A Quiet day

Today I decided I wasn't keen on driving much, so we only went as far as Oban. We did some window shopping and some real shopping too.

I bought a book at waterstones - the latest Bill Bryson book "At Home."

I enjoy his writing very much and I have most of his books.

After a coffee, we heade back to Otter Creek. We had a lazy afternoon and had an evening meal at the Taynuilt Inn. For me a delicious steak and ale pie.

Tomorrow we'll head over the Connel Bridge and head towards Fort William.

Some more photos from yesterday's trip.

Pre-Historic Scotland

Today was another beautiful sunny day, thank God.

We decided to head to Oban and then down towards Lochgilphead.

We stopped there for a visit to the Catholic Church, then had a bite to eat, wandered round the small town, then headed over to Tarbert, a pretty, colourful little fishing village. I took some photos, then we headed back towards Oban.

On the way we stopped at a number of historic places. There is quite a lot of evidence of the ancient Scots to be found in this area. There are carved stones, standing stones and burial cairns to be found in the area of Kilmartin Glen, and the impressive Iron age fort at Dunadd.

The Fort occupied a high vantage point as can be seen from my photos, and was an important place of occupation. For more information, follow the link at the end of this blog, or google Dunadd Fort.

There are some stone carvings at Dunadd, including two feet carved into a stone.

By then it was late afternoon, so we decided enough was enough and we headed back to Otter Creek at Taynuilt. There is a limit to how much history one can assimilate in one day.

Photos show Tarbert, carved stones, and Dunadd fort.

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/

Oban

We are staying near Oban for a few days. Our temporary home is a modern studio flat called the Look Out at Otter Creek in Taynuilt.

We arrived yesterday. Today the sun has shone. We got to Mass last night at the Cathedral in Oban.

Today we went for a drive. We stopped at the nearby Bonawe Historic Iron Furnace which was founded in 1753 by a business man from the Lake District who found a regular supply of wood for the funrnace difficult to come by. There was much wood in this area.

After that we drove towards Oban and stopped off at Dunstaffenage castle and Chapel. This is an impressive castle built in 1275 on a huge rock overlooking the Firth of Lorn. in 1309 it was captured by Robert The Bruce. In 1746, it was a temporary prison for Flora MacDonald, the heroine who helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after the failure of the 1746 Jacobite Rebellion.

From there we passed through Oban on to cross the Atlantic ocean at the Atlantic Bridge near on Seill Island.

Photos are of Bridge, Chapel and castle

and Ironworks.

For more info on these places..go to

http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/

Feast of the Assumption

Sunday was the feast day of the Assumption.

On this day we celebrate our belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was assumed -body and soul- into Heaven following her death.

It was long believed that this was what had happened to Our Lady, but it was on 1st November 1950 that Pope PiusXII defined the doctine of the Ssumption of Our Lady into Heaven.

We celebrated the feast after Mass with a meal over in Edinburgh with a number of friends.

We chatted and ate in the garden in the warm sunshine, while the children bounced on a trampoline. We finished up with a Rosary also said in the Garden.

Photos from Martyr's Shrine in Midland Ontario

http://www.newadvent.org/

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assumption_of_Mary