Royal Navy with our breakfast

We sit up in bed and have our breakfast every morning while we look out on the loch.  This morning's entertainment was a bit out of the ordinary, to say the least.

This is the ship we saw:   RFA L3008

Chinook helicopter landing on ship

Taking off from ship

One of many sets of paratroopers

New words

Since moving to the UK I have slowly picked up many British English and Scots language words.  I'm listing them as I remember them, but I'll be adding more in the future..

A Change in Vocabulary

Submarines and such

Our loch gets very busy with all types of boats, including nuclear submarines from the Royal Navy Coulport not far from us.  Recently there was this one...

Pics of boats, ships, subs and tugs on our loch

I've been tracking the growth of our Gunnera manicata....
Click on slideshow on the right

A sunny Sunday

A few pics from today....
I'm missing all the flowers we had through spring and summer!  Autumn colours are next though.  A trip to Benmore Botanic Gardens is in order for this week.

Take from the front garden

Out front

A friend came to visit

My very favourite gardener!

Japanese Anenome

On the side of the house - magnolia tree

Photos and other stuff

The end of August is the Highland Games and the one in Dunoon is the largest.  A couple of shots :

In town - no, don't know what they wore underneath

In town where a band was playing

Checking out the tuning before the competition

A couple of days ago we went on a hike near our house. 

A few years ago I bought a book about Eleanor Roosevelt as I know what an amazing woman she was.  I have finally begun reading that book (volume 1) and quickly became totally engrossed in it.  I ordered volume 2 and just received it today.  

Nearly the end of August already!?

We are booked for both our Michigan trips - christmas and May/June.  I've yet again changed my plans for my 60th birthday in February.  We have several trips next year so I think I'll go for a late deal city break.  Any place that's not freezing.  Leaning toward Barcelona.

Taking a break from my 365 project.

One of our apple trees

Sunset down the loch

Playing around with editing one of our roses

Flowers & birthdays

A few more of my recent shots.  Hit the 6 month mark on my one year project!



Clematis

Dahlias



Dahlia

Today we had lunch for Uncle Hugh's birthday.  We were joined by

Hugh's brother, Dan, and Dan's wife Ellen.  A very enjoyable time, as

always. 



Last Post pub, Paisley

Uncle Hughie aka 'Shug' on his 84th birthday

Museums

Danny and I took an overnight trip earlier this week so we could visit the newly refurbished National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh.  We were impressed!  Since it's school holidays now for both Scotland and England, it was very crowded. 

Inside the NMS

We travelled back to Glasgow to spend the night, and the next day visited the brand new Riverside Museum of Travel and Transport.  I enjoyed it but Danny thought it wasn't as good as the previous Transport Museum.  I'd never visited so couldn't compare. 

One of the tram cars

The outside of the Riverside

We walked the pathway to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum which is fantastic. 

A painting depicting a war in Papua New Guinea

The strange hanging heads in the Kelvingrove

More photos of the museums here:

Photos of the museums



Lovely day!

Danny and I went on my favourite coastal bike ride today with a stop at the beach at Kilbride Bay for a swim/wading and picnic lunch.  It was sunny and temps were about 70F but felt warmer in the sun.  Quite a few people decided a trip to this remote beach was a good idea as well so there were quite a few people there. 


Girls marching on the beach



In front of house - edited for watercolour effect

Fun on the beach

Colintraive in the Kyles of Bute (Danny's old home)

on the bike ride - edited for watercolour effect

Rural postbox on our ride - edited for watercolour effect

Benmore Botanic Gardens

Lovely day today - sunny and about 70F.  So I rode my bike to the gardens and took some pics.