Close encounter

In the true spirit of human Wilfrid, my human came outside to join me at 1 am for a close encounter with the red planet.

Clear night but Mars was no where to be seen, too low on the horizon.

My human needs to climb Etching hill in his PJs to get any view, any one volunteering to join him.

I hope he knows that there are no clear skies for rest of the week, so a missed opportunity. Still 2018 is only two year away.

Nights and notes

A strange shudder went through my chaise as the notes from a Ludwig sonata fell like moonbeams onto my polished panels, bliss.........

The more I hear the more I enjoy.

"Music is the mediator between the spiritual and the sensual life." LVB

Knights and Knots

My humans crossed the boarder into Derbyshire and drove along ancient lanes to a Medieval gem. Peace, quiet and age kept out the busy era they live in. Preserved Medieval hall with knot garden, woodland and an old church with a copious amount of stained glass from circa 1500. I could have parked here all day, wonderful.

A knotty solitude.

Human Wilfrid had made for my human as a child a huge two handed sword and a knight's shield, not in steel, and many knightly battles were fought in human Wilfrid's back garden.

No contest

I may have found a solution, the demise of Staffordshire Ironman. Hope my humans appreciate it.

Update Well done Ironman I am no longer prisoner for the day they have revised the closed road policy, Yipee!

Magnetic attraction

Today strange signs appeared again on all the streets. Event on 12th of June this year 14th June last year.

Looks like we are going to be incarcerated against my will whilst a lot of iron men, and I suppose women, like little iron filings are attracted to the easiest of all the Ironman events.
Great event, great for charity, great for athletes and I think my human fully supports their efforts BUT come on Ironman what about the residents you are preventing doing their chosen sport?
One word comes to mind autonomy.

Mad as a hatter

Did my human really need another hat?

Victorian splendour

I am easily confused, Himalayan, Egyption, Chinese and Italian gardens, did I dream whilst my human was mountAin biking?

My humans seem to be getting stumped also.

Must be summer my humans got another of his hats on.

I was left under some very nice trees whilst the humans went off plant hunting, to look at not buy. James Bateman collected this amazing collection and built a huge garden to show plants off from all over the world.

Victorian vandalism.

Why? Because I spotted this sign. Did you know that Victorian flower collectors stripped whole areas of a particular flower to prevent their competitors getting the same plant, in this case Orchids and many became extinct because of it. They then put them into private gardens for the great and wealthy's eyes only. How conservation changes and now humans have to pay to see them.

Retirement? If only...

One of my regular followers wanted to know if I had retired. Humph, no such luck I have been used for many mundane events since the Big Scottish adventure. Today I was dragged out at the break of dawn to take my human mountain biking, weather dry, sunny and warm so how does he manage to come back so muddy? I was tempted to not let him back in my immaculate cab or have his bike on my clean carrier.

And he was such a clean tidy child.

Facts and figures

Scotland is huge! Trying to see all it's splendour would be like trying to count grains of sand or in this case coral.

It is also wild, this is me on Ranoch Moor a seemingly never ending landscape of sodden moorland between snow capped mountains.

It is steeped in a bloody history and I travelled past many battle sites, castles and landmarks. Progress is slow as there are so many things to see.
Distances look achievable but so often are not, even for me.





I effortlessly transported my humans and everything but the kitchen sink, I have one of those, 1300 miles.
I only used 3 tanks of fuel. I am so efficient with my gear changes.
I stayed at 5 different campsites, Millarochy Bay on the east side of Loch Lomond, Camusdarach Sands near Mallig, Kinloch at Dunvegan on Skye, Glencoe and Culzean Castle. All were very good.
Lowest temperature -4 Loch Lomand Highest 26 Culzean.
My awning was only used 6 nights as all other times it was too Windy at 55mph, even my pop top was not raised. I do not know why my humans made such a fuss, Locals on Skye said it was a breeze, they do not talk about it being windy until it is blowing at 80mph.

Leaving the highlands

The time came to leave Skye and drive the many miles through high mountains around Ben Nevis visiting castles and staying in Glencoe.
Then on to Ayeshire staying at Culzean in a heat wave, more sunsets from a campsite that looked over the islands and my humans spent a whole day exploring Culzean Castle. I could hear the infernal pipes at the campsite.

Civilisation

After days of no WiFi in the highlands of Scotland my humans find some and so I got them to update things.

The last post was in a small cafe at Dunvegan on Skye. The weather remained windy but turned bright and my humans were forced to live without the awning, tight with all the clobber they take with them, I am convinced they never wore most of the things.

So with this faster civilised WiFi a few more pictures of places I have taken them.

This is me on the ferry to Skye, vehicles around me were complaining, setting off their alarms on every wave, such a nonsense I could not see what all the fuss was about. I am a terrific sailor and behaved impeccably. My humans grandad Thomas was a sailor during the First World War so being at home on the sea must run in the blood.

Sunsets from the Skye campsite were always amazing and the nights never really got dark. The waves from the sea Loch could be heard all the time we spent at this campsite, wild but wonderfull.

Another snap of the coral beach. My humans put a small amount of coral in a container to bring home.

This is the view I had of the Old Man of Storr. My humans climbed the 2000 feet to take the picture below from above the old man.

'

The coast line on Skye is huge with cliffs that rise high from the sea and waterfalls that plunge to the beaches below.

My humans insisted on visiting Talisker Bay but I think it was the whisky that they really wanted to see.

They can never resist Fish and Chips when they go to the seaside. So an evening in the sun at the sheltered Portree harbour was spent eating fish and chips. Thank goodness they didn't bring them into my interior. I know human Wilfrid liked fish and chips by the sea.

The other aspect of Skye is the Dark Cullins a formidable range of mountains that my humans looked at but had enough sense not to walk there with the unseasonable weather and winds that would whistle down the sides of these mountains reaching speeds of 100mph.

My humans walked over the hills, leaving me on the campsite. They visited Dunvegan castle which is still owned by the same family for over 800 years.

Light on Skye is always changing and reflections in the sea lochs are full of colour.

The Cullins clear of cloud.
Climbers Collie and Mackenzie opened them up for the exploring done there today.

Even the sheep have no fear of cliff edges. I shuddered on some of the narrow high roads my humans took me on.

My humans left me high above the Minch and walked the cliffs around Niest Point, rather them than me.

Still here

Been on the wild side, no WIFI but today my humans are having breakfast in a WIFI cafe, so I am back.
Skye is wild, mountains with snow, coral beaches, strange rocks, castles and tall coastal cliffs. The weather is windy, I have been blustered, blown, turned around to face into winds blowing at 54 mph. My awning was not attached as it would have been like Mary Poppins reenactment. Still I have been taken some amazing places. Photos later when WiFi more reliable.
This is the Coral beach, it apparently felt very tropical, my humans left me in a sheltered car park and walked for about an hour to get to this remote strange beach. I got my humans to put this picture of my Handsome self on the campsite by Macleods Table mountain, a wild campsite by Loch Kinloch.