I Learn to Felt

June 9, 2019

Today was an especially fun one! We woke up early and left our lovely apartment to drive a couple of hours to Fort William. We are all early risers and see no reason to spend vacation resting! The weather was a little overcast as Joan drove our small SUV along the twisting roadways to our first stop at Loch Ness. Unfortunately, the gift shop is not open this early and we are disappointed because we have shopped at this one before and know it is a good one.

But for another reason we are in luck!! This early Sunday morning when everyone else is apparently sleeping, Nessie makes an appearance! Yes, the old girl decided to grace these Americans with her presence and we hurriedly took pictures before she submerged again into the murky waters. Loch Ness is the second deepest Loch in Scotland and especially murky because of the high peat content of the waters. It’s a perfect hideout for our new friend, Nessie! But I know we will be back to see you again!

Soon the coffee kicks in and a bathroom stop is needed. Fortunately, we are quite near a spot that Ginny and I had explored two years earlier and I know there are public facilities. We hop out of the car and head to the building but there is a sign on the door that says that the WC is no longer available to the public. Drats! So Dana and Joan head up the street to the hotel while I explored St. Columba’s Well.

This well, or spring, has been here since the Pictish times and until the 6^th century AD the water was thought to be poisonous causing ulcers to appear when splashed on the skin. But then along came St. Columba who drove out the evil spirits and blessed the well and the water coming from it for all time, even causing folks to believe it had curative powers. Today there is a wooden stairway down to it and a viewing platform above it. Again, I just love the stone walls here covered in mosses and ferns!

Walking down the roadway we come to the real reason to stop here. The Invermoriston Old Bridge is here and a beautiful place to take photos! The humpbacked stone bridge was completed in 1813 to improve transportation across the Highlands. This bridge over the Invermoriston Falls was taken out of service in the 1930’s when the current car bridge was built. Today, the stone bridge is popular with hikers and photography buffs. It is much easier to get to since I was last here with Ginny in 2017. At that time we had to walk downhill over mud and wet slippery rocks to get to the bridge and falls. But since then a new wooden stairway has been built and it is much easier and safer access.

There is a second bridge just downriver a little bit with a charming round building built overlooking the river and I find myself wondering what it had been used for. As we walk back to the car we pass a charming private cottage with a flat roof on one side covered in grass. Imagine living next to the falls in a picturesque cottage with a fire roaring in both fireplaces on a cold winter night – I am enchanted. That is until I think about navigating these roads covered in ice!

Our next stop is Fort Augustus on the banks of the Caledonian Canal. This Sunday morning boaters were locking through the canal headed to the Loch. There are 29 locks along the canal which is located in the Great Glen, on a geological fault in the Earth's crust. I watched a few go through their locking routine along with several other people who were standing on the edge with me watching. It was pretty fascinating. Interestingly, the ones pulling the boats along the canal were mostly women while the men stayed on board and rode! We wound up this stop by doing a little shopping - dang I am starting to accumulate a lot of stuff! LOL

Wherever I travel in the world, if there is a gondola to ride then I try to ride it! I love being up high and looking around at the gorgeous views! This trip we are riding the Nevis Mountain Gondola, the UK’s only mountain gondola up the north face of Aonach Mòr, the 8th highest mountain in Britain. Built originally for skiers, it is now used year round by hikers, bikers, (no-fear people who take the gondola up 650 meters with their bikes and then ride down the mountain!!) and sight-seers like myself. It is a little foggy and light drizzle is falling but we are in high spirits and climb aboard.

The views from the top are spectacular even shrouded in light fog. We are hoping for clearer views and it is lunch time so we check out the cafeteria. I have eaten in a lot of ski lodge cafeterias and the

food is usually passable. But this place was different! They had several delicious looking choices and I finally settled on meatballs – from the chef’s personal recipe I was told – and carrot cake. Let me tell you, both were wonderful! Dana and Joan ate beef stew and they said it was very good too! This place definitely gets two thumbs up for lunch!

We lingered over lunch and lo and behold – the sun is coming out! We go back outside to the viewing porch and take more photos this time with sunshine and cloud shadows falling on the scenery below. It is truly breathtaking and I am so glad we visited here. My heart is happy as it always is when in the mountains and I hate to leave but we have an appointment with an art class this afternoon!

