Dunkirk Relic

Sad to see a historic boat in such a state, and getting worse every time I see her. She's the Skylark, and rescued around 600 from the beaches of Dunkirk in WW2. More info here - and you can buy her for just £1.

I actually (obviously erroneously!) thought she had been sold and was going to restored, but sadly not. She's currently sunk in the River Leven and is now breaking up, with her railings having come off since the last time I was there.

At least the ducks are making use of her. :-)

Autumn colours

Yes, I know it's totally the wrong time of year for this, but I've been sorting out some photos I took in the October holidays.

I had a lovely trip "sooth" to visit family & friends, and also spent a few days just touring about taking in the scenery.

Killin

Red squirrel, Speyside

I had a very cold night camping at Grandtully!

Slalom kayakers, Grandtully

It was a great holiday, and makes me realise (yet again) just how many stunningly beautiful parts of Scotland there are. Maybe when I'm living on the mainland I'll have more opportunities for weekend trips to explore more.

Clear views

I love flying on a clear day, and at Christmas the flight down from Orkney to Glasgow was pretty much perfect.

 Just leaving Kirkwall Airport - Holm in the foreground and looking at the cloud over the flow.

Very early on in the flight we went into some cloud, but through gaps in the cloud had clear views, and once past Wick it was pretty much clear the whole way.

Looking across towards Deerness, "almost an island".

My house is actually in the above photo too - but you'll have to take my word for it because without having the large version to zoom into I doubt you'll spot it, even those who know exactly where it is. I love trying to get photos of my house from the plane, and have managed to get a couple recently now that I've been able to fly back from work in the isles a few times (but I'll save that for another blog entry.)

Pentland Skerries - first time I've seen it from the air (it's usually cloudy at this point!)

 A not very good photo - but it's the first time I've seen marine wind turbines.

The blurry thing to the left is a large ship, which gives a sense of how large these turbines must be.

 Loch Lomond - so we're nearly at Glasgow now....  Can I spot my friend's house?

I did once manage to get a photo of my brother's house in Renfrewshire from the plane!

Rhu and Helensburgh