MAYBE A MAY TRIP?? 3 WEEKS SAPPHIRE FALLS 2021

[Tink2Day]

I prefer inside as well. We're only allowed 25% indoor dining and 75% outdoor, it's usually too warm for me and then the wind blows a lot so not always pleasant. We tried a picnic the other day and it was one of the only days we had a torrential downpour.

I had to comment on the church picture. Very lovely, you are a good 'director' Tom follows quite well. Great composition in the photos. My eldest brother is an artist and when recovering from a hand injury took up photography as a professional. Tom's photos fall right into that professional category.
I especially loved the church as our churches here are very different in appearance for the most part. The very old ones (well old for North America) are pueblo style.
Also I love the picture with the lake and the small hill behind it, quite picturesque. The photo of the one shot of the village in the mist should be framed and at the very least sent in to be published in a book about Scotland. It's all very mystic looking, love it.

 

[schumigirl]

I prefer inside as well. We're only allowed 25% indoor dining and 75% outdoor, it's usually too warm for me and then the wind blows a lot so not always pleasant. We tried a picnic the other day and it was one of the only days we had a torrential downpour.

I had to comment on the church picture. Very lovely, you are a good 'director' Tom follows quite well. Great composition in the photos. My eldest brother is an artist and when recovering from a hand injury took up photography as a professional. Tom's photos fall right into that professional category.
I especially loved the church as our churches here are very different in appearance for the most part. The very old ones (well old for North America) are pueblo style.
Also I love the picture with the lake and the small hill behind it, quite picturesque. The photo of the one shot of the village in the mist should be framed and at the very least sent in to be published in a book about Scotland. It's all very mystic looking, love it.

Oh no, that is so typical........picnics are not much fun in the rain.......hope you didn`t get too soaked!

Thank you so much on the compliments for Tom`s pictures.......he does take some extra special ones that just stand out among others. He says it`s the quality camera, but I think he does a really good job of capturing the clarity and crispness of his images.

I took the church one, so I`ll steal that compliment if I may......lol......he did take most of the others and yes, our churches here do look very different. That one is so tiny, but it`s a tiny village. That church was built in 1875, but the site itself was host to Christian presence for around 1500 years according to local historical data. It is so beautiful and the headstones are impressive to read. Some so old you just can`t make out the names anymore.

Hope your brother has fully recovered now, he made a good choice of career to enter, it`s a fun hobby, but to do it for a living must be nice.

And I`ll pass on your lovely comments to Tom.......I think it`ll make him smile.......

 

[schumigirl]

Once we had finished lunch and paid, we had an all important bathroom visit, before getting back in the car and head a little further up the Loch. Although the weather just looked dreadful which was a shame as the countryside up there is stunning.....I may have mentioned that once or a dozen times

Yes, I love Scotland, it`s my home and always will be and we always feel very nostalgic whenever we go up to spend anytime there. Probably more me than Tom.

Mostly due to travel limitations, this area that is usually bustling with activity and cars is practically deserted. Tourism really is a mixed blessing for the area. Many do rely on tourism, but for locals trying to live day to day it`s sometimes rough. But, to live in such a gorgeous area, it`s only to be expected.

There was supposed to be a deer in this picture below.....but for the life of me I cannot see it.....Tom thinks I was hallucinating as we were still moving when I took it.........well, quite possibly......lol.......

I have no clue where we stopped off today....we just drove until the cloud got too low and the rain got heavy. It was weird as it dried so quickly as it was very warm-ish......

One thing you do notice is just how fresh everything smells up here......you can inhale in different places and the aromas are all different......seawater, grass, heather and just completely fresh air. And if you stop too close to the road, fuel....but that`s not so nice. But, when people talk about being able to smell the rain and the breeze, I know what they mean as you really can up here.

And further up is the highlands, completely in the middle of nowhere with just mountains for company. That`s the real Highlands though......although this area is just as pretty, without the real mountains.

I often think I`d never survive in an environment so rugged, especially back in the olden days......those crofters must have been made of real tough stock......all that desolation and not to mention the weather! It seems to be contantly windy up there all the time......and that is not for me.

