lkernagh's (Lori) 2021 Books and Things - Part 1
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1lkernagh
lkernagh's (Lori) 2021 Books and Things - Part 1
Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay.
Hello everyone, after a rather crazy 2020 that saw me pretty much absent from my own thread for the last three months of the year, I had to give it some serious thought if I should bother with setting up shop in this year's 75 Group. I have decided to give it a go, but I am not making any promises as to how active I will be on my thread or in the group. We will see how the year plays out. I also have a thread over on the 2021 Category Challenge, which can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/325299#
For those who don't know me, I am Lori, a walking/kayaking/cycling enthusiast, bookworm, foodie 'gal' (age is a state of mind) who has happily called Vancouver Island home for the past 29 years. When I am not working or reading, my winter months are usually occupied with a craft project of some kind, while my spring and summer months are when I engage in my on-going attempts at container gardening.
For those of you who followed my virtual walking challenges in previous years, I took a break last year. With the pandemic and now working from home, I need a new walking challenge to keep me motivated. For those interested, I will post walking challenge updates.
Here is hoping for a year of regeneration, health and well-being in 2021! Posters and lurkers welcome here.
Image by Mystic Art Design from Pixabay.
Hello everyone, after a rather crazy 2020 that saw me pretty much absent from my own thread for the last three months of the year, I had to give it some serious thought if I should bother with setting up shop in this year's 75 Group. I have decided to give it a go, but I am not making any promises as to how active I will be on my thread or in the group. We will see how the year plays out. I also have a thread over on the 2021 Category Challenge, which can be found here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/325299#
For those who don't know me, I am Lori, a walking/kayaking/cycling enthusiast, bookworm, foodie 'gal' (age is a state of mind) who has happily called Vancouver Island home for the past 29 years. When I am not working or reading, my winter months are usually occupied with a craft project of some kind, while my spring and summer months are when I engage in my on-going attempts at container gardening.
For those of you who followed my virtual walking challenges in previous years, I took a break last year. With the pandemic and now working from home, I need a new walking challenge to keep me motivated. For those interested, I will post walking challenge updates.
Here is hoping for a year of regeneration, health and well-being in 2021! Posters and lurkers welcome here.
2lkernagh
Books Read:
January:
1. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers -
2. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers -
February:
3. In the Teeth of the Evidence, Striding Folly and The Wimsey Papers, all by Dorothy L. Sayers -
4. Who Slays the Wicked by C.S. Harris -
March:
5. Who Speaks for the Damned by C.S. Harris -
6. What the Devil Knows by C.S. Harris -
January:
1. Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers -
2. Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers -
February:
3. In the Teeth of the Evidence, Striding Folly and The Wimsey Papers, all by Dorothy L. Sayers -
4. Who Slays the Wicked by C.S. Harris -
March:
5. Who Speaks for the Damned by C.S. Harris -
6. What the Devil Knows by C.S. Harris -
5lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
Yes, it is time for me to, once again, get motivated with my walking. While there are now a number of virtual fitness challenges available online, like theconqueror.com website, I like having my own challenge. I surfed around looking for something that was not too long (or too short) that could easily be tracked on a Google map. After tossing a couple of ideas around with my Scottish other half (he initially suggested walking around the Isle of Skye), we both decided that virtually walking Scotland's A9 seemed like the perfect challenge (or, as Goldilocks would probably say, "Not too long. Not too short. Just right").
Interesting facts about the A9 (courtesy of Wikipedia):
- At 273 miles (439 km), it is the longest road in Scotland and the fifth-longest A-road in the United Kingdom.
- Historically it was the main road between Edinburgh and John o' Groats, and why it has been called "the spine of Scotland".
Because I like to start my walking challenges at the waterfront, I will be starting this one at Scrabster Harbour, with the end goal being Edinburgh Castle. As with my previous walking challenges, I will probably find the time to post some facts/points of interest as I journey south. I will be starting on January 4th and will posting updates on a weekly basis. That is the plan.
Let the fitness walking begin!
.
Yes, it is time for me to, once again, get motivated with my walking. While there are now a number of virtual fitness challenges available online, like theconqueror.com website, I like having my own challenge. I surfed around looking for something that was not too long (or too short) that could easily be tracked on a Google map. After tossing a couple of ideas around with my Scottish other half (he initially suggested walking around the Isle of Skye), we both decided that virtually walking Scotland's A9 seemed like the perfect challenge (or, as Goldilocks would probably say, "Not too long. Not too short. Just right").
Interesting facts about the A9 (courtesy of Wikipedia):
- At 273 miles (439 km), it is the longest road in Scotland and the fifth-longest A-road in the United Kingdom.
- Historically it was the main road between Edinburgh and John o' Groats, and why it has been called "the spine of Scotland".
Because I like to start my walking challenges at the waterfront, I will be starting this one at Scrabster Harbour, with the end goal being Edinburgh Castle. As with my previous walking challenges, I will probably find the time to post some facts/points of interest as I journey south. I will be starting on January 4th and will posting updates on a weekly basis. That is the plan.
Let the fitness walking begin!
6lkernagh
Currently Reading:
.
Yes, I got behind with the Lord Peter Wimsey Group read so I am playing catch up. ;-)
.
Yes, I got behind with the Lord Peter Wimsey Group read so I am playing catch up. ;-)
7lkernagh
The morning started out as another torrential downpour kind of day. UGH! I was determined to start my walking challenge today so was not looking forward to it being 'paused' on account of weather. I spent the morning getting some shopping done (and trying to not get too wet in the process). Luckily, at lunch time the weather cleared, and I managed to get in a 4.6 KM walk before the dark rain clouds once again took over the sky. Part of my walk was along the harbour walkway, which is where I took this picture:
On the reading front, I am still plucking away at Gaudy Night. Enjoying it. For some strange reason, I now have a hankering to revisit the Enid Blyton boarding school novels of my youth.... could the Oxford women's college setting have something to do with it? :-)
On the reading front, I am still plucking away at Gaudy Night. Enjoying it. For some strange reason, I now have a hankering to revisit the Enid Blyton boarding school novels of my youth.... could the Oxford women's college setting have something to do with it? :-)
8FAMeulstee
Happy reading in 2021, Lori!
>1 lkernagh: Such a lovely image to start your thread.
>5 lkernagh: I like your virtual walks, and hope to learn a bit about Scotland.
>7 lkernagh: Glad it was dry long enough for your walk, the path looks adventurous!
>1 lkernagh: Such a lovely image to start your thread.
>5 lkernagh: I like your virtual walks, and hope to learn a bit about Scotland.
>7 lkernagh: Glad it was dry long enough for your walk, the path looks adventurous!
and wishing you the best of new years in 2021!10thornton37814
Hope you have a great year of reading as you virtually walk around Scotland.
12PaulCranswick
And keep up with my friends here, Lori. Have a great 2021.
13AMQS
Lori, I'm so glad you're here! I love your virtual Scotland walking challenge. Happy New year!
14lkernagh
>8 FAMeulstee: - Hi Anita, so lovely to see you are my first vistor to my 2021 thread! I hope the holidays were good to you and your family. I do make an effort to find open licensed pictures for my thread toppers and that one is a beauty. I am so glad to have you along for my virtual walking challenge! I admit that my other half is the Scotland expert (having travelled the majority of his homeland before we met). I am hoping to leverage some of his knowledge for my update. My personal experiences of Scotland have been more in the lower regions, so north of Stirling is 'virgin' territory for me! ;-) I am super happy I went for my walk today. The path is called the Westsong Walkway and provides wonderful harbour views from Esquimalt to the Victoria downtown. We are in for another storm front tomorrow, so I probably won't get much walking time in during my lunch break.
>9 ronincats: - Lovely to see you stopping by and dropping a star, Roni! Wishing all is well with you and best wishes for a better 2021!
>10 thornton37814: - Hi Lori! Thank you for both the reading and walking best wishes!
>11 EllaTim: - Hello EllaTim, how lovely to meet you! Thank you so much for visiting my thread!
>12 PaulCranswick: - Hi Paul, no guarantees will be will able to keep up with my own thread, let alone everyone else's, but lovely to see you stopping by with 2021 best wishes!
>13 AMQS: - Hi Anne, yes I caved. Always nice to keep a foot in the group and stay connected with with friends.
>9 ronincats: - Lovely to see you stopping by and dropping a star, Roni! Wishing all is well with you and best wishes for a better 2021!
>10 thornton37814: - Hi Lori! Thank you for both the reading and walking best wishes!
>11 EllaTim: - Hello EllaTim, how lovely to meet you! Thank you so much for visiting my thread!
>12 PaulCranswick: - Hi Paul, no guarantees will be will able to keep up with my own thread, let alone everyone else's, but lovely to see you stopping by with 2021 best wishes!
>13 AMQS: - Hi Anne, yes I caved. Always nice to keep a foot in the group and stay connected with with friends.
16ChelleBearss
Happy new thread! I hope 2021 is kind to you!
18MickyFine
I admire your ability to keep up with two threads, Lori. Love the photo from your walk. So green!
20richardderus
>5 lkernagh: What a great idea, Lori! You're very creative with your techniques for getting yourself motivated.
>7 lkernagh: How very lovely and serene. *aaahhh*
See you around when you're about!
>7 lkernagh: How very lovely and serene. *aaahhh*
See you around when you're about!
21Familyhistorian
Good to see you back here and back walking Lori. I'm looking forward to following your Scottish walk. It's definitely been the kind of weather where you have to time your walks, hasn't it?
23jnwelch
Happy New Year, Lori!
I liked your review of Loving Modigliani on your last 2020 thread. My wife loves Modigliani's art, and I'm going to mention it to her, too.
I liked your review of Loving Modigliani on your last 2020 thread. My wife loves Modigliani's art, and I'm going to mention it to her, too.
24karenmarie
Hi Lori, happy new thread, and happy new year. Best wishes for a good reading year, too.
I'm happy to follow along on your "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey.
I'm happy to follow along on your "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey.
26richardderus
Hi Lori! No news to relate. Kind of a dull week, y'know?
28norabelle414
Happy New Year, Lori!
29lkernagh
>15 sirfurboy: - Hi Stephen, it is easy to star the wrong thread during this time of year when both 75er groups as active. Glad to see you found your way to my 2021 thread!
>16 ChelleBearss: - Thanks Chelle! Yes, it would be good for 2021 to be a kinder year. ;-) Wishing you and your family the same!
>17 scaifea: - Thanks Amber! It is a beautiful picture, isn't it? Found it surfing through Pixabay, a wonderful site for finding "free to use" images!
>18 MickyFine: - Hi Micky, I always start off with great intentions to be active in both groups. That usually falls apart, so I figure I will be doing pretty good if I can visit my own threads once or twice a week. ;-) Victoria is very lush and green right now, as well as being rather soggy from all the rain we have had over the past two weeks.
>19 drneutron: - Thanks Jim!
>20 richardderus: - Thanks RD, for the both the encouragement re: walking challenge and for liking the waterfront walkway picture. There are some benches at various spots along the pathway. Wonderful for relaxing with a book on a summer day. Not so great when the weather is more of the cold and damp variety. ;-)
>21 Familyhistorian: - Hi Meg, glad to see you have found my thread! I agree, the past week the weather has been making it a little "challenging" to get my walking in. ;-) I do hope for a break in the grey skies, but the forecast has not been very promising.
>22 aktakukac: - Hi Rachel, lovely to see you stopping by my thread!
>23 jnwelch: - Happy New Year, Joe! I have very little knowledge of Modigliani's art, but after reading Lappin's novel, I admit to being intrigued!
>24 karenmarie: - Hi Karen! Glad to see you will be following along with my "Spine of Scotland" virtual walking challenge!
>25 Ameise1: - Hello Barbara and Happy New Year to you!
>26 richardderus: - LOL, a slows news week is probably a good thing, Richard! Lovely to see you back.
>27 BLBera: - Happy New Year, Beth!
>28 norabelle414: - Happy New Year, Nora!
-----------------------------------
Well, we did it. We survived the first 10 days of 2021. A promising start to the new year. think I mentioned that I would be 'sort of' around for my thread(s), but with work, RL projects (this weekend installed a new splashguard in the kitchen) and finding myself in the evenings being sucked into streaming TV shows, it is amazing how time just flies by. I am still working on my first book for 2021, Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayer. This must be the longest book in the Peter Wimsey series! Since I don't have a book review, how about I give post my first walking update?
>16 ChelleBearss: - Thanks Chelle! Yes, it would be good for 2021 to be a kinder year. ;-) Wishing you and your family the same!
>17 scaifea: - Thanks Amber! It is a beautiful picture, isn't it? Found it surfing through Pixabay, a wonderful site for finding "free to use" images!
>18 MickyFine: - Hi Micky, I always start off with great intentions to be active in both groups. That usually falls apart, so I figure I will be doing pretty good if I can visit my own threads once or twice a week. ;-) Victoria is very lush and green right now, as well as being rather soggy from all the rain we have had over the past two weeks.
>19 drneutron: - Thanks Jim!
>20 richardderus: - Thanks RD, for the both the encouragement re: walking challenge and for liking the waterfront walkway picture. There are some benches at various spots along the pathway. Wonderful for relaxing with a book on a summer day. Not so great when the weather is more of the cold and damp variety. ;-)
>21 Familyhistorian: - Hi Meg, glad to see you have found my thread! I agree, the past week the weather has been making it a little "challenging" to get my walking in. ;-) I do hope for a break in the grey skies, but the forecast has not been very promising.
>22 aktakukac: - Hi Rachel, lovely to see you stopping by my thread!
>23 jnwelch: - Happy New Year, Joe! I have very little knowledge of Modigliani's art, but after reading Lappin's novel, I admit to being intrigued!
>24 karenmarie: - Hi Karen! Glad to see you will be following along with my "Spine of Scotland" virtual walking challenge!
>25 Ameise1: - Hello Barbara and Happy New Year to you!
>26 richardderus: - LOL, a slows news week is probably a good thing, Richard! Lovely to see you back.
>27 BLBera: - Happy New Year, Beth!
>28 norabelle414: - Happy New Year, Nora!
-----------------------------------
Well, we did it. We survived the first 10 days of 2021. A promising start to the new year. think I mentioned that I would be 'sort of' around for my thread(s), but with work, RL projects (this weekend installed a new splashguard in the kitchen) and finding myself in the evenings being sucked into streaming TV shows, it is amazing how time just flies by. I am still working on my first book for 2021, Gaudy Night by Dorothy L Sayer. This must be the longest book in the Peter Wimsey series! Since I don't have a book review, how about I give post my first walking update?
30lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 1 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 26.04 km
Kilometers walked in total: 26.04 km
Currently walking through:
County Caithness.
My current location on the map: Roughly half-way between Mybster and Achavanich.
Points of interest along the way: Communities walked through include Scrabster, Thurso, Banniskirk, Spital and Mybster.
Fun Facts about Scrabster and Thurso:
Scrabster:
- A small settlement on Thurso Bay, is the most Northerly port on the Scottish mainland
- An important port for the Scottish fishing industry.
- Scrabster provides regular ferry service to Stromness, in Orkney.
- Scrabster used to provide a weekly summer service to the Faroe Islands, but that was discontinued back in 2008.
- British royal connection to Scrapster: for several decades, Scrabster port was the port of choice for Queen Elizabeth and her family when they disembarked from the Royal Yacht Britannia every August to visit the Queen Mother at her Highland holiday home, the Castle of Mey (formerly Barrogill Castle):
Castle of Mey, originally posted to Flickr by jack-spellingbackon (CC-BY 2.0)
Thurso:
- Is the northernmost town on the British mainland.
- Thurso's history stretches back to at least the Norse Orcadian era of rule in the region.
- Thurso was a centre of Norse power before the Scots defeated the Norsemen in 1263 in the Battle of Largs.
- In Norse times, Thurso had functioned as an important port, later trading with ports throughout northern Europe until the 19th century.
- Thurso had a reputation for its linen-cloth and tanning activities.
- The ruined Old St. Peter's Church is one of the oldest churches in Scotland, dating to at least 1220:
picture posted to Wikimedia commons by Vclaw - author: Alex Liivet - (CC-BY 2,0)
------------------------
Good news: I have managed to get in a roughly 30-minute walk every day since starting my virtual walking challenge, so yes, this is helping me get my walking/steps in!
.The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 1 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 26.04 km
Kilometers walked in total: 26.04 km
Currently walking through:
County Caithness.My current location on the map: Roughly half-way between Mybster and Achavanich.
Points of interest along the way: Communities walked through include Scrabster, Thurso, Banniskirk, Spital and Mybster.
Fun Facts about Scrabster and Thurso:
Scrabster:
- A small settlement on Thurso Bay, is the most Northerly port on the Scottish mainland
- An important port for the Scottish fishing industry.
- Scrabster provides regular ferry service to Stromness, in Orkney.
- Scrabster used to provide a weekly summer service to the Faroe Islands, but that was discontinued back in 2008.
- British royal connection to Scrapster: for several decades, Scrabster port was the port of choice for Queen Elizabeth and her family when they disembarked from the Royal Yacht Britannia every August to visit the Queen Mother at her Highland holiday home, the Castle of Mey (formerly Barrogill Castle):
Castle of Mey, originally posted to Flickr by jack-spellingbackon (CC-BY 2.0)
Thurso:
- Is the northernmost town on the British mainland.
- Thurso's history stretches back to at least the Norse Orcadian era of rule in the region.
- Thurso was a centre of Norse power before the Scots defeated the Norsemen in 1263 in the Battle of Largs.
- In Norse times, Thurso had functioned as an important port, later trading with ports throughout northern Europe until the 19th century.
- Thurso had a reputation for its linen-cloth and tanning activities.
