Highland terrain

[Andyfr]

I said that I would post some photos of our hilly and rocky plot. It isn't easy to see from the pictures just how steep it is but as a guide in this first one if I was to stand just to the right of the rock in the middle it would be above head height.

 

[Andyfr]

In this one there is a burn (small stream) running down the centre. Gets interesting when we have a heavy rain!

 

[Andyfr]

Another view of the area I want to tame, this leads down to the stream.

 

[Andyfr]

The garage/workshop and part of the drive.

 

[Harv]

Andy -

That's some nice looking property, but yep, you've got your work cut out for you.

I have an idea -- why don't you get a tractor? /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

... and a bulldozer

... and a backhoe.

 

[Andyfr]

Final one of the garden.

 

[Andyfr]

Loch Ness.

 

[Andyfr]

This is the work on the Urquhart Castle visitors centre (now completed) which looks out over Loch Ness. If you look at the bottom right of the picture you can just see a Kubota tractor, don't know what model though as I couldn't get close to it.

Well that's it for now, I don't want to bore you all /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[Andyfr]

You ought to see it when it snows, a tractor will certainly save these muscles. To think that it took me 4 years to realise that I needed a tractor /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif.

 

[njrqs]

Andy

Great to see some more pics from the other side of the world. It is up to you and me and jdkid to show these yanks a bit of how the other half lives !!

What materials is your house/garage ??made of?

Can you really see Loch Ness from your property? Must be a spectacular view. No monsters??/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Cheers

 

[Thomas]

That kinda looks like New Hampshire in some areas..maybe that why they call New hampshire the Granite State. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Egon]

ANDY:

Lovely intriguing pictures. I'd love to travell the country on a bicycle with lots of time on my hands. Then there are also the Hebridies and Shetlands to see.

I live in Nova Scotia not to far from where it is said Henry Sinclair had set up a settlement in the late 1300's.

Also read a very few of Lillian Beckwiths books set in north Scotland or the Islands.

Egon

 

[Devildog]

Andy,
Awesome pics. I think its great to see all the fantastic pics from all the other country's, since that is really all the closer I will get /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif How populated is it where you live?
_____________________________________________
Take care, Jim

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>Loch Ness</font color=blue>

Now that's a coincidence -- just a few hours ago Loch Ness was being shown on CNN. Seems another controversial video of Nessie has shown up. Looked to me like a compact tractor chasin' fish. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

I see what I want to see...

 

[AndyR]

Looks great. Last time I hiked in the Highlands it was a lesson on how silly the movies are - running across the heather indeed! I near broke a leg when we came across a little stream that had cut straight down in the peat. Just about 8" wide and 3 feet deep.

I love the countryside though. My wife's family has a place in Drimmnen, just north of the Isle of Mull. Our idea of a great vacation - a good book, a good hike and a wee dram. Thanks for the pictures.

 

[Andyfr]

Neil:

<font color=blue>What materials is your house/garage ??made of?

Can you really see Loch Ness from your property?</font color=blue>

The houses in this part of the country are timber framed, this shell then has the roof put on and when that is done concrete blocks are built around the outside to form the exterior. This is then 'harled' which means buttering the wall with mortar and then throwing stone chippings on. The garage/workshop doesn't have the timber frame just the blocks and then harled.

Loch Ness is about 8 miles from where we live so we can't see it from the house unfortunately. I included the photo as I thought it might be of interest. Never seen the monster though /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif.


Thomas:

<font color=blue>...maybe that why they call New hampshire the Granite State.</font color=blue>

Over here we have Aberdeen which is known as the Granite city, about a hundred miles away.


Egon:

<font color=blue>I'd love to travell the country on a bicycle with lots of time on my hands.</font color=blue>

Probably the best way to see the Highlands, provided you get the nice weather. /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif


Devildog:

<font color=blue>How populated is it where you live?</font color=blue>

There are six houses in a four mile radius of us, the nearest is a quarter of a mile away. In Inverness - 15 miles away - the population is about 50,000 while the Highlands in total has a population of 320,000 spread over an area the size of Wales or Belgium.


Harv:

<font color=blue>Seems another controversial video of Nessie has shown up. Looked to me like a compact tractor chasin' fish.</font color=blue>

They do crop up from time to time, never look much like a monster either! Maybe Nessie is just camera shy /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.


AndyR:

<font color=blue>...a little stream that had cut straight down in the peat. Just about 8" wide and 3 feet deep.</font color=blue>

Sounds like you were in our garden at the time /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

 

[GlueGuy]

Great shots Andy! Do you know the name of the bunch grass that seems to be prominent in many of those pix?

 

[Andyfr]

GlueGuy

The stuff with the redish tinge is Bog Myrtle. It grows - as its name suggests - in peaty, boggy conditions. It is a nightmare to get rid of as the roots spread out like veins underground and you can pull and tug and see another clump of it start to move 6 feet away. If a small piece of the root breaks off then it starts to grow again, so the best way to get rid of it is by hand as machines would break the roots up into smaller bits. The leaves when crushed are supposed to keep the midges away /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif if they did then I could retire on the proceeds of the harvest /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

The dark green stuff on the right hand side of the third picture is Heather. Looks nice when in flower but boring for the rest of the year.

The rest of the stuff is mainly just wild grass. Before we bought the plot of land to build on it was just wild moorland.../w3tcompact/icons/hmm.gif still is I suppose!

 

[genelp]

Beautiful country, My wife and I were there two years ago for our 25th anniversary. Went to England and Scotland, got as far north as Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye. I didn't see the monster, but my wife could have captured it on film if she hadn't left the lens cap on /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif. Actually we both agreed that the highlands were the most scenic of the whole trip. We would love to go back sometime! I was pleasantly surprised that the Loch Ness area wasn't developed into some kind of tourist trap like they would do here in the states. Do you find time to fish in Loch Ness?



Gene

Neil, if you read this, I wanted to mention that there was a lady from Australia on our tour and she was a blast!

Gene

 

[Andyfr]

There are two Loch Ness exhibitions but they are quite small so it doesn't detract from the scenery. I don't know if they allow fishing on Loch Ness, got to leave some friends for Nessie /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif.