Hamish MacBeth!!!

 Hello! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend.  Yesterday and today have been beautifully sunny here...still cold, but sunny.  Last week was rain and more rain so it's a nice change.



Yes this photo was taken in Scotland...in a town called Plockton

 I've been thinking a bit about how different life is this year.  I remember at this PD session at school last year the speaker was talking about putting eggs in different baskets as a way of allocating out time between work, ourselves and family (for me this basket is my relationship with God first, then others).  I think this year the work basket is seriously deprived of eggs!  Apart from the obvious lack of money I'm totally fine with this balance for a while :)  I love helping at the cafe and now that all my paperwork is through I've got a few days of supply teaching lined up...so all good!  Planning life around random adventures instead of work is such a gift...I'm determined to make the most of this wonderful opportunity :)

Apart from being able to spill my brain on the page every now and then, writing a blog also means I need to do fun things in order to have something to write about!  This weekend's adventure was to Plockton, a pretty little town on the west coast.  More importantly, it's the town where Hamish MacBeth was filmed!   For those of you not familliar with Hamish MacBeth (shame on you!) it's about a country cop in a town called Loch Dubh who often bends the law and does everything he can to avoid promotion. I didn't see the man himself, but did get some nice pics of his old stomping ground:

My pic of Rory's shop...now a card and craft shop



Rory outside his shop

The Stag Bar today....unfortunately minus the cow...

The Stag Bar in Hamish MacBeth

My pic of Hamish's house!

The police house

Me standing in sort of the same place (didn't have the pic
with me so not exact)



The pic that was always at the
start of episodes

Here are some other nice pics from around Plockton (Loch Dubh!).  Hope you have a great week :)






The only hint of a Hamish MacBeth
past - a sign in someone's garden!

View of Plockton



Soaking up the sun... :) :) :)




Looking out from the harbour



The best bits and pics of Ireland :)

Well, it's been a week since I got back from Ireland.  I had planned to blog last Sunday after getting back, but had a bit of a mishap with the ferry (ie, i missed it!) so didn't get to Inverness until midnight having driven the last 70 miles on an empty tank (forgot to fill up too!).  Thankfully God looks after Scatterbrains like me :)


All in all though, it was an amazing time.  Trips like this make me realise how fortunate I am to be here and have the opportunity to see another part of this amazing world.  Rather than ramble on beginning with breakfast on day one (cereal, in a cup cos I couldn't find a bowl + really strong tea also, surprisingly, in a cup) I thought I'd write a bit about what I feel were the top three locations/sights.  Firstly though, here is a map of the lovely route Nessie and I took (placed here mostly because I'm proud of myself for figuring out how to stick a map on my blog):


View Larger Map

 

#1 Malin Head - (place C on the map)
This is an easy first choice.  I think there are some places that are easy to fall in love with for no apparent reason. The hostel I stayed as was so homely, the atmosphere really friendly and relaxed, and the scenery amazing!  Malin Head is Ireland's most northerly point, and hardly qualifies as a town.  There isn't much to do except admire the panoramic views out the window, chat over a cup of tea, or walk the amazing beaches...perfect! 

The hostel was right opposite the beach with amazing views.
I also had my first glimpse of Irish sunshine here!

I loved this pebble beach...It was hard to
decide which to look at, the ocean or
the pretty stones :)

#2 The Burren/Lisdoonvarna (place E on the map)
Ok, the double bed for 14 euro per night was a major drawcard here!  It is a beautiful spot though.  The Burren is a huge area of protected rocky landscape.  There are heaps of winding lanes, all with stone walls and cute little villages with thatched roofs.  I spent two nights here so the extra time exploring was great!  The cliffs of Moher are here as well, but I found that part a bit too touristy.  It was much more fun to drive the narrow lanes and see what surprises were just around the corner!  A unique and beautiful place.

One of the advantages of so much rain! A beautiful rainbow
over The Burren

Cute shop with thatched roof...not sure
about the pink though....