- The ruined Old St. Peter's Church is one of the oldest churches in Scotland, dating to at least 1220:
picture posted to Wikimedia commons by Vclaw - author: Alex Liivet - (CC-BY 2,0)
------------------------
Good news: I have managed to get in a roughly 30-minute walk every day since starting my virtual walking challenge, so yes, this is helping me get my walking/steps in!
31FAMeulstee
>30 lkernagh: Thanks for the update, Lori.
Good it helps you to actually walk each day :-)
Good it helps you to actually walk each day :-)
32lkernagh
>31 FAMeulstee: - Hi Anita, the virtual walking challenge is really helping to motivate me to head outdoors for a walk, even if I am not really up for it, or the weather looks questionable. ;-) Thanks for stopping by!
--------------------------
Hello, hello, hello. Another week down and at what have I been up to? Some continued TV streaming binge watching. We are working our way through all of the Midsomer Murder Mysteries on Acorn TV. In the last 4 weeks we have gone from Series 1, Episode 1 to Series 9, Episode 4 (Yes, we are now on Barnaby's third detective constable). Took a detour this weekend to watch all 6 episodes of the BBC dramatization of A Suitable Boy. Loved this!!! Back in 2019 I did attempt to join the group read for Vikram Seth's novel. I didn't get very far - I will admit - in reading the print version, but I did get far enough (and remembered enough) to know that the first two episodes were very true to the story, so I am assuming this carried through for the parts I have not yet read. I highly recommend watching the series!
What else have I been up to? Coffee grinder went on the fritz end of last week - can use it but time for a replacement - so I have spend a fair bit of time researching a new grinder. After scouring numerous consumer reports and keeping in mind that I don't require extreme grind ranges (I don't - yet - drink Turkish or make espresso coffees) I have settled on the OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder. Order placed.
Walking continues - thanks in part to favorable weather! - so walking update to follow. Even more exciting, I have Finally finished my first book for 2021!. What can I say, This is either an anomaly/carry over from 2020 or a sign of my reading pace for 2021. We shall see. Book review to follow.
--------------------------
Hello, hello, hello. Another week down and at what have I been up to? Some continued TV streaming binge watching. We are working our way through all of the Midsomer Murder Mysteries on Acorn TV. In the last 4 weeks we have gone from Series 1, Episode 1 to Series 9, Episode 4 (Yes, we are now on Barnaby's third detective constable). Took a detour this weekend to watch all 6 episodes of the BBC dramatization of A Suitable Boy. Loved this!!! Back in 2019 I did attempt to join the group read for Vikram Seth's novel. I didn't get very far - I will admit - in reading the print version, but I did get far enough (and remembered enough) to know that the first two episodes were very true to the story, so I am assuming this carried through for the parts I have not yet read. I highly recommend watching the series!
What else have I been up to? Coffee grinder went on the fritz end of last week - can use it but time for a replacement - so I have spend a fair bit of time researching a new grinder. After scouring numerous consumer reports and keeping in mind that I don't require extreme grind ranges (I don't - yet - drink Turkish or make espresso coffees) I have settled on the OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder. Order placed.
Walking continues - thanks in part to favorable weather! - so walking update to follow. Even more exciting, I have Finally finished my first book for 2021!. What can I say, This is either an anomaly/carry over from 2020 or a sign of my reading pace for 2021. We shall see. Book review to follow.
33lkernagh
.Book #1 - Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2021 Category
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: "Set somewhere you'd like to visit" - Oxford
Category: N/A
Source: TBR
Format: ebook
Original publication date: 1935
Acquisition date: January 6, 2020
Page count: 458 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the penguinrandomhouse.ca book listing webpage:
"The seedy underbelly of academia threatens to erupt into violence, if Lord Peter and Harriet Vane can’t put a stop to it.Review:
Famous mystery writer Harriet Vane is asked to help when her alma mater becomes plagued by scandalous letters, threats, and vandalism. Fearing that things might escalate to murder, she asks Lord Peter Wimsey to assist her investigation, but his reentrance into her life brings to a head her uncertainty regarding love and marriage – and Lord Peter himself."
Without a doubt, the longest story (so far) in the Lord Peter Wimsey series, but not complaining. For a change, this story is focused squarely on Harriet, with Wimsey playing a much smaller (and yet still crucial) role. I love the Oxford setting and appreciate, as always, Sayers attention to detail. She presents a wonderful picture of Oxford academic life, including the wonderful follies of the younger student population. This time, Sayer provides a wonderful blending of mystery with women's fiction as a number of philosophical topics around love, work, family and the nature of humanity are examined in between the sporadic episodes of disturbing incidents. A nice change from the mystery puzzles of the earlier books in the series! As for the mystery - which really takes second place to the wonderful character development - this is one of those rare times when I had the suspect (the "who") figured out pretty early on. With the slow moving plot, it takes some time for the motivation behind the incidents (the "why") to surface, but I was so busy enjoying the other aspects of the story, I would forget that there was still a mystery to solve.
Overall, a gem of a story and I can understand why some reviewers consider Gaudy Night to be Sayer's best novel.
34lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 2 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 27.83 km
Kilometers walked in total: 53.87 km
Currently walking through: County Caithness.
My current location on the map: Due south of Ramscraigs, heading for Berriedale.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Achavanich, Crofts of Benachielt, Gillivoan, Latheron, Latheronwheel, Dunbeath and Ramscraigs.
I have been having a lot of fun 'researching' the locations that make up my virtual walking journey. Starting with Achavanich, this place intrigues me! According to Wikipedia, Achavanich (meaning "field of the stones") is an unusual megalithic horseshoe-shaped structure near Lock Stemster.
Part of Achavanich Stone Setting - Carron K (posted to geograph.org.uk) (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Estimated to be around 4,000 years old, this stone 'ring' was built of rock from the Caithness flagstone group. The purpose of the stone circle is unknown. Discovery of bones may suggest a purpose as a ritual site, but beyond that, pure speculation. What makes this structure unusual: The slabs (on average 1.5 metres in height) point towards the center of the circle, at 90' angles, and the stone circle remains open (like a U) with the open end at the south-east. Not Stonehenge, but as intriguing!
Also at Acavanich is a 4,250 year old Bronze Age cist burial site, were the incomplete skeletal remains of a young adult female were accidentally discovered in 1987 during rock extraction for road improvement works. DNA research has created a story that 'Ava' (as she has been named) was descended from what would have been recent North European migrants and has no or very few genetic connections to the local Neolithic population of the area. Newcomers! Roll out the welcome mat! A 2018 news article about Ava and what her DNA and other details have determined can be found here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6454345/DNA-reveals-18-year-old-...
Interesting fact: Caithness has more broch sites than anywhere else in Scotland. I had to look up what a 'broch' is. A broch is defined an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure. Okay. Got it. Loch Rangag's Broch, which really just looks like a rocky mound, is located on a peninsula that juts out into the loch. It is also known as Castle Greysteil. Interesting connection (or just happenstance): Greysteil is the title of a then-popular 16th century epic poem that was performed for both James IV and V of Scotland. The poem is about a notorious knight (Sir Greysteil) who is tainted by the black arts and eventually defeated by a magical sword provided by a powerful woman. One of those fun "is it legend or is it reality" kind of connections.
Latheron (from the Scottish Gaelic Latharn ='muddy place') is a small village and where the Clan Gunn Heritage Centre and Museum is housed in the old Parish Church build in 1734. Clan Gunn is reputed to be one of the oldest Scottish Clans, descended from Norse and Pictish Mormaers. Probably some fascinating history to be learned there.
Latheronwheel has an 'attraction' that would be right up my alley. The Latheron Fairy Walk is a walk through a glen that local volunteers have turned into a magical fairy glen, with designated areas such as Hobbitt Hill and Pixie Place and wonderful tiny door carvings and other natural elements to give the glen its 'fairy' appeal. More details (and pictures) here: https://www.ahighlandblend.com/nc500/fairy-glen-latheronwheel/
Dunbeath is a village in southeast Caithness and is known as the birthplace for author Neil M. Gunn, who wrote many novels set in the region, including The Silver Darlings and Highland River. As with other areas in Caithness, Dunbeth is rich in archaeology, with a number of Iron Age brochs and a medieval monastic site of Ballachly, centered around a hillock known as Chapel Hill. A published 2013 research paper about the monastic site can be found here: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/psas/vol_143/143_0265_0302.pdf
Further along the coastline is Dunbeath Castle.
Dunbeath Castle - posted to Wikimedia Commons by Bill Henderson (original source: geograph.org.uk)(CC BY-SA 2.0)
First recorded on the rocky peninsula in 1428, and the first recorded laird was Alexander Sutherland. In March 1650, Dunbeath was attacked by the Royalist forces of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrol during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of wars that started with the War between Scotland and England, the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the extension of the English Civil War into Scotland. Sir John Sinclair rode to Edinburgh to warn of Montrose's arrival, leaving his wife to defend Dunbeath against Sir John Hurry. She soon surrendered, and a Royalist garrison was installed. Montrose was defeated in April at the Battle of Carbisdale, and the opposition forces, under David Leslie, recaptured the castle. The present building is mainly of 17th century origin, with 19th century extensions.
.The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 2 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 27.83 km
Kilometers walked in total: 53.87 km
Currently walking through:
County Caithness.My current location on the map: Due south of Ramscraigs, heading for Berriedale.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Achavanich, Crofts of Benachielt, Gillivoan, Latheron, Latheronwheel, Dunbeath and Ramscraigs.
I have been having a lot of fun 'researching' the locations that make up my virtual walking journey. Starting with Achavanich, this place intrigues me! According to Wikipedia, Achavanich (meaning "field of the stones") is an unusual megalithic horseshoe-shaped structure near Lock Stemster.
Part of Achavanich Stone Setting - Carron K (posted to geograph.org.uk) (CC BY-SA 2.0)Estimated to be around 4,000 years old, this stone 'ring' was built of rock from the Caithness flagstone group. The purpose of the stone circle is unknown. Discovery of bones may suggest a purpose as a ritual site, but beyond that, pure speculation. What makes this structure unusual: The slabs (on average 1.5 metres in height) point towards the center of the circle, at 90' angles, and the stone circle remains open (like a U) with the open end at the south-east. Not Stonehenge, but as intriguing!
Also at Acavanich is a 4,250 year old Bronze Age cist burial site, were the incomplete skeletal remains of a young adult female were accidentally discovered in 1987 during rock extraction for road improvement works. DNA research has created a story that 'Ava' (as she has been named) was descended from what would have been recent North European migrants and has no or very few genetic connections to the local Neolithic population of the area. Newcomers! Roll out the welcome mat! A 2018 news article about Ava and what her DNA and other details have determined can be found here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6454345/DNA-reveals-18-year-old-...
Interesting fact: Caithness has more broch sites than anywhere else in Scotland. I had to look up what a 'broch' is. A broch is defined an Iron Age drystone hollow-walled structure. Okay. Got it. Loch Rangag's Broch, which really just looks like a rocky mound, is located on a peninsula that juts out into the loch. It is also known as Castle Greysteil. Interesting connection (or just happenstance): Greysteil is the title of a then-popular 16th century epic poem that was performed for both James IV and V of Scotland. The poem is about a notorious knight (Sir Greysteil) who is tainted by the black arts and eventually defeated by a magical sword provided by a powerful woman. One of those fun "is it legend or is it reality" kind of connections.
Latheron (from the Scottish Gaelic Latharn ='muddy place') is a small village and where the Clan Gunn Heritage Centre and Museum is housed in the old Parish Church build in 1734. Clan Gunn is reputed to be one of the oldest Scottish Clans, descended from Norse and Pictish Mormaers. Probably some fascinating history to be learned there.
Latheronwheel has an 'attraction' that would be right up my alley. The Latheron Fairy Walk is a walk through a glen that local volunteers have turned into a magical fairy glen, with designated areas such as Hobbitt Hill and Pixie Place and wonderful tiny door carvings and other natural elements to give the glen its 'fairy' appeal. More details (and pictures) here: https://www.ahighlandblend.com/nc500/fairy-glen-latheronwheel/
Dunbeath is a village in southeast Caithness and is known as the birthplace for author Neil M. Gunn, who wrote many novels set in the region, including The Silver Darlings and Highland River. As with other areas in Caithness, Dunbeth is rich in archaeology, with a number of Iron Age brochs and a medieval monastic site of Ballachly, centered around a hillock known as Chapel Hill. A published 2013 research paper about the monastic site can be found here: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/psas/vol_143/143_0265_0302.pdf
Further along the coastline is Dunbeath Castle.
Dunbeath Castle - posted to Wikimedia Commons by Bill Henderson (original source: geograph.org.uk)(CC BY-SA 2.0)
First recorded on the rocky peninsula in 1428, and the first recorded laird was Alexander Sutherland. In March 1650, Dunbeath was attacked by the Royalist forces of James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrol during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, a series of wars that started with the War between Scotland and England, the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and the extension of the English Civil War into Scotland. Sir John Sinclair rode to Edinburgh to warn of Montrose's arrival, leaving his wife to defend Dunbeath against Sir John Hurry. She soon surrendered, and a Royalist garrison was installed. Montrose was defeated in April at the Battle of Carbisdale, and the opposition forces, under David Leslie, recaptured the castle. The present building is mainly of 17th century origin, with 19th century extensions.
35MickyFine
Congrats on completing your first read of the year, Lori. Glad to see you enjoyed it so much. Hopefully the weather remains conducive for more walking this week.
36richardderus
Ohhh, Gaudy Night! What a great first read!
I'm so pleased to hear that A Suitable Boy's adaptation hews so close to the source. It's a dense, powerful read, and permaybehaps not one I'll revisit, but I would like to see the adaptation. I might need to add AcornTV to my Prime.
I can't say what seasons of Midsomer Murders I've seen because I watch episodes at random when someone's algorithm tosses them at me. I know it's inaccurate, but I've formed the impression that Barnaby has a rota of DCs who appear and disappear more or less randomly as a result.
Your walking tour of Scotland is inspiring! Have a great week.
I'm so pleased to hear that A Suitable Boy's adaptation hews so close to the source. It's a dense, powerful read, and permaybehaps not one I'll revisit, but I would like to see the adaptation. I might need to add AcornTV to my Prime.
I can't say what seasons of Midsomer Murders I've seen because I watch episodes at random when someone's algorithm tosses them at me. I know it's inaccurate, but I've formed the impression that Barnaby has a rota of DCs who appear and disappear more or less randomly as a result.
Your walking tour of Scotland is inspiring! Have a great week.
37sirfurboy
>34 lkernagh: Oh that virtual walk looks like a good one. Also less rain and fewer midges if you do it virtually !
38SandyAMcPherson
>1 lkernagh: Hi Lori.
I'm only just now visiting your thread. The topper photo is way-cool. I never heard of "Mystic Art Design" so that is handy to have when I need visual escapes. I also loved your harbour path. Is that around the Inner Harbour, or out Esquimalt way?
Like you, I was feeling overwhelmed with 2020 and everything I had enjoyed earlier in the pandemic just faded away into my being pretty much disengaged. I'm discovering from some reading that my reaction is a normal, anxiety-stress-based situation. Well, of course.
Anyway, I set up a very laid-back approach to joining the 75-challenge and I'm really sticking around because I like the friendliness and I learn about so many books I would never discover otherwise. But no reading objectives this year. I'm numbering the titles only on my profile, so it doesn't matter when or even if I review something on Talk!
I hope your thread is a source of support and fun. Have lovely walks when you can real and virtual.
I'm only just now visiting your thread. The topper photo is way-cool. I never heard of "Mystic Art Design" so that is handy to have when I need visual escapes. I also loved your harbour path. Is that around the Inner Harbour, or out Esquimalt way?
Like you, I was feeling overwhelmed with 2020 and everything I had enjoyed earlier in the pandemic just faded away into my being pretty much disengaged. I'm discovering from some reading that my reaction is a normal, anxiety-stress-based situation. Well, of course.
Anyway, I set up a very laid-back approach to joining the 75-challenge and I'm really sticking around because I like the friendliness and I learn about so many books I would never discover otherwise. But no reading objectives this year. I'm numbering the titles only on my profile, so it doesn't matter when or even if I review something on Talk!
I hope your thread is a source of support and fun. Have lovely walks when you can real and virtual.
39lkernagh
>35 MickyFine: - Hi Micky. Thanks for the congrats. I will take all the encouragement I can get re: reading. Hopefully, I will get at least another book finished before the end of the month... I just need to stop spending my evenings in front of the TV, binge streaming. The weather has been accommodating, thank goodness, so the walking continues at a steady pace. Here is hoping the winter in your part of Alberta is not too cold! My dad mentioned that Calgary is experiencing above average temps for this time of year.
>36 richardderus: - I take it you are a fan of Gaudy Night, Richard! It is a lovely read, I have to admit. I can highly, highly recommend the movie/mini series adaptation of A Suitable Boy! Of course, the next question is, when is A Suitable Girl getting published, or has it already? The beautiful thing about Midsomer Murders is you can watch them out of sequence and it doesn't matter. Yes, Barnaby does seem to have a rota of DC's that appear and then disappear at random. ;-) Wishing you a wonderful week, RD!
>37 sirfurboy: - Thanks, Stephen and you made me smile with your comment "Also less rain and fewer midges if you do it virtually!" Sooo true, especially about the midges. To this day I am amazed at how something as small as a midge can be such an annoying, swarming mass!
>38 SandyAMcPherson: - Hi Sandy! Lovely to see you stopping by my somewhat neglected thread. The photo in >7 lkernagh: is in the Inner Harbour. It is the Westsong Walkway in Esquimalt, near Lime Bay: https://walksinyourbackyard.com/2019/03/27/westsong-walkway/#:~:text=About%20thr....
