April 2013

So the first thing people ask is ‘why Scotland?”  Well, I want to go EVERYWHERE and my husband not so much.  So I just start tossing out country names until he says yes.  And there ya go-that’s how we ended up going to Scotland.  But yes, we both have family history there.  And I just got to state photographers go on vacation too.  Don’t judge.

We didn’t really have an itinerary.  We knew where we were going in the beginning and end the end.  The middle we total made up as we went, based on advice received from locals.    We also only had 2 places rented via Airbnb.com.  We have had great success in the past, this time it was a 50% success rate.

This is the view from our bedroom window in Edinburgh.  I will say we did have a balcony which is not common at all and it was very well located.  Nor would we be slipping in the shower anytime soon.  And that’s all I’m saying.

3 nights and 2 days in Edinburgh, explored the city on foot exclusively.

I’m happy to say Holga made the trip.

The first thing we did, as all good tourist must do, is go to the Edinburgh Castle which sits high upon a rock about city center.  The castle has been both a fort and a royal residence since the 11th century, most of the buildings today are from it’s more recent use as a military garrison and now museums.

This gives you some scale.  It’s a huge castle built right into and onto the basalt rock.  This is where the wind part of the story starts.  Apparently it’s always ‘breezy’ in Scotland but  we were having gust of probably 40 to 50.  They actually closed part of the Castle down for safety.

Me being silly.  Yeah-there was pipes everywhere you went.  Lucky for me The Scots do love their ‘greys’…………..

Just some details through the Castle.  The horse sites outside of the War Memorial, the armor is in Jacobite Room and the door detail is from St. Margaret’s Chapel, the oldest building in Edinburgh.  Built around 1130 by David I dedicated to his mother-can you imagine.

We then wondered into St. Jiles Church.  This death mask really caught my eye.  The detail in the marble work, the actual sword in the stone, and the lone wilted daffodil.

Along the Royal Mile.

Put a Bird on it……sorry, couldn’t help myself.

This shot of the castle is taken from across town in Carlton Park.  Not much to do in the park but wonder and take photos.

The Palace of Holyroodhouse from the hill.  The Queen’s crash pad.  Just a little something something ya know.

Abby at Holeyrood

Cowgate in Old Town-what can I say, still makes me chuckle.  Kind of want one for my house.

A classic must have in the UK.

Another classic must have while in Scotland-Haggis.  Honestly it’s kind of good.  Just don’t read the list of ingredients.

Classic Scottish pub.  No the food is not that good, but the whiskey makes up for it.  The people were AMAZING though.

Then we rented a car and headed off in the direction of the Highlands.  I was the driver.  My husband was the navigator.  There was only a couple of times we almost punched each other in the face…….but didn’t.  “Honest”.

So we made it to St. Andrew’s-the home of golf and where Prince William and Kate meet.  Honestly I thought this would be a bust.  But it wasn’t.  I quite enjoyed the town.  Not the place we stayed, but the town.  Long beach with golden sand with lots of beach glass to be found.  Ruins of an Abby and church.  Drunk rich people, what’s not to be entertained by.

On the road again.  No we are really, on the road to the Highlands.  Well not really but it’s a start.

This is the ideal road for a dyslexic driver on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road for the first time.  Ya like that fence is going to keep any self respecting sheep in, or out.

There is water EVERYWHERE.  It’s just runs out of and off the hills.

Our first real B&B in Scotland.  The Poplars in Pitlochry.  Cute, cute, cute.

Our first, and only, distillery tour:  Edradour Distillary the smallest distillery in Scotland.  DELISH!

On the left is the grave stone of a Crusader.  That’s a first for me.

Holga after whiskey tasting….and before dinner.

The next day we officially enter the Highlands.  Not real high but not real hospitable either, if ya know what I mean.

Random road side cairns.  I kind of thought this might be a popular site to scatter ashes.  Plenty of wind (scatter with care).

Spey River.  Home of the whiskey trail.  Sensing a theme yet?  We also learned later that evening while at the pub that the wind had blown over hay stacks.  I’ve tossed lots of hay in my life, most our bales weighted in at about 100lbs.  The Scots like to make the 500lb bales.  Can you imagine a wind that can blow those bales around.