We did pull over a couple of times and got out the car to just feel the atmosphere....it is so still and comepletely quiet.....apart from a logging truck that whizzed by us on roads that really aren`t meant for trucks, but also have never been upgraded, and never likely to be either.

The little stream we parked beside for a short time was the only sound we heard for the time we were standing......

Tom got a little bored and went back into the car.....I could have stayed there for ages. Although we live in a quiet little village, we are close to the beach and you can always hear that, even when it`s still, there`s always a sound.....but when we parked away from the stream, it was completely silent....

He is smiling in there I promise........

We looked at the Satnav and beyond where we had parked this time was nothing.....absolutely nothing except miles of road like this and more hills and mist around us. We really were on the road to nowhere. The closest village was maybe an hour away at least......so not really much point in going any further......so we turned aorund and headed back down......

And as promised, it was getting lighter and brighter......

We stop off at a place called Duck Bay for a picture or two. This area is also home to a beautiful place to stay in Scotland called Cameron House, it`s very traditional and hasn`t fully reopened since it had a dreadful fire in 2017. Sadly two people died and several were injured, but over 200 people escaped without harm. We didn`t go round to see how it was going, but we will go back when it`s open which I believe is April next year it`ll be completely refurbished.

Usually even in all weathers, this green area is bouncing with people....kids playing football, flying kites and generally jsut full of families having fun in a safe place.......and we got parked easily, which is usually difficult as it`s always full. Not today.

The weather hit us coming back down to the hotel, then it seemed to just brighten up as fast......but when we got back to the hotel, it was bouncing with rain.

We still had plenty of time before we were going out for dinner, so I went for a snooze.....I think Tom eventually follwed suit and I think we may have had an hour before I woke up and thought I`d better start to get ready to get out later.

We had a wander round the grounds before we left and it was mean and moody towards the Island.....and I loved it. Didn`t really matter what the weather was up here.....it was fine by me......sunny and bright or mean and moody.....love it.

We were going to a town called Largs tonight for dinner. There was an Indian restaurant here that had the same owners since I was a child......and we had never gone to it for one reason or another. Although when we usually visit Largs for a few hours, the tradition is Fish and Chips......no better to be had anywhere. There are places we like in England for fish and chips, but nothing beats a good Scottish "Fish supper". So going to an Indian was never on the agenda.

I had heard from friends up here who`s opinion I had asked, that it was as good as it ever was.......so we thought we`d give it a try and we had booked a table earlier in the week. When we called to book they told us on the phone they weren`t participating in the Eat out to Help out scheme.....didn`t matter to us.

It`s not far away from us, there`s no real parking oon the street here so we parked at the car park everyone uses.....right on the waterfront......goodness how many years have we been parking here.

There is a little fairground with 2 little mini rides for younger children, and we did reminisce how we used to bring Kyle here when we visited when he was younger. He loved it.

It`s a two minute walk to the restaurant, and it`s quite a small place but has a nice feel to it. A couple follow us in and ask if it`s nice......lol....well, we hope so. They were from Glasgow and staying over in one of the smaller islands.....and saw us going in and just decided to try it.......crikey!

We got a booth which was nice, and we ordered me a glass of red and Tom a coke as he was the driver.....again.

It was a very nice menu and we had an idea of what we were getting. Tom craves vegetable pakora.....you don`t get it on Indian menu`s in England for some reason, only in Scotland, so he does order it when he gets a chance. Usually it comes with "red finger sauce" which is hot and spicy and comes with spiced onions in a similar sauce.......and yes, it does turn your fingers red......one boring person once said to us to think what it was doing to our insides.....we didn`t see that person anymore.......buzzkills are not for us.

This one was a very small portion and not as exciting as it has been in other places.......and the pakora was a lot smaller than usual. But, in saying that, he really enjoyed it.

My appetiser was simply named chilli chicken......it was seared chicken pieces in a beautiful spicy curry with onions and peppers.....I can`t eat the onions so didn`t eat much of the sauce, but it was beautiful....Tom I think cleared it for me.......

Someone was happy with his pakora.......

Our entrees came with rice which I am not too keen on.....neither is Tom to be honest, we prefer the Naan bread so we had ordered that seperately, and it was a Peshwari Naan which was sweet, stuffed with sugar, sultanas and almonds.....delicious.

