and/or the Family Hereditary Traditions, this is one of the Scottish hideaway places you might choose to settle down into. Your only drawback would be you’d have to get into the wagon and get yourself over to Inverary to see this awesome view from there ! It gets cold here - you’d have to deal with that too !

A garden with a tyre on a rope.

This late afternoon warmly sunlit garden has been part of a family home for thirty years or so. Many memories here. Journeyings. People. Times and, as with all things, time moves us all on and we all go on to whatever else it is we do in the world. But the memories stay. Held in precious embrace. And a smile of contentment and gratitude sunrises each time those involved see this pic. You will have yours also. And Blessed indeed, because of it.

The same garden as in the previous shot.

But just of the wall and some of that lovely tree, this time, the very last of the direct sunlight coming at it from the dying westerly horizon. Without the light there is nothing. There’s nothing quite like sitting, with a friend, in the last of the warm sunlight, sipping a quiet glass of something nice and just being there together. Transient moments of precious embrace.

Wood pile in the gloaming

All that fresh cut wood makes you want to start a fire ! I was out for a walk, in a part of the world I didn’t know about, and so was walking up a road, to see where it led and, behold !, on the other side of the road, on the outside edge of a bit of a pull-in to someones’ grassy front bit on the road-side of their high wall, was this lovely pile of natures’ architecture, with a bit of help from Adam, it seems - and don’t those fresh-cut colours look wonderful. Ochre Wood. Good name for a detective story.

Early Night-time in a small town on the West Coast of Scotland 1

I love it when you get the moving lights of car front and rear lights, as if they’re moving all on their own, with no vehicle in sight ! This night was clear air and the colours were vibrant - a film set in the making !