On the way to London, we stopped here, https://www.burghley.co.uk/, to visit the sculpture garden. Wikipedia article.

Burghley House.

Bit larger than life rabbit.

Also a rabbit, but a slightly different species.

This horse must have been eating the same magic mushroom as the rabbits.

Not to mention this supersnail.

Nice face.

Not quite sure what this is. What do you think?

This is one very funny tree trunk.

Where does this mysterious entrance lead?

Here!

This tree is watching me!

Our camp site in Lee Valley https://www.visitleevalley.org.uk/lee-valley-campsite-sewardstone

Today we did a short but pretty walk across the fields to Hulme End

The view from our camp site.

Gerhild climbs a dry stone wall.

Look at the moss on the wall.

Very secluded path.

Å Staffordshire farmhouse.

Kim trying to talk with the sheep.

https://www.brisbanemoss.co.uk/our-story/

Is this the place?

Yes that’s it with trees growing out of the roof.

The sales room.

Photos from the startup phase.

The stockroom in 2022 with our super salesman.

Gerhild with her corduroy swatches for Susann.

Nice camp site https://www.upperhurstfarm.com/ in a beautiful landscape.

Fun decoration next to the lock.

Conker creatures.

Look! A comma butterfly.

Look who’s popped along to see us!

The banqueting hall at Naburn Lock (https://www.teabythelock.co.uk/)

Great place for a relaxed chat with a nice pot of tea.

Two happy girls.

With their best feet forwards.

Today we moved to Naburn Lock camp site. It‘s close to the river Ouse.

Naburn lock.

The 42 bus takes you to York in about 20 minutes.

We bought some food and returned to Naburn.

Read most of the day –
Kim „Here lie the dead“ by J D Kirk
Gerhild „Der Fengshui-Detektiv“ by Nury Vittachi

https://www.himalayangarden.com/

A happy hare in the garden.

Who‘d be a mouse if this is around?

Ceramic tree mould.

Looks spooky somehow, but it’s based on pollen. It’s called Rhodi Torana.

Fabulous piece by Subodh Kerkar.

This is by the same guy.

Goats will eat anything.

New garden furniture anyone?

This was interesting. I didn’t know that they used to call cotton „tree wool“. (Baumwolle)

Gerhild joining in the dialog (sic).

Nature‘s not bad at this art lark either.

Himalayan Blue Poppies flowing through the landscape by Anna Whitehouse from Harrogate.

oldstationholidayparkmasham.co.uk

This way to the beach.

That’s quite some beach.

Cult object made by the natives. I hope they’re friendly.

Up into the dunes.

Looks like a visitor from another planet.

You have to imagine the honking yourself.

Tide’s out again.

An old steel lighthouse reflecting darkly on its glory days.

Who could resist a stop at Gretna Green?

34 years and 1 day after Charlottenburg Town Hall.

Nice camp site in Haverigg https://www.harbourlightscampsite.co.uk/

Black Combe smiling down at us.

Tide’s out. I think that might be the Ormonde offshore wind park that you can just see on the horizon.

Used to be an iron ore mine here but it looks colourful now.

– Fire in the night –

Today we watched the clouds and dreamed.

Today we stumbled over The Glentrool Kindness Path.

Be a warrior, not a worrier.

Stoned?

It is also called the alphabet path, so Q is for Queen. I think that this looks like a Scottish queen.

Nice bit of Obamaesque philosophy.

And S is for …

This is not the first Scottish bus-stop with an armchair & cushion, but this one has potted plants too!

This cheeky wee fellow seems to have been following us all around Scotland.

We stopped at Girvan, a small seaside town with a very small fishing harbour and this intervention on a letter box, presumably by the hairdresser, caught our fancy. I’m not sure what His Majesty’s Post Office would say, but I like it.

We are parked here https://www.glentroolcampingandcaravansite.co.uk/.

We spent the night next to Loch Venachar, a popular fishing spot.

…as you can see from this small private plaque.

It was a beautiful sunny day so went around the sculpture path in the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park.

What a bird.

Man in repose.

Eagle Pole by Rob Mulholland.

Before we drive further south, we went up Cow Hill to stretch our legs.

Kim trying his hand with a magic flute.

Gerhild went for a cheeky clarinet.

A tree harp?

Tree triangle.

Bongo drums.

After our walk, we set off for the Trossachs.

The road up from Glencoe as we drove south.

Parked in the shadow of Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest peak.

Today we set off early to the Fairy Glen https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/skye-places/fairy-glen

Good-sized hills for Gerhild.

Kim thinks it is underestimated, artistic sheep, not fairies, who are responsible for these curious bits of landscape.

Another gorgeous day for our last excursion on Skye.

A shady lady.

Today we went to look at Neist Point Lighthouse.

The single-track road to the lighthouse was full of passing places.

There it is, down there.

Some friendly Dutch folk snapped a picture.

You wouldn’t want to crash into that in a stormy night.

Nice day to laze about and read. Gerhild is reading Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout. Kim is reading A gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles.

Very colourful evening today.

Today we drove along a long single-track road to visit Portree.

The tide was out as we parked in Portree.

