Leaving Inverness

We have enjoyed Inverness ... it is a small city but very accessible and easy. I really liked the houses in old Inverness. Like a lot of cities that have been around for along time there is the old and the new and somehow the new does not seem so interesting. Often it is business parks, malls and modern apartment living ... but the buildings seem so sterile. As I write this I think of ChCh ... there is a lot of new going on in our city and a lot of old has been demolished and either replaced or non existent. I am not sure that there was a lot of old worth keeping, but there were some really nice old churches and old buildings that had been around since ChCh was settled. What makes the places that we have visited so interesting is the age and the architecture of the buildings. Many of them looked alike but somehow they looked amazing to me and so interesting. I felt like they were the living remains of how people used to live and their lives. I wonder how some of the buildings in ChCh will look in 100 years, if our planet still exists.

An early morning photo of Lars and Roxcy ... 

A supermarket that we shopped at was doing a collaboration with Orla Kiely, a fabric and textile designer, for shopping bags. She is an Irish designer and has a real 70's vibe with her designs, which I love. We have one of her curtain designs at home. I bought a few of these bags to use for my grocery shopping.

 Lars had been asking to play soccer pool for days. We had fun ... although some were better at winning and loosing than others, no names.

We visited Fort George, which was the largest Fort in Europe when it was built in the late 1700's.  Pete and Lars were quite interested but I was a little bored. I tried to find things of interest ... these remind me of a Split Enz song ... I See Red.

There is something deeply moving to me about this photo...The painting behind Roxcy shows the terror and slaughter of those awful battles of WW1. The loss of so much life, so many young men dying fighting for their country. Grandma Gibson lost many of her friends from Glasgow in WW1 and we have had a number of family members who were killed in WW1 and WW2, including Pete's grandfather. Roxcy is completely oblivious to it all. Her attention is captured by something else in the room and she is unaware of all the death behind her. I hope she never experiences this kind of death and loss.

Don't mess with me ... Every female soldier should have a pair of unicorn flip flops as part of their kit.

Lars is wearing the whole kit ... gas mask, bag and gun. He is so much fun, I love the way he just gets fully into it. He is absolutely ready to face any enemy here, which at times could be us.

These buildings really transport me back in time. Fort George is still used today as a training facility for the army. It is very imposing but Lars claimed that Fort Ticonderoga in New York state was better. Pete and Lars then had one of their arguments about which  one was best. Pete claimed that Fort George would "kick Fort Ticonderoga's butt" (a real Pete saying) if they were side by side. Lars had no doubt that Fort Ticonderoga would win, although he did admit that Fort George was impressive. Both were built in the 1700's. Pete, Mike and Lars went past Fort Ticonderoga a few weeks later after visiting a high ropes course in upstate New York.    

We made a trip to Findhorn which has been a long standing intentional community. It was founded in the early 1960s by a husband, wife and friend. It is still a thriving community and gained a reputation for its enormous vegetables. We took a walk around it, which Lars and Roxcy hated. They are so patient. Pete wanted to get a good look at their vegetable garden, which is impressive. Here is Pete ... I can just see his mind planning another planting box in our yard for vegetables and how he wants our garden to look.

Lars and Roxcy were in deep conversation about Findhorn and the type of people that live here. Roxcy ... "What type of people live here Lars?" 

Lars with authority ... "Everybody here is probably a student, or a communist."

We had lunch at their cafe ... the food was yummy! I had this delicious stuffed potato. We would often have stuffed potatoes for dinner when our children were young ... stuffed with mushrooms, onions and lots of cheese. 

We drove to Losssiemouth where Great Grandma Gibson was born in 1901, her Father was the local policeman here. Their house had a small jail attached to it. When Grandma's father was away, her mother would sometimes let the prisoners out for some fresh air. Her Father was very upset when she told him about this years later. He said he would have lost his job if one of them had run off. But none of them ever did. It is beautiful, a beachside holiday destination. I love the white sand and blue ocean.

I am not sure if you can see this clearly ... but I love this photo of Roxcy just embracing the wave. It was a really hot day, but the water was still cold.

These are the remains of Roxcy's chocolate biscuits ... she eats around the chocolate chips! I would eat the chocolate chips.

On our way to Balmoral Castle Pete wanted to take a train ride. It was a very short train ride and uneventful except for Lars and Roxcy sticking their heads out the windows.

We dined at Balmoral Castle cafe ... I had to take a rare photo of Lars eating a real Scottish Shepherds pie, it was yummy with very generous servings!

Because Balmoral is still lived in there was very little that we could see, but we had full access to the gardens which are beautiful.

We spent our last night before Edinburgh camping at Blair Castle campground. It is a beautiful spot. I loved the drive way ... how would it be to have this as the entrance to your property? It looks like something from Downton Abbey.

We walked around Blair Castle in the evening, the  white looked spectacular against the evening light. Unfortunately we never got to look inside but the outside and the grounds were beautiful. We would never have stopped here if it had not been for our very dear friend SuZie ... this is her clan, so we had to make a visit. We got up very early the next morning and headed into Edinburgh the last leg of our journey.