The Munchkin's Notebook

Today we got a packed breakfast to go from the B&B so we could be out the door by 7:00 AM headed towards the “Fairy Pools.” The B&B does breakfast at 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM which would have been too late for us to get to the Fairy Pools and manage to get a parking spot.  Thus we asked the hotel to pack a to-go breakfast, I was surprised it didn’t come with a thermos of hot tea, instead we got juice boxes. The breakfast also included for each person a ham sandwich, a smoked salmon sandwich, yogurt, a piece of fruit, and candy.  It was a decent to-go breakfast. Near End of  Fairy Pool Path (cell phone) On to the fairy pools; we got to the fairy pools around 7:30 AM and hiked to and from the pools before eating our packed breakfast.  The hike is a out and back trail along a mountain highland stream that has several small waterfalls and pools. Once you hit the end of the trail there is a sign that says this is the end of the fairy pool trail, beyond this p...

Today we left Ullapool after a late breakfast, usually we have breakfast earlier than 8:00AM but that was when they started serving breakfast.  That meant I got to sleep in till 7:00AM.  After breakfast we loaded up the car for the three hour drive down to Portree in Skye making a couple photo stops along the way. View of Castle Strome (Cell Phone) We took the more direct route down to Skye, rather than the scenic route so the drive only took about 2 hours. Our first photo stop was along A890 at an overlook that had a view of Castle Strome over Loch Carron.  Our second photo stop was at Eilean Donan castle, where it was raining.  I was glad I had a raincoat and water resistant pants. That castle required tickets to go into but had a visitor center and gift shop that did not require tickets.  We took some photos from the outside and got some items at the gift shop.  I got a large bead charm made from heather (the flower).  From there we crossed...

View at stop along route (cell phone) Today we left Thurso after a standard breakfast of eggs, bacon (more like ham), baked beans, toast, and tea to head down to Ullapool for the night.  The route takes three hours to drive without stops, we only made a three major stops and a did a few quick pull off for pictures.  The drive was very scenic, however much of it was on a one lane major road with passing pull offs,  not the type of place you want to stop.   Our first major stop was Caisteal Bharraich (Castle Varrich) in the town of Tongue.  The hike up to the castle and back takes a little over an hour.  The trail crosses over a stream and then climbs up a large hill to the remains of the castle tower.  Once you reach the castle tower you can climb the metal spiral staircase erected in the tower center to get a 360 view of the valley below and surrounding mountains and the Kyle of Tongue.   Caisteal Bharraich (cell phone) ...

Jim on hill near a loch, he is the orange dot. (cell phone) Today started with the same unexciting buffet breakfast, then packing up to leave Orkney.  The weather this morning decided it was going to be traditional Scottish weather (cloudy, dreary, windy and rainy) this morning so I needed my raincoat and glove liners. Our original goal was to go see the Mayshow chambered cairn, but it by tour only and the only tours available were the 12:00, 15:00 and 16:00 which would not work out with the ferry schedule.  So we drove around Orkney to the Orphir Circle Church ruin, which was smaller than I expected.  It was quarter of a domed structure.  From there we headed to the Tomb of the Eagles which is has a bronze age and mesolithic site at the southern tip of the main Orkney Island.  Once you arrive at the parking area for the site you walk along a mile loop trail along the cliff edge.  The bronze age site was first, it was small compared to the other we h...

Stones of Stenness with sheep (cell phone) Today started with a subpar breakfast buffet at the hotel. We tried finish breakfast quickly, because there was a tour bus group at the hotel, that we were pretty sure intended to go to all the same places to which we wanted to go.  Our first stop was the Stones of Stenness, which are three large standing stones with two pointer stones that align with the sun during the solstice.  There were four sheep hanging out by the stones, that really didn’t care if people were wandering around, and because of that you had to be aware of sheep poop. From there we walked at short distance up the path the remains of a neolithic settlement and over to the Watch Stone. From there we got back into the car and drove up the road a short way to the Ring of Brodgar, which is a large circle of standing stones.  Part of the circle was blocked off for archaeological excavation which ruined the ambiance of some of the pictures.  I originally h...

Hill o'Many Stanes (cell phone) Jim at John o'Groats (cell phone) Today we left Archiestown to head up to the Orkney Islands located in the North Sea. The only limiter on this was we had to make it to the pier at Gill’s Bay by 6:00 to catch the ferry to cross to Orkney.   Since Jim did not have a good feel for time, even though GPS said it would take three hours, we made very few stops along the way.  I was able to convince him to stop at the Hill o’Many Stanes near Overton along the way to Gill’s Bay.  The Hill o’Many Stanes had 27 stones arranged in a fan pattern on a hill.  While probably not the most exciting thing to see, it was a bit interesting if you are into neolithic history.  From there we continued up to John o’Groats which is a town at the north east corner of mainland UK.  There is a pole with signs pointing to various cities such as New York, London and Edinburgh.  We ate lunch at little cafe in John o’Groats. Sin...