Tom`s meal was one we had never heard of and rather unusually was made with red wine, called chicken tikka miss-miss.....it was almost a barbecue curry with the red wine and all the usual Indian seasonings. It was gorgeous....but not spicy enough for him.

My dish was Chicken Pathia....a sweet and sour curry that he said wasn`t hot at all.....so I asked if it could be made hot and spicy, he said no problem......

Back home the Pathia from the Indian we use the dish is very hot and sometimes too hot for me so I hoped this would be just right......and it was beautiful. Just the right amount of spice and the flavours were just right for me. It does look like a soup in that picture, but it was full of chicken.

We were happy we had chosen to come here tonight.....and annoyed that it would be so long till we were back up again to come back!

The couple who had come in the door with us stopped us as we were leaving to chat about how much they enjoyed it, we were glad to hear they enjoyed their meal. I think they must have ordered enough food for six looking at their table.

We walked back round to where the car was parked and had a look around the water......always a lovely area and the small ferry goes back and forward every 10 minutes. There are two of them so they pass each other every few minutes.

We took Kyle over there when he was a kid and he loved it.....but we hadn`t been back over there for years.

We spent 10 minutes or so then got back in the car. The machine beside the car was broken, so Tom drove us down to the one at the exit and as he got out to pay a whole load of people appeared......three men stood in front of our car and I was looking at one of them thinking,.......I know you........

Most of you won`t have the scoobiest of doo`s who this guy is........but he is an actor from a Scottish TV classic comedy show called Still Game......one of the best shows to ever come out of Scotland.....and this guy was only in a few episodes but he certainly made an impact as Stevie the Bookie......

Tom hadn`t noticed him and as as he got back in the car I said.....That`s Stevie the bookie.......he then waved to us as he knew we`d recognised him and he shouted in to me did I want a "wee selfie" with him......I was out that car quicker than you could blink.........

He really was the nicest guy. I would never have asked him for a picture, so was glad he offered. Had a nice chat with him and he sympathised when we said we lived in England.....lol......he told us he was filming a new show about a submarine and laughed as he told us he isn`t in it for long.....lol.....bless him.

He`s not the most well known of actors, but is well known in Scotland for being in such well known shows as our very own Scottish detective show Taggart, the remake of Whisky Galore and of course Still Game. All very Scottish shows, but hugely popular. Taggart has been running from the early 1980`s and although the main actor died in 1994, the show carried on with other detectives in the lead part but kept the name Taggart. Huge show till it was cancelled about 10 years ago. But, many a famous face started off early in their career on it. Usually several times!

So, I was a very happy bunny and happily showed my family over the next few days my picture with "Stevie" All but my mum knew who he was as she doesn`t watch the show.

We drove the short distance back to the hotel and headed straight for the bar........

It was again, fairly quiet, so we ordered a bottle of red wine and sat in our corner table.......

The staff now knew us and chatted through their masks and one of the waitresses who had looked after mentioned someone I knew......turned out I had went to school with her mother!!!! Now, I did feel old......well, not really as she was only 22.......but her mother and I weren`t really friends as such, we had different groups, but we always got on well and we had shared a room in Paris when we were there.....crikey, took me right back. She hadn`t enjoyed school but had done really well in life and it was nice to hear she was doing so good. I told her to tell her I said hello.......

We sat till around 11ish, then went back to our room where I had ordered some tea to be delivered, maybe not the best idea so late, but curries can sometimes be salty, even though we had bottled water I still liked a pot of tea.

Tomorrow we had no plans to do anything except go to mum`s and see some relatives.

 

[KathyM2]

Loving reading about your travels...nice seeing people at least being able to get out and do some local exploring!! And of course...the food!! We are eating in restaurants so much less these days...I long to have someone else cook and clean up more often lol!! My fave were the tea sandwiches...yum!!! The scenery around Scotland just looks so lush and green...sorry the weather wasn't better for a lot of your trip!! I guess at least it's good that it's somewhere you know well and aren't trying to see for the first time in gross weather! Still nice to be away from home for a bit though!!

 

[J'aime Paris]

All that water and greenery....how serene!!
Its special to have lifetime of memories you can visit!

