Blogging to the World

from Jim & Ruth Stewart's Scottish Highland Home...

...and sometimes, from away

 

Season's Greetings : December 2015

December 24, 2015  •  Leave a Comment

Hi All

As 2015 draws to a close, this post is to all those who visit the site, and especially to those who missed out on our Seasonal Card. It is posted below.

The main reason the cards was restricted in circulation this year was due to the fact that in late November, just when he'd normally be getting to work on cards etc, Jim was smitten with a particularly rare and unpleasant affliction: an aortic dissection (Type B, or was it Type 2...) which put him in hospital in Edinburgh for almost two weeks.

By the time Jim got home, and got sufficiently used to life under medication to find his way back to even thinking about making cards, it was already too late to get anything sorted out to meet with international posting dates: so no cards to overseas friends in 2015. This blog post is instead.

Here's the card...

terracotta-2terracotta-2 terracottaterracotta ayutthaya_innerayutthaya_inner

...and by the way, that's us at Wat Mahathat in Ayutthaya, Thailand, in the last photo. You can see more pictures from our trip to Thailand and Australia here on this site, and more of Wat Mahathat here

Here's hoping this finds you all well and happy. 

Awrabest for 2016

Jim'n'Ruth


2015 : The Big Trip

June 16, 2015  •  Leave a Comment

From February to April this year we wandered afar, to Thailand and Australia

We didn't take a laptop, and we got back with well over 7K photos from the trip. It's taking a while to get through them all and sort out what's for printing, what's for blogging or putting in the galleries on this site or otherwise sharing.

This isn't going to be a pic-a-day-every-day, just some highlights in the blog, and more stuff in the galleries (so look there too while you're here)

But here's a start.

It's Day 1, Feb 10th 2015. First real night away (the night in Dubai airport and on planes does not count) was in Bangkok. And almost the first place we found ourselves was in the grounds of Wat Yannawa. As the sun went down, lights came on to illuminate this, on the river side of the way compound...

Wat YannawaWat YannawaWat Yannawa means the Temple of Junk: specifically, the temple of the concrete Chinese junk put in place by King Rama III. This monument is named Samphao Chedi (Junk and Chedi). The interpretation board in the Wat has this to say:

  • This Temple is an old one dating back to the Ayutthaya period, the founder is unknown, commonly called Wat Khok Khwai (Stable for Buffaoles). King Rama I ... made it a Royal Temple. In the reign of King Rama III, trade connection with China was bloomed and the Chinese Junks were used to carry all kinds of cargo, with concern to the vanishing of this junk, King Rma III ordered to build a monumentally imitating Chinese junk.

Two Chedis take the place of poles in the architecture of the junk. The monument is 43 metres in length and is said to be the only one of its kind in existence.

In fact the temple takes its name from this concrete Chinese junk. See here for more info

 

 


2013….

November 01, 2013  •  Leave a Comment

…. is nearly over, now, but in the witter-world-blogosphere it's never really got started.

 

So here's some pics by way of Retrospective

 

Random post #1

across the Clyde from Braehead : 8-1-13

 

Now here's #2

Ben Nevis glimpsed from BunarkaigBen Nevis glimpsed from Bunarkaig : 5-1-13

 

the winter of 2012/2013 was a long one, but that's no bad deal in the Highlands. Maybe it's why we're here...

Glenfinnan : 30-1-13

 

 

 

L1000945by swerve of shore and bend of bay, Kingairloch, in Morvern : 2-2-13 …. it was still very cold in March, when we spent a week on Mull (more pictures here)….

looking to Ben More over Loch na Keal on the isle of Mull : 11-3-13

…. much, much more to come!!!


home from Rome

September 26, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

Spent some time in the Eternal City early in September. A first for us both, and exceeding all positive expectations we held.

Capitoline Aspect_1040196

Great weather, great ruins, great colours, in an extraordinary city where it's remarkably easy to pass from noisy, bustling traffic into peaceful side streets which could be in a Tuscan hill-town.

Rear WindowRear window, 55 Vicolo de Cinque, Trastevere

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed in Trastevere. If/when we go back, we'll stay there again. Our photos should explain why. You'll find more of them - lots more - here

Vicolo dei Cinque, where we stayed, is a lively spot by night, but quiet - almost deserted - by day. 

Vicolo dei CinqueVicolo dei Cinque, Trastevere, Rome This was lunch at Saint Paul's outside the Walls:

Panini chez Paolo_1040150

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


up early and aff...

August 09, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

...doon the watter, by way of the world's last surviving sea-going paddle steamer, the PS Waverley.

Waverley at Pacific Quay, Glasgow, with the Riverside Museum behindWaverley moored at Pacific Quay, Glasgow

We're old hands at the Waverley, having sailed from Fort William down Loch Linnhe to Oban, Tobermory, Loch Sunart and within a stone's throw of Iona on past occasions, but this time is different. For one thing, the Waverley is back on its home run : doon the watter from Glasgow to Dunoon and Rothesay. For another, our destination is Dunoon : Jim's home patch, of yore. And for a third, this is the 200th anniversary of the first sailing of the first commercial steam ship in the world. On August 10th 1812, the paddle steamer Comet sailed doon the watter from Glasgow to Helensburgh. There's a bunch of pictures in the Portfolio here, including some of Dunoon, and a couple of the working model of Comet onboard the Waverley.

 

And here's a wee video Jim made in the Waverley's engine room

 

Archive
January February March April May June July August (2) September (1) October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November (1) December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June (1) July August September October November December (1)
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Subscribe
RSS