The pandemic is impacting a number of people mentally and emotionally, so it is not surprising that you have felt a bit overwhelmed. I admit that being busy at work has helped to keep my grounded, but I still find myself not as motivated as I have been in previous years. A laid back approach makes sense to me. No point in given yourself added pressure when it is not necessary. Always happy to see you stopping by, even if it is just to leave a simple "Hello" post. Take care of yourself, Sandy. ;-)
---------------------------
I hope everyone have had a wonderful week! What have I been up to? Let's see. Coffee grinder arrived so I am back with my favorite morning beverage, which is a homemade mocha (equal parts ground coffee and superior red cocoa brewed in French press, with a drop of honey for sweetener). Weather forecasters spent most of last week prepping us for possible snow this past weekend.... which, at sea level was just rain. Still watching Midsomer Murder Mysteries, now interspersed with episodes of Lovejoy for a change of pace. Reading continues - very Slooooooowwwly - but I do still have my fingers crossed that I will end January with at least 2 books read.
I am continue to have a lot of fun researching the places I am virtually walking through. Week 3 walking update below.
>36 richardderus: - I take it you are a fan of Gaudy Night, Richard! It is a lovely read, I have to admit. I can highly, highly recommend the movie/mini series adaptation of A Suitable Boy! Of course, the next question is, when is A Suitable Girl getting published, or has it already? The beautiful thing about Midsomer Murders is you can watch them out of sequence and it doesn't matter. Yes, Barnaby does seem to have a rota of DC's that appear and then disappear at random. ;-) Wishing you a wonderful week, RD!
>37 sirfurboy: - Thanks, Stephen and you made me smile with your comment "Also less rain and fewer midges if you do it virtually!" Sooo true, especially about the midges. To this day I am amazed at how something as small as a midge can be such an annoying, swarming mass!
>38 SandyAMcPherson: - Hi Sandy! Lovely to see you stopping by my somewhat neglected thread. The photo in >7 lkernagh: is in the Inner Harbour. It is the Westsong Walkway in Esquimalt, near Lime Bay: https://walksinyourbackyard.com/2019/03/27/westsong-walkway/#:~:text=About%20thr....
The pandemic is impacting a number of people mentally and emotionally, so it is not surprising that you have felt a bit overwhelmed. I admit that being busy at work has helped to keep my grounded, but I still find myself not as motivated as I have been in previous years. A laid back approach makes sense to me. No point in given yourself added pressure when it is not necessary. Always happy to see you stopping by, even if it is just to leave a simple "Hello" post. Take care of yourself, Sandy. ;-)
---------------------------
I hope everyone have had a wonderful week! What have I been up to? Let's see. Coffee grinder arrived so I am back with my favorite morning beverage, which is a homemade mocha (equal parts ground coffee and superior red cocoa brewed in French press, with a drop of honey for sweetener). Weather forecasters spent most of last week prepping us for possible snow this past weekend.... which, at sea level was just rain. Still watching Midsomer Murder Mysteries, now interspersed with episodes of Lovejoy for a change of pace. Reading continues - very Slooooooowwwly - but I do still have my fingers crossed that I will end January with at least 2 books read.
I am continue to have a lot of fun researching the places I am virtually walking through. Week 3 walking update below.
40lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 3 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 27.50 km
Kilometers walked in total: 81.37 km
Currently walking through: County Caithness / 
Country Sutherland.
My current location on the map: Due south of Lothbeg (and The Wolf Stone), heading for Kintradwell.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Berriedale, Badbea, Ousdale, Helmsdale and Lothbeg.
Berriedale is a small estate village (a village wholly within and part of a private estate) along the coast in an area that is sheltered from the North Sea. Berriedale is located at the end of the eighth stage of the coastal John o'Groats Trail, a 235 km (147 mile) long walking trail from Inverness to John o'Groats. The trail is broken down into 14 stages, each walkable in a day, with all stages ending in a town or village that provides accommodation. The trail traverses back lanes, footpaths, shorelines and cliff tops, as well as some obstacles such as crossing barbed wire fences, river fording, boulder scrambling and walking through summer vegetation. Sounds like a fun and challenging walking holiday! Berriedale is also listed as the place of death on the death certificate of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the younger brother of King George VI. Prince George, who was on duty as an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force on a mission to Reykjavik, Iceland was killed, along with 14 others, in the Dunbeath air crash on August 25, 1942.
Just south of Berriedale are the Berriedale Braes, a hillside area where the A9 sees a steep drop in gradient - from 150m (492ft) to 20m (65ft) - as the road enters the valley, before bridging the Berriedale and Langwell Water rivers and sharply rising again on the other side. The steep gradient and a rather nasty hairpin bend makes the braes one of the most challenging sections of the A9. Recent road work to remove this notorious hairpin turn has led to the discovery of a Middle Stone Age hunter-gather's camp with stone tools archaeologists believe date from 6,000 BC. Short article found here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495139
Badbea, an area of rough, steeply sloping land, is accessed by a footpath from a lay-by on the A9 near Ousdale. Badbea is the location of the ruins of a clearance village and today is preserved as a tourist attraction and memorial to the Highland Clearances.
Badbea clearance village and 1911 monument - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Richerman (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The village was settled in the 18th and 19th centuries by tenant farmers evicted from their homes when the river valleys of Langwell, Ousdale and Berriedale were cleared for the establishment of sheep farms. When families arrived at Badbea, they were given small plots to farm but they had the clear the land from the steep slopes and had to build their own houses from the stones they found. Given the lack of arable farm land, the men mainly worked as herring fishermen from nearby Berriedale. The women gutted the fish caught, and as most houses are reported to have had spinning wheels, they would also spin and card wool. It is said that the winds along the clifftop were so fierce that the livestock and even the children were tethered to rocks and poles to prevent them from being blown off the cliffs.
Badbea clearance village from above - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Richerman (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Not much protection from the wind based on the above picture! The last inhabitant left the village in 1911, the same year David Sutherland, decendant from one of the tenant families, build the memorial (that stands to this day) out of stones from his father house.
Next along the route we come to the small settlement of Ousdale (called Ausdale in early citations). Ausdale was part of the Langwell Estate which belonged to the Caithness family of Sutherlands since the 17th century. At that time the settlement had a meal mill, an inn, a busy whisky distillery and a production farm with ample living for eight families. Ousdale Farm continues to operate today, in a different form, and the original stone buildings are gone. Ousdale is mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga - a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands - as the site of a confrontation in 1201 between William the Lion, King of Scotland and the Norse ruler of Caithness and Orkney, Harald the Elder.
Near Ousdale is the Ousdale Broch, the remains of an Iron Age drystone tower.
Aerial photograph of Ousdale Broch - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by the Caithness Broch Project (CC0)
The Ousdale Broch is classified as a 'second-phase' broch, dating to the 3rd and 2nd century BC. Originally excavated in 1892 by James Mackay, the highly intrusive excavation lead to the structure being unstable and, until recently, was in a state of disrepair. Conservation works overseen by the Caithness Broch Project since 2015 has now consolidated the structure and a number of its original features.
Interior of Ousdale Broch in 2020 following conservation - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by KM Lilley (CC BY-SA 4.0)
More information about the broch and the project can be found on this Caithness Broch Project blog post.
Moving on to Helmsdale. The village of Helmsdale was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed as part of the Highland Clearances. Helmsdale was once home to one of the largest herring fleets in Europe. As with a number of coastal areas, Helmsdale did, at one time, have a castle. Build around the 1480s, Helmsdale Castle was the property of the Sutherlands. I should mention that the castle ruins were demolished in the 1970s to build the A9 road bridge, but back to the story about the castle. As with most castles, there is a bit of notoriety associated with Helmsdale Castle. In 1567 John, the 11th Earl of Sutherland and his wife, countess Marie Seton, were both poisoned by Isobel Sinclair, a servant in the household. Isobel's motive and events play out like something straight out of a Shakespearean tragedy. Isobel's eldest son, John Gordon, was the next male heir in line for the earldom of Sutherland after Alexander, the son of the murdered earl. Unbeknownst to the servant who served it, Isobel's son consumed the fatal poison (potentially reserved for Alexander) and also died, while Alexander survived. Isobel, apprehended, send to Edinburgh for trial and condemned, died in prison before her execution could be carried out. Interesting twist to this drama: Isobel was a cousin to George Sinclair, the 4th Earl of Caithness. While never proved, speculation is that the real brain behind the plan was George, who had designs on seizing the Sutherland earldom.
...and, only because I do love a good gold rush connection, Helmsdale had its own gold rush that started in 1818 when a solitary nugget of gold weighing about 10 pennyweights (15 grams) was found in the River Helmsdale. It is claimed that a ring in the possession of the Sutherland family was made out of that discovered nugget, but the real gold rush started in 1868 when an announcement in a local newspaper lead to a rush of gold speculation and prospecting in the area.
Closing out this week's walking journey with The Wolf Stone, located south of Lothbeg.
The Wolf Stone, near Helmsdale - as posted to geograph.org.uk by Carron K (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Wolf Stone is a commemorative monument where the last wolf in Sutherland - and presumably the last wolf in Scotland - was shot, around 1700. Official records indicate that the last Scottish wolf was killed in 1680 in Killiecrankie, Perthshire. There are reports that wolves survived in Scotland up until the 18th century, and may have been seen as late as 1888, but reintroducing the wolf to the Scottish Highlands was only first proposed back in the late 1960s. Renewed interest in the policy has grown since then, including support from landowners, but apparently this is still a rather contentious issue for some, with concerns the wolves would end up eating the livestock, or worse, attack humans. It is the worry of wolves attacking humans where I question some individuals understanding of 'co-existing' with wildlife, but not raising this as a topic for further exploration.
---------------------------------
Overall good news as I continue to manage to get in a minimum 30 minute walk every day, even when the weather is more conducive to curling up at home with a book. ;-)
.The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 3 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 27.50 km
Kilometers walked in total: 81.37 km
Currently walking through:
County Caithness / 
Country Sutherland.My current location on the map: Due south of Lothbeg (and The Wolf Stone), heading for Kintradwell.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Berriedale, Badbea, Ousdale, Helmsdale and Lothbeg.
Berriedale is a small estate village (a village wholly within and part of a private estate) along the coast in an area that is sheltered from the North Sea. Berriedale is located at the end of the eighth stage of the coastal John o'Groats Trail, a 235 km (147 mile) long walking trail from Inverness to John o'Groats. The trail is broken down into 14 stages, each walkable in a day, with all stages ending in a town or village that provides accommodation. The trail traverses back lanes, footpaths, shorelines and cliff tops, as well as some obstacles such as crossing barbed wire fences, river fording, boulder scrambling and walking through summer vegetation. Sounds like a fun and challenging walking holiday! Berriedale is also listed as the place of death on the death certificate of Prince George, Duke of Kent, the younger brother of King George VI. Prince George, who was on duty as an Air Commodore in the Royal Air Force on a mission to Reykjavik, Iceland was killed, along with 14 others, in the Dunbeath air crash on August 25, 1942.
Just south of Berriedale are the Berriedale Braes, a hillside area where the A9 sees a steep drop in gradient - from 150m (492ft) to 20m (65ft) - as the road enters the valley, before bridging the Berriedale and Langwell Water rivers and sharply rising again on the other side. The steep gradient and a rather nasty hairpin bend makes the braes one of the most challenging sections of the A9. Recent road work to remove this notorious hairpin turn has led to the discovery of a Middle Stone Age hunter-gather's camp with stone tools archaeologists believe date from 6,000 BC. Short article found here: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-49495139
Badbea, an area of rough, steeply sloping land, is accessed by a footpath from a lay-by on the A9 near Ousdale. Badbea is the location of the ruins of a clearance village and today is preserved as a tourist attraction and memorial to the Highland Clearances.
Badbea clearance village and 1911 monument - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Richerman (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The village was settled in the 18th and 19th centuries by tenant farmers evicted from their homes when the river valleys of Langwell, Ousdale and Berriedale were cleared for the establishment of sheep farms. When families arrived at Badbea, they were given small plots to farm but they had the clear the land from the steep slopes and had to build their own houses from the stones they found. Given the lack of arable farm land, the men mainly worked as herring fishermen from nearby Berriedale. The women gutted the fish caught, and as most houses are reported to have had spinning wheels, they would also spin and card wool. It is said that the winds along the clifftop were so fierce that the livestock and even the children were tethered to rocks and poles to prevent them from being blown off the cliffs.
Badbea clearance village from above - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Richerman (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Not much protection from the wind based on the above picture! The last inhabitant left the village in 1911, the same year David Sutherland, decendant from one of the tenant families, build the memorial (that stands to this day) out of stones from his father house.
Next along the route we come to the small settlement of Ousdale (called Ausdale in early citations). Ausdale was part of the Langwell Estate which belonged to the Caithness family of Sutherlands since the 17th century. At that time the settlement had a meal mill, an inn, a busy whisky distillery and a production farm with ample living for eight families. Ousdale Farm continues to operate today, in a different form, and the original stone buildings are gone. Ousdale is mentioned in the Orkneyinga Saga - a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands - as the site of a confrontation in 1201 between William the Lion, King of Scotland and the Norse ruler of Caithness and Orkney, Harald the Elder.
Near Ousdale is the Ousdale Broch, the remains of an Iron Age drystone tower.
Aerial photograph of Ousdale Broch - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by the Caithness Broch Project (CC0)
The Ousdale Broch is classified as a 'second-phase' broch, dating to the 3rd and 2nd century BC. Originally excavated in 1892 by James Mackay, the highly intrusive excavation lead to the structure being unstable and, until recently, was in a state of disrepair. Conservation works overseen by the Caithness Broch Project since 2015 has now consolidated the structure and a number of its original features.
Interior of Ousdale Broch in 2020 following conservation - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by KM Lilley (CC BY-SA 4.0)
More information about the broch and the project can be found on this Caithness Broch Project blog post.
Moving on to Helmsdale. The village of Helmsdale was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed as part of the Highland Clearances. Helmsdale was once home to one of the largest herring fleets in Europe. As with a number of coastal areas, Helmsdale did, at one time, have a castle. Build around the 1480s, Helmsdale Castle was the property of the Sutherlands. I should mention that the castle ruins were demolished in the 1970s to build the A9 road bridge, but back to the story about the castle. As with most castles, there is a bit of notoriety associated with Helmsdale Castle. In 1567 John, the 11th Earl of Sutherland and his wife, countess Marie Seton, were both poisoned by Isobel Sinclair, a servant in the household. Isobel's motive and events play out like something straight out of a Shakespearean tragedy. Isobel's eldest son, John Gordon, was the next male heir in line for the earldom of Sutherland after Alexander, the son of the murdered earl. Unbeknownst to the servant who served it, Isobel's son consumed the fatal poison (potentially reserved for Alexander) and also died, while Alexander survived. Isobel, apprehended, send to Edinburgh for trial and condemned, died in prison before her execution could be carried out. Interesting twist to this drama: Isobel was a cousin to George Sinclair, the 4th Earl of Caithness. While never proved, speculation is that the real brain behind the plan was George, who had designs on seizing the Sutherland earldom.
...and, only because I do love a good gold rush connection, Helmsdale had its own gold rush that started in 1818 when a solitary nugget of gold weighing about 10 pennyweights (15 grams) was found in the River Helmsdale. It is claimed that a ring in the possession of the Sutherland family was made out of that discovered nugget, but the real gold rush started in 1868 when an announcement in a local newspaper lead to a rush of gold speculation and prospecting in the area.
Closing out this week's walking journey with The Wolf Stone, located south of Lothbeg.
The Wolf Stone, near Helmsdale - as posted to geograph.org.uk by Carron K (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Wolf Stone is a commemorative monument where the last wolf in Sutherland - and presumably the last wolf in Scotland - was shot, around 1700. Official records indicate that the last Scottish wolf was killed in 1680 in Killiecrankie, Perthshire. There are reports that wolves survived in Scotland up until the 18th century, and may have been seen as late as 1888, but reintroducing the wolf to the Scottish Highlands was only first proposed back in the late 1960s. Renewed interest in the policy has grown since then, including support from landowners, but apparently this is still a rather contentious issue for some, with concerns the wolves would end up eating the livestock, or worse, attack humans. It is the worry of wolves attacking humans where I question some individuals understanding of 'co-existing' with wildlife, but not raising this as a topic for further exploration.
---------------------------------
Overall good news as I continue to manage to get in a minimum 30 minute walk every day, even when the weather is more conducive to curling up at home with a book. ;-)
41MickyFine
>39 lkernagh: It had been a pretty warm January, but we returned to colder temperatures on the weekend (at least up here in the Edmonton area). It's been hovering around -20C since Saturday and we're only supposed to warm up to the mid-negative teens this week.
Glad your snow turned out to be rain. I know how the white stuff breaks Vancouver and Victoria. ;)
Glad your snow turned out to be rain. I know how the white stuff breaks Vancouver and Victoria. ;)
42PaulCranswick
>40 lkernagh: It is a part of the world I am familiar with Lori. Back in the dying days of the 1980s I worked at Dounreay Nuclear Station and resided temporarily in Thurso. The journey up from Yorkshire was something of a trek I have to tell you. I remember little sunshine and it was possibly the coldest three months of my career!
43richardderus
>40 lkernagh: What a wonderful leg of the trip, Lori, and fascinating about the 1868 Gold Rush!