Generally speaking there are not a lot of large trees in Scotland.  Surprising I know.  In the town of Grantown-on-Spey we went for a lovely walk.  Anytime we meet someone who had been to Seattle, they would inevitable comment on our trees-how big they were.  And then they would want to know if we had been to Alaska?-cause it’s on the same latitude as Scotland ya know.

We randomly saw a sign that said “wild goats”.  As we tried to process exactly what that meant we quickly figured it out, like rocket scientists.  Wild goats on the road dumbass.

This is the Eilean Donan Castle.  It’s sits on a small hill top where 3 lochs come together.  Part of Highlander was filmed here.  The backside was under restoration.  Not photogenic but interesting to watch.

This should be a must do on everyone’s list- Loch Ness Exhibit.  Yes we did see Nessie.  See, Mo’s got her by the neck.

At one point we were considering doing a cheesy tourist tour of Loch Ness, but the boats were not running due to WIND.  Decision made.

Urquhart Castle  along the shores of Loch Ness.  I think part of Brave Heart was shot here…..

Caledonia Canal Locks.  3 Locks and a series of canals connect the Oich Lochry and Loch Ness.  The locks were built in the early 1800′s by the British engineer Thomas Telford.

We headed onto the town of Ft Williams for the night with the hopes of going to the top of the tallest mountain in Britain, Ben Nevis at 4409 feet, via cable car; but alas that was not to happen due to-yep you guessed it-wind.

So on we headed to the Isle of Sky.  Had talked about taking the ferry to the isle,…..  shut down the day before due to the blasted wind.  We said hell with it and took the plain-Jane bridge.

The rugged Cullin Hills.

We had some time to , you know kill, so we went to Talisker Distillery- which I might add is out in the middle of now where even for me.  Sadly we were too late for a tour but it was a lovely, and lonely drive.

This is the ‘drive way’ to our next accommodations we, well I, had picked on Airbnb.com……um what?!.  Just a bit worried after the last place.

And this would be our home away from home while on the Isle of Skye.  Totally made up for the other place.  It’s a sheep herders hut-true story.  It was so cozy and quiet.  Loved it!  Amazing farm fresh home-made breakfasts too!

Just down the road from our little hut was the water.  Nice little walk to stretch our legs.  Followed by a good soaking.

Sheep, sheep and more sheep.  Dropping lambs everywhere (probably due to the weather pattern).  We got to see them in ALL the stages of lambing.  At one point my Husband looks and the window and asks “what’s that sheep dragging behind it?”-”afterbirth” I say.  Like I said, all stages.  The funny thing was when we were in the planning stages I ask Mo what he would like to see-he said sheep.  check.

The lambs liked to nap on the warm black top.  Good thing they were white

And the famous Highland Coo.  Good ol’ shaggy guys.

This is for all my geology friends out there.  Scotland is geologically fascinating.  Heavily glaciated.  These erratic littered the moors.  The mounds created by glacial melt were home to the fairies, of course.

We spent an entire day driving the Peninsula “loop” around the Isle of Skye.  This is the town of main Portree.

You might think the hill side is slumping down, but I would argue the wind is blowing upwards creating those waves in the dirt.  Those crazy sheep-they will graze anywhere.

This little stream on the left is responsible for this amazing waterfall.  This is Kilt Rock so named because of it’s resemblance to a Scotsman’ tartan kilt.  The water falls 200 feet over a sea cliff of layers volcanic vertical lava columns that look like pleats.  Not from my angle.

A couple of things grew on me.  Tea and shortbread cookies.  Something that didn’t need to ‘grow on me’-home made lemon curd.  LOVE!

This is how the typical Skye family lived a century and a half ago.  In old Croft Houses, peat burning fires, thatched roofs held on by ropes of heather and hanging rocks, spinning wool and much more.

The farmer in me was really excited to learn about peat.  Basically it goes like this:  Heather grows, dies, piles up, breaks down into peat.  Then it’s harvested by hand tools, stacked to dry for a good year or so, then burned for warmth.

Classic tree by any fishing community around the world apparently.

Last photo of our “Hobbit Hut” as we came to call it, before hitting the road to return.

