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Caithness
2008-06-03 22:32:00
Caithness is the most northerly area of the Scottish mainland and has a long historical past with hundreds of Cairns as evidence of pre-historic peoples. Having recently decided to visit Caithness I visited for the first time The Grey Cairns of Camster and while the weather was cloudy I did manage to take a few pictures of ...
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Scotland weekend out
2007-07-02 14:47:00
We visited the area around Loch Tay recently and while the weather was less than perfect the scenery was brilliant and the view of Ben Lawers was still visible through the mist. This is a great location to visit and can easily be driven to from Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth or Fife.  Some of the roads are ...
More About: Scotland , Weekend

Pictures of Scotland
2007-05-14 17:30:00
I love taking snapshots of anything, I especially enjoy taking photographs of scenery and of my country, Scotland . I recently came across a website that sells pictures commercially and the site has a section on Scotland. Why mention this, simple really, one of the things I would like to be able to do is photograph skylines ...
More About: Pictures , Land

Glasgow 3D Model
2007-05-14 17:26:00
The Glasgow 3D Model is certainly worth having a look at. This is a 3D computer generated model made by SkylineGlobe for Glasgow City Council. You will need to will need to download the terra Explorer software (7.5MB) then go to the Glasgow Urban Model page and click on the 3D model link. If you are ...

Pictures
2007-04-07 11:11:00
We have been out and about with the great spring weather and I have added a few pictures I have taken of Dunkeld, hope you like them.  
More About: Pictures , Picture

Scotland Hill Walking
2007-04-07 09:48:00
Hill walking in Scotland is an all year activity, although many people like myself will go walking in Scotland during the spring and summer, often when we are on holiday. I recently came across a website that has loads of information on hill walking in Scotland and on the site is a Google Mountain Map ...
More About: Walking , Land , King , Hill

Swans
2006-12-02 16:04:15
I have over the last couple of years taken hundreds of pictures of swans and this morning was no exception.  As I was passing Lindores Loch in Fife I noticed a group of young cygnets on the loch so I stopped for a couple of minutes and snapped off a few pictures. If you would like this as wallpaper then I have a larger image located here  I did have hundreds of pictures on a photo gallery using Coppermine however I was constantly getting spammed and I decided to drop the software. I do think it is excellent photo gallery software and it is possible I just have not figured out how to stop comments being added. I did set the length of the comment to zero, however it did not stop the twits trying to leave url links and I just got fet up with it. I am now in the process of adding the photos to my site using ordinary web pages and I am also experimenting with Google Picasa2 and Simpleviewer - I just bought the Pro version of simpleviewer to allow me to play around with the layout. The f...
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October in Scotland and it feels like summer
2006-12-02 16:04:15
It has been reported that September has been one of the warmest recorded and it did feel like an Indian Summer , that is one that has come late in the year. Certainly it has been a fantastic summer this year and it takes me back to how summers used to be in the 70’s. At work last Friday I entered into a small competition with another 2 avid photographers. I hate to admit it both are better at taking pictures and I was envious of the pictures I was shown. Interestingly the pictures were in a 16×9 Aspect Ratio, a format I had never used. I have of course seen prints in this format and have thought they looked interesting. Anyway the competition is where we put in £2 each (for a bottle of wine) and the winner gets all. So the theme is Water and I went off snapping some photos with this theme. In the process I also experimented with the 16×9 picture format and while it does not look that cool on a blog (where the size is limited) it does look pretty good on an ordinary we...
More About: Scotland , Land , Like , Feel

?Monster? fossil find in Arctic
2006-12-02 16:04:15
The BBC has reported a massive discovery of sea monster fossils: The 150 million-year-old fossils were uncovered on the Arctic island chain of Svalbard - about halfway between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole and you can read more about this on the BBC website. And back to the old fossil that writes this blog - yes I won the “photo” competition the other day at work, not bad for an amateur up against two far more serious photographers. The BBC also have photo competions as well as daily photography sites and if you use this search link you will find some of the pages on the BBC about this. Maybe one day I will be good enough to enter these!
More About: Find , Monster , Ossi , Fossil