 

[NancyLuvsMickey]

I love your style of writing... It's like reading a good book that I never want to put down...

 

[macraven]

After seeing schumi’s pictures, makes me want to take a trip to Scotland.

 

[schumigirl]

Loving reading about your travels...nice seeing people at least being able to get out and do some local exploring!! And of course...the food!! We are eating in restaurants so much less these days...I long to have someone else cook and clean up more often lol!! My fave were the tea sandwiches...yum!!! The scenery around Scotland just looks so lush and green...sorry the weather wasn't better for a lot of your trip!! I guess at least it's good that it's somewhere you know well and aren't trying to see for the first time in gross weather! Still nice to be away from home for a bit though!!

Thanks Kathy.....it was just lovely to have such a change of scenery, and to see family again, was the best! We had some lovely times when we were up......

Yes, lush because we get so much rain up there....it really does rain a lot! Yes, it was nice being in our familiar places even if the weather wasn`t the best.....at least it was warm, we have been up there in the depths of winter and it was baltic....so this wasn`t so bad. Sun would have been nicer.....

Love the sandwiches......they are so different to sandwiches you get Stateside.....

We are back to eating out quite a lot I have to say......I wasn`t so sure at first, but once we did it a few times we felt ok about it. And yep, absolutely love being looked after and even though I love cooking, it`s nice to have a few nights off......next meal out is tomorrow night, looking forward to it a lot, as it`s one of our favourite pubs out in the middle of nowhere.......but, I can understand folks who are still wary of eating out just yet.

Hope all is well with you Kathy.....good to see you........

 

[schumigirl]

All that water and greenery....how serene!!
Its special to have lifetime of memories you can visit!

It is beautiful up there......and I keep saying that pictures don`t do it justice, it`s so true.....and we did go back through so many memories and experiences from our previous visits and when we lived up there.....so much fun.......

 

[schumigirl]

I love your style of writing... It's like reading a good book that I never want to put down...

Now, that I will take as a massive compliment!!! Thank you so much, that is so kind of you to say.......I love writing so it comes easy and I`m good at rambling apparently lol......

Hope you`re doing ok Nancy......nice to see you tonight......

 

[schumigirl]

After seeing schumi’s pictures, makes me want to take a trip to Scotland.

We`d take you with us.....you would love it! So peaceful and serene.....oh and did I mention the food is excellent.......Tom and I would be expert guides for you........lol......

Especially on the food part.......it is so gorgeous......you`d love it......

 

[schumigirl]

We both slept much better last night, and woke early, much earlier than was decent. But, we got up and as it was early we ordered some tea to be sent to our room as it was about two hours till breakfast.......so we put the tv on, watched some of that and enjoyed a lovely pot of tea and sat by the window to enjoy it.

It looked an alright day today......not too sunny, but no rain either.

After we had breakfast we headed out to the mum`s stopping in at her local store and picked up a load of stuff for lunch as we knew there would be folks popping in and out.

And we may have picked up a load of goodies too.......most of them were Tom`s choice I have to say.....

Back along to mum`s and we arrived just before one of my brothers. The rest of the day was spent with various family members popping in and out and late afternoon we left to see some friends of ours who we hadn`t seen last few visits. And we still have some good friends we haven`t seen in ages.....going up we always have to miss folks, and sometimes they`re away at the same time......but it`s all good, no one takes the huff or offence. We still chat on txt and email regularly if not on the phone......

We ate in the hotel that night, we got back and there was plenty of availablity in the restaurant as the eat out to help out offer wasn`t available on a Thursday night.......it was fairly quiet and much nicer actually than when it is full. Maybe another 5 tables had folks on them........our waitress who was the same lovely young lady as the previous night, said they were all glad it was less busy as it had been manic last three nights.....although they were glad to be busy for business reasons, I could understand her thinking.

We ordered our usual bottle of wine and Tom went for the almost joke starter of a prawn cocktail.....or the classic 1970`s starter as it`s better known as........I chose the chicken tempura with an asian lime salad.....which was no more like a tempura batter than a wine glass is. It was nice enough, but not tempura........

