From the purple dyeshed...

Hello blog! It has been a while.  For some time now social media (instagram, facebook, twitter etc) has been the place folk have gone to to connect with others, but it has never been a place I'm entirely comfortable with.  I've been wanting to get back to my blog for a while now, so, here I am.

We went for a very leisurely walk this afternoon in up the hill behind our house.  It was just after 1.00pm but already the sun was low in the sky casting long shades and beautiful light across the hills.  At the highest point on the hill we looked out over Clachtoll - the township we call home - looking slightly south west towards the iconic split rocks.

Looking in the other direction - slightly north west - we looked out over Stoer bay:

At the highest point on the hill a cairn has been built by walkers over the years.  I've never seen anyone else at this point but they clearly have visited and have added their own stone to the cairn, as it seems to grow a little each time we visit it.  You can just see apex of our roof to the left of the cairn. 

As I said, the low afternoon light was delightful, and meant features in the landscape stood proud whereas on other days with a slightly different light I could have walked straight past the features.  Assynt is an area highly praised by geologists because of its unique geology, and while I don't know much about rocks, I can appreciate the colours that appear in rocks formed over the millennia.

We even stumbled across a saltire formed into the rocks - geologist friends will know, but is this an inclusion?

This particular walk always brings back bitter sweet memories of walking with our dogs Peggy and Lexie.  They absolutely adored walking in the hills and whereas Peggy would run back and forth and back and forth and always be ready and willing to see what was around the next bend, Lexie took her time, literally smelled the heather, looked at views, and happily sat at Stevan's feet while we had a breather.  She was named after the loch which is near our house and where this walk eventually ends up.  It was as still as anything today - quite a change after all the wind and gales we've had over the past few weeks - and so the loch was like glass.

As ever my eye was drawn by the colours in the landscape.  While photographing this tiny green succulent plant on a rock I didn't notice until I'd taken the photograph that there was a tiny bug on the plant too.  The light managed to pick up and highlight the tiniest of feelers on its antenna.

The sphagnum moss was the beautiful deep red shade you find in certain spots.

Eventually though it was time to head back home.  We're forecast some colder weather over the coming days, with perhaps even a drop of snow over the Christmas weekend which will be lovely.  I won't make any rash promises about the blog, but I will try and update it from time to time with photographs of our walks and of Assynt.