The Problems with Photographs
2006-09-25 03:45:02
Well I should start by saying that their is no problem with Photo graphs other than the amount of space they take up on your computer. My 4 + year old Dell desktop (or is it 5 years?, not sure as time seems to fly) has been struggling for a while and compared to the new computers at work they make my main machine feel like something out of the ark. The machine was bought with 1GB of RAM and a fast processor (at that time) now it feels like a 2CV going up a hill with 3 passengers. Now that does show my age, and most people will not even know what a 2CV is, well it is a fantastic car and you can read about it on wiki. So what has an old computer and a 2CV got in common, well other than I used to drive a 2CV and I now have a slow computer, not much. Both were/are slow. Yet yesterday I got around to shifting about 25GB of pictures off my main hard drive and then ran the Microsoft Windows Disk Defragmenter on the C: drive and low and behold my computer is now running approximately twice a...
More About: Graphs , With , Photographs , Problems

Relocate Scotland.com
2006-09-24 03:42:02
Well I just thought with all the mess that the Scottish Executive is getting into with Audit Scotland that RelocateScotland.com would be a cool name to snap up to help all the poor civil servants move to Inverness from their jobs in Edinburgh, or worse still to Glasgow. Now before you all get annoyed at me saying “or worse still to Glasgow” lets get something straight, I love Glasgow, it’s my home town. What I get pissed off about is some stupid politician making a decision to move people out of their homes and communities due to some form of political correctness. It is nearly as bad as white British males not getting jobs in certain police forces, just because some ****** said they need a propotion of black police and if you are white, male and British (or Scottish) then you are simply not good enough. Lets start getting real. Another thing that is really annoying me at moment is the advert on Scottish Radio about celebrating the lives saved due to smoke free Sco...
More About: Cat , Land , Locate , Cate

Magic Scotland Mushroom
2006-09-21 03:36:02
Yes I found my magic mushroom today, it has been a couple of years since I had them. To me a magic mushroom is one that tasts great and you know is not going to poison you! A picture of the mushroom in question is shown below along with a tin of beans, just so you can compare size.   Bigger picture for wallpaper This is a picture of a small puffball mushroom, a fungus in other words. I like it because there is no way you can get it mixed up with any of the mushrooms that are poisonous. I photographed my prize mushroom and then gave a bit to my next door neighbour. I am starting to eat the rest. How I cook this type of puffball is to cut it into a slice, about 25mm thick (1 inch in Scottish), I remove the skin although it is perfectly edible. I then fry it in butter, lots of butter and for those non-vegetarians it is brilliant fried with bacon. Ok I can hear you saying where do you get giant puffballs? You can find them nearly anywhere in the countryside and I found mine today at lun...
More About: Scotland , Magic , Mushroom , Land , Room

Windows Live
2006-09-16 03:30:08
I have my browser set to search.msn.co.uk until my last set of Microsoft Wind ows updates and suddenly I now have my browser set to the new, light blue theme Windows Live . Well I happened to live my old msn uk search and the Windows live is a bit different. Of course Microsoft will have spend millions on research to pick up on the best design, funny enough it is a lot more minimal, well I suppose Google hit it on the head with minimalism in relating a search engine, that is people often want to do one thing, and have it done well. So what do I think of Microsoft Live? well its ok, except that it defaults to a US search and that knocks off a lot of my own websites as they have .co.uk domain names and I find that msn.com tends to favour .com or .org domains while msn.co.uk favours our own native domain name types.  What a quandary for web developers do you use a local domain or an international or US based domain, I don’t have the answer to that one. All the search engines are tr...
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Tribal Tongues - Scottish Poetry
2006-09-08 15:09:10
At Elmwood College there was a rare site, a poet called Mark Thomson giving it laldy on the poetry night for students and staff. I unfortunately missed it however my colleague told me it was a brill night. If you want to get exposed to some modern Scott ish Poet ry then visit Mark’s Tribal Tongue s website where you can listen to some poetry.
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Holyrood saltire stars in space
2006-09-07 15:09:04
A saltire that has flown above the Scottish Parliament is to be taken into space on a Nasa mission. Astronaut Nick Patrick, whose mother is from Skye, will take the flag with him on his first space flight. Read the article on the BBC
More About: Stars , Space , Star , Salt , Pace

Glasgow, Kibble Palace
2006-09-02 02:57:05
Glasgow is seeing a rejuvination of many parts of the city including the river clyde development and at the Glasgow Botanic Gardens the Kibble which is nearing completion of its restoration into one of the finest historic glasshouses in Britain, and certainly in Scotland. A long time ago I was an apprentice gardener and used to look after the Kibble (in the 70’s). The tree ferns were at that time wonderfully exotic plants, however I used to enjoy working in the glasshouses (the main range) that had more jungle plants from places such as the Amazon. Back to the present, the Kibble has just completed a multi-million pound face lift and looks fantastic. The architecture of the building has been fully restored to original condition and must be on everyones “to visit” list when it is officially re-opened at the end of October. A couple of pictures of the Kibble are shown below:   For a larger picture of this picture click here For a larger image of this picture click h...
More About: Glasgow , Palace , Pala , Lace

