In our minds, we pictured Mel Gibson flapping around in his kilt. There is nothing like a man in a kilt...It was a mystical, magical place, a perfect setting to spark the imagination and flights of fantasy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunnottar_Castle
45 comments:
I want to return to it in mid-summer. That's when the Puffins roost here on the cliffs. One of my all-time favorite birds.
Puffins
Our friends told us it makes the Scottish mad when the English Royals show up wearing kilts. For them, the war ain't over.
Great pic Ivy and post. We were so looking forward to your return and the posts you would have when you did.
I missed some interesting items because of the camera mishap. But there's some good stuff still when I get the chance to write the stories down that go with them.
I'm holding my breath Ivy so don't wait too long.
Carol,
You know I have to let things "gel."
:)
Even though my owl I kept out of view, I did enjoy my Scottish birdwatching. I had one whole day completely to myself, and I indulged in a long nature walk. I had to wave off expressions of worry from well-wishers concerned I had nothing to "do," assuring them that I was "doing plenty" and needed no company.
That was the day I would have appreciated a camera.
The original Robin Redbreast in the British Isles from which our own American Robin was named. I discovered they are quite different than its American namesake...smaller, closer in size to our bluebird, and with a chirp that's reminiscent of our Cardinal.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Robin
European Robin
Ivy, An unbelievably beautiful Castle and beautiful country. Are you serious about wanting to return there in mid-summer.
Maybe the traveling bug is really getting you now.
The stuff about Mel Gibson and the kilts is great Ivy. Excellent post.
I also like that quote you posted on the last thread about questioning our habits.
ps I'm not sure when you're going to Hawaii, but it is the best place to go in the winter, because they have no winter. Have you been before? Most of the hotels are lobbies are open air... at least they used to be.
MG, That European Robin is 'so' cute. It's interesting that they chirp like a cardinal - the cardinal is my favorite bird, both for it's personality and for it's beautiful songs.
Ivy, The 'Windstar' (I love that word: Windstar!) site that I linked yesterday also has information about many other animals. I haven't had time to go through much of it yet, but was interested in his 'personal experience' with bears, which is contrary to what one would commonly think of their behavior. And when I think of bears now, I think of you and your bear friend, of course. If you want to take a look when you get a chance, I'd be interested in your take on what he says:
"But, over the years, I realized that not one of the hundreds of “close calls” had ended in contact. Charging bears always stopped, even when I was capturing their squalling cubs. Threatening bears always ran when I jumped at them or threw rocks. Furious bears in culvert traps became suddenly timid when I opened the door for them to escape, exiting only when they saw an escape route that was clear of people.
Inhospitable bears that startled me in dens did not bite, seeming content with my undignified retreats. I became convinced that the Black Bear is characterized much more by restraint than by ferocity."
Bears Show More Restraint Than Ferocity
Well, I have a busy day ahead of me, and the sooner I start, the sooner I'll finish.
Meant to say hi to you Carol, before I leave. It looks like we're going to have some beautiful weather this weekend, so you'll get to enjoy the outdoors, so I imagine that's where you are.
Have a great day everyone!
Ivy.... welcome back! Sounds like you had a great trip...
good for you....
Chloe.... Rick and I have been to Oahu and Maui in recent years.... yes, hotel lobbies are still open air... and winter is a great time to go because that's when the humpback whales show up in droves in order to breed and have their calves.... you can see them from the beaches....
Jan... that's a great story about NM.... well maybe not the divorce part... :0) the leaves are starting to turn color here and should be spectacular in about 10-14 days.
Carol...
don't send me an invite yet. We are leaving next Friday for a vacation in San Diego. Can't wait to see the zoo and wild animal park... and or course sea world... gonna be an animally vacation.
Before I leave I have to ship scarves to 2 different galleries. So I'll be mucho busy this upcoming week. I'll post pictures over here when I get back.
And yes.... I have black bears that hit my bird feeders in spring just as they wake up and in the late fall just before they go to sleep. I have metal feeders now. The plastic ones get destroyed.
