Pictures of Scotland: Houses to live in

[Kaa]

More pictures from my spring trip to Scotland.

A house in Elgol, Isle of Skye:
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm161/kaa_photobucket/20080525_0056_S1.jpg


Another house on Skye:
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm161/kaa_photobucket/20080525_0126_S1.jpg


Cromarty, Black Isle:
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm161/kaa_photobucket/20080526_0021_S1.jpg


And a house on a loch:
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm161/kaa_photobucket/20080526_0