Our Weekly Ride in the Country

Our weekly ride in the country nearby took us out past Granite Falls on the Mountain Loop Road to Verlot. This place is small village situated between the Mt Pilchuck State Park and the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. It lies at the bottom of the valley along the Stillaguamish River. When we arrived, it was raining (surprise).

A Few Useful Things and Some That Aren't

Today, I thought I'd bring you a few items ranging from the frivolous to the serious to keep various parts of your brain engaged.

First up is the Calf of Man viewed while standing in a darned brisk wind. This is the view from Cregneash, just inland a short way from the coast.

The efforts of others below the fold.

Where's a Magazine Salesman When You Need One?

Far Side by Gary Larson is available again for the first time. Find it at https://www.thefarside.com.

This pretty much sums up self-isolation.

A little more of Snohomish

I realise that I'm using up my only subject pretty fast, but it has to happen sometime. Things I can walk to are, of course, limited, but maybe as time passes, I'll be able to take some short drives.

Snohomish, a Quiet Little Town

Spring has arrived here in the PNW. The cherry trees, redbuds and camellias are blooming and the temperature is beginning to moderate.

Hope Everyone is OK

It seems to be a good time to take a breath and touch base with everyone since we are all now in various stages of quarantine. Since we are in western Washington, in one of the worst places for the coronavirus, I'm sure many of you are wondering how it is going and we, of course, are concerned about all of you.

Back Home

So, we're home now (actually, we have been for several weeks). I purchased some new lens equipment  and made a foray out to test them out along the Snohomish River near Everett.

Dómkirkja Krists konungs

Although Iceland is a predominately Church of Iceland (Lutheran), country, it does have a Catholic Cathedral. To be clear, I don't think that Icelanders are mostly any sort of religion these days, but the main one among those that have one is their flavor of Lutheran.

Fríkirkjan í Reykjavík

Out and about in Reykjavik, I thought I'd bring you a little of the city, just to give you a feel for that the place is like.

Hallgrimskirkja

After our long and exciting day tour, we decided to spend the day (after a slow start to get our spirit caught up with us) walking about the city to see what we could see of Reykjavik.

Snaefellsnes Peninsula - Part 3

This farmhouse sitting along the main road was framed by some rugged mountains. This is one the images that really conveys the emptiness of this beautiful place.

Snaefellsnes Peninsula - Part 2

At one stop on our tour, we hopped out of the bus in time to catch the light on this small house all along in the field.

The Snaefellsnes Peninsula

Roughly an hour and half's drive north of Reykjavik is the Snaefellsnes peninsula. Jutting westward, this dramatic land is filled with neck-twistingly beautiful mountains. We clearly picked the right time of year to see this. The snow really accentuates the fields and the stone mountains.

Reykjavik

Since Iceland is on the way home from the UK, we decided that we'd stop over here for a few days to have a look about. Think of it as a reconnoiter for a future, more extensive visit.

What you see above is the view from our hotel in the center of town. Reykjavik is a modest sized city of 123,000. Including the surrounding suburbs, it totals about 217,000. Very few buildings above 5-6 storeys.

Glasgow Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral

This church, completed in 1814, lies on the banks of the Clyde in downtown Glasgow.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

After leaving Perth at the end of our (last, for this trip!) house sit, we headed by train to Glasgow for a couple nights to catch our breath and repack for our plane flight.

While here, we headed over to Kelvingrove. This is a park located along the Kelvin river. One side borders the University of Glasgow. This is the place where William Thompson, Lord Kelvin worked most of his life and the river provided the name of his Baronetcy.

Falls of Bruar

North of us, well into the southern edge of the highlands, lies Blair Atholl. nearby is the expansive campus of the House of Bruar, an upscale all-in-one shopping center for all things Scottish...food, clothes, hunting and fishing equipment, and gifts.

The Church and Cemetery in Dron

We are housesitting in the Manse and, of course, immediately next door is the church and cemetery. the weather finally got to be good enough that we no longer had an excuse to put off a visit.

Lock Leven

A bit south of us is Loch Leven, a small lake with even smaller islands in it.

Fortingall

We headed north, a bit farther into the highlands to visit the very small settlement of Fortingall.

Dunkeld Cathedral

A bit north of us is Dunkeld with its cathedral. It was begun in 1260 and completed in 1501. It has the curious distinction of being both a ruin and a functional church. The earliest parts of the current building date from 1318. It was partially destroyed during the reformation in 1560. The choir of the building has a roof and is currently used for the local parish church.

Scone Palace

On a wet and blustery day we made our way to Scone Palace just outside Perth to check out the grounds (a little) and visit the shop (more so).

Dron Treescape Again

A short walk from where we are staying is this tree at the edge of a very soggy field. As you can see in the distance, the sky is getting darker. About 5 minutes after this image was taken, I was forced to retreat when the rain started in earnest.

This is the state of things here: one minute it is fine weather, the next it is raining or snowing or both.

I like these UK trees silhouetted against the sky.

St. Madoes Cemetery

The village of St. Madoes stands along the north bank of the river Tay not far from the A90. Here, at the edge of town, we find the church and cemetery.

Abernethy Tower

A visit to the nearby town of Abernethy reveals a real treasure - the Abernethy Round Tower. I quote from the Wikipedia article:

The Abernethy Round Tower is a stone-built Irish-style round tower which stands at the edge of the cemetery in Abernethy, Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

I don't know exactly what the symbols on the Pictish stone at the base of the tower represent but I can guess. A hatchet with a handle and one without, what appears to be a sword in a stone and a rose are seem to be symbols of power and loyalty.

Moreover, this tower stands where...

 ...Malcolm III of Scotland paid homage to William the Conqueror some six years after the Battle of Hastings.

 Pretty cool, eh?

Along the Road to Dron

We are staying in a house in the small settlement of Dron. On the way to our current slice of paradise, we pass between these two trees every day. Today, we had a bit of sun so I jumped out of the car for a quick photo.

While you can tell that the ground is wet and there is some water alongside the road, what you cannot tell is that the non-paved parts are really soggy. All the rain in these parts is really being felt.

Also note the width of the road compared to the size of the car you see in the distance.

St. Martin's

The cemetery that surrounds St. martin's church is a fascinating one. There are many stones with a thick covering of moss such as the one above.

Rait

It is clear why sportsmen (and women) hunt pheasants. Not only are they tasty (pheasant-under-glass anyone?) but they are very skittish birds and difficult to get near. Pheasants are hard to hunt and there's the challenge. When I get out of the car with my camera, they all start running and then flying away...all, except this one.

Easter Rhynd Cemetery

Even though Thomas Baird is a relatively recent addition to this village of the dead, he has one of the more remarkable stones. This is lying on its back looking at the sky. I cannot tell if the ship means he was a sailor but if he was, he's in a good position now...always watching the sky.

Kinfauns Cemetery

Not far from the Abernyte church is this graveyard in Kinfauns. I like the way the year is obscured by the moss growing on the stone.

Abernyte Churchyard

Now that storm Dennis has mostly passed and all we have left is some wind (mild compared to Isle of Man), we headed out for a look about. Our first stop on this outing is the churchyard at Abernyte. This is a pretty old church having been rebuilt in 1672 and 1736. Unfortunately, my interior photos basically suck (really dark inside), so you won't see them. Here is the interesting stuff from the cemetery around the church.

Welcome to Perth

We've arrived in a tiny settlement just outside a small town not far from Perth. We are surrounded by farmland. Right now, very muddy farmland. After Ciara passed through, things are pretty well soggy. These images were made in a break in the weather on the eve of the arrival of Dennis.