Ceolas I: Saturday Jun 30th to Wednesday Jul 4th 2012

I went up by train to Glasgow, expecting to catch a connection to Oban. However, due to copious quantities of precipitation, there'd been a landslide on the line and we had to take a bus.
We took a left at Tyndrum, down the A85 and I was in tears at the beauty of Glen Lochy. There was no point in a pic - the bus windows were spotted with rain, but the memory lives on :-)
After the Glen we passed Kilchurn Castle & LochAwe, went along the Brander pass, & through Taynuilt where we hit Loch Etive. A left at Connel (where I'd watched whirlpools with Rob, Bob, Rosie & Jonny >10yrs before) & along to Oban with a glimpse of Dunstaffnage. Once I'd found the hostel & checked in, I made enquiries IRO food & decided to go over to Kerrara & eat seafood. No surprise there then ;-)  It was a pretty wet day, all told, & as I was on the 1st ship out the next day, I went more or less straight to bed ~ via a couple of pubs & a few glasses of malt.
I did take a pic of my room (complete with old friend, stunt bum bag), but it disappeared somewhere :-(
Next morning I was off across the Firth of Lorne, up the Sound of Mull, & across the Sea of the Hebrides to Lochboisdale. Here are two views as we sailed out of Oban, one of a castle on Mull, & a cute little lighthouse.

The crossing was pretty rainy, but there were loads of Ceolas peeps all playing away all over the ship. It was great. One bloke was even playing his pipes, but had an attachment on it so only he could hear.
I met a few folks for a chat, including one lady who was there for the dancing like me ~ Annie.
We were met by Ceolas officials with minibuses, & piped off by a guy in a kilt. What a welcome :-)

Quite a few of us were staying at the hostel at Daliburgh. This was only about a 3 min walk to Daliburgh school where the Ceolas would be held all week.
Having unpacked I followed my ears & found peeps already jamming.
A Scot, another Scot, a Romanian woman & a Frenchman who'd brought 2 harps, a fiddle & a flute!

Next morning I started my Step-dance classes, a Gaelic class, & a Reels & Quadrilles (R&Q)class. Our teacher was Frank, & there was always live music ~ fiddle, accordion, or both. There are photos in the next blog from later in the week.
On the Monday evening there were house ceilidhs, & I went to the one at the Priest's house where the scones were awesome :-q   Peeps brought instruments & voices, & there were little music sessions in at least 2 rooms. Someone managed to knock my arm when I was holding a glass of red. It went all over my white jeans. Fortunately, it all came out in the wash. Meanwhile a kind person took me back to the hostel to change :-)
Not realising there'd be classes all day, before I'd left I'd booked a ride on the only stables I could find. So, come Tuesday afternoon, I caught the bus to Benbecula & went along this nice beach.
And back the same way :-/ Pretty boring (I did the same on a Welsh beach in Nov13 which maybe indicates school proprietors think all most riders are interested in, is bombing along a beach??) The horse was a piebald called Donald, who was heavy & had a disunited canter - see Polo blog. Not a great ride all told :-/
Of course I got the usual 'horse's ears' shot, & also made Donald hang back a bit to take the evidence of our 'there & back again' ride
During one of the walking bits I spotted a nice looking shell, so pulled up to get it. Then I found another.
I think the girl was horrified I should dismount on a windy beach, but there was no problem even if the mounting block wasn't available.
Why do they make you use one these days? It's not like I can't get on most things without one!
After the ride it was a while until the next bus back south, so I spent most of it in one of the two shops near the riding school ~ to keep out of the rain!
Once back in Daliburgh, it was time to get fed, so I joined the archaeologists in the kitchen.
Next day I was behind ~ having missed the pm Step (which is a mixture of tap & Irish & something unique) on Tuesday. We did a 'crossover waltz in R&Q. 
Once classes were over I bought some out-of-date Club Orange at the Spar & ate 4 on the way home - oops!
Tea over, it was time to get ready for the (dancing) ceilidh on Eriskay.
We got taken there by bus & some of the teachers at the Ceolas were in the band. There were quite a few Hendersons - apparently they're pretty famous & I'd seen CDs of theirs in the Benbecula shop.
OK. No idea why I can't get that last para to go after the shell photos, but after cutting & pasting to no avail for nearly half an hour, I'm giving up and signing out.
Ceolas Part II in a bit
OAO

 

Stonehenge: Summer Solstice 2012

I finally got to go to the solstice.

I drove down on the Tuesday after doing a morning at work. I only stopped twice: once for a petro/loo/brew stop on the M5, & then on the A303 at a cherry stall.

I'd seen a programme on the telly about the A303 & how it afforded a good first glimpse. He wasn't wrong. Once on the A344 I pulled up & took a few pics over & through the fencing. I was glad it was a good day & the weather showed it at it's best.

I noticed a lot of people 'doing the tour' were outside of an area fencing in the stones. I wasn't sure how close I'd be able to get the night following, but they were pretty impressive in the afternoon sunshine.

