Scotland

The sloping headland in the middle distance is part of Eigg, and the hills in the distance are on Rum. Eigg and Rum, along with Muck and Canna, make up the Small Isles, just off the coast of Arisaig and Mallaig in the north-west Highlands. 'The Isle of Eigg', by the McCalmans: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SVVnlWt0bY

HFF and mind the ducklings! [never seen slow ducklings before - mostly they whizz about like turbocharged furry tennis balls with flippers...... ;-) ]

The brand new V&A design museum just a few weeks after its official opening, looking splendid in the autumn sunshine. Next to the gallery is the RSS Discovery, the ship which took Scott and Shackleton to Antarctica. The shadows on the side of the museum are the masts of the Discovery and the dome of the Discovery centre. www.vam.ac.uk/dundee www.rrsdiscovery.com and a fence - HFF all!

Another from Dundee - the Discovery Centre in the background, the masts of the RRS Discovery. and reflections in the 'moat' around the new V&A design museum. HFF!

The names of the 134,712 men and women listed in the Scottish National War Memorial Roll of Honour are currently (Sunday 11th November) being projected onto the wall of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, with each name appearing on the wall for about 10 seconds. The projection includes names of Scottish servicemen, munitions factory workers, Merchant Navy personnel, and overseas servicemen who fought on behalf of Scotland during the war. The screening began at 5pm and will finish at midnight. It is currently being shown live on www.scottishparliament.tv I was particularly struck by moments such as this, when virtually the entire wall is filled with a single name - in this case John Anderson, such a common name in Scotland. Each of these John Andersons was an individual, from a village or from a city, from the mainland or from an island, with family and friends and a story of his own.

The little village of St Cyrus perches above a huge beach, now a nature reserve. Traditional salmon fishing using nets was carried out on the beach for many years, and there are several old stone built ice houses which were used for keeping the salmon chilled before transporting them to market. A slightly precarious path takes you along the edge of the cliffs for a mile or so before dropping down to shore level, where the path continues to Johnshaven, Gourdon, Invervbervie and beyond. It's a beautiful walk, especially on a glorious sunny day towards the end of the year.

One of the many Stevenson lighthouses (this one was built by David and Thomas), opened in 1870. The elegant tower is 39 metres high. It was a beautifully calm day, and very mild for the end of December. I liked how the little clouds were suggestive of waves. A sort of fence around the top, so HFF! PS. I love the little ochre-coloured horizontal band and the matching ochre lintels - unnecessary but very pleasing.

We love this fence at the RSPB nature reserve at Loch Leven. And through one of the decorative holes cut in the fence, we spotted three little egrets. HFF and have a good weekend to all - sorry we've not been around much lately.