We both felt like steak tonight.......I did ask our waitress how the chef was for accuracy on steaks....she did say he was very good, well, she`s not going to say anything else really, but said if it wasn`t perfect, I should send it back.......well, hopefully not.

Tom went for the rib eye, which isn`t either of ours favourite cut, but just for a change he`d try it.....and it came with the ghastly green beans and even more ghastly mushrooms......he likes them though so I stopped making faces as I read the menu.......devils food!!!!

I went for the fillet......asked for it rare, and expected it to be medium rare for some reason. I had side salad instead of all the other veg and we both had their chunky chips and opted to add a pepper sauce each.

Should really have taken the foliage off the steak so it can be seen, but it was a decent size, I believe 10oz.

It was medium rare......but it was fine for me to eat and Tom was exactly the same.

I not sure why in Britain a lot of places cannot cook a rare steak. Maybe a lot of people send it back if it`s deemed to bloody by some......but these were very nice and we did enjoy them. And loved the pepper sauce!!! I thought it was nicer than mine, and I do love my own pepper sauce......yes, even if I say so myself.......

We again had a good gap between courses, and as we had finished the wine we got our desserts, which for Tom was the strawberry cheesecake, and I opted for some vanilla and strawberry ice cream....plain and simple for me tonight.

Another lovely meal, and we slept well again which was nice.

Our last full day was another day of family and friends and on the evening we had a fairly large get together that was as socially distanced as it could be......the restaurant had put us in one large room, so it was just us, but set the tables in such a way we were all far enough apart as was the rule, but close enough we could all chat.......we were very grateful for their efforts. And the food was excellent....again, I think everyone enjoyed it and no complaints from anyone.....even that one fussy one in every group......But, it was a wonderful evening of much laughter and lots of catching up.

We got back to the hotel very late, so straight to our room and straight to bed.

Our travel home day was bright and sunny....of course it was.......and after our last breakfast there, we set off and popped in to see my mum before we left. That was emotional.

The journey was a good one......we stopped off at a pub somewhere off the beaten track for lunch and it was fine......not fancy but some very good sandwiches......the only thing I didn`t like about it was they allowed pets in the place. We much prefer places that don`t allow animals......not everyone wants to be around them, especially when eating. We asked to be put in part of the pub that had no dogs and they were very good about it.....the barmaid confided in us she wasn`t a dog fan either and wished they would change the policy.

But, lunch was good and after we freshened up, we headed back on our journey, getting home around 5pm.

It was lovely seeing Kyle again of course.......we had chatted several times on Facetime with the ipads but a hug is always welcome.

Once we unpacked and got the washing machine on, we got some Indian food and pizzas......and it was nice to be home.

A couple of last images of my favourite place in Scotland.........

I have enjoyed reliving our little escapade up to my home area........I know it`s not been the most riveting of updates, but glad to have you along anyway and have loved reading your very kind comments........

Our next getaway is the first week in October......we have a week booked in a cottage in the Cotswolds and I will do a mini report on that too on this thread. Although by October with the weather we might get by then, that might just be images of us sitting in pubs all over the Cotswolds........ Will then make sure we have plenty of good food images!!!

We toyed between somewhere remote for a cottage and where we would be completely isolated, but decided we`d had enough of isolation this year, so have gone for a smaller one, but it`s in the town itself, well, the outskirts really, but we have pubs and restaurants within walking distance and some other ones a shorter drive away or cab. We also had less to choose from as it seems everyone wants to go then......but although this one wasn`t our first choice, it look lovely and immaculately clean which is so important to us. And for Tom`s peace of mind, parking is in the front off road so no one will be scuffling past our car (his baby).....most important thing to him......lol.....

We`re looking forward to it as it`s been four years since we last visited that area.

In the meantime thanks to Maria...aka worfiedoodles and as it is now half way through September.............will get in the mood for Halloween by posting some images from HHN over the years........the first two years we hardly took any I have to admit......although we did make up for that in later years.......






Hope everyone is doing good here. It seems some of us now are in very different stages of the virus......I have got so lost trying to keep up with it all.

In England come Monday we are now back to limiting get togethers on more than 6 people, inside or out......our numbers are rising again, fairly high in some areas, although where we are it`s not too bad.