Everyone take care!
"There is nothing like a man in a kilt..." Ivy, that is only if he has nice legs, but then you miss out on seeing a nice booty unless there is stiff breeze that blows his shirt up.
That's one thing I like about watching football, all those tight ends.... Otherwise, I'm not much for football unless it is my New Orleans Saints. They look good this year.
Renee, have a wonderful vacation. You'll have to share yours also. When you are ready to do a post, just send me your email address.
I was out fishing at Hornet Haven again. Caught six keepers before the boaters came out to play. Three of them were what they call slab crappy. They were the biggest crappy I've ever seen. Have pics I will share later. I threw back many and ,again, lost something huge, broke my line.
The river sure has healed since Rita. Right after Rita, the river was dead from the Gulf to about 20 miles or so up river. I kind of think that maybe it's better now than it was before Rita.
Ivy, after you told me how many acorns/nuts the squirrels need for their stash, I went and collected all the nuts off my wharf before I blew the leaves off. I put them in a little pile for the squirrels. Hope they don't mind that I touched them.
"...the leaves are starting to turn color here and should be spectacular in about 10-14 days."
Renee,
It would be great if you'd post the first picture of Fall for us, as I know it will hit you long before the rest of us see signs of it.
I lived most of my life a couple hours north of San Diego. It's beautiful, the weathers heavenly, and the zoo and Sea World are great fun. We also used to go over the border from there to Mexico. Have fun! Hope you'll take pictures for us. If you like Mexican food, California has the best I've ever eaten. That's one of the foods I miss most from there. It's completely different than what we get here in Texas. The Chinese food there is much better too.
Are your black bears anything like the ones that he talked about on that site?
Renee,
I'm sure you'll be here before you leave for your trip, so I won't say 'bye 'byes yet. I do hope you get to see the condors at the San Diego Wildlife Park. I did not realize they'd been impacted by fires...I guess that was '07, just days after we'd visited the area.
see here for condors
Carol, It's good to hear how well your river is doing. I think that's a good sign of things to come. Seems to me you have a lot of good signs in your life right now.
Chloe and Carol,
Thanks for your help and guidance on creating the hyperlinks. As you can tell, I just love links!
Ivy, It amazes me that a bird could be that huge. There's an Andean Condor on the Wiki page, that is shown in full flight, and I must admit is quite beautiful from a distance like that. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condor
Ivy, I just love linking too. I was going to say you got it down quickly.
Chloe,
In the condor, I really do see a dinosaur remnant. I believe in the hypothesis that birds are the dinosaurs' descendants.
Chloe,
For me, the key to learning is repetition, repetition, repetition...
Repetition is the only thing that works for me Ivy. That, and I was going to comment earlier, when you said you need to let things gel: I'm the same way. It takes a while for me to prepare myself for new things.
Believing that birds are dinosaur descendants seems like a logical conclusion to me.
Talking about San Diego got me a little homesick for the sights, so I looked up San Diego Zoo, and it has a video on the most interesting animal, a fossa (one that I've never heard of). Unusual looking, part of the Mongoose family, but purrs like a cat and is more lanky looking like the cat family.
The one they show in the video is very tame, like a pet, with a great personality. San Diego Zoo
.. back shortly.
I love the zoo also. When I was going to grad school in Houston, I hung out a lot at the zoo. I seem to relate better with the non-people animals.
Chloe, that fossa is a weird looking animal. Looks like a giant mouse cat.