After a wander up & down to get these pics, I got back in & headed for Shrewton down the road west.

Here are some Shrewton trees. Shame one is sideways, but I can't figure out how to turn it on blogger.

The Manor House at Shrewton was full of cats. Not terrifically hygienic, but hey! I survived ;-)




I wanted to take the apricot kitten home, but when I came back from my trip to Salisbury on the Wednesday, someone else had taken her. Perhaps a good job, given Kuni's aversion to new folk in the house!

The apricot with Pteppic-like ears

See what I mean about hygiene!

I  had a wander round the village after tea & found a Zumba class for Thursday morning!

After a long day & a long drive I hit the sack ~ complete with cat ;-p

I was up early to go & see Salisbury, taking the direct route down the A360, a picture of a nice little weir & trees.


I managed to find free parking for the day just out of the town centre, & did a bit of charity shop shopping. 
It appears there is a better class of charity shop down there ;-)

I also checked out the restaurants for the meal with Kim & Opkar later.



The Cathedral is lovely & has an awesome font. It's like an infinity swimming pool. 



There were some great trees there, too.

This is one of the cottages in Cathedral Sq.

I bought myself some goodies & a drink & sat down with a book in the little park near the car.

I got company after a while, but he/she didin't fancy the bit of banana I threw.
As you can see from the foot, he/she was quite close.


I wasn't meeting Kim & Opkar until after tea, so I took the scenic rout home around 4, washed & changed & back down for a lovely meal in sight of the spire.
I tried to persuade them to join me for the Solstice, but they had no wets with them, & rain was forecast.


Once back at Shrewton, on advice of the owners, I left the car & hitched in, getting picked up by 4 guys in a Transit.
The car park was already pretty full - by about 9.30pm, & not taking the car proved to be a good idea.

I'd packed a bottle in my little ruckie - wrapped in my wets, & managed to get it thru 'customs' at the gate. They had sniffer dogs, but they took no notice of me.


By the time I'd wandered past all the food & drink stalls it was much darker, & over by the stones there was a lot of music.




Inside the circle it was heaving & I did a couple of revolutions, getting nearer & nearer the middle.

Eventually I was there, & found a stone to climb on so I could see. There was a girl already up there ~ Sarah

I hung out with her for a bit, & then, at about half 12, went to find somewhere to lay my head.

Eventually I lay down in the lee of a fallen stone ~ having donned my quilted waterproof pants & an extra hoodie. I'd packed a waterproof picnic blanket which I wrapped round me & settled down for a few hours sleep in the rain.

Unfortunately, nothing was very waterproof at all, & by 0230 I gave up trying to sleep in the rain (nice idea, tho, eh?), & went for a wander.

This is me between 2 of the stones at about 0245

There were some peeps spinning light wands, & even with just 'night landscape' on, the camera managed a reasonable job :-)

Big stones!

As dawn wasn't too far off, I made a quick loo stop & got a hot drink (very expensive coffee in a small plastic cup), before heading out east to where Arthur Pendragon was officiating.
There were a few hand-fasts, some singing and poetry, and some new appointments of officials before Arthur got down to welcoming the new day / year.

Apologies for the blurry pics, but my hands were freezing (even tho it was midsummer's night) &  I was shivering a bit, & it was actually still pretty dark/not light at this point, despite it there being an apparently blue sky!

Once Arthur had done his stuff, I exited near the east end & walked west up a deserted A344 towards Shrewton. 

Just after the junction with the A360, a bloke from Warminster answered my thumb & dropped me off at Shrewton at about 10 to 6.


I put my head down for a few hours (Complete with cat!), then headed off to the village Zumba class. It was pretty staid, but woke me up a bit, at least.

Immediately afterwards I drove right over Salisbury Plain, following the white horse signs on my atlas, & suddenly found myself at Silbury Hill.
So I parked up & had a wander round, having remembered a prog on the telly about it being a man-made mound, & the excavations they did inside to try & find out what it was for.

As I had at Moeraki etc., I took pics of the info.
Unfortunately they're not very readable.

Maybe they would be if copied & pasted? ? ?

Anyway, anyone who's interested can google.

After about 1/2 hr I made my way to Avebury, & the pic is of Kennet Avenue with joins Avebury with the Sanctuary, a couple of miles away. There is also a big mid-summer celebration at Avebury, & all the roads leading in were coned-off. 

As I was pretty hungry I found a gateway into a field & parked up there while I ate I got some pics. Duly fed, it was back in the car to Marlborough where (according to colleague, Gill) there was a good cake shop :-q. More charity shops & a couple of cake shops later, I headed home for some proper food & more cats. Plus, as you can see - Sudoku too.

As I was due in work that afternoon, the next morning (Friday) I was on the road for 8ish, & went via Bath during rush hour ~ bad move :-(  However,the rest was fine, & me & my little blue car pulled into Warbreck House drive at just before 1215. Not bad for about 250 miles.

Not proofed this as off to Zumba in 10 min, so

OAO & apologies for typos