The houses around the harbour are colourful.

There is a coastal path https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/top-ten-skye-walks/scorrybreac

Ever dramatic landscape.

Interesting repurposing of an old church as a fish & chip shop. Heavenly grub.

We ate cullen skink soup for lunch (recipe).

https://www.isleofskye.com/skye-guide/top-ten-skye-walks/coral-beach

Is this the beach? No not yet.

Yeah, the Atlantic!

Good hill for a picnic.

A comfy seat for Gerhild.

Delicious sandwiches.

Yoo hoo.

Dramatic view of Loch Vegan and you can even see the castle if you squint a bit.

Fish & chips in the evening from the “Codfather” at the site entrance.

Mid morning coffee after the rain had stopped.

Stroll up the hill to see the The Duirinish Stone, an ancient rock erected in 2000 to celebrate the millennium https://www.myhighlands.de/en/duirinish-stone-st-marys-church/.

The walk was supposed to be easy.

After that rain, wellies might have been a good idea.

Still, it was an attractive walk.

To Dunvegan Castle. Nothing vegetarian, it’s the home for the chieftains of the McCleod clan.

This guy has a very un-vegetarian sporran.

An otter-sporran!

It was a rainy drive westwards.

The famous Eileen Donan Castle.

Stop for a picnic while the weather is changing.

The view from our door at our campsite in Dunvegan. https://kinloch-campsite.co.uk/

I like the village post office. How to upcycle old postboxes. They are on strike, of course.

Nice old cemetery with a blue sky.

Our camp site from the distance.

What a location!

And, as the sun sets slowly in the west…

Scottish sheep.

Loch Ness quite free from monsters.

The waterfall at Invermoriston.

Scotland is a great place to find antiques like this, with a WORKING telephone!

Nice campsite which they are building here. We are the sole guests apart from a friendly man with a prosthetic foot and a small white “Scotty” dog. https://www.forestglen.co.uk/

To get to the Hermitage you walk through a fine forest.

Next to a rippling river.

Then you suddenly find Ossian’s Hall, whatever that is.

Go through the hall and you find the thunderous Black Linn Falls.

Inside there are artworks & poems. This one reads –
See all around you the story
Behind the telling’s veil
Hear the antlered river’s words
Narrating it’s roar of a tale

Kim tried the hermitage for size.

The trees look down from dizzying heights, quite aloof from it all.

We had a delicious picnic here with a long view down into the Tay valley.

Not really a long way down, but enough to make Kim nervous.

Did some more washing and waited for the sun to come out.

The sun came out after lunch.

So we crossed Telford’s Bridge.

Looked around Dunkeld.

Tasted some whisky and bought some.

And walked back beside the River Tay.

Today we went to an art exhibition on the beach

Free entry.

Sort of abstract organic, or what do you think?

Mixed media.

A fish in disguise.

A portrait.

Very flamboyant!

Not still life.

Another portrait.

But who are the artists?

Yep, that’s one of them.

Another ephemeral object.

Time to walk back for lunch.

http://www.andyscottsculptor.com

Kim & The Kelpies

Parked right next to Kingsbarns beach for £10/day Google location

One happy girl on the beach.

One happy boy in a tree.

A golf course, of course.

Evening view over the North Sea.

Chairs Revisited

https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/the-chairs-revi-pleasance-dome-21247

Auf Wiedersehen me duck.

In Edinburgh’s Ukrainian Cultural Centre.

Edinburgh and the Firth of Forth from on high.

We popped in to Edinburgh’s contemporary art museum today.

France-Lise McGurn Bachelorette

Eduardo Paolozzi Master of the Universe

Scottish schoolchildren.

Scottish school.

Scottish ice cream.

Time and again theatre Earwig

https://www.littlesparta.org.uk/visit/ Ian Hamilton Finlay’s poem garden. Wikipedia article.
Location in GoogleMaps

Nearly there.

This is the right place.

Poems everywhere you look.

Well, almost everywhere.

Some on an island.

Some small.

Some large.

 
Boom

 
Famous Puppet Death Scenes

 
Tiger Lillies One Penny Opera

The Anniversary

The Return Of Sherlock Holmes With Nigel Miles-Thomas and Michael Roy Andrew. No video.

Gerhild in the Dovecote Studios.

Old friends near Edinburgh Castle.

Took the no. 11 bus into Edinburgh.

Our first show was called After the World Stood Still.

Then we spontaneously dropped in to the Beehive Inn.

To see there’s something about Mary.

By Daniel Downie

Same man, different show.

Mary Queen of Scots…

…in the Scottish Portrait Gallery.

A puppet dancing to his master’s tune.

Even the cake shops have performers in the window!

Today we crossed into Scotland. Wayhay.

Beautiful day again.

The hillsides were covered in Rose Bay Willow Herb Helpfully identified by Steve in the garden centre. (Schmalblättriges Weidenröschen)

Excellent camp site for our week in Edinburgh. Mortonhall Caravan & Camping Park £41/night

What is she looking at?

Something angelic.

Two angels.

Then we popped into the Baltic art centre in Newcastle.

Lakehurst Khorran.

Something for Kim to play with