I have followed a felt artist on Facebook for a couple of years (Sarah @Artisan Felt Studio) and have even purchased some of her work – a wall hanging of the Callanish Standing Stones. When I knew we were coming back to Scotland I contacted Sarah and asked her if she would be able to hold a felting workshop on the afternoon that we would be in her area. Happily, she agreed and we set it up. Sarah is located a short drive from Fort William in the hamlet of Ballachulish and we hustled our way there since we had dawdled a bit too long at the gondola.

Ballachulish means "the Village by the Narrows" at the mouth of Loch Leven and is surrounded by the mountains of the Ben Nevis range. Slate was mined here for roof tiles for many years and was the major industry from the 1600’s until the quarries closed in 1955. The reason for closing is because the slate had too much iron pyrite in it and the iron would rust away leaving holes and a rusty streak. Now, tourism is the major industry in the town.

But we are here to learn about felting! I had chosen a picture of Craigh na Dun that I wanted us to do.

When we arrived Sarah had towels laid on the table and hanks of wool set out. After chatting a bit we got busy! First, we were given wool to pull bits from and make a base layer for the felt from white wool. Then we were given great instructions as to how to layer the colors to form the design of the trees, water, landscape, and the stone. With Sarah’s help and instructions it was pretty easy! Then the soap and boiling water came out and was applied to the raw pieces. Finally, after an hour of rubbing the wool with soap and water the final product of a felted piece came into view! We were so excited and this class was so much fun! It took all afternoon to do but it was time well spent and now we have a beautiful creation to hang in our homes! I am so glad that I pursued this opportunity to learn from a true artist and meet this wonderful lady! Thank you, Sarah!

It was time for dinner and Sarah recommended a seafood restaurant on the other side of the loch. We stopped to take a few photos along the way because it is so beautiful here! The rhododendrons are in bloom and cover the hillsides. We saw some people setting up a tent to stay at the side of the loch. Here in Scotland there is a “Right To Roam” law that allows people access to public as well as private land. Access rights apply to any non-motorized activities, including walking, cycling, horse-riding and wild camping. They also allow access on inland water for canoeing, rowing, sailing and swimming. This law is quite different from the US where private property is no to be crossed unless invited. Once in Scotland I even saw a sign on a fence that said you were welcome to cross the area but to be aware and wary of the bull that pastured there!

I splurged on dinner tonight and enjoyed lobster and roasted potatoes. Yum yum! Darkness comes quite late here and as we headed to our lodging for the night we did not realize that it was as late as it was! When we arrived back in Fort William at our hotel we were ready to rest! But no, we first we had to lug our very heavy suitcases up the stairs to our very small room! Yes, tonight we were very cozy with one double bed and a twin tucked in under the rafters in a round room. It was very tight but we will make the best of it – after all…..we are lucky enough to be in Scotland!!

A visit to the Orkneys

June 8, 2019

Saturday morning finds us up early and catching a bus in Inverness to ride the 120 miles to the village of John o’Groats in the far north of Scotland. The settlement of 300 people takes its name from Jan de Groot, a Dutchman who once plied a ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney. Local legend has that the "o' Groats" refers to John's charge of one groat for use of his ferry. 

We chatted the bus hours away all the while enjoying beautiful views of Scotland and the rocky cliffs and sandy shores of the North Sea. We spent a little time in John o’ Groats doing some shopping. Of course, we took the tourist obligatory photo at the landmark "Journey's End" signpost! We grabbed a sack breakfast to eat on the way to the Orkney Islands and we were off! We boarded the “Pentland Venture” and settled in with our breakfast to chat with a couple visiting from Belgium. Part of the fun of vacation is talking to the wonderful people that I meet. Never one to avoid a new conversation, we exchanged favorite places we each have seen recently and the windswept ride passed quickly and soon we are pulling into port.

