Well, it's been gathering dust for a few years now so we figured it was high time it started to earn its keep.
She'll have to grow into it, of course:
Archive for September 2012
Skye at Night
Some astro pics taken from the cottage's garden on Skye.
No filters, scopes or mounts, just a Nikon D50 with a 35mm prime lens, a fixed tripod, an IR shutter-release and a bit of processing know-how.
Cassiopeia (the big W) to the upper-left, the Andromeda Galaxy (M31) to the lower-right
The Double Cluster and a fair chunk of Perseus.
OCD dot-to-dotters will have noticed that there are some stars that are common to this image and the first one.
Cygnus flying along the Milky Way
Ask not for whom the bell tolls
Seriously, would you have let The Man with the Merde-Ass Touch anywhere near anybody else's money ever again?
I'm off out to the betting-shop - I reckon I can get good odds on the markets crashing before trading closes.
Not Going Out?
We had such grand designs for the coming weekend...
With the improving bad back more-or-less under control due to the effects of Ibuprofen combined with Paracetamol, and the arse tolerable due to the aforementioned drugs and a wonder-cream prescribed by my G.P., we thought we'd risk a weekend away wildcamping in the Northern Lake District to bag four of the six Wainwrights that are still on my to-do list. We've not had a wildie this year, and we have a tent that still needs properly testing for review, so it was a reasonable opportunity, probably the best we would get.
We still weren't daunted when I came home from my Dad's birthday bash with a stonking cold which, as you'd expect for a bloke like me, has been upgraded to the status of Man Flu. Past experiences indicate that I could just about cope with a morning basal body temperature of 37.9C (oral).
But now we find that we'll have to contend with the aftermath of this:
It's not looking good. We won't make a final decision until the eleventh hour but I suspect that we'll be giving it a miss.
FWIW, the pic is a screen-shot of the excellent Rainy Days Android App running in the BlueStacks App Player on Windows XP. BlueStacks is a handy bit of kit for those of us who don't have large-screen Android devices. It's free during beta and there's a Mac version. What's not to like?
Skye 2012 – a final fling
After packing the car and saying our farewells to the cottage we headed south on a mission to find the fabled otters of Kylerhea. It was another fine day so we had a few photo-stops on the way:
Clouds over the Red Cuillin and Broadford Bay
The same view in a temperamental scrolly-thing
Looking down Kylerhea Glen
There were good views from the track between the car-park and the otter-hide:
Kyle Rhea meets Loch Alsh
The Far Side
Down at the hide there was much to see. For starters there was this elaborate seagull-perch:
Minor Light
There were seals and birds in abundance but the otters were nowhere to be seen:
After an hour or so we gave up on the otters and went back up the track to the car. We got more pics:
Speckled Wood
Berries
How wind-power used to be
Another Speckled Wood
Glenelg Bay
As above but wider
Down at the ferry slipway:
This one's for Mr. Sloman
Slipway
Intertidal
A tad nippy
Jellyfish
After the crossing we headed up the Old Military Road along Glen More towards Shiel Bridge, stopping at Bealach Ràtagain to admire the view around the head of Loch Duich:
The view from Bealach Ràtagain
The view of the view from Bealach Ràtagain
The rest of the journey was picture-worthy but we were pressed for time, needing to get to The Real Food Cafe for some sustin. We managed a couple of photo-stops:
The head of Loch Garry - a bit of Scotland that's shaped like Scotland
Anna at the Loch Garry viewpoint
You'll know where this is
After raiding The Real Food Cafe it was a non-stop drag to our overnight stop at the less-than-luxurious Dumbarton Travelodge, but we did appreciate the fine scenery around Loch Lomond.
The next day was a drudge day as expected... motorway > Penrith Little Chef > home.
It had been a great week, it's a shame there was so much time spent in the car.