Good by Isle of Skye.

If I had to pick just 1 image to sum up our trip-this would be it.

A few years later Nevin joined the pack.  It’ll be his turn soon.

Boys, or is it men now?………… Sorry Ben, couldn’t help myself.

I got there 4 days early.  Flew into Sioux Falls on the eastern side of the state and drove all the way back across the state in my little p.o.s rental car.  Note to self-small cars with narrow wheel bases are not fun to drive in truck country-it will beat the crap out of you.  On the way to Rapid City I came upon 2 storm chasers-is that a good thing or a bad thing.  Yes there was lots of wind and excitement, but really when your out in the wide open prairie does it really matter? -there’s nothing to hold onto or hide under.   Well, that was quite the kick off.  Didn’t know what to expect.  Turns out not much but hot air moving really fast.  Spent the night not far from Mount Rushmore.  Ironically I really wasn’t interested in seeing Mt. Rushmore, but since I was there I felt obligated.  So I went.  AND really liked it.  Possible because I got there before 8am and before all the buses crammed full of tourist did, but what ever.

Then I hit Crazy Horse.  Nice but totally felt like a tourist trap.  Possible more so than Mt. Rushmore because it was a work-in-progress that they charged more for it.  But the extra $4 was well spent on the bus ride to the base.

A closer-up from the base of the Monument

Crazy Bull by Crazy Horse.  What are the odds.  Some yokel had a taxidermy-ed bull in the back of his pick up.

Then I went on a tour though Jewel Cave.  Those of you who know me know I’m a rock nerd.  I was in heaven.  So fascinating.  No-there were no bats.

classic tour shot just to show scale.

close up of some of the Calcium Carbonate that lined the walls.  Yup-this is what makes your soda’s fizz.

A piece of “Bacon”.  It’s a cave formation of mineral deposits that is 23 feet long and only 1/2 inch think.  Amazing.

Custer State Park is pretty amazing too.  Well that was before all the fires, but regardless it’s a lovely part of the country and it made my soul sing.  I mean really sing, it was my happy place.  That night I stayed in Wall.  Yes I’ve been to Wall Drug.

The whole reason I did all this is because I wanted to see the Bad Lands.  So bright and early the next morning I hit the road again.  With out a proper cup of coffee I might add.  Something that should never be repeated.  These are some of my favorites from that day.

South East side of the park.

prongers, prongers, and more prongers-they were everywhere.

Wild Turnkeys foraging in the grasses.

Well, hello there big fella.

Oh, look-he has a friend.

What you can’t see is me doing my very excited happy dance.  I mean, come on, how often does this happen to the average Joe.

Lonely and wet.  Poor guy.

On one had the rain totally sucked, but on the other hand there was only about 5 of us in the whole park.  It was awesome.

Loved it.  Farm Art at it’s best- I would so love to see this back home on our farm.

Classic mid west Americana.

2 pounds of trimmed rhubarb cut in to 3″ lengths

2 cups of apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1 Tablespoon sea salt

1 teaspoon white peppercorns

1 cinnamon stick

1 whole dried pepper-of heat preference

4 each whole cloves

4 each whole allspice berries

Directions:

*Boil vinegar, sugar, salt and spices until sugar and salt dissolved completely (about 5 minutes after coming to a slow boil).

*Cut rhubarb into batons long enough to fill each jar (about 3 inches).

*Pack rhubarb into sterilized jars distributing the spices as evenly as possible.

*Pour pickling brine over fruit, screw on lids and allow to cool.  ( put them into boiling water to ensure proper sealing-well see how it turns out)

Jazz singer Sue Bell performs at the Tula’s.

Sue has a crazy amazing voice and gives a wonderful performance.  If you have the chance go see her!