Separated from the northern tip of mainland Scotland by the choppy waters of the Pentland Firth strait, the Orkney Islands are an archaeological wonderland made up of about 20 inhabited islands. We boarded another bus and saw more quaint stone cottages along the seashore, a darling little stone church and graveyard, and a couple of rusting shipwrecks. Our first destination is St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall. St Magnus (why there is not a period after St I do not know, but all my research shows it without a period) is the most northerly cathedral in the United Kingdom. Construction began in 1137, and it was added to over the next 300 years and even has a dungeon.

As always, I find myself looking up. With magnificent arched ceilings and huge pillars, this Romanesque architecture uses red sandstone quarried near Kirkwall and yellow sandstone from the island of Eday, often in alternating courses or in a checkerboard pattern. It is very striking to look at! I loved the beautifully carved wooden baptismal font and wooden doors, and I found many stone carvings of skulls along the walls. Pretty cool!

We journeyed on to the site of Skara Brae. “Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement consisting of eight clustered houses, it was occupied from roughly 3180 BC to about 2500 BC and is Europe's most complete Neolithic village.” (previous info from Wikipedia.) It is said to have been discovered in 1850 when a storm struck Orkney and dispersed the sand and soil which had buried the site. In this exposed site I can see that totally happening. The wind was howling today and the waters of the sea were wild. I can see why the people who inhabited here built the houses into the earth – a kind of underground dwelling. All the furniture of the house was made of stone also, even the beds!

We are not able to go into the actual ancient village but instead walked on paths around it looking down into the rooms. There was a replica house that we could walk through and I thought a sort of pit in the ground to hold cold foods was pretty genius for the time. If only they had a cold soda to keep in it! There was a lot of walking out to the site and back and we certainly added to our step counts today!

This part of the world is filled with stone circles and here in the Orkneys is no exception. We stopped at the largest and most famous one, the Ring of Brodgar. Oh, and did I mention it was windy today? We walked quite a way and crossed a bridge over a wetland area and followed a long path to get to the actual stones. It is the third largest stone circle in the British Isles and the stone circle is 341 ft. in diameter. The ring originally had up to 60 stones, of which only 27 remained standing. We were close to the summer equinox today but I did not hear any buzzing! (Outlander fans will understand this) Some of the stones were huge and I continually wonder how in the world people got these things erected! It is a beautiful location with lush greenery, mountains in the background, and the sea nearby. I see tons of brown heather so I can imagine it is lovely when the heather is in bloom and the color purple abounds. Next time maybe!

Our final stop of the day is at the Italian Chapel. This lovely Catholic chapel was built during WW II by Italian prisoners of war. When reading about its construction, it was just too interesting not to include in my writings. This next information is taken from Wikipedia: “550 Italian prisoners of war, captured in North Africa during World War II, were brought to Orkney in 1942. They worked on the construction of the Churchill Barriers, four causeways created to block access to Scapa Flow. In 1943, Major Thomas Pyres Buckland, Camp 60's new commandant, and Father Gioacchino

Giacobazzi, the camp's Catholic priest, agreed that a place of worship was required. The chapel was constructed from limited materials by the prisoners. Two Nissen huts were joined end-to-end. The corrugated interior was then covered with plasterboard and the altar and altar rail were constructed from concrete left over from work on the barriers. Most of the interior decoration was done by Domenico Chiocchetti, a prisoner from Moena. He painted the sanctuary end of the chapel and fellow-prisoners decorated the entire interior. They created a facade out of concrete, concealing the shape of the hut and making the building look like a church. The light holders were made out of corned beef tins. The baptismal font was made from the inside of a car exhaust covered in a layer of concrete.”

Next to the chapel is a War Memorial with a statue of Saint George who was a Greek soldier sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith. Saint George is the patron saint of soldiers and all people protecting the nation.

As others dozed lightly on the bus ride back to Inverness, I chatted the time away with the bus driver.  I was in the front seat and I learned that he has been a tour bus driver for 30 years. I did feel comfortable knowing this as we wound around the roads and up and down the hills. I must tell you that the tour bus drivers are incredible! How they manage those giant busses on narrow streets and around hairpin turns amazes me. Sometimes there simply is not room and they just drive up on the sidewalks! Soon, we are back in our spacious flat and calling it a night! There are more adventures in store tomorrow!