44lkernagh
>41 MickyFine: - Glad to see the winter hasn't been too bad so far this year, Micky! I know how the white stuff breaks Vancouver and Victoria. ;) LOL! Yes, the is a bit of a reputation here on the west coast, isn't there? The local TV station I watch for the evening news hour has recently 'imported' a meteorologist from Regina, SK. Suffice to say, he has been having a lot of fun dishing the snow-adverse residents of Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland! The Albertan in me chuckles as he throws fun barbs at the news anchor. ;-)
>42 PaulCranswick: - Hi Paul. Dounreay Nuclear Station... that has special significance to my other half as one of his uncles was a manager/department head (I am not sure his exact role but know it was in management) at the Dounreay Station. Both you and my other half could probably shares stories about Thurso and area, including the lack of sunshine and the cold. ;-) While my other half has never lived in Thurso (he was born outside Glasgow and worked in Aberdeen before crossing the pond to Canada), it is a part of Scotland I have yet to visit in person. Lovely to see you posting here, Paul!
>43 richardderus: - So happy to see my walking updates are interesting, RD! Thanks for stopping by!
----------------------------
So, it is official. Second month of 2021, here we come! It appears I seem to be on a 'once-a-week' posting trend for 2021. I am still juggling a lot of balls in the air in RL, but making sure to grab 'me' time at regular intervals. Trying to keep a nice balance, both body and soul, for 2021. While a lot of people got into nesting and home improvement last year, I am using 2021 to assign myself (and sometimes my other half) small projects, most of which can be easily handled over the course of a single weekend. We are also continuing to assess the possessions we have (Do we use it? Do we need it? Does it just collect dust and take up valuable space?). We are also abiding by a 'one item in, one item out" process to ensure that we don't add to the existing clutter in our home (the whole point is to declutter). So, some items being sold online through local used sites, other items still working but not worth selling being donated to local charity shops... you get the idea. January was a good month for getting some unused items out the door to new homes.
I am also starting to do some research into plant seeds that produce flowering plants that would be good for hummingbirds and bees. I am hoping to place an order in the next week or two with plans to plant the seeds in early March. My earlier experience with a hummingbird feeder was a bit of a disaster: our area is prone to intermittent periods of high winds and the sugar water mixture that spilled out of the hummingbird feeder lead to a bit of an ant infestation on our balcony... and we are on the 4th floor! So, no more hummingbird feeders. Looking for natural flowering plant solutions instead. If anyone has any suggestions of plants to consider, that would be most appreciated!
On the reading front, I did manage to finish a second book in January. Only two books read over the course of one month. I am kind of embarrassed by that. Will see if I can improve the number count in February. Book review and walking update to follow.
I hope everyone is keeping healthy and staying safe!
>42 PaulCranswick: - Hi Paul. Dounreay Nuclear Station... that has special significance to my other half as one of his uncles was a manager/department head (I am not sure his exact role but know it was in management) at the Dounreay Station. Both you and my other half could probably shares stories about Thurso and area, including the lack of sunshine and the cold. ;-) While my other half has never lived in Thurso (he was born outside Glasgow and worked in Aberdeen before crossing the pond to Canada), it is a part of Scotland I have yet to visit in person. Lovely to see you posting here, Paul!
>43 richardderus: - So happy to see my walking updates are interesting, RD! Thanks for stopping by!
----------------------------
So, it is official. Second month of 2021, here we come! It appears I seem to be on a 'once-a-week' posting trend for 2021. I am still juggling a lot of balls in the air in RL, but making sure to grab 'me' time at regular intervals. Trying to keep a nice balance, both body and soul, for 2021. While a lot of people got into nesting and home improvement last year, I am using 2021 to assign myself (and sometimes my other half) small projects, most of which can be easily handled over the course of a single weekend. We are also continuing to assess the possessions we have (Do we use it? Do we need it? Does it just collect dust and take up valuable space?). We are also abiding by a 'one item in, one item out" process to ensure that we don't add to the existing clutter in our home (the whole point is to declutter). So, some items being sold online through local used sites, other items still working but not worth selling being donated to local charity shops... you get the idea. January was a good month for getting some unused items out the door to new homes.
I am also starting to do some research into plant seeds that produce flowering plants that would be good for hummingbirds and bees. I am hoping to place an order in the next week or two with plans to plant the seeds in early March. My earlier experience with a hummingbird feeder was a bit of a disaster: our area is prone to intermittent periods of high winds and the sugar water mixture that spilled out of the hummingbird feeder lead to a bit of an ant infestation on our balcony... and we are on the 4th floor! So, no more hummingbird feeders. Looking for natural flowering plant solutions instead. If anyone has any suggestions of plants to consider, that would be most appreciated!
On the reading front, I did manage to finish a second book in January. Only two books read over the course of one month. I am kind of embarrassed by that. Will see if I can improve the number count in February. Book review and walking update to follow.
I hope everyone is keeping healthy and staying safe!
45lkernagh
.Book #2 - Busman's Honeymoon by Dorothy L. Sayers
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2021 Category
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Character - Same name (Harriet Vine) and same profession (mystery fiction writer)
Source: TBR
Format: ebook
Original publication date: 1937
Acquisition date: January 6, 2020
Page count: 367 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.70 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the wikipedia.org book listing webpage:
"Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane marry and go to spend their honeymoon at Talboys, an old farmhouse in Hertfordshire which he has bought her as a present. The honeymoon is intended as a break from their usual routine of solving crimes (him) and writing about them (her), but it turns into a murder investigation when the seller of the house is found dead at the bottom of the cellar steps with severe head injuries."Review:
This was a very fun read. Yes, it gets a bit bogged down in poetry and other literary quotations (including correspondence that is only in French - my high school French is worse than just rusty, it is practically non-existent!), but otherwise, a cracking good country home murder mystery, IMO. I have to admit, as much as I like Bunter, my favorite character is Peter's mom, the Dowager Duchess. What a remarkable woman, even if her part is a very small one in this story! I do question if the suspect who confessed is really the killer, but this is something each reader will need to mull over on their own. Sad that this is the last story with Harriet Vine. *sighs* Yes, I am one of those readers who finds Busman's Honeymoon to be a bit of a letdown after reading Gaudy Night. I am kind of unsatisfied with how Sayers closes off both this mystery and the Harriet Vine/Peter Wimsey stories. Maybe she had plans to write a further story... we will never know, but this left some loose ends to upset my 'Happily ever after' notions. Maybe that was the point. A little dash of realism to wash away the fairy dust (of course, both Harriet and Peter are just too darn practical to allow rose-tinted glasses to colour their perception of things).
Overall, still a worthy story, but Gaudy Night is my favorite of the four stories with Harriet Vine.
46lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 4 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 27.14 km
Kilometers walked in total: 108.51 km
Currently walking through: Country Sutherland.
My current location on the map: Due west of Skelbo (and Skelbo Castle), heading for Achavandra Muir.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Kintradwell, Clynelish, Brora, Golspie, Culmaily and Little Torboll.
Observing that there are a lot of brochs and castles along the route, I will only briefly touch on them during my walking updates, unless there is an interesting story to tell. First broch encountered on this week's walk, Cinn Trolla (or Kintradwell) Broch, an Early Iron Age to Early Medieval broch, with radiocarbon dates obtained from human skeletal material from within the broch.
Cinn Trolla Broch, Sutherland, Scotland - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Bubobubo2 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
More information about this broch can be found here. I was most intrigued by the fact that the broch/tower was surrounded by an extensive settlement, with passages linking the buildings and the broch tower. Speculation, before full excavation, is that one of these passages may have given rise to a local tradition that a passage ran from the broch to Dunrobin, some 7 miles away. A smart defensive and military tactic, if this is correct (one should always have an escape route).
The only thing I could find of interest about Kintradwell is that it is the name and location of one of the oldest manor-houses in Sutherland. According to government records, this house was burnt down by George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromarty, while on his way to Caithness during the time of "Forty-Five" ("Forty-Five" referring to the 1745 Jacobite uprising). At the time of the Forty-Five, the Mackenzie clan was divided in its loyalties: Clan chief Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fontrose, supported the British-Hanoverian Government while his cousin George supported the Jacobites. George lead the Jacobite Mackenzies at the Battle of Falkirk, where they were victorious in helping to defeat British Government forces, only to have the victory go to their heads. They lay waste to the lands of the British Government supports (the Munros and Sutherlands), but in the end, George and his son were captured at Dunrobin Castle and the Earl of Cromarty titles were forfeited.
As a single malt Scotch fan, I would be remiss if I did not capture any distilleries on this walking journey. According to Wikipedia, Brora Distillery "was built in 1819 by the Marquess of Stafford, although it was known as "Clynelish" until the opening of the Clynelish Distillery in 1968, whereupon the name of the original Clynelish was changed to "Brora". Between May 1969 and July 1973, Brora produced a heavily peated whisky to supply for blending; this was done to cover a shortage of Islay whisky caused by a drought in that region. Most of the whisky produced as Brora after 1973 is in the lightly peated Highland style. In early 1983, production at Brora was stopped and the distillery was mothballed by its parent company, Diageo plc. The release of the 1972 Brora 40 year old in 2014 was the most expensive single malt ever released by Diageo at the time, with a retail price of £7,000." Rumour has it that Diageo has plans to re-open the Brora distillery, just don't know when that is going to happen, but I am not a fan of the heavy peat single-malts.
original Brora Distillery building - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Andrew Wood (CC BY-SA 2.0)
For those interested, here is a wonderful article in Whisky Magazine about the history of Clynlish Distillery: https://whiskymag.com/story/a-distillery-seeped-in-history-clynelish.
... and we cannot leave Brora without a shout-out for golfing: Brora Golf Club, established in 1891, is recognized as being the 6th best golf course in North Scotland and one of James Braid's finest links courses in the Scottish Highlands. For those not in the know, James Braid (1870-1950) was a Scottish professional golfer (a Great Triumvirate) and a renowned golf course architect. In 1923, James was invited to visit the Brora Gold Club by the club committee. He did in 1924 and for the sum of 25 British Pounds (and travel expenses), James submitted plans for a redesigned 18-hole layout, which was largely implemented as per his plan and remains mostly unchanged to this day. FUN FACT (from Wikipedia): Braid disliked travel overseas, very rarely left the British Isles, and never traveled outside Europe. But he did design two 18-hole golf courses for the Singapore Island Country Club (a members only club in Singapore), using topographic maps to plan his layouts there, which were then constructed to his orders.
Carn Liath is another Iron Age broch, near Golspie. Notes of interest about this broch: it was first excavated in the 19th century by the Duke of Sutherland and initially thought to be a burial cairn. When the site was excavated again in 1986, it was discovered the site was occupied in the Bronze Age, before the broch was built, including discovery of a Bronze Age cist burial with a food vessel.
The big attraction, even today, at Dunrobin, is Dunrobin Castle, the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland.
Dunrobin Castle, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by John Haslam, originally posted to Flickr by Snowmanradio (CC BY 2.0)
A fantasy-like castle and billed as a "Jewel in the Crown of the Highlands", Dunrobin Castle is the most northerly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms. Dunrobin Castle is also one of Britain's oldest continuously inhabited houses with the earliest part of the building dating back to around 1275. The castle was home to the Earls and later, the Dukes of Sutherland. Resembling a French château with its towering conical spires, the castle was used as a naval hospital during WWI and as a boys' boarding school from 1965 to 1972.
For those interested, a short 2 minute 30 second video of the exterior and garden can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzP-lVsFw_k
The village of Golspie was a planned village of the Sutherland family. In the early 1800s, the herring fishing in the North Sea (at that time known as the German Ocean) was in the hands of the Dutch and it was hoped that some means could be found of developing a similar trade for the benefit of the people of Sutherland. Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, 19th Countess of Southland and best remembered for her involvement in the Highland Clearances, oversaw the planned village through a series of visits. At least she saw to the building of a pier or jetty, using stones from the beach, albeit with the purpose of boats serving Dunrobin would have a safe landing place.
The Mound, or Fleet Mound is an embankment build between 1814-1818 to carry what is now the A9 road across Loch Fleet. This bridge has a unique feature: it has flap valves that act as a tidal barrier, allowing the river water out but stops the sea from coming in while sluices in the causeway allow salmon and sea trout to continue to migrate upstream to spawning areas (handy, that!).
Sluice gates at The Mound, as posted to geograph.org.uk by Andrew Tryon (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Loch Fleet, a sea loch located between Golspie and Dornoch, was designated a National Nature Reserve in 1998 and is managed by a partnership between NatureScot, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and the Sutherland Estates. Over 100 bird species have been recorded at the reserve. At the south side of the loch one can find the ruins of Skelbo Castle.
Skelbo Castle ruins, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Wojsyl (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The castle, a ruined early Norman fortress located near Dornoch, dates back to the 14th century. In 1529 the castle was bought by William Sutherland of Duffus. Skelbo was occupied by Jacobites during part of the first half of the 18th century and was occupied by the Earl of Cromarty and his Jacobite army in 1745 before they moved on to Dunrobin (and were captured). By 1769 the Castle was in ruins. The baronial title of Skelbo reverted to the Countess of Sutherland in 1804.
--------------------------
I broke my 30-day walking streak today. Too wet/rainy and it is okay to take a day off, every once in a while, from exercising. With the longer days coming, I am starting to add some after dinner walks to my week days to augment my lunch time walks so that I can stay on track with my walking goals and take the odd day 'off'. ;-)
.The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 4 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 27.14 km
Kilometers walked in total: 108.51 km
Currently walking through:
Country Sutherland.My current location on the map: Due west of Skelbo (and Skelbo Castle), heading for Achavandra Muir.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Kintradwell, Clynelish, Brora, Golspie, Culmaily and Little Torboll.
Observing that there are a lot of brochs and castles along the route, I will only briefly touch on them during my walking updates, unless there is an interesting story to tell. First broch encountered on this week's walk, Cinn Trolla (or Kintradwell) Broch, an Early Iron Age to Early Medieval broch, with radiocarbon dates obtained from human skeletal material from within the broch.
Cinn Trolla Broch, Sutherland, Scotland - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Bubobubo2 (CC BY-SA 3.0)
More information about this broch can be found here. I was most intrigued by the fact that the broch/tower was surrounded by an extensive settlement, with passages linking the buildings and the broch tower. Speculation, before full excavation, is that one of these passages may have given rise to a local tradition that a passage ran from the broch to Dunrobin, some 7 miles away. A smart defensive and military tactic, if this is correct (one should always have an escape route).
The only thing I could find of interest about Kintradwell is that it is the name and location of one of the oldest manor-houses in Sutherland. According to government records, this house was burnt down by George Mackenzie, 3rd Earl of Cromarty, while on his way to Caithness during the time of "Forty-Five" ("Forty-Five" referring to the 1745 Jacobite uprising). At the time of the Forty-Five, the Mackenzie clan was divided in its loyalties: Clan chief Kenneth Mackenzie, Lord Fontrose, supported the British-Hanoverian Government while his cousin George supported the Jacobites. George lead the Jacobite Mackenzies at the Battle of Falkirk, where they were victorious in helping to defeat British Government forces, only to have the victory go to their heads. They lay waste to the lands of the British Government supports (the Munros and Sutherlands), but in the end, George and his son were captured at Dunrobin Castle and the Earl of Cromarty titles were forfeited.
As a single malt Scotch fan, I would be remiss if I did not capture any distilleries on this walking journey. According to Wikipedia, Brora Distillery "was built in 1819 by the Marquess of Stafford, although it was known as "Clynelish" until the opening of the Clynelish Distillery in 1968, whereupon the name of the original Clynelish was changed to "Brora". Between May 1969 and July 1973, Brora produced a heavily peated whisky to supply for blending; this was done to cover a shortage of Islay whisky caused by a drought in that region. Most of the whisky produced as Brora after 1973 is in the lightly peated Highland style. In early 1983, production at Brora was stopped and the distillery was mothballed by its parent company, Diageo plc. The release of the 1972 Brora 40 year old in 2014 was the most expensive single malt ever released by Diageo at the time, with a retail price of £7,000." Rumour has it that Diageo has plans to re-open the Brora distillery, just don't know when that is going to happen, but I am not a fan of the heavy peat single-malts.
original Brora Distillery building - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Andrew Wood (CC BY-SA 2.0)
For those interested, here is a wonderful article in Whisky Magazine about the history of Clynlish Distillery: https://whiskymag.com/story/a-distillery-seeped-in-history-clynelish.
... and we cannot leave Brora without a shout-out for golfing: Brora Golf Club, established in 1891, is recognized as being the 6th best golf course in North Scotland and one of James Braid's finest links courses in the Scottish Highlands. For those not in the know, James Braid (1870-1950) was a Scottish professional golfer (a Great Triumvirate) and a renowned golf course architect. In 1923, James was invited to visit the Brora Gold Club by the club committee. He did in 1924 and for the sum of 25 British Pounds (and travel expenses), James submitted plans for a redesigned 18-hole layout, which was largely implemented as per his plan and remains mostly unchanged to this day. FUN FACT (from Wikipedia): Braid disliked travel overseas, very rarely left the British Isles, and never traveled outside Europe. But he did design two 18-hole golf courses for the Singapore Island Country Club (a members only club in Singapore), using topographic maps to plan his layouts there, which were then constructed to his orders.
Carn Liath is another Iron Age broch, near Golspie. Notes of interest about this broch: it was first excavated in the 19th century by the Duke of Sutherland and initially thought to be a burial cairn. When the site was excavated again in 1986, it was discovered the site was occupied in the Bronze Age, before the broch was built, including discovery of a Bronze Age cist burial with a food vessel.
The big attraction, even today, at Dunrobin, is Dunrobin Castle, the family seat of the Earl of Sutherland and the Clan Sutherland.
Dunrobin Castle, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by John Haslam, originally posted to Flickr by Snowmanradio (CC BY 2.0)
A fantasy-like castle and billed as a "Jewel in the Crown of the Highlands", Dunrobin Castle is the most northerly of Scotland's great houses and the largest in the Northern Highlands with 189 rooms. Dunrobin Castle is also one of Britain's oldest continuously inhabited houses with the earliest part of the building dating back to around 1275. The castle was home to the Earls and later, the Dukes of Sutherland. Resembling a French château with its towering conical spires, the castle was used as a naval hospital during WWI and as a boys' boarding school from 1965 to 1972.