Cute commercial on TV just now featuring the meerkats. Made me remember another Bear Woman adventure. In 2007, she went to Africa and worked at "Meerkat Manor" on a research project. I have the cutest pic of a meerkat perched on her head. She loves Africa...wants to go back and tried to talk me into going with her...I don't know about that, however...a little too "roughing it" for me...I found out Meerkat Manor is not that plush.link to Meerkats
"I went and collected all the nuts off my wharf before I blew the leaves off. I put them in a little pile for the squirrels"
That is so sweet of you Carol, to help out those little squirrels with their winter stash. I'm absolutely positive they will appreciate it and won't mind them being touched. I saw on the site we looked at earlier, that they can find those seeds buried under a foot of snow in the dead of winter.. Well, the ones in Louisiana and my part of Texas won't ever have to worry about that. But the one you saw throwing them in your river better know how to swim.
ps
You said that fossa looks like a giant mouse cat. I don't know if I ever told you, but I have a serious phobia against most rodents. (not squirrels though, they're too cute). - hate to even look at them on a movie screen or anywhere else. Unreasonable phobias are the hardest ones to deal with, imo. At least 'some' phobias make sense.
Ivy, Was nice how you worked in a link to Carol's site on TM.
.. and that meerkat is adorable.
I would love to go to Africa. It's always been a dream but I can barely stand a plane for 4 hours much less how long it would take to get to Africa. How long does it take?
Chloe, this morning I was casting a lure in the direction of where that squirrel was dropping acorns in the water. I half expected to see a squirrel come up in scuba gear.
Just got the word my brother is home safe from Tibet, but he got arrested this time and spent three days in jail there...more to be revealed, but thankfully safe...!
Gotta go now...Hubs dragging me out to a Buddy Guy performance...damn right I got the blues...
Ivy, So glad your brother made it home safe and sound. Let us know how he's doing and how you like that Buddy Guy performance. Your hubs sure does keep you busy.
Carol, I have a flight check on my yahoo page, and this came up. I did it from Houston, and that flight looks like it's between 20-35 hours each way, if I'm reading this right. Not sure why it's less time coming back than going. You could do it if you take a Kindle with you, couldn't you.
Houston (IAH) to silkAirReturnToCity0:Johannesburg (JNB)
silkAirDepartDate0:Departs Thu, Oct 1 6:50 PM
(Arrives 4:25 PM) +2 days
1 stop in Dubai
Trip time: 38hr 35min
Flights
None of those hours happen to include a time change, do they? I see Africa on the weather report when they talk about those low pressure systems coming off that area. Looks like it just a hop, skip and jump away.
I'm getting a blood clot in my leg just thinking about that long trip. How long do you think it will be before they can beam us places, like they did on Star Trek? You know technology is advancing pretty fast.
Ivy, I forgot to tell you that Southern Spice applied for a copyright on your vacation pics and stories. I'm pretty sure it went through.
Ivy, I would like to hear your brother's story. Sounds like he had an interesting adventure. Glad he got home OK.
Seems I remember his twin didn't want him to go on that trip. I bet there's some "I told you so" going on.
Eric Clapton calls Buddy Guy the best guitar player alive. No wonder Hubs wants to go, he probably wants to learn a few new tricks.
Buddy Guy - Sweet Home Chicago
If we ever start getting beemed Carol, I'm going to do a lot of traveling. I'll go to some interesting places just to have lunch, and be back home by mid afternoon.
Can you imagine what security check will be like though. Probably would spend hours in security before the beeming even started.
Good link Carol. Man he can play, that guitar takes on a life of it's own. Ivy is in for a treat. (Did you notice that was taped in Houston)
Yeap, I saw that. You know when I was in grad school I briefly thought about one day moving to Houston. The traffic cured me of that idea. I hate traffic. No patience.
Ivy, great pic of the castle. Started to write earlier but had many errands to run today. Great weather. Wow! great your brother is home safe - jail in another country, I hear, can be harrowing. I too would love to hear his story.
Chloe, I loved that info about the black bears. I will look up that site. When living
in Montana we went camping in tents in the mountains. We were advised to hang our food from the trees high enough to keep the bears away. During the night my 11 year old got a nose bleed. We knew that would attract bears so he had to sleep the rest of the night in the car.
I love giraffes. Such interesting looking animals. I am planning a quilt for a great grandson to be born in Dec. I am going to applique giraffes on the quilt -been looking up pics of giraffes on the internet. I love their faces.
San Diego has the most amazing zoo.
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