Today we stayed within a 10 -15 mile range of our hotel in Archiestown visiting distilleries, castles, and a woolen mill.  We started the day by stopping at the Craigellachie bridge which has round turrets and was built in the late 1800s. From the bridge we continued on to the Macallan distillery. We got there just when it opened at 9:30 AM, but could not get a tour because they were booked.  So Bill decided to just do a tasting, however they couldn’t do tastings till 10 AM, so we spent time just hanging around the visitor center and gift shop.  After the tasting, we continued on to Ballindall castle. Ballindall castle is more of a large country estate than a castle.  The lord of the estate still lives in the estate and is apparently friends with the Queen since there were several signed pictures from her and pictures of her visiting.  It is a well appointed home with two nice gardens and a very soft lawn.  Sadly,  you could not take pictures insi...

Last night we had a late dinner at the hotel.  The dinner was a two course meal, and we added a desert for each couple.  I had the prosciutto and melon plate to and Jim had the skenk soup to start. I had the sea bass and Jim had the venison steak for the main course, and we split a toffee topped cheesecake.  It was a very good dinner, and good way to end the day.   Urquhart Castle (Cell Phone Picture) Today started with a hearty breakfast at 8:00AM.  I had scrambled eggs with sausage and Jim had fried toast, a fried egg, sausage, and baked beans, and both breakfast were combined with toast and breakfast tea.  After Breakfast we headed out to find a grocery store to get bottled water, then headed out to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle.   On the way out to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle we stopped at Tomatin Distillery to pick up expressions we cannot get in the US.  Sadly, Jim could not taste anything because he was driving but h...

Today we were picked up at the hotel and taken to the rental agency to picked up the car, which is a BMW X3.  After going through the rental stuff, Jim had to figure out how to drive on the the left side of the road. I highly believe rental car agencies in the UK need a practice course for continental drivers so they can get used to the car and the the feel of being on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car.  But Jim did well getting out of the airport area onto the motorway/freeway to get us to St. Andrews.   We made it to St. Andrews in one piece and only clipped the mirror of one car parked on the side of the road.  Yay us.  Once we made it to St. Andrews we went to the abbey ruins and cemetery.  In the abbey area we climb the 160 spiral stairs of the remaining tower to see the view of the city of St. Andrews.  It was a very nice view. From there we wandered over to the St. Andrews castle ruins. The castle was rather sma...

Jim's Breakfast Today started early, with a full breakfast at the hotel.  Our friend’s Bill and Cristina  had oatmeal and scrambled eggs with salmon respectively for breakfast. I had a ham  omelet, while Jim had pancakes and bacon.  When Jim’s breakfast arrived he got a stack of pancakes with a large slice of almost ham-like bacon placed between each pancake all drizzled with maple syrup. It was a very interesting presentation. After breakfast we used the bus system to get to the Royal Mile, so we could go see Edinburgh Castle.  Personally,  I like using a subway system, because I believe it is easier to get a round on then a bus system. With the bus system I have to pay too much attention, and find it harder to know what stop I need. So now onto the castles. Back of Edinburgh Castle We arrived at Edinburgh Castle a little bit before it was to open, we thought it opened at 9:00AM but it didn’t open till 9:30AM.  We got our tickets then sta...

Waiting in the airport with the mammoth It's that time of year again, for Jim's and my annual vacation. This year it is Scotland. We had an evening flight out on British Airway.  The flight was smooth and uneventful to London where we cleared immigration and customs before getting on the flight from London to Edinburgh to start our Scottish adventure.   So what do normal people do after a long overnight flight and checking into a hotel, usually clean up, eat lunch,  relax, and maybe take in some local city sites.  Not us, we went out, got lunch, then climbed a dead volcano. Yes there is a dead volcano in Edinburgh, it is called Arthur's Seat, then went to see some old church ruins.  There are two ways to get to the top of Arthur’s Seat, the long gradual incline that can take up to 3 hours or the steep 30 minute, hope you're a mountain goat,  ascent.  Guess which one we took, the steep one. Now the climb wasn’t that horrible just some sp...

Near the middle of April, I did a fashion/editorial style cherry blossom shoot, with Orisen Cosplay who was wearing the lovely “ endless fire ” dress, with a 20-foot train, rented from Dream Shoot Rental .  For this evening shoot, I used a three light set up which included a honeycombed key light, a shoot through umbrella fill light, and a straight speedlight as a back or rim light.    I positioned the key light using a C-stand with a boom arm so the light could be placed within the branches of the tree and angled down onto the model.  I also put a large honeycomb grid directly onto the flash head to narrow the light and provide a spot or beam of light look.  I used a flash inside a reflective bounce- shoot through umbrella angled up into the tree branches to light the cherry blossoms. I also place a flash with no modifiers directly behind the model to act as a rim light and light up the train of the dress to add depth to the shot.   Additionall...