For those interested, a short 2 minute 30 second video of the exterior and garden can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzP-lVsFw_k
The village of Golspie was a planned village of the Sutherland family. In the early 1800s, the herring fishing in the North Sea (at that time known as the German Ocean) was in the hands of the Dutch and it was hoped that some means could be found of developing a similar trade for the benefit of the people of Sutherland. Elizabeth Leveson-Gower, 19th Countess of Southland and best remembered for her involvement in the Highland Clearances, oversaw the planned village through a series of visits. At least she saw to the building of a pier or jetty, using stones from the beach, albeit with the purpose of boats serving Dunrobin would have a safe landing place.
The Mound, or Fleet Mound is an embankment build between 1814-1818 to carry what is now the A9 road across Loch Fleet. This bridge has a unique feature: it has flap valves that act as a tidal barrier, allowing the river water out but stops the sea from coming in while sluices in the causeway allow salmon and sea trout to continue to migrate upstream to spawning areas (handy, that!).
Sluice gates at The Mound, as posted to geograph.org.uk by Andrew Tryon (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Loch Fleet, a sea loch located between Golspie and Dornoch, was designated a National Nature Reserve in 1998 and is managed by a partnership between NatureScot, the Scottish Wildlife Trust, and the Sutherland Estates. Over 100 bird species have been recorded at the reserve. At the south side of the loch one can find the ruins of Skelbo Castle.
Skelbo Castle ruins, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Wojsyl (CC BY-SA 3.0)
The castle, a ruined early Norman fortress located near Dornoch, dates back to the 14th century. In 1529 the castle was bought by William Sutherland of Duffus. Skelbo was occupied by Jacobites during part of the first half of the 18th century and was occupied by the Earl of Cromarty and his Jacobite army in 1745 before they moved on to Dunrobin (and were captured). By 1769 the Castle was in ruins. The baronial title of Skelbo reverted to the Countess of Sutherland in 1804.
--------------------------
I broke my 30-day walking streak today. Too wet/rainy and it is okay to take a day off, every once in a while, from exercising. With the longer days coming, I am starting to add some after dinner walks to my week days to augment my lunch time walks so that I can stay on track with my walking goals and take the odd day 'off'. ;-)
47SandyAMcPherson
>44 lkernagh: Your query for flowers that attract Hummingbirds: anything red and tubular, although growing a mass to attract them onto (up to?) a balcony, that might be tricky.
The hummers don't need huge flowers, btw, they're attracted to the fairly inconspicuous flowers on red huckleberry bushes for example.
Some good ideas to sort through here, https://www.bcliving.ca/10-plants-that-attract-hummingbirds
When we lived in Victoria, the best for us were hanging baskets of really showy fuchsias. A variety called 'Swingtime' was very popular.
Lastly, someone here (https://www.vicnhs.bc.ca) would likely be happy to advise you. They're very friendly people in the group with many keen birders.
The hummers don't need huge flowers, btw, they're attracted to the fairly inconspicuous flowers on red huckleberry bushes for example.
Some good ideas to sort through here, https://www.bcliving.ca/10-plants-that-attract-hummingbirds
When we lived in Victoria, the best for us were hanging baskets of really showy fuchsias. A variety called 'Swingtime' was very popular.
Lastly, someone here (https://www.vicnhs.bc.ca) would likely be happy to advise you. They're very friendly people in the group with many keen birders.
48Carmenere
Hi Lori! I've just discovered your thread! Happy new year! I'm glad you decided to give it another go. Good luck!
I'll enjoy following your walk in Scotland.
I'll enjoy following your walk in Scotland.
49MickyFine
>44 lkernagh: The meteorologist sounds like fun, Lori. I was looking at my FB memories today and 4 years ago I was in Toronto for a conference. While there a TV weather man called -9C "very cold". I'm still laughing at that one.
Have fun picking out seeds for your balcony. I've got some from a fundraiser my niece's school did last year that I plan to get into the ground/planters this year. :)
Have fun picking out seeds for your balcony. I've got some from a fundraiser my niece's school did last year that I plan to get into the ground/planters this year. :)
50BLBera
I am enjoying your walking photos, Lori. I want to visit Scotland!
Decluttering sounds like a great idea. After spending so much time at home the past year, I've also felt that I have too much stuff.
Decluttering sounds like a great idea. After spending so much time at home the past year, I've also felt that I have too much stuff.
51SandyAMcPherson
Almost March... and you did warn us (on the 2020 final post) that you might not be very active.
Hope all is well and that Victoria has emerged from the effects of the rare and unusual polar vortex.
Hope all is well and that Victoria has emerged from the effects of the rare and unusual polar vortex.
52LovingLit
>7 lkernagh: wow, that is an amazing looking walkway- and you can walk there from where you live? or do you have to drive (and if so, is it far?)
Somehow you weren't starred! But I have remedied that now.
Somehow you weren't starred! But I have remedied that now.
54lkernagh
>47 SandyAMcPherson: - Hi Sandy! Thank you for the suggestions for the flower plants. Hanging baskets would be perfect... I will looking into some of those and many thanks for the link to the bird community!
>48 Carmenere: - Hi Lynda, lovely to see you stopping by, even if I am a month late in responding. I am not very good at posting or even logging into LT these days. Here is hoping that March may be better.
>49 MickyFine: - LOL, -9'C is what I call cold. The prairie girl in me has grown up into a Westcoast wimp. ;-) Wishing you success with your gardening plans!
>50 BLBera: - Thanks Beth! I do miss travel these days. Oh well, the countries will still be there when it is finally safe to travel again, so there is that at least. Decluttering has become quite the project! Still chipping away but it is slow going... especially living with someone who likes to hold onto things "just in case he needs it one day".
>51 SandyAMcPherson: - Hi Sandy, yes, I have been very bad about not being a frequent poster, but February got away from me and I didn't even realize that I had been off LT for as long as I was. Not sure I can guarantee more frequent posting, but I will try to stop by on a somewhat regular basis. ;-)
>52 LovingLit: - Hi Megan, that walkway is less than 1 KM from where I live. It is part of a lovely walkway along one side of the Inner Harbour. It is one of my places for fresh air and exercise during my work-from-home lunch breaks. Lovely to see you stopping by!
>53 Ameise1: - Hi Barbara, thanks! I am enjoying my Scottish walking journey, when I remember to update it, that is!
-------------------------------
Hello everyone!
It is “Goodbye February, Hello March”. For such a short month, it is surprising how quickly the time went. This year is just flying by! How is everyone doing?
February was colder than usual. We had a cold snap on the island one week and then the snow arrived, just in time for the Family Day long weekend. I know, three days of snow is just a minor interruption, especially when compared with the weather the majority of North America experienced! The good news is the snowfall and the long weekend, gave me the time to finish my needlepoint project and mount it. Below are two pictures: Early days in the project and the finished item mounted on the wall:
.
I know it is only the first of March, but yesterday I planted a container of lavender and assorted wildflower seeds. My research into suitable flowering plants that would be good for hummingbirds and bees lead me to a local plant seed supplier, West Coast Seeds. They sell a hummingbird blend of wildflower seeds so that is what I am attempting to grow. The seeds are to be planted in early spring when there is still potential for overnight frost, so I have my fingers crossed I will have some lovely flowers in a month or two. I am planning a more extensive container garden this year, so that will slowly get planted over the month of March.
My walking has taken a bit of a dip, but my reading is up, so that is an interesting trade off. I am not fully caught up with my walking updates but will post two for now and more as I find time to prepare them.
Not much else to report at this point. I hope everyone is keeping well and staying healthy and safe.
>48 Carmenere: - Hi Lynda, lovely to see you stopping by, even if I am a month late in responding. I am not very good at posting or even logging into LT these days. Here is hoping that March may be better.
>49 MickyFine: - LOL, -9'C is what I call cold. The prairie girl in me has grown up into a Westcoast wimp. ;-) Wishing you success with your gardening plans!
>50 BLBera: - Thanks Beth! I do miss travel these days. Oh well, the countries will still be there when it is finally safe to travel again, so there is that at least. Decluttering has become quite the project! Still chipping away but it is slow going... especially living with someone who likes to hold onto things "just in case he needs it one day".
>51 SandyAMcPherson: - Hi Sandy, yes, I have been very bad about not being a frequent poster, but February got away from me and I didn't even realize that I had been off LT for as long as I was. Not sure I can guarantee more frequent posting, but I will try to stop by on a somewhat regular basis. ;-)
>52 LovingLit: - Hi Megan, that walkway is less than 1 KM from where I live. It is part of a lovely walkway along one side of the Inner Harbour. It is one of my places for fresh air and exercise during my work-from-home lunch breaks. Lovely to see you stopping by!
>53 Ameise1: - Hi Barbara, thanks! I am enjoying my Scottish walking journey, when I remember to update it, that is!
-------------------------------
Hello everyone!
It is “Goodbye February, Hello March”. For such a short month, it is surprising how quickly the time went. This year is just flying by! How is everyone doing?
February was colder than usual. We had a cold snap on the island one week and then the snow arrived, just in time for the Family Day long weekend. I know, three days of snow is just a minor interruption, especially when compared with the weather the majority of North America experienced! The good news is the snowfall and the long weekend, gave me the time to finish my needlepoint project and mount it. Below are two pictures: Early days in the project and the finished item mounted on the wall:
.
I know it is only the first of March, but yesterday I planted a container of lavender and assorted wildflower seeds. My research into suitable flowering plants that would be good for hummingbirds and bees lead me to a local plant seed supplier, West Coast Seeds. They sell a hummingbird blend of wildflower seeds so that is what I am attempting to grow. The seeds are to be planted in early spring when there is still potential for overnight frost, so I have my fingers crossed I will have some lovely flowers in a month or two. I am planning a more extensive container garden this year, so that will slowly get planted over the month of March.
My walking has taken a bit of a dip, but my reading is up, so that is an interesting trade off. I am not fully caught up with my walking updates but will post two for now and more as I find time to prepare them.
Not much else to report at this point. I hope everyone is keeping well and staying healthy and safe.
55lkernagh
.
.
.Book #3 - In the Teeth of the Evidence, Striding Folly and The Wimsey Papers, all by Dorothy L. Sayers
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2021 Category
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: Type of building in title - Striding Folly; You heartily recommend - The Wimsey Papers
Category: Author - Same name (Dorothy L. Sayers)
Source: TBR
Format: ebook
Original publication dates: In the Teeth of the Evidence - 1939; Striding Folly - 1939; The Wimsey Papers - article published between November 1939 and January 1940
Acquisition date: January 6, 2020
Page count: 307 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.85 out of 5 /
Book description/summary:
A combination of 18 short stories and a series of fictional letters. Lumping these together as one book for the purposes of a book review.Review:
In the Teeth of the Evidence is a collection of 17 short stories with two Lord Peter Wimsey stories, a handful of Montague Egg stories and the remainder are what I would categorize as random stories of miscellaneous characters. As you can probably guess, this is a mixed bag collection. The Wimsey ones are a bit of a let down (for me anyways) after finishing the Harriet Vine stories. As refreshing as Egg is after Wimsey, I have to say I am a little tired of his constant references to his salesman's handbook. Now that I have bemoaned the Wimsey-Egg stories, I admit I really enjoyed the stand alone stories as insightful glimpses into humanity, foibles, guilt and a human habit to leap to conclusions without all the facts being known. Personal favorites are "The Milk Bottles" and "The Cyprian Cat".
I recommend In the Teeth of the Evidence as a good book for a first time Sayers' reader to get a feel for the breadth of Sayer's writing.
Striding Folly is a 24-page short story that is included in The Complete Lord Peter Wimsey Stories omnibus. Not one of Sayer's best stories but it may appeal to fans of the game of chess and strategies. For me, kind of a ho-hum story.
The Wimsey Papers is a 54-page collection of articles written by Sayers. While the articles take the form of fictional letters exchanged between members of the Wimsey family and characters found in the Lord Peter Wimsey novels, these are really fascinating commentaries by the author of aspects of public life in the early months of WWII.
I can highly recommend The Wimsey Papers for anyone interested in social commentary re: England and the lead up to WWII.
....and with this, I have now finished reading the 4,041 page omnibus. it just took me 14 months. ;-)
56lkernagh
Book #4 - Who Slays the Wicked by C.S. Harris
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2021 Category
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Location - England
Source: GVPL
Format: ebook
Original publication date: April 2, 2019
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 302 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.20 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
"When the handsome but dissolute young gentleman Lord Ashworth is found brutally murdered, Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is called in by Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy to help catch the killer. Just seven months before, Sebastian had suspected Ashworth of aiding one of his longtime friends and companions in the kidnapping and murder of a string of vulnerable street children. But Sebastian was never able to prove Ashworth's complicity. Nor was he able to prevent his troubled, headstrong young niece Stephanie from entering into a disastrous marriage with the dangerous nobleman.Review:
Stephanie has survived the difficult birth of twin sons. But Sebastian soon discovers that her marriage has quickly degenerated into a sham. Ashworth abandoned his pregnant bride at his father's Park Street mansion and has continued living an essentially bachelor existence. And mounting evidence--ranging from a small bloody handprint to a woman's silk stocking--suggests that Ashworth's killer was a woman. Sebastian is tasked with unraveling the shocking nest of secrets surrounding Ashworth's life to keep Stephanie from being punished for his death.
Always nice to have a good series to fall back on when in a reading slump! One thing I like about the Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries series is that the author makes the assumption that a reader may pick up and read a story "out of sequence" or have a long lag-time between installments, so she includes key facts from earlier stories to give the reader the context they need. I am not suggesting that you just jump into the series and start with this one! The series contains a number of character arcs and backstories, so best to read in series order. For example, Sebastian has a rather complicated relationship with his family. While earlier installments have examined Sebastian's relationship with his father, aunt and sister, this time we learn more about his niece Stephanie and some of the secrets she has been keeping. I also love the historical details Harris brings to her stories. If that is not enough to entice you to consider reading this series, the stories have a gritty, atmospheric quality... and yes, Sebastian continues to find himself in dangerous, suspense-filled situations. Even the mysteries are not of the straightforward variety. While we continue to see a rather high body count, I appreciate that Harris does not always satisfactorily resolve each mystery. This time, we are left to ponder who may have killed one of the victims.
Overall, lovely to escape back into England's Regency period, filled with royal/political intrigue (this time with a Russian angle) and the darker, sinister traits of some members of "the Ton" (English high society). I love that Harris includes strong female characters in her stories. No shrinking wallflowers here! A cracking good read!
57lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 5 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 30.22 km
Kilometers walked in total: 138.73 km
Currently walking through: County Sutherland and into County Ross, which interestingly, does not have a county flag of its own (but there is a Facebook initiative started a few years back to establish a flag for the county).
My current location on the map: Delny, heading for Tomich.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Achavandra Muir, Evelix, Clashmore, Cuthill, across the Dornoch Firth, Glen Morangie, Tain, Knockbreck, Calrossie, Ballchraggan, Kildary, Kilmuir and Delny.
This week walking journey took me virtually through a number of small crofting hamlets and the location of some well known whisky distilleries. Due east of Everlix and near the northern tip of the entrance to Dornoch Firth are two points of interest: The Royal Dornoch Golf Club and the Dornoch Aerodrome.
According to Wikipedia, golf has been played in Dornoch's extensive links land since the early 17th century. Expenses dated to 1616 covering the costs of a young aristocrat (John the 13th Earl of Sutherland)'s golf clubs are the earliest evidence of the sport's presence in the area. The current golf club was established in 1877 and was awarded royal status in 1906 by King Edward VII. The club has two 18-hole courses. While the club hosted the 1895 British Amateur Championship and the Scottish Amateur in 1993, 2000 and 2012, the club has never hosted any modern professional tournaments.
Dornoch Aerodrome was originally build in 1933 as a civilian airfield. From 1941 it served as a dispersal airfield for RAF Kinross, but was only used for a brief period of time as lack of suitable camouflaged places meant aircraft has to be parked in the open. The field was then used to store spare, damaged or obsolete Beaufighters:
Bristol 156 Beaufighter, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by RuthAS (CC BY 3.0)
After the war, the airfield returned to farm use, and was converted into a golf course before re-opening in 1967 as a airfield to provide services to Inverness and Wick. This services was discontinued in 1972. Today, the surviving grass runway (that is kept trim by a local golf club's greenkeepers) is used for private pilots who land at the unmanned aerodrome. According to this August 2018 BBC news article, safety improvements for the aerodrome have been sought, by the RAF, wanting to be notified of flights to and from the airstrip, given its proximity to the Tain Air Weapons Range. That makes sense to me!
Dornoch Firth is designated a national scenic area and a special protection area for wildlife conservation purposes. In 1991 the Dornoch Firth Bridge was completed, providing a shorter route between Inverness and Thurso. Interesting piece of history: On August 16, 1809, the day of the Lammas Fair in Tain and under clear weather conditions, the firth was the scene of the Meikle Ferry disaster where an overladen ferryboat sank with the loss of 99 lives. The disaster prompted the building of the Bonar Bridge in 1812. The Dornoch Bridge crosses close to the original ferry route. The Meikle Ferry continued operating until 1957.
