It’s birthday time- Say Cheese!

This is a big bag of cheese.

A big bag of cheese from Scottish artisan cheese shop I.J. Mellis.

And, it’s extra special as this big bag of I.J. Mellis cheese is birthday present cheese.  Yay!

In conjunction with the big bag of cheese, we also got some beautiful stag horn handle cheese knives and a lovely marble cheese board.

Double yay!

Let Glasgow Flourish!

With recent jaunts up and down the West Coast, I’ve neglected somewhere I love very much.  Glasgow.  So I’ve dedicated some time recently to reacquainting myself with my favourite city.  To start, the new Riverside Museum.

 

The hunt for Johnny Depp

Many weeks ago I heard Johnny Depp was visiting Scotland.  I made it my mission to find him.

Just to clarify, this was the subject of my search.

Note the hat, the camouflage jacket, the beardwork, the specs…not these particular specs, these one’s here…

Many doubted.

I did not give up…….

Still need convincing?

Mission accomplished.

Silence of the Jams

Post holiday blues.

Often comfort eating is the answer, but on this occasion, like many other occasions, comfort cooking is just the ticket.

We visited Grandpa, who lives in a cottage which seems to border both the countryside and another, simpler, era.  There we turned our hands to the therapeutic, almost trance inducing practice of blackcurrant picking.

Hours passed.  Sheep idled by, eyeballing us, wary of the busy worker bees that had descended on Grandpa’s blackcurrant bushes.  They made lousy guard dogs.  We plundered most of the ripe berries without much interference, other than the odd midge bite, and we slept well that night with rosy countrified cheeks and purple fingers.

Then we made jam.  Lots and lots of jam.  And Jelly.  Lots and lots of jelly.

And it was good.

Highland photo journal part 8- Glendale, Skye

Some places you go just have that magical feel that make you want to stay forever.  Glendale was one of those places.

 

It may have been the charming b&b we stayed in, the Byre, where the views were spectacular, or the food cooked by the landlady Diane, especially her gooseberry crumble, which the most lovely comforting home cooking….

…or the charming people like Craig, one half of Craig and Ellie who we met at the Red Roof  Cafe and Gallery where they own and run a lovely place full of was gorgeous looking home baking, food made from local produce, art and often music, or the stunning walks, like the one to Neist Point where the sheep have to have a head for heights and a good sense of balance…

 

Highland photo journal part 7- The Three Chimneys (a foodporn installation)

Oh Glendale, how lovely it was to see you and your rolling hills speckled with white dot houses, like a sprawling metropolis compared to Glasnakille.

We had just enough time to find our feet, our lunch, and our first toasty hot bubbly bath in days before the evenings activities commenced….Dinner at The Three Chimneys!  We, of course, had to warm up first and this is where our Applecross squat lobsters once more came to the rescue.

After a lazy afternoon watching the remains of the rain stream down The Byre window (our b&b, more on that later) it was time for the main event.  Dinner.  There is so much to cover after our visit to Glendale, I am dedicating this post purely to ‘the feast’ and will complete coverage of Glendale once this is fully digested.

Now, these may look insignificant, but these tasty little dumpings of cheesy joy represent the start of our culinary adventure.

So without further ado….  

Highland photo journal part 6- Elgol, Skye

I so wanted to be blown away with the epic scenery from Elgol.  I wanted to look into the fierce jaws of the Cuillins and be struck with awe and wonder.

This is what I saw:

Who ordered pea soup?!  Not me, but that’s what I got.  Oh well, 1 day our of 10 isn’t too bad.  Although I missed the views of the Cuillins I did manage to catch a brief glimpse of Elgol and Glasnakille, where we stayed in a camping hut in someones back garden.  Rock’n’ roll no?  Well, yes actually as we were informed by the locals this is also where KT Tunstall stayed.

 

Highland photo journal, part 5- Isle Ornsey, Skye

Our journey from Applecross to Isle Ornsey seemed relatively short compared to other journeys we have done recently.  We arrived nice and early.  It’s easy to see why the Sleat peninsula it is called the garden of Skye.  It is so green and lush compared to the moorland that covers much of Skye.

We arrived early which allowed us to take a long, long walk around a remote and unknown coastal area.  Stopping only to get lost and to have to backtrack over clifftops, rocks and boulders, and through ferns and nettles and grasses.  It was pretty though.

 

Highland photo journal, part 4- Applecross (a foodporn installation)

I promised foodporn…. but I also have to share my journey here and the provide a bit of background on the place that makes me happiest in all the world.

Having returned to Mallaig, we just managed to catch the calmac sailing to Skye.  Here’s our little adventurercar on board.

We skipped across Sleat and off over the bridge.

It may seem a long way round to sail to Skye, drive through it, then off again over the bridge, but it was much quicker than driving up over the mainland.

On arrival at Applecross we set up camp and made a spot of lunch using the local hot smoked salmon.

Yes, it was pretty amazing.

We then headed straight for the Potting Shed in the Walled Garden for carrot and walnut cake and a glass of wine.  The garden was looking beautiful, even in the light of the slightly greyed skies.

 

The last time we were here was in March when everything was suffering after the harsh winter.  It’s hard to believe the garden could have recovered, so it was nice to see how lush and colourful it was.  It looked like a scene from a fairytale.

 

Highland photo journal, part 3- Knoydart

So, Knoydart….

Being a regular visitor to Applecross, I thought I understood ‘remoteness’.  I didn’t.  Not until visiting Knoydart did I really appreciate how far removed from the outside world you could get.  There are two ways of getting here.  Walk, a journey that takes several painful hours across 17 miles of mountain, or sail.  We caught the 2.15 sailing of Bruce’s boat from Mallaig.  We were blessed with a relatively calm sea for the journey.

On arrival we took a stroll round the bay and found this…