Off to Explore Inverness

The sun agreed to smile on my departure from the Isle of Skye, that is the only reason I am posting these pictures.  

 Once off the Isle I traveled a road that switched from two track to one track and back again.  Here I am off on the side waiting my turn.

It followed along beside the water for a bit.

And the other side of the road sometimes looked like this.

On the way I stopped at Rogie Falls and for a walk.

It has been raining you remember.

A smaller falls on the right of the main one.

And as I continued past the groomed path to the falls, these are the trails that made me glad that I had grabbed both walking poles from the car before I set off.

I found this beauty.

Before I arrived at the Netherton Farm B&B, I drove through Dingwall and found a late lunch/dinner option.  You might think that my driving confidence is allowing me to voluntarily drive through towns now, but not yet. I maybe could have but I spied the large parking lot on the edge of town as I came in and stopped there for today's journey.

My single at Netherton Farm. This is a working farm. The current owner of the house was born here. Her farther sold the house in the early 70's when she was 12 and she bought it back in the early 90's and over time added onto the original stone house to add rooms to accommodate the B&B.  The house is full of antiques here and there all being used functionally.  The hostess's daughter and grandson from Spain was also visiting.   Her brother lives somewhere nearby and farms the land.

An upstairs "bridge way" connects the old part of the house to the new section. My room was in the remodeled older section of the house.  Instead each room having the ability to fix tea, hot choc, etc., this space was open and convenient to all the rooms.

The view of the farm yard outside my side window.

The shared bath. Well normally it was only shared with one other room that wasn't booked for two of the nights I was there. Then again it may be the only remaining bath tub in the house and it was used for the baby every afternoon at his bath time.  

Yes, the view out the front of the house.

Looking back at my side window from the "bridge".  The roof and the sides of the dormer were all in slate.  Real slate.

It rained in the night but the morning showed much better promise.

The dining area is in the newer portion of the house. The hostess said she had to fight to have the wall of windows put in the way she wanted them.  I am so glad that she won. It was a very welcoming space. A large country kitchen shared the space on the back side of the house.

Breakfast included a choice from a long basket of home made jams and jellies.

One of the farm's two black labs inspects my raincoat and bag as I get ready to head off on another day of rambling around.

And off I go chasing rainbows.

I made my way down Lock Ness to visit Urquhart Castle.   First the museum that explains some of the history and shows you a model of what it looked like when all standing.  As later drawings would demonstrate the site changes from the original fort built in 500.  The site served different purposes in different centuries.  The castle did change hands several times due to battles results.  When Grant decided that the Castle was not worth fighting for anymore, the British soldiers set off a large quantity of explosives that took down the gates and made the fort useless to the Scots or Jacobites or whoever might have wanted to use it for defense.

And an example of the life environment of crofters in the shadows of the castle.

I glanced out that way but Nessie wasn't interested in meeting me and making me famous.

Where are the good sporting dogs when you need them?

This shot is important because it shows just how special the Constable of the castle was. He has his own latrine. It emptied right outside the castle walls.  Here is hoping that they got their drinking water from somewhere else. 

As one of the signs shared, Sir John Grant had another much more grand castle in another area of Scotland, but if a King gives you lands to develop who is going to refuse.

View from the other side of the grounds that held the ruins of the older parts of the castle and the point of the original battlements before Grant added his buildings to the grounds.

One of the specific requirements made of Grant was for him to build a dovecot, to provide a consistent source of eggs and meat during the harsh winters. The building was round and domed with many small boxes inside.  An example of a few remaining boxes were left here.

Bye, Nessie, where ever you are. Be well. Be safe.