I first meet this family about 13 years ago when I was commissioned to shoot one of the kid’s wedding…in this very spot in fact.  Ever since then we have all been orbiting around each other.  I’ve seen the kids have kids, enjoyed them as neighbors and fellow Seattle Sounders fans.  My husband learned about it while walking our dog past Liane & John’s place.  This was the same day our dog was attacked-in fact minutes before.  When he get’s home he breaks the news too me.  At this point in the day I had spent half the day cleaning up the crap some a-holes had dumped in our alley, then our dog is attacked and then THIS.  I had an incredible amount of anger.  I’ve not experienced that since I was a teenager.  Back then I would have hoped on my horse and rode it out.  Didn’t really have that option now.  So I did the next best thing.  Hoped in the car, turned the music to butt rock-LOUD butt rock and drove really really fast.  That didn’t help.  So I tried the opposite.  I went to the Chinese Gardens at South Seattle Community College and tried to meditate.  That didn’t really help either.  So I just came home and stayed in a pisser of a mood.

It was a very bitter sweet shoot.  An honor, no doubt.  But dammit all to hell…………….

It works.

And it’s better for the environment.

What’s not to love.

DIY Dishwasher Detergent
Ingredients:
1 box Borax (4lbs 12 oz or 76 oz)-found in the detergent isle-$3.38
1 box Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (55oz or 3 lbs 7oz) found in the detergent isle.-$3.24
Citric Acid-usually found in the canning isle.  I used Fruit Fresh which is mostly citric acid-$3.58
(the recipe I found online said to use 24 packages of unsweetened lemonade drink mix-like Kool aid, but that just seemed silly to me).
3 cups Epson Salt-~$3
Vinegar as a rinse aid.  (the recipe I found on line suggested using Lemi Shine as a rinse aid, also found in the detergent isle.  But if Vinegar works why not use it)

Grand total ~$13 for a year supply of detergent.  Come on!-what’s not to love about that.

Mix all together.  Store in an air tight container.  Scoup in as needed per your machine.  Fill rinse aid with vinegar.  If your dishes are coming out with spots on them that means you do need a rinse aid and might want to try the Lemi Shine.  To date vinegar works just fine for us.

Mix well

Store in an air tight container.  We reused a container that dog treats came in.

Enjoy

It’s been a while.  I almost forgot how to access my dashboard.  You know your a bad blogger when………

Anyhow, meet Kaija.  You’ve seen her before I just love working with her so here she is again.  Kaija needed some new head shots.  That’s it-just head shots.  It’s amazing just how far off course you can get when there are 2 creative people in the room.  Kaija is also my make up artist and she’s a dancer……yeah, she a hot tamale she is.

It’s just that I very sensitive skin and this is one of the few detergents that work for me.  And it’s CHEAP!  And I like making stuff.

You will need:

4 cups of hot tap water

1 Fels Naptha Soap Bar, ~$3.99 a bar

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda, ~$2.99 a box

1/2 cup Borax, ~$4.29 a box

Approximate cost to make 5 gallons of laundry soap $4, and 30 minutes of your life.  How hard is that folks.

I hate Walmart, but sadly that is the only storefront place I could find the Naptha bar and the washing soda.  Easy to find online but I’m big on buying local.  So save yourself some time and just go to Walmart already.

You will also need:

1 5 gallon bucket

1 4-6 quart stainless steel sauce pan

1 stainless steal mixing spoon

1 stainless steel cheese grater

I bought all these items at Goodwill.  When picking out plastics please keep in mind that plastic will absorb chemistry….so give some thought to what was in it before and think twice about using it again.  All of these items are dedicated to making lotions, soaps and detergents.  Never used again with food.  But that’s just me.

Start by grating the Fels Naptha Soap bar into the sauce pan.

Add water.  Stir over medium low heat until soap is melted and dissolved.

Then pour into the 5 gallon bucket.

Fill bucket 1/2 full of hot tap water.  Add 1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda.

Stir

Add 1/cup of Borax.

Stir

Fill the bucket the rest of the way with hot tap water and let sit over night.

Now personally we like to just let it sit in the 5 gallon bucket and fill up a quart jar as needed (it’s easier to handle/pour into the machine).

Now my friend Pebbles who gave me this recipe likes to fill up old soap containers.  So figure out what works for you.

Either way, fill containers half full of soap (soap will be like a gel now) and half with water, shake each time before using.

Top load machines take 5/8 cup per load.  On our front loader we use 1/3 to 1/2 cup per load.

fyi-a 5 gallon bucket lasted my husband and I 9 months…..for $4.  It’s easy math folks.