Hard to believe it’s been 4 years since I’ve made a post here. Time does fly and I’ve been busy doing other things. I’ve abandoned my big camera for a paintbrush, though my cell phone camera fills in when I want to capture a moment.

We arrived in Glasgow two weeks ago. Traveling with old friends, and some new ones, our days filled with castles, gardens, history and haggis (Barnaby and I are not eating the haggis!).

Barnaby and I visited the highlands of Scotland several years ago, and we’ve been back to those places — Inverness, the largest city in the highlands, Loch Ness and Loch Lomand — beautiful lakes surrounded by towering mountains (okay that’s a bit of an exaggeration — Ben Nevis, Scotland’s highest mountain is only 4,412 feet high, a foothill back in our mountain village of Idyllwild, California, but here in Scotland a formidable mountain to climb).

A day trip back to beautiful Iona, a tiny island off the west coast, known as the birthplace of Christianity here and still a very spiritual retreat for pilgrims of all kinds. We were blessed with spectacular weather for our visit there. The locals claimed it was the warmest day of the entire summer.

We’ve sampled a little whisky. I’ve decided the key ingredient to its fabulous flavor is the water — it is very good here. No need to buy bottled water — it’s delicious straight out of the tap.

More later.