Tain, Scotland, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Postdlf (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Tain was granted its first royal charter in 1066 by King Malcolm III, making it Scotland's oldest royal burgh. While the burgh's name is derived from the nearby River Tain, its Gaelic name, Baile Dubhthaich, means 'Duthac's town', after a local saint also known as Duthus. Duthac is said to be an early Christian figure and a ruined chapel near the mouth of the river is said to have been build on the site of is birth. Duthac became an official saint in 1419 and by the late Middle Ages his shrine was an important place of pilgrimage in Scotland. it is reported that King James IV came on his own pilgrimage at least once a year throughout his reign. Tain is also home to the Glenmorangie whisky distillery, founded in 1843 by farmer William Matheson and his wife Anne. The Tarlogie Springs are the distillery's own water source and its most prized asset.
Kildary, a village located on the Balnagown River, is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate.
Balnagown Castle is the ancestral home of the chiefs of Clan Ross. While there has been a castle on the site since the 14th century, the present buildings were remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the 1970s, the castle has been owned by the Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods department store. Interesting tidbit about the Ross family history: Sir Charles Ross, the 9th baronet, inherited the castle in 1911. To prevent the seizure of Balnagown by the tax man, Ross had the estate declared a ward of the court of Delaware, and he was subsequently unable to return to Britain for fear of imprisonment. Among his accomplishments, Ross invented the Ross rifle, a straight-pull bolt action rifle that was manufactured in Canada from 1903 until 1918. While the rife was withdrawn from front-line service by 1916, many snipers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force continued to use the rifle until the end of the war, due to its exceptional accuracy.
.The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 5 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 30.22 km
Kilometers walked in total: 138.73 km
Currently walking through:
County Sutherland and into County Ross, which interestingly, does not have a county flag of its own (but there is a Facebook initiative started a few years back to establish a flag for the county).My current location on the map: Delny, heading for Tomich.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Achavandra Muir, Evelix, Clashmore, Cuthill, across the Dornoch Firth, Glen Morangie, Tain, Knockbreck, Calrossie, Ballchraggan, Kildary, Kilmuir and Delny.
This week walking journey took me virtually through a number of small crofting hamlets and the location of some well known whisky distilleries. Due east of Everlix and near the northern tip of the entrance to Dornoch Firth are two points of interest: The Royal Dornoch Golf Club and the Dornoch Aerodrome.
According to Wikipedia, golf has been played in Dornoch's extensive links land since the early 17th century. Expenses dated to 1616 covering the costs of a young aristocrat (John the 13th Earl of Sutherland)'s golf clubs are the earliest evidence of the sport's presence in the area. The current golf club was established in 1877 and was awarded royal status in 1906 by King Edward VII. The club has two 18-hole courses. While the club hosted the 1895 British Amateur Championship and the Scottish Amateur in 1993, 2000 and 2012, the club has never hosted any modern professional tournaments.
Dornoch Aerodrome was originally build in 1933 as a civilian airfield. From 1941 it served as a dispersal airfield for RAF Kinross, but was only used for a brief period of time as lack of suitable camouflaged places meant aircraft has to be parked in the open. The field was then used to store spare, damaged or obsolete Beaufighters:
Bristol 156 Beaufighter, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by RuthAS (CC BY 3.0)
After the war, the airfield returned to farm use, and was converted into a golf course before re-opening in 1967 as a airfield to provide services to Inverness and Wick. This services was discontinued in 1972. Today, the surviving grass runway (that is kept trim by a local golf club's greenkeepers) is used for private pilots who land at the unmanned aerodrome. According to this August 2018 BBC news article, safety improvements for the aerodrome have been sought, by the RAF, wanting to be notified of flights to and from the airstrip, given its proximity to the Tain Air Weapons Range. That makes sense to me!
Dornoch Firth is designated a national scenic area and a special protection area for wildlife conservation purposes. In 1991 the Dornoch Firth Bridge was completed, providing a shorter route between Inverness and Thurso. Interesting piece of history: On August 16, 1809, the day of the Lammas Fair in Tain and under clear weather conditions, the firth was the scene of the Meikle Ferry disaster where an overladen ferryboat sank with the loss of 99 lives. The disaster prompted the building of the Bonar Bridge in 1812. The Dornoch Bridge crosses close to the original ferry route. The Meikle Ferry continued operating until 1957.
Tain, Scotland, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Postdlf (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Tain was granted its first royal charter in 1066 by King Malcolm III, making it Scotland's oldest royal burgh. While the burgh's name is derived from the nearby River Tain, its Gaelic name, Baile Dubhthaich, means 'Duthac's town', after a local saint also known as Duthus. Duthac is said to be an early Christian figure and a ruined chapel near the mouth of the river is said to have been build on the site of is birth. Duthac became an official saint in 1419 and by the late Middle Ages his shrine was an important place of pilgrimage in Scotland. it is reported that King James IV came on his own pilgrimage at least once a year throughout his reign. Tain is also home to the Glenmorangie whisky distillery, founded in 1843 by farmer William Matheson and his wife Anne. The Tarlogie Springs are the distillery's own water source and its most prized asset.
Kildary, a village located on the Balnagown River, is bordered by Balnagown Castle and the Balnagown estate.
Balnagown Castle is the ancestral home of the chiefs of Clan Ross. While there has been a castle on the site since the 14th century, the present buildings were remodelled in the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the 1970s, the castle has been owned by the Egyptian-born businessman Mohamed Al Fayed, the former owner of Harrods department store. Interesting tidbit about the Ross family history: Sir Charles Ross, the 9th baronet, inherited the castle in 1911. To prevent the seizure of Balnagown by the tax man, Ross had the estate declared a ward of the court of Delaware, and he was subsequently unable to return to Britain for fear of imprisonment. Among his accomplishments, Ross invented the Ross rifle, a straight-pull bolt action rifle that was manufactured in Canada from 1903 until 1918. While the rife was withdrawn from front-line service by 1916, many snipers in the Canadian Expeditionary Force continued to use the rifle until the end of the war, due to its exceptional accuracy.
58lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 6 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 17.17 km
Kilometers walked in total: 155.90 km
Currently walking through: County Ross
My current location on the map: Due north of Adullie, heading for the Cromartie Bridge.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Delny, Tomich, Achnagarron, Invergordon, Dalmore, Evanton and Drummond, the majority of them being small hamlets. Even so, I did still manage to track down some interesting information for this week's virtual walk.
Tomich is a Victorian model conservation village and consists of privately owned properties that were originally created to serve Guisachan House, home of Lord and Lady Tweedmouth.
Golden Retriever, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Dirk Vorderstrabe (CC BY 2.0)
You are probably wondering, why the picture of the dog? According to sources, the golden retriever was first bred in Guisachan by Dudley Majoribanks, 1st Baron Tweedmouth in the mid-19th century. It is said that wildfowl hunting was a popular sport but existing retriever breeds were inadequate for retrieving downed game from both water and land. The breed is thought to have originated from the now-extinct Russian tracker dog.
Another fun fact about Tomich... it has its very own Hobbit House! Check out this video of the house that Stewart Grant build.
Invergordon is a port town located on the coast of Cromarty Firth. Invergordon is known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. The 2-day mutiny took place September 15-16 and involved 1,000 sailors in the British Atlantic Fleet. Their gripe: the new National Government's pay cuts for public sector workers, which for some workers would have amounted to a 25% pay cut. The mutiny caused panic on the London Stock Exchange and a run on the pound. It is said that the mutiny brought Britain's economic troubles to a head and forced Britain off the gold standard on September 21, 1931.
Interesting cultural fact about Invergordon: The town is the premier mural town of the Highlands and hopes to emulate the success of her mentor in Chemainus, a lovely seaside community on Vancouver Island and a short 80 km drive from where I live. Always fun to find a local connection on this virtual walking journey! Currently, Invergordon is adorned with a series of 17 murals that tell the stories of the local community.
Alness This is the small town that could! In 2018 Alness was crowned the Scottish Champion at the Great British High Street Awards, impressing the judges with its reinvention over the years to become a place with a diverse offering of businesses and services. The town is also home to two distilleries, Dalmore and Teaninich. While I have tried and enjoy the Dalmore whisky, it is the history of Teaninich which intrigues me. Founded and built in 1817 by Hugo Munro on his estate of Teaninich Castle. The distillery passed through a number of private owners before being sold to Scottish Malt Distillers in 1933. Today, Teaninich distillery mainly produces malts for blending.
The Fyrish Monument in December, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Reg Tait (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Near Alness one can visit the Fyrish Monument. The monument was build in 1782 on Fyrish Hill, on the orders of Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar, a local lord who had served in India. The purpose of the monument: to keeps the locals who were being cleared off the lands they had worked for centuries, in work. Legend has it that Sir Hector even rolled stones from the top of the hill to the bottom, extending the amount of time worked and paying the labourers for the additional hours. The monument is said to represent the Gate of Negapatam that stood above the port city of Madras, India, a location that General Munro took for the British in 1781.
Just north of Evanton is Novar House. The lands of the Novar Estate were acquired by Clan Munro in 1589. While Noval House has a datestone of 1634 build into the side of the original building, the current house and estate was largely the creation of Sir Hector (the one that had Fyrish Monument built). Today the estate is still owned and run by the Munro-Ferguson family. Besides farming and forestry, the lands comprise of over 150 miles of paths and tracks, a hydroelectric scheme and the first wind farm in the Highlands.
Fun Fact: Assynt House, the dower house for Novar House, was where the 32nd US President Franklin D Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor spent part of their honeymoon. Today, Assynt House operates as a luxury holiday house for private rental.
.The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEK 6 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: 17.17 km
Kilometers walked in total: 155.90 km
Currently walking through: County Ross
My current location on the map: Due north of Adullie, heading for the Cromartie Bridge.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Delny, Tomich, Achnagarron, Invergordon, Dalmore, Evanton and Drummond, the majority of them being small hamlets. Even so, I did still manage to track down some interesting information for this week's virtual walk.
Tomich is a Victorian model conservation village and consists of privately owned properties that were originally created to serve Guisachan House, home of Lord and Lady Tweedmouth.
Golden Retriever, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Dirk Vorderstrabe (CC BY 2.0)
You are probably wondering, why the picture of the dog? According to sources, the golden retriever was first bred in Guisachan by Dudley Majoribanks, 1st Baron Tweedmouth in the mid-19th century. It is said that wildfowl hunting was a popular sport but existing retriever breeds were inadequate for retrieving downed game from both water and land. The breed is thought to have originated from the now-extinct Russian tracker dog.
Another fun fact about Tomich... it has its very own Hobbit House! Check out this video of the house that Stewart Grant build.
Invergordon is a port town located on the coast of Cromarty Firth. Invergordon is known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. The 2-day mutiny took place September 15-16 and involved 1,000 sailors in the British Atlantic Fleet. Their gripe: the new National Government's pay cuts for public sector workers, which for some workers would have amounted to a 25% pay cut. The mutiny caused panic on the London Stock Exchange and a run on the pound. It is said that the mutiny brought Britain's economic troubles to a head and forced Britain off the gold standard on September 21, 1931.
Interesting cultural fact about Invergordon: The town is the premier mural town of the Highlands and hopes to emulate the success of her mentor in Chemainus, a lovely seaside community on Vancouver Island and a short 80 km drive from where I live. Always fun to find a local connection on this virtual walking journey! Currently, Invergordon is adorned with a series of 17 murals that tell the stories of the local community.
Alness This is the small town that could! In 2018 Alness was crowned the Scottish Champion at the Great British High Street Awards, impressing the judges with its reinvention over the years to become a place with a diverse offering of businesses and services. The town is also home to two distilleries, Dalmore and Teaninich. While I have tried and enjoy the Dalmore whisky, it is the history of Teaninich which intrigues me. Founded and built in 1817 by Hugo Munro on his estate of Teaninich Castle. The distillery passed through a number of private owners before being sold to Scottish Malt Distillers in 1933. Today, Teaninich distillery mainly produces malts for blending.
The Fyrish Monument in December, as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Reg Tait (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Near Alness one can visit the Fyrish Monument. The monument was build in 1782 on Fyrish Hill, on the orders of Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar, a local lord who had served in India. The purpose of the monument: to keeps the locals who were being cleared off the lands they had worked for centuries, in work. Legend has it that Sir Hector even rolled stones from the top of the hill to the bottom, extending the amount of time worked and paying the labourers for the additional hours. The monument is said to represent the Gate of Negapatam that stood above the port city of Madras, India, a location that General Munro took for the British in 1781.
Just north of Evanton is Novar House. The lands of the Novar Estate were acquired by Clan Munro in 1589. While Noval House has a datestone of 1634 build into the side of the original building, the current house and estate was largely the creation of Sir Hector (the one that had Fyrish Monument built). Today the estate is still owned and run by the Munro-Ferguson family. Besides farming and forestry, the lands comprise of over 150 miles of paths and tracks, a hydroelectric scheme and the first wind farm in the Highlands.
Fun Fact: Assynt House, the dower house for Novar House, was where the 32nd US President Franklin D Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor spent part of their honeymoon. Today, Assynt House operates as a luxury holiday house for private rental.
59MickyFine
Your needlepoint is beautiful. All that light thread on white fabric must have been a challenge. My cross-stitch projects last year involved some white on white and it took some real focus for those chunks.
60m.belljackson
Hello - My daughter and I love the cheerful and beautiful needlepoint! Thank you.
Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish would likely enjoy your detailed walks.
Their book, CLANLANDS, and the Men In Kilts TV videos out now on STARZ
cover some of your locations, though their perspective is often a bit weirder.
Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish would likely enjoy your detailed walks.
Their book, CLANLANDS, and the Men In Kilts TV videos out now on STARZ
cover some of your locations, though their perspective is often a bit weirder.
61lkernagh
>59 MickyFine: - Thanks Micky! I found the near white on white needlework was easiest to work on under natural summer light. When I worked on it during the evening, there were times when I had to resort to using my mother's magnifying glass that hangs from a cord around one's neck. There is nothing worse than having to unpick something because I got off track. ;-)
>60 m.belljackson: - I am so happy you and your daughter like the needlepoint! Even though I started this particular project pre-covid, I think the messages have even more meaning now.
Oh, I will have to keep an eye out for the book and the show. Thank you so much for bringing both of them to my attention!
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I hope everyone has had a wonderful week. Our weather has been steadily improving, which means I am managing to get in some more walking time.... and a good thing too hot cross buns have hit the shelves. I do enjoy the spiced and candied fruit yeast buns... especially sliced in half, lightly toasted in the toaster oven and buttered. Good thing they are a seasonal item. ;-) Do any of you have a seasonal favorite food items that you look forward to each year? Besides hot cross buns, I also love mince tarts.
A walking update - I am still a bit behind, but will be more or less caught up with this post - and a book review.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.
>60 m.belljackson: - I am so happy you and your daughter like the needlepoint! Even though I started this particular project pre-covid, I think the messages have even more meaning now.
Oh, I will have to keep an eye out for the book and the show. Thank you so much for bringing both of them to my attention!
--------------------
I hope everyone has had a wonderful week. Our weather has been steadily improving, which means I am managing to get in some more walking time.... and a good thing too hot cross buns have hit the shelves. I do enjoy the spiced and candied fruit yeast buns... especially sliced in half, lightly toasted in the toaster oven and buttered. Good thing they are a seasonal item. ;-) Do any of you have a seasonal favorite food items that you look forward to each year? Besides hot cross buns, I also love mince tarts.
A walking update - I am still a bit behind, but will be more or less caught up with this post - and a book review.
Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead.
62lkernagh
Book #5 - Who Speaks for the Damned by C.S. Harris
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2021 Category
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Time Period - 1814
Source: GVPL
Format: ebook
Original publication date: April 7, 2020
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 296 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 3.90 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
"It's June 1814, and the royal families of Austria, Russia, and the German states have gathered in London at the Prince Regent's invitation to celebrate the defeat of Napoléon and the restoration of monarchical control throughout Europe. But the festive atmosphere is marred one warm summer evening by the brutal murder of a disgraced British nobleman long thought dead.Review:
Eighteen years before, Nicholas Hayes, the third son of the late Earl of Seaford, was accused of killing a beautiful young French émigré and transported to Botany Bay for life. Even before his conviction, Hayes had been disowned by his father, and few in London were surprised when they heard the ne'er-do-well had died in disgrace in New South Wales. But those reports were obviously wrong. Recently Hayes returned to London with a mysterious young boy in tow--a child who vanishes shortly after Nicholas's body is discovered.
Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, is drawn into the investigation by his valet, Jules Calhoun, an old friend of the dead man. With Calhoun's help, Sebastian begins to piece together the shattered life of the late Earl's ill-fated youngest son. Why did Nicholas risk his life and freedom by returning to England? And why did he bring the now-missing young boy with him? Several nervous Londoners had reason to fear that Nicholas Hayes had returned to kill them. One of them might have decided to kill him first."
Another wonderful installment in this historical mystery series. Not as great as the previous one, IMO, but don't get me wrong. Harris continues to bring to life a gritty, atmospheric Regency England where London streets are filled with people just trying to eke out an existence any way they can while the upper crust go about attending flamboyant banquets and parties held in honour of visiting royalty. Against this backdrop of "haves" and "have nots", this story takes the reader down a labyrinthine path of ruinous manipulation, greed, hypocrisy, control and long-held secrets. There are a number of subplots to this story - including an interesting East India Company angle! - along with a handful of powerful, uncooperative suspects that are determined to stonewall Sebastian at every turn. Now, I like Sebastian as a character, but lets be honest: he is no Edmond Dantès (from The Count of Monte Cristo). This story, with its abundance of moral depravity to wade through, really calls for full on Dantès-style tactics. Even so, Sebastian, with his moral compass intact, still manages to rattle his suspects, get attacked (more than once) AND infuriate Hero's father, Lord Jarvis (which is always a bonus, IMO).
Overall, another good Regency England mystery to escape into.
63lkernagh
Lori's "Spine of Scotland" Walking Journey:
.