Hopefully it`ll flatten again.......I find it very insightful so many are now more worried about flu season starting up again as it kills so many vulnerable people. I know I worry more about that for my mum.

We have two celebration get-togethers this weekend, going out for dinner tonight, and tomorrow a friends for lunch with other friends.....tomorrow will have more than 6 I believe so will be the last time for a while. I think the weather has to be nice so we`ll be outside for the most part.......I think...

Flight wise, no changes as the flight ban is still in place, but there have been some changes to the conditions when we can fly in to some airports, so one of our travel experts over here said he thinks it`s a good sign.......still won`t get too excited.......

But, one of our airlines BA has started advertising trips to Universal Orlando for next year....which means they think they`ll be definitely be flying then......I hope so or our travel industry is over.

We have two friends who work for Virgin Atlantic, one is a pilot who still has his job, and another works for their head office who is worried about her future there. It is a massive airline and we pray it survives all of this.

Tom said our other altenative is the one thing I said I`d never do........cruise over to America.......

This is my vision of cruises........hellooooooooo.....did one watch The Poseidon Adventure!!!!!

​

Er, that`ll be a HELL NO........

The lovely keishashadow is always trying to convince me cruising is wonderful....and she has had some amazing and beautiful cruises.

But.......

I`d have to cross the Atlantic, and it can get a wild out there. So, I`m going to pass and pray the airlines all survive......which they will I`m sure...

Other update soon with some HHN added in.........

Want a teeny tiny taster.........

❤​

 

[J'aime Paris]

Always enjoy the food pictures

I'm on your side with the cruises, lol!
I went on my "first and last" cruise this past March just before the industry shut down.
We had terrible seas for 2 days, and I felt quite sick...even though I'd been taking Dramamine since the day before leaving port. And the sickness lasted several days beyond the bad weather. Not fun!

And I love water! I swim and we own a boat....but we only go on the boat when conditions are favorable.
Fingers crossed the travel ban is lifted so you'll be able to make the December trip happen!

 

[schumigirl]

Always enjoy the food pictures

I'm on your side with the cruises, lol!
I went on my "first and last" cruise this past March just before the industry shut down.
We had terrible seas for 2 days, and I felt quite sick...even though I'd been taking Dramamine since the day before leaving port. And the sickness lasted several days beyond the bad weather. Not fun!

And I love water! I swim and we own a boat....but we only go on the boat when conditions are favorable.
Fingers crossed the travel ban is lifted so you'll be able to make the December trip happen!

Glad you like them Lori......

Oh Lordy, I remember you doing that cruise! Was that in March? Goodness, seems a lifetime ago.....

I do love the sound of your boat......and it sounds idyllic.......but boats are not for me apparently, even in calm weather.

My cousins in LI have a boat and last trip we went out on it.....it’s fairly large, but......it wasn’t for me......it was fun whooshing around, but I was glad to be back on dry land.......lol.....being a non swimmer you can guess why.

Your boat does sound a lot of fun though, I think it would be lovely to head out it in when weather suits you and the chilling time appeals.......

 

[iona]

What wonderful photos of Scotland! We also escaped up there for a week or so (four nights in Inverness & four in Edinburgh, with a night in Northumberland on the way up & East Yorkshire on the way down) at the end of August/start of September and spookily we’re also off to the Cotswolds at the very end of September. We were originally meant to be in Orlando in December too...

 

[disneyAndi14]

Carole, the way you describe the island and the sea, Ahh it has made my day! So beautiful and how you remember it as a child, makes my heart happy in these not so happy times!
The hotel on the sea and your dinner look just lovely. Thank you for sharing. I am only on page 31 and I had to comment now!

 

[I-4Bound]

Oh my, I remember that Bloody Mary billboard...it scared my daughter to death when she was little! I remember feeling quite grumpy at Universal for putting that up.

Sounds like a really lovely trip with family. I know you were thrilled to see your mum. ❤

 

[macraven]

Today Schumi !

 

[J'aime Paris]

I'm hoping Google didn't let me down in an attempt to wish you a very Scottish "happy birthday"!!

 

[I-4Bound]

Happiest of birthdays to you, dear Carole!