Night Pictures : Scotland
2006-08-31 08:42:11
A couple of weeks ago we went to the Glamis Castle Summer Prom and I can tell you it was brilliant. Since then I am back at work after my 5 weeks off during the summer, one of the great things of working in a college. Anyway on the Sunday night after the final fireworks display I decided to snap a few night photos of the castle and anything else. I also snapped of this people picture … I also managed to use my camera to take some video pictures of the fireworks, unfortunately I have still not had time to edit them into a short video for the website. I also need to buy some video editing software.
More About: Pictures , Scotland , Picture , Night , Land

SNP set to seize power at Holyrood
2006-08-30 20:42:06
Based on the latest polls in Scotland the SNP set to seize power at Holy rood with ALEX Salmond appearing to be on track to take Scotland to the brink of independence, according to a startling new poll which shows the SNP has opened up a clear lead over Labour based on an article I read in the Scotsman. This is not surprising really when you consider the mess British politics is in with Tony Blair starting to become one of the most unpopular Prime Ministers due to the war in Iraq and other disastrous foreign policies. Well good luck to Alex, I for one though do not want independence.
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Reward to catch eagle poisoners
2006-08-23 20:36:03
A Reward to catch eagle poisoners has been made to try and catch the people (or person) involved in this crime. It may be that they were trying to poison foxes or some other predator however in the end they used a banned pesticide and killed rare golden eagles. If you have ever seen a golden eagle in the wild you can’t help admire this magnificant creatures. I have been seen them a few times around Wester Ross and they are just fantastic. If you want to read the news article on this click here, or to go to the RSPB Scotland website and their page on the reward being offered.
More About: Cat , War , Catch , Ward , Eagle

Restoration Village
2006-08-21 20:33:02
I was watching the BBC series called Rest oration Villa ge tonight. It was good to see that money has been allocated to restore some of our historical buildings in Scotland, yet it is disgrace that so much has been left to fall down. Visit the BBC website to read more about the Restoration series. The Scotland pages are Cromarty East Church, Black Isle, Scotland and this properties website. Dennis Head Old Beacon, North Ronaldsay, Orkney Greenlaw Town Hall, Berwickshire and the Town Hall website.
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Opening day for new Gaelic school
2006-08-21 20:33:02
A new Gaelic school for children aged from three to 18 is due to open its doors in Glasgow as reported on the BBC website.
More About: Open , School , Opening

Glamis Castle Summer Prom
2006-08-14 20:27:06
The Summer prom this year on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th August, so if you read this post sometime before this evening you still have time to turn up to the Sunday performance. The Prom on Saturday was brilliant and the firework display at the end of the evening and during the concert was magic. I do have some small digital camera video of the fireworks and I may put it up on Google video when I get time to editi the different performances of the fireworks. I did snap off a number of photos, and I have added a few to my Scotland blog, I have not got time to put larger versions on a website, as it is after 1 am and I should be in bed! So just short and sweet, some photos of the Prom.         I will try and add more pictures to a website in the next few days. So it’s off to bed for me after one of the best evenings of this Scottish summer.
More About: Castle , Glam , Cast

Bronze age boat in Scotland on the River Tay
2006-08-12 20:24:13
My dog sam ran off when we were down the park yesterday and the consequence was that I discovered the event of year for Newburgh, that is the raising of a 3000 bronze aged boat from the River Tay. So I snapped off about 2GB worth of pictures and movies using my digital camera. The light was not great so a fair number of the pictures were taken with flash, and I never seem to be able to take great pictures with a built in flash. Still I managed to take some interesting photographs and it was well worth the 3hrs I spent in my shorts (well I was only out walking the dogs). Funny enough my friend received a phone call while we were waiting for the boat to be lifted out of the water telling us that I was pictured on TV along with the rascal that had run away, Sam. So if you watched the reporting on this and you see a silly bald bloke wearing daft shorts and a guilty looking white collie cross, then I guess you have now know what I look like. It is now 1.11am on Saturday morning as I will...
More About: Scotland , Bronze , Boat , Land