The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEKS 7 and 8 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: Week 7-11.30 km; Week 8-10.48 km = 21.78 km walked
Kilometers walked in total: 177.68 km
Currently walking through: County Ross and Cromarty
My current location on the map: The northwest outskirts of Inverness.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Ardullie, Cromarty Bridge (over the Cromarty Firth), Black Isle, and North Kessock.
Cromarty Firth is an arm of the larger Moray Firth.
Given its shape and size (with an inland depth of 30.6 km/19 miles and an average width of 1.6km/1 mile), it is no surprise that Cromarty Firth is one of the safest and most commodious anchorages in the north of Scotland. At one time, the firth was a major base for the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, and as mentioned in the Week 6th walking update, was the scene of the Invergordon Mutiny in 1931.
After crossing the Cromarty Bridge, we enter the Black Isle. The Black Isle is the name for the peninsula that is surrounded on three sides - by the Cromarty Firth to the north, the Beauly Firth to the south and the Moray Firth to the east. There does not appear to be any definitive explanation for the name Black Isle. One theory is that it is a corrupted translation of the Gaelic for "Land of the Black Danes", while a more commonsense explanation is that snow does not lie on the ground in winter, making the area look black while the surrounding country is white.
In researching the name, I found myself being drawn down a fascinating rabbit hole of information. Local legend alludes to the name having to do with the activities of Seer Brahan. So, who the *bleep* was Seer Brahan, you might ask? Apparently, he is known as the "Scottish Nostradamus". Seer Brahan, Kenneth the Sallow (his Gaelic name being Coinneach Odhar) was born Kenneth Mackenzie around the start of the 17th century. He was gifted with the Second Sight - the ability to see both this world and another world at the same time. Second Sight has never been considered witchcraft in Scotland. It is seen more as a curse. Seer Brahan would look through a small stone with a hole in the middle to see his 'visions'. Like Nostradamus, a number of his predictions have come true. Of course, it all comes down to interpretations of what was said, examined through a more modern lens, but I have to agree that the prophecy "A black rain will bring riches to Aberdeen." does seem to allude to North Sea oil, while the prophecy "The sheep shall eat the men." has been interpreted to refer to the Highland Clearances, when families were driven from their farmlands which were turned into grazing lands for sheep. It is unclear how Seer Brahan died. It is unknown if he was caught up in a witchhunt (and suffered the same fate of being burned in a spiked tar barrel) or if something else lead to his demise. A more sensational theory is that Isabella, the wife of the Earl of Seaforth, had him thrown head first into a barrel of boiling tar after he prophesied that her husband, in Paris at the time, was with another woman. He further prophesied the end of the Seaforth line, with the last heir being deaf and dumb. No wonder Isabella was incensed! Apparently, his prophecy of the end of the Seaforth line did come true: Francis Humberston Mackenzie, deaf and dumb from scarlet fever as a child, inherited the title in 1783. He had four children who died prematurely and the line came to an end.
Brahan Seer Memorial - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Colin Smith (CC BY-SA 2.0)
A stone slab by the lighthouse at Chanory Point near Fortrose (see image above) is said to mark the spot where he died. While the truth will probably never be known, people continue to respect his prophecies, including his prophecy that if the stone in Strathpeffer - call the Eagle Stone - fell three times, then Loch Ussie would flood the valley below so that ships could sail to Strathpeffer. The stone has fallen twice. It is now set in concrete.
... and yes, there is a book: The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer by Alexander MacKenzie who collected oral stories told in Gaelic, translated them and recorded them for posterity. No idea if Alexander is a descendent of the Seer of just shares the same last name.
Back to the Black Isle. Because I am always excited when I stumble across a Canadian connection, it was interesting to learn that Alexander Mackenzie - who crossed Canada overland in 1793 and gave his name to the Mackenzie River (the longest river system in Canada) - is buried near Avoch on the Black Isle. The peninsula is known for a wide variety of wildlife, and is particularly known for the chance to see bottlenose dolphins! It is reported that the Black Isle had it's own unique dialect of Gaelic, spoken amount the fishing communities in Avoch and Cromarty. Sadly, the dialect has been declared extinct when the last native speaker died in 2012. The peninsula is home to a number of castles, in various stages of ruin or restoration, including Kilcoy Castle, Cromarty House (which stands on the site of former Cormarty Castle and is built in part from the castle's reclaimed stones and timbers) and Kinkell Castle. Other castles in the area are:
Castlecraig - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Jrimas (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Castlecraig - The 16th century fortification - now a ruined tower house - may have been used as a residence by post-Reformation Bishops of Ross. Fun Fact: The New Zealand geologic formation of Castle Craig Rock (located south of Kawhai Harbour in the Waikato region of New Zealand) is named for its similar appearance to Castlecraig.
Redcastle, Black Isle - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Dr. Julian Paren (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Redcastle - Historically known as Edirdovar and Ederdour, is a medieval castle first constructed in 1179 by William the Lion, King of Scots from 1165 to 1214. Redcastle is said to have been the earliest inhabited house in the north of Scotland. The current castle, now in a state of ruinous disrepair, is dated to 1641 and incorporates earlier rubble and ashlar masonry. The castle was requisitioned by the army during WWII and was finally vacated and partially stripped in the 1950s.
.The Goal: To virtually walk the A9 from Scrabster to my final destination of Edinburgh Castle. Goal to be accomplished - ideally - by August, to coincide with when the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would typically be happening. Wish me luck!
Here is the link to my Google map where I am tracking my virtual journey: https://tinyurl.com/y88helez
WEEKS 7 and 8 UPDATE:
Kilometers walked this session: Week 7-11.30 km; Week 8-10.48 km = 21.78 km walked
Kilometers walked in total: 177.68 km
Currently walking through: County Ross and Cromarty
My current location on the map: The northwest outskirts of Inverness.
Points of interest along the way: Communities/areas of interest walked through (or near) this past week include: Ardullie, Cromarty Bridge (over the Cromarty Firth), Black Isle, and North Kessock.
Cromarty Firth is an arm of the larger Moray Firth.
Given its shape and size (with an inland depth of 30.6 km/19 miles and an average width of 1.6km/1 mile), it is no surprise that Cromarty Firth is one of the safest and most commodious anchorages in the north of Scotland. At one time, the firth was a major base for the Royal Navy's Home Fleet, and as mentioned in the Week 6th walking update, was the scene of the Invergordon Mutiny in 1931.
After crossing the Cromarty Bridge, we enter the Black Isle. The Black Isle is the name for the peninsula that is surrounded on three sides - by the Cromarty Firth to the north, the Beauly Firth to the south and the Moray Firth to the east. There does not appear to be any definitive explanation for the name Black Isle. One theory is that it is a corrupted translation of the Gaelic for "Land of the Black Danes", while a more commonsense explanation is that snow does not lie on the ground in winter, making the area look black while the surrounding country is white.
In researching the name, I found myself being drawn down a fascinating rabbit hole of information. Local legend alludes to the name having to do with the activities of Seer Brahan. So, who the *bleep* was Seer Brahan, you might ask? Apparently, he is known as the "Scottish Nostradamus". Seer Brahan, Kenneth the Sallow (his Gaelic name being Coinneach Odhar) was born Kenneth Mackenzie around the start of the 17th century. He was gifted with the Second Sight - the ability to see both this world and another world at the same time. Second Sight has never been considered witchcraft in Scotland. It is seen more as a curse. Seer Brahan would look through a small stone with a hole in the middle to see his 'visions'. Like Nostradamus, a number of his predictions have come true. Of course, it all comes down to interpretations of what was said, examined through a more modern lens, but I have to agree that the prophecy "A black rain will bring riches to Aberdeen." does seem to allude to North Sea oil, while the prophecy "The sheep shall eat the men." has been interpreted to refer to the Highland Clearances, when families were driven from their farmlands which were turned into grazing lands for sheep. It is unclear how Seer Brahan died. It is unknown if he was caught up in a witchhunt (and suffered the same fate of being burned in a spiked tar barrel) or if something else lead to his demise. A more sensational theory is that Isabella, the wife of the Earl of Seaforth, had him thrown head first into a barrel of boiling tar after he prophesied that her husband, in Paris at the time, was with another woman. He further prophesied the end of the Seaforth line, with the last heir being deaf and dumb. No wonder Isabella was incensed! Apparently, his prophecy of the end of the Seaforth line did come true: Francis Humberston Mackenzie, deaf and dumb from scarlet fever as a child, inherited the title in 1783. He had four children who died prematurely and the line came to an end.
Brahan Seer Memorial - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Colin Smith (CC BY-SA 2.0)
A stone slab by the lighthouse at Chanory Point near Fortrose (see image above) is said to mark the spot where he died. While the truth will probably never be known, people continue to respect his prophecies, including his prophecy that if the stone in Strathpeffer - call the Eagle Stone - fell three times, then Loch Ussie would flood the valley below so that ships could sail to Strathpeffer. The stone has fallen twice. It is now set in concrete.
... and yes, there is a book: The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer by Alexander MacKenzie who collected oral stories told in Gaelic, translated them and recorded them for posterity. No idea if Alexander is a descendent of the Seer of just shares the same last name.
Back to the Black Isle. Because I am always excited when I stumble across a Canadian connection, it was interesting to learn that Alexander Mackenzie - who crossed Canada overland in 1793 and gave his name to the Mackenzie River (the longest river system in Canada) - is buried near Avoch on the Black Isle. The peninsula is known for a wide variety of wildlife, and is particularly known for the chance to see bottlenose dolphins! It is reported that the Black Isle had it's own unique dialect of Gaelic, spoken amount the fishing communities in Avoch and Cromarty. Sadly, the dialect has been declared extinct when the last native speaker died in 2012. The peninsula is home to a number of castles, in various stages of ruin or restoration, including Kilcoy Castle, Cromarty House (which stands on the site of former Cormarty Castle and is built in part from the castle's reclaimed stones and timbers) and Kinkell Castle. Other castles in the area are:
Castlecraig - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Jrimas (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Castlecraig - The 16th century fortification - now a ruined tower house - may have been used as a residence by post-Reformation Bishops of Ross. Fun Fact: The New Zealand geologic formation of Castle Craig Rock (located south of Kawhai Harbour in the Waikato region of New Zealand) is named for its similar appearance to Castlecraig.
Redcastle, Black Isle - as posted to Wikimedia Commons by Dr. Julian Paren (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Redcastle - Historically known as Edirdovar and Ederdour, is a medieval castle first constructed in 1179 by William the Lion, King of Scots from 1165 to 1214. Redcastle is said to have been the earliest inhabited house in the north of Scotland. The current castle, now in a state of ruinous disrepair, is dated to 1641 and incorporates earlier rubble and ashlar masonry. The castle was requisitioned by the army during WWII and was finally vacated and partially stripped in the 1950s.
64AMQS
Hi Lori! I love following your walking journey and would love to do it in real life (perhaps not actually on the A9...). I am really looking forward to walking and hiking again now that I have a new hip and may give myself a challenge like yours. My dream is to walk the Wales Coast Path. I walked a tiny, tiny bit of it a couple of years ago with Marina and we both want to go back!
65LovingLit
>63 lkernagh: this stretch looks particularly scenic. I have only been to Scotland once, 22 years ago, and always thought I would go back someday I still hope to!
66BLBera
>54 lkernagh: I love your wall hanging, Lori. It is lovely. How long did it take you?
67MickyFine
Hmm, I do have a massive sweet tooth so there are all sorts of seasonal sweets I look forward to every year. The one that came to mind first was cinnamon hearts around Valentine's Day.
68scaifea
I'm with Micky - I have a huge sweet tooth and love all seasonal sweets. Your mention of mince tarts has me so hungry right now...
69karenmarie
Hi Lori!
>30 lkernagh: Fascinating, as always. Thank you.
>32 lkernagh: We watched Series 1 – 19 of Midsomer Murders and loved it. Looks like we’re behind now.
I just looked at the coffee mill you’ve chosen, and if my old KitchenAid Model A-9 coffee mill croaks, that’s the one I’d probably get.
>33 lkernagh: As soon as I say that Gaudy Night is my favorite Peter/Harriet novel, I think about Busman’s Honeymoon and waver. Glad you liked it.
>34 lkernagh: And down the rabbit hole I went, looking at ‘Ava’ and Beaker people.
>40 lkernagh: So much archaeology in the 1890s was intrusive and destructive. Yay for the conservation work.
>45 lkernagh: The Dowager Duchess is entertaining in every novel she’s in. She’s marvelous in this one as we get to see wedding nerves and prep from her chaotic and perceptive viewpoint.
>46 lkernagh: I looked at that video even though I wanted to see interior shots, and lo and behold! There were a few interior shots, the first of which is a to-die-for Library.
>30 lkernagh: Fascinating, as always. Thank you.
>32 lkernagh: We watched Series 1 – 19 of Midsomer Murders and loved it. Looks like we’re behind now.
I just looked at the coffee mill you’ve chosen, and if my old KitchenAid Model A-9 coffee mill croaks, that’s the one I’d probably get.
>33 lkernagh: As soon as I say that Gaudy Night is my favorite Peter/Harriet novel, I think about Busman’s Honeymoon and waver. Glad you liked it.
>34 lkernagh: And down the rabbit hole I went, looking at ‘Ava’ and Beaker people.
>40 lkernagh: So much archaeology in the 1890s was intrusive and destructive. Yay for the conservation work.
>45 lkernagh: The Dowager Duchess is entertaining in every novel she’s in. She’s marvelous in this one as we get to see wedding nerves and prep from her chaotic and perceptive viewpoint.
>46 lkernagh: I looked at that video even though I wanted to see interior shots, and lo and behold! There were a few interior shots, the first of which is a to-die-for Library.
70lkernagh
>64 AMQS: - Hi Anne, I hear you (and definitely not on the A9). I have been pleasantly surprised to discover a number of scenic routes that would make for a wonderful walking holiday. As much as virtual travel can be informative, it doesn't hold a candle to the sights, sounds and tastes one experiences when travelling in person. I do look forward to getting back to travelling, once we get things under control, that is. Congratulations on the new hip! I have also made a note of the Wales Coast Path you mentioned. I am always on the look out for both virtual and in-person walking challenges!
>65 LovingLit: - I admit I am a sucker for any scenery that includes coastlines, rolling hills or lovely quaint villages. Like you, I am long overdue for a return visit to Scotland. ;-)
>66 BLBera: - Thank you, Beth! it took me 3 -years - off and on - to finish the wall hanging. I tend to do my craft projects in 'fits and starts' - I go crazy for a couple of weeks, then I take a break and then return after some months to marathon crafting. I tend to do a fair bit of my crafting in front of the TV, so more crafting time when it is cold, dark or rainy out. ;-)
>67 MickyFine: - Cinnamon hearts! It has been ages since I have had any. Very much a Valentine's Day treat, although I think I have seen them in the shops outside of the February holiday cycle.
>68 scaifea: - Lovely to see another sweet tooth fan, Amber! you can pretty much get my mouth watering for most pies. I had a wonderful harvest apple pie the other day (store bought - I am terrible at pie crust). Maybe it is a good thing that I don't make pies... my waistline would take a hit!
>69 karenmarie: - Hi Karen! I am still behind on the Midsomer Murders.... one of those series that just never ends (not that I am complaining). We are still on the Tom Barnaby episodes, so a fair ways before we catch up! If you coffee grinder ever does pack it in, I can recommend the OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder. I love the bean hopper, the variable grind settings, the timed grind with on/off button. It is also really easy to get at the burr for cleaning.
Darn that rabbit hole. ;-) Glad to see you managed to find your way out and happy you were able to enjoy the video. Yes, that is one lovely library.
----------------------------
Hello! Yes, I have popped in to visit my own much neglected thread. *poor thread. I am a terrible owner/host*. What can I say except that March has been just busy, busy, busy and I have been pretty much none existent on social media. While I have been able to continue with my walking, walking updates will have to wait until some time in April when I hope to have more available time on my hands. I hope everyone has been keeping well and that a shift in the seasons is occurring for you - whether it is a shift to Spring for the Northern Hemisphere or to Fall for the Southern Hemisphere. Today I took advantage of a day off with lovely spring weather to plant half of my container garden. The other half of the container garden (basically my herb garden) will have to wait for a week or two. I have a lovely 4-shelf wrought iron plant stand I use for the herb garden that I am in the process of repairing. Years of weather exposure has necessitated replacing the woven rattan shelf bases with something 'more durable'.
On the reading front, I did manage to finish one book and started another. Sad to think I am averaging only 2 books a month this year. Fingers crossed with the warmer weather I may find more reading time. In the meantime, I do have one book review ready for posting.
>65 LovingLit: - I admit I am a sucker for any scenery that includes coastlines, rolling hills or lovely quaint villages. Like you, I am long overdue for a return visit to Scotland. ;-)
>66 BLBera: - Thank you, Beth! it took me 3 -years - off and on - to finish the wall hanging. I tend to do my craft projects in 'fits and starts' - I go crazy for a couple of weeks, then I take a break and then return after some months to marathon crafting. I tend to do a fair bit of my crafting in front of the TV, so more crafting time when it is cold, dark or rainy out. ;-)
>67 MickyFine: - Cinnamon hearts! It has been ages since I have had any. Very much a Valentine's Day treat, although I think I have seen them in the shops outside of the February holiday cycle.
>68 scaifea: - Lovely to see another sweet tooth fan, Amber! you can pretty much get my mouth watering for most pies. I had a wonderful harvest apple pie the other day (store bought - I am terrible at pie crust). Maybe it is a good thing that I don't make pies... my waistline would take a hit!
>69 karenmarie: - Hi Karen! I am still behind on the Midsomer Murders.... one of those series that just never ends (not that I am complaining). We are still on the Tom Barnaby episodes, so a fair ways before we catch up! If you coffee grinder ever does pack it in, I can recommend the OXO Brew Conical Burr Coffee Grinder. I love the bean hopper, the variable grind settings, the timed grind with on/off button. It is also really easy to get at the burr for cleaning.