#3 Belfast/Titanic Experience (place H on the map)
Generally I don't think much of big cities, but Belfast was a nice surprise.  Unlike Dublin it seemed to cater better for people who aren't there just for Guiness :)  The botanical gardens are beautiful, the Ulster museum is amazing, as are the St George Markets, City Hall and of course The Titanic Experience.  Due to my careful planning (haha, as if!) I was in Belfast for the 100 year anniversary of the Titanic sinking....and actually went to the Titanic Experience on the anniversary night.  The work that has gone into putting it together is extraordinary.  Hugely recommended!

Titanic Belfast...the building itself is fantastic.

Beautiful springtime blossoms in Belfast

So there you go, that was Ireland.  Here are some other favourite pics.  Hope you have a wonderful week.  God bless!

Murals and monument in the formally Catholic part of
Londonderry

My favourite sweets...
Irish style!

A lot of the pavement in the formally Protestant part of
Londonderry is painted in Union Jack colours....and
then I saw the cars.  Coincidence or just strange!?

Hanging out at the Cliffs of Moher

Lemenagh Castle

Glendalough...a beautiful place for hill walking about
an hour south of Dublin

City Hall Belfast - taken from a weird angle

A cute little guy I came across
in Dublin

Ireland: Fog, mist and rare glimpses of sunshine

Greetings from Ireland!  I'm staying at Malin Head at the moment, the most northerly point in Ireland.  This is the view out the window:

The picture doesn't do it justice, but it is literally on the edge of the ocean with amazing panoramic views.  I came over on Friday and the weather has been pretty average really, with lots and lots of mist and rain! Thankfully there have been enough glimpses of sunshine to make it worth it.  I haven't really stuck to my plan, in part because of the weather and also because I'm in need of rest and don't want to spend the whole time driving!  Instead I'm generally driving around the coast anti-clockwise, and stopping wherever I get up to that day.  The last 2 days I'm spending in Belfast, so I'll just cut across from wherever I am by Thursday or so.   Anyway, enough blah blah....here are some fave pics:

View from Islandmagee, where I stayed the first night.
The ship at sea is on it's way to Scotland, which is just
visible on the horizon. 

There was some castle opposite, but

I thought this house was rather more
interesting....





At Carrick-a-rede rope bridge




On the cliff face at Carrick-a-rede. 
I like this pic....but if I were your birds, I'd
find another home!



Giant's Causeway stones




More interesting Giant's Causeway stones...




I managed to find a track along the cliff that was tourist free!
Wet and cold but great views...











The Lighthouse

Hello hello!  I hope you have had a wonderful week :)  No great adventures to report this time!  I decided a relaxing weekend of nothing in particular was the way to go.  It was good to get around the charity shops and pick up some "new" clothes, since I only bought winter stuff with me.  That said, snow is forecast for tomorrow!  Summer might be over before it has begun :( 

On Wednesday (my day off from the cafe) I decided to make some phone calls to check the progress of my police check and other paperwork for teaching. Good thing that I did!  Disclosure Scotland (police check people) hadn't received my paperwork from the Highland Council, and when I phoned the council they said it had been sent three weeks ago!  Lost in the post apparently...grr!  So, more forms to fill out and more waiting.  It's Easter holidays now so I'm hopeful all will be ready for starting after that.

The first week of the Easter holidays I'm working in the cafe but in the second week am heading off to Ireland!  I'm taking my car across on the ferry from Troon to Larne on Friday the 6th, then back on Sunday the 15th.  There's no fixed plan, but generally I'm thinking of going around the coast anti-clockwise, spending the last night in Belfast.  If you can think of any 'must see' spots let me know! 
 
Here are some lovely pics from my time in The Lighthouse Cafe.  Even though I'm only volunteering it's great to have such cool people to work with.  I've become rather addicted to baking!  Have a great week..God bless :)

Annie (lovely assistant manager) with the
finished product...bacon rolls!

Some serious bacon-frying going on here!





Yummy cupcakes...so fun to make :)





Stuart, Annie and Mark (love the face!)



More cupcakes...



Cake anyone? The 2 cakes at the top and choc brownies
are my attempts....just in case you are wanting to place
an order!