Edinburgh - out of the bedroom
2006-08-11 20:21:21
How I came across a blog called out the bedroom I have no idea, honestly I “discovered” it a couple of hours ago doing something on a totally different subject (well my dog website infact) and I thought “a bit unusual” and as it is about activities happening in Edinburgh I just wanted to mention that the site http://blog.outofthebedroom.co.uk/ and as it says on the website “Out of the Bedroom is an open mic session for songwriters every Thursday evening donwstairs at the Canon’s Gait bar in Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. All songwriters - and anyone who wants to enjoy good original music - are welcome!” Well that’s it, short and sweet.
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Pictures of Scotland
2006-08-11 20:21:21
I love taking snapshots of anything, I especially enjoy taking photographs of scenery and of my country, Scotland . I recently came across a website that sells pictures commercially and the site has a section on Scotland. Why mention this, simple really, one of the things I would like to be able to do is photograph skylines and clouds. I just think clouds make for a beautiful photographic subject and there is something magical about them. I am not very good at explaining what I mean, just that when you look into the sky you can see art in the sky that changes with every movement. Sorry I am not much of a poet, nor am I very good at photographing clouds. Well Paul is very good at taking photographs of clouds, and many other pictures of Britain, so drop into pk4 images - landscape photography by Paul Gaythorpe and have a look at the Scotland pictures.
More About: Pictures , Picture , Land

Scotland Castles
2006-08-09 20:18:09
Visitors to Scotland will find many historical properties and gardens to visit. A large number of these are managed by Historic Scotland and the National Trust for Scotland. Both organisations do a great job at preserving our Scottish heritage while opening it up to the public. A fair number of the Historic Scotland sites are open to the public for free and if you visit their website you can find out more on these free historical properties. It can be expensive visiting castles and historical properties and gardens and I have a family annual pass for my wife and myself, this works out about £120 for 2 people for both organisations. It may seem a steep amount, yet you only need to visit one property a month to get your monies worth, and if you visit places such as Edinburgh Cast le , or Falkland Palace then you will easily spend £20 (for 2 adults) to get into these wonderful places. For Historic Scotland you also get a discount on anything you purchase of 20% (I think) and as their sho...
More About: Land , Castles

Glamis Castle Proms Weekend
2006-08-08 20:15:13
The Glam is Cast le Prom s Weekend is on Saturday 12th to Sunday 13th August (06) and it sure looks like a brilliant night out. We visited Glamis Castle for the first time last week and I think it is a great Scottish castle for a day out with the family. I am sure it will make for a memorable evening out if you can make the concert. You can book the concert online at the Glamis Castle website and also in various Tourist Information Centres aound the Angus and Perth areas of Scotland.

Free Jigsaws of Scotland
2006-08-06 20:12:08
I have just added a number of free to download and play jigsaw puzzles. Currently I have two sets of jigsaws available and more to go on over the next few weeks.   Jigsaw s based on pictures of Scone Palace and grounds - includes dogs, peacocks, goats and the Palace. Visit this page for free jigsaws.  For Free Jigsaw Puzzles with pictures of Glamis Castle. These jigsaws are in an executable file format i.e. .exe files and you should always have an up-to-date anti-virus software before dowloading anything from any website. My jigsaws are spyware free and are just good fun for all the family.
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Glamis Castle
2006-08-06 20:12:08
Glamis Cast le Over the last week or two I have been on holiday from my day job and have visited a number of great places throughout Scotland. Yesterday it was Glamis Castle in Angus. This castle was the childhood home of the late Queen Mother and retains the elegance and beauty that is associated with this wonderful lady. Today Glamis Castle is an ideal day out for anyone in Scotland and visitors to our country will not be disappointed if they visit. Entrance charges are reasonable and the restaurant is excellent. We had a salad for approximately £4 for a large plate, and as you help yourself you can eat as much as you put on your plate, brilliant value. The cakes looked fantastic however as it was absolutely roasting outside we had delicious Mackies ice cream.  There are also cold drinks and snacks available in the shop and you will find that cold water and drinks are a lot cheaper than served in the Glamis Castle restaurant. I was amazed when I looked at the price of the real ale...
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Glencoe - Scotland
2006-08-06 20:12:08
I recently came across the Glen coe Heritage Trust and found it interesting that individuals are working at preserving areas of importance to Scotland ’s heritage. You can visit the Glencoe site to learn more about how you can help with this project. For general tourism information one of my favourite sites is Undiscovered Scotland and yes they have a web page on virtually (well I guess) every area of Scotland. You will find their Glencoe informative and useful. For activity holidays around Glencoe then the Glencoe Outdoor Centre may be the site you are looking for.  For local accommodation in this area I know of one website run by John Winkler, his Glencoe cottage is available all year. You will also find local news on Glencoe. 
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