Darn that rabbit hole. ;-) Glad to see you managed to find your way out and happy you were able to enjoy the video. Yes, that is one lovely library.
----------------------------
Hello! Yes, I have popped in to visit my own much neglected thread. *poor thread. I am a terrible owner/host*. What can I say except that March has been just busy, busy, busy and I have been pretty much none existent on social media. While I have been able to continue with my walking, walking updates will have to wait until some time in April when I hope to have more available time on my hands. I hope everyone has been keeping well and that a shift in the seasons is occurring for you - whether it is a shift to Spring for the Northern Hemisphere or to Fall for the Southern Hemisphere. Today I took advantage of a day off with lovely spring weather to plant half of my container garden. The other half of the container garden (basically my herb garden) will have to wait for a week or two. I have a lovely 4-shelf wrought iron plant stand I use for the herb garden that I am in the process of repairing. Years of weather exposure has necessitated replacing the woven rattan shelf bases with something 'more durable'.
On the reading front, I did manage to finish one book and started another. Sad to think I am averaging only 2 books a month this year. Fingers crossed with the warmer weather I may find more reading time. In the meantime, I do have one book review ready for posting.
71lkernagh
Book #6 - What the Devil Knows by C.S. Harris
Challenge(s): 75 Group, 2021 Category
CAT/KIT: N/A
Bingo DOG: N/A
Category: Shiny!
Source: NetGalley
Format: ebook
Original publication date: April 6, 2021
Acquisition date: N/A
Page count: 282 pages
Decimal/ Star rating: 4.10 out of 5 /
Book description/summary: from the amazon.ca book listing webpage:
"It's October 1814. The war with France is finally over and Europe's diplomats are convening in Vienna for a conference that will put their world back together. With peace finally at hand, London suddenly finds itself in the grip of a series of heinous murders eerily similar to the Ratcliffe Highway murders of three years before.Review:
In 1811, two entire families were viciously murdered in their homes. A suspect--a young seaman named John Williams--was arrested. But before he could be brought to trial, Williams hanged himself in his cell. The murders ceased, and London slowly began to breathe easier. But when the lead investigator, Sir Edwin Pym, is killed in the same brutal way three years later and others possibly connected to the original case meet violent ends, the city is paralyzed with terror once more.
Was the wrong man arrested for the murders? Bow Street magistrate Sir Henry Lovejoy turns to his friend Sebastian St. Cyr, Viscount Devlin, for assistance. Pym's colleagues are convinced his manner of death is a coincidence, but Sebastian has his doubts. The more he looks into the three-year-old murders, the more certain he becomes that the hapless John Williams was not the real killer. Which begs the question--who was and why are they dead set on killing again?"
Another wonderful instalment in Harris' long-running Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series! While some series start to fall into a rut after this many instalments, Harris continues to keep thing fresh, giving readers another satisfying and suspenseful whodunit. I do like a good mystery to ponder over, and Harris really delivers with this one! Based on the Ratcliffe Highway murders - which I admit I knew nothing about before reading this book - Sebastian stirs up trouble while he investigates a growing number of recent murders and looks for possible connections to horrific murders that occurred three years earlier. Harris does her research and is able to present a realistic picture of the time period, while seamlessly blending fact with fiction. For those of you not familiar with the author or the series, this not light fluff escapism reading. With themes of social injustice, greed, corruption and revenge, there is a lot of substance to this story. Between the author notes at the end and the interviews Hero (Sebastian's wife) conducts with the less fortunate members of society, I always come away from these stories with a little more knowledge about England of the time period.
Overall, another wonderfully atmospheric murder mystery set in Regency England.
Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
72SandyAMcPherson
>71 lkernagh: You were so fortunate to get this early review! I'm envious 💚💚💚
I'm on a hold request list at the PL for when the library actually has a copy.
I enjoyed the St. Cyr mysteries so much... can't wait til I get my hands on this instalment. I did avoid reading your review. It is marked as a fave so I can return later!
I've been mostly off LT most of this month, so finally surfacing. Have read (finished only 3 books!). I think it is important the reading and thread-visiting fits in with our lives. So nice to see you, though and know you are well.
I'm on a hold request list at the PL for when the library actually has a copy.
I enjoyed the St. Cyr mysteries so much... can't wait til I get my hands on this instalment. I did avoid reading your review. It is marked as a fave so I can return later!
I've been mostly off LT most of this month, so finally surfacing. Have read (finished only 3 books!). I think it is important the reading and thread-visiting fits in with our lives. So nice to see you, though and know you are well.
73SandDune
>70 lkernagh: Myself and Mr SandDune had an idea to walk a portion of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path (part of the Wales Coastal Path) in October 2020 once J went to Uni. And then of course COVID, so it never really got beyond the idea stage. But it’s still on the bucket list.
If you did walk the whole Welsh Coastal Path you would walk past the house I was brought up in.
If you did walk the whole Welsh Coastal Path you would walk past the house I was brought up in.
74Familyhistorian
You're reminding me that I have quite a few more books in the Sebastian St. Cyr series to catch up on, Lori. It would probably be a good time to get back into them because, due to the new health orders, I have put my library holds on pause now because the Vancouver library is in another health region from me.
I hope you're enjoying our fine weather. It's like summer only with cherry blossoms.
I hope you're enjoying our fine weather. It's like summer only with cherry blossoms.
75richardderus
>71 lkernagh: There are precious few series that really repay sustained attention, in my experience; this one is one of them. I think it's down to the fact that she's writing novels that should exist, series or no, in a good well-planned literary collection.
Happy April! (Now that it's almost May.)
Happy April! (Now that it's almost May.)
76karenmarie
Happy May! (Now that it's almost June.)
79karenmarie
Happy middle of July, Lori!
80richardderus
Summer's almost over! How the heck did that happen. But hey, at least...
...
...nope, can't get off this horse without damage.
Happier days ahead, Lori.
...
...nope, can't get off this horse without damage.
Happier days ahead, Lori.
82lkernagh
Hello everyone (as I quietly peek into the thread I last visited back at the end of March). I hope everyone is keeping healthy, happy and in a good place emotionally, physically and spiritually.
2021 has been quite the year, and one I will be glad to see the backside of. I am now 13 months in doing both my job and my colleague's job while they remain out on medical leave. They are doing well, but no return date on the horizon, as yet, so double duty continues. I 'thought' I could just soldier on but reality finally hit me early April that I cannot be all and do all without suffering burnout, so I backed away from social media (apologies for not letting everyone know my plans in advance). Anyways, it has been quite the year here in BC, what with the heat bomb in June and the extreme lack of rain over the summer months, only to get slammed by a series of atmospheric rivers, causing severe flooding and damage, this past month.
After taking a break from reading, I returned to books in July. While I have not had much energy to engage in crafting, I did find it therapeutic and relaxing to crochet a chunky afghan for the sofa this fall and, after a two year break, I did create my own Christmas cards this year and got those mailed out two weeks ago.
So, what have I been reading, you may be wondering? Summary below (sorry, no reviews, just some random thoughts and observation). :-)
Abandoned Book - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
I love the premise and the shifting narrative with a kind of "Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day" feel to it, but I just could not keep my mind focused enough to follow the intricate plot. Shelving it for another attempt another day.
Book #7 - Bad Moon Rising by John Galligan -
Third book in Galligan's Bad Axe County series and Galligan continues to grab my attention with is fast paced, gritty crime thriller with a kick ass female sheriff and a seedy underside one would not expect to find in the Wisconsin dairy farm land community. Here is hoping that Galligan is working on book #4 in the series.
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Books #8 - 26 (including 3 short stories)
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume One by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley)-
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Two by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Three by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Four by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Five by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
I purchased this series back in early 2020 and happy I did, as it provided me with some delightful escapism reading during the summer and fall months. Some of you will know that I raved about C.S. Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries series. This Captain Lacey series has a lot of similar elements - a well connected society protagonist who places honour and integrity first (while ruffling the feathers of Regency England's elite), strong female characters, gritty crimes and an atmospheric setting. If I had read this series before reading the Sebastian St. Cyr series, I would probably rate the Captain Lacey series higher, in fact, I probably should, given that in reviewing the publication dates for both series, it appears that the first three books in the Captain Lacey series were published before the first book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series. Both series are worth reading, IMO, if you like Regency murder mysteries.
Currently Reading:
Wilful Blindness by Sam Cooper
I don't usually gravitate towards non-fiction reads, but I am starting to take book suggestions from my 85 year old father. He found this to be an interesting read. I am currently 120 pages in and can see why. Written in first person narrative from a journalistic POV, this is a timely read for British Columbians (and Canadians) given the Cullen Commission inquiry into money laundering in British Columbia.
Books in the Reading Queue:
.
Nothing But the Truth by Marie Henein
"Indian" in the Cabinet by Jody Wilson-Raybould
I am looking forward to both of these reads. Henein is a high profile Canadian defense attorney who has defended both former CBC radio broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi and now retired Vice-Admiral Mark Norman in two very public court cases. As for Wilson-Raybould, she was the Justice Minister and Attorney General for the Canadian government until she was expelled from caucus in 2019 for refusing to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin criminal case. I am learning that non-fiction can be just as gripping and intriguing to read as fiction. The Wilson-Raybould book is one my dad is reading for a second time, so I am hoping to be able to discuss it with him at some point (I am in the hold queue at the local library for the ebook). :-)
---------------------------------
While I might peek into LT from time to time, I have decided I will not set up any threads next year. Just too hard to gauge how busy I will be. I will keep my reading up to date on my profile page and in my LT library.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Holiday Season and best wishes for 2022!
2021 has been quite the year, and one I will be glad to see the backside of. I am now 13 months in doing both my job and my colleague's job while they remain out on medical leave. They are doing well, but no return date on the horizon, as yet, so double duty continues. I 'thought' I could just soldier on but reality finally hit me early April that I cannot be all and do all without suffering burnout, so I backed away from social media (apologies for not letting everyone know my plans in advance). Anyways, it has been quite the year here in BC, what with the heat bomb in June and the extreme lack of rain over the summer months, only to get slammed by a series of atmospheric rivers, causing severe flooding and damage, this past month.
After taking a break from reading, I returned to books in July. While I have not had much energy to engage in crafting, I did find it therapeutic and relaxing to crochet a chunky afghan for the sofa this fall and, after a two year break, I did create my own Christmas cards this year and got those mailed out two weeks ago.
So, what have I been reading, you may be wondering? Summary below (sorry, no reviews, just some random thoughts and observation). :-)
Abandoned Book - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton
I love the premise and the shifting narrative with a kind of "Agatha Christie meets Groundhog Day" feel to it, but I just could not keep my mind focused enough to follow the intricate plot. Shelving it for another attempt another day.
Book #7 - Bad Moon Rising by John Galligan -
Third book in Galligan's Bad Axe County series and Galligan continues to grab my attention with is fast paced, gritty crime thriller with a kick ass female sheriff and a seedy underside one would not expect to find in the Wisconsin dairy farm land community. Here is hoping that Galligan is working on book #4 in the series.
.
.
.
.
Books #8 - 26 (including 3 short stories)
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume One by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley)-
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Two by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Three by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Four by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries Volume Five by Ashley Gardner (pseudonym used by Jennifer Ashley) -
I purchased this series back in early 2020 and happy I did, as it provided me with some delightful escapism reading during the summer and fall months. Some of you will know that I raved about C.S. Harris' Sebastian St. Cyr Mysteries series. This Captain Lacey series has a lot of similar elements - a well connected society protagonist who places honour and integrity first (while ruffling the feathers of Regency England's elite), strong female characters, gritty crimes and an atmospheric setting. If I had read this series before reading the Sebastian St. Cyr series, I would probably rate the Captain Lacey series higher, in fact, I probably should, given that in reviewing the publication dates for both series, it appears that the first three books in the Captain Lacey series were published before the first book in the Sebastian St. Cyr series. Both series are worth reading, IMO, if you like Regency murder mysteries.
Currently Reading:
Wilful Blindness by Sam Cooper
I don't usually gravitate towards non-fiction reads, but I am starting to take book suggestions from my 85 year old father. He found this to be an interesting read. I am currently 120 pages in and can see why. Written in first person narrative from a journalistic POV, this is a timely read for British Columbians (and Canadians) given the Cullen Commission inquiry into money laundering in British Columbia.
Books in the Reading Queue:
.
Nothing But the Truth by Marie Henein
"Indian" in the Cabinet by Jody Wilson-Raybould
I am looking forward to both of these reads. Henein is a high profile Canadian defense attorney who has defended both former CBC radio broadcaster Jian Ghomeshi and now retired Vice-Admiral Mark Norman in two very public court cases. As for Wilson-Raybould, she was the Justice Minister and Attorney General for the Canadian government until she was expelled from caucus in 2019 for refusing to intervene in the SNC-Lavalin criminal case. I am learning that non-fiction can be just as gripping and intriguing to read as fiction. The Wilson-Raybould book is one my dad is reading for a second time, so I am hoping to be able to discuss it with him at some point (I am in the hold queue at the local library for the ebook). :-)
---------------------------------
While I might peek into LT from time to time, I have decided I will not set up any threads next year. Just too hard to gauge how busy I will be. I will keep my reading up to date on my profile page and in my LT library.
Wishing everyone a wonderful Holiday Season and best wishes for 2022!
83lkernagh
Some VERY belated responses to my lovely thread visitors (apologies for being MIA for most of 2021):
>72 SandyAMcPherson: - Hi Sandy, I was over the moon when I found out I was going to get the latest book in the Harris series to read. I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>73 SandDune: - Hi Rhian, thank you for stopping by. Your planned walking trip sounds lovely, even if it has been waylaid by Covid. Happy to read it is still on your bucket list. As for my walking, I continue to do so but have fallen off with the tracking/recording. Fresh air and exercise still count, even if not being documented. I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>74 Familyhistorian: - Hi Meg, always happy to provide reading options (not that you need any)! :-) I hope you are keeping well.
>75 richardderus: - Hi Richard, so happy to see you also enjoy the series by C.S. Harris! I am looking forward to the next book, which I believe comes out in April 2022. Mark your calendar! I hope you are keeping well.
>76 karenmarie: - Hi Karen and Happy December (and pretty much all the other months in between)! I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>77 LovingLit: - *smiles*
Hi Meg! I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>78 tymfos: - Hi Terri! Well timed for your Happy May greeting!
>79 karenmarie: - Love the July greetings, Karen!
>80 richardderus: - Hi Richard! "Happier days ahead' sounds like a fantastic motto to live by. Thanks for stopping by.
>81 tymfos: - Hi Terri, thanks for the drive-by hello!
>72 SandyAMcPherson: - Hi Sandy, I was over the moon when I found out I was going to get the latest book in the Harris series to read. I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>73 SandDune: - Hi Rhian, thank you for stopping by. Your planned walking trip sounds lovely, even if it has been waylaid by Covid. Happy to read it is still on your bucket list. As for my walking, I continue to do so but have fallen off with the tracking/recording. Fresh air and exercise still count, even if not being documented. I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>74 Familyhistorian: - Hi Meg, always happy to provide reading options (not that you need any)! :-) I hope you are keeping well.
>75 richardderus: - Hi Richard, so happy to see you also enjoy the series by C.S. Harris! I am looking forward to the next book, which I believe comes out in April 2022. Mark your calendar! I hope you are keeping well.
>76 karenmarie: - Hi Karen and Happy December (and pretty much all the other months in between)! I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>77 LovingLit: - *smiles*
Hi Meg! I hope you and your family are keeping well.
>78 tymfos: - Hi Terri! Well timed for your Happy May greeting!
>79 karenmarie: - Love the July greetings, Karen!
>80 richardderus: - Hi Richard! "Happier days ahead' sounds like a fantastic motto to live by. Thanks for stopping by.
>81 tymfos: - Hi Terri, thanks for the drive-by hello!
84richardderus
Aha! There's Lori. You did not perish in the rains, as I was more than half expecting. It's surely been a decade this year, hasn't it.
I was much cooler to the Lacey series...homophobia does that to me.
Be safe, well, and happy this Yuletide, and we'll see you when we see you! *hugs*
I was much cooler to the Lacey series...homophobia does that to me.
Be safe, well, and happy this Yuletide, and we'll see you when we see you! *hugs*
85Familyhistorian
Good to see you posting, Lori. I hope your coworker comes back to relieve you sometime soon. Have a happy holiday season!
86Carmenere
Aaah! Thanks for bringing us up to date, Lori! Your absence was noted but we all realize RL gets in the way of posting and reading. Have a wonderful holiday season and a spectacular new year!!
87karenmarie
Hi Lori!
>82 lkernagh: Sorry your year continued to be double-duty, also sorry for the weather events. Congrats on getting cards made and mailed out.
>82 lkernagh: Sorry your year continued to be double-duty, also sorry for the weather events. Congrats on getting cards made and mailed out.
88richardderus
May all your surprises be good ones this Holiday season.
91PaulCranswick
Have a lovely holiday, Lori.
92SandyAMcPherson
>82 lkernagh: That Capt'n Lacey series might be appealing to me, although I take >84 richardderus: RD's comment under advisement. Thanks for the brief overview.
Good luck for soldiering through 2022 ~ intact ~ with the double-duties. Do look after yourself as a priority, tough as that may be.
Good luck for soldiering through 2022 ~ intact ~ with the double-duties. Do look after yourself as a priority, tough as that may be.
93PaulCranswick
Forget your stresses and strains
As the old year wanes;
All that now remains
Is to bring you good cheer
With wine, liquor or beer
And wish you a special new year.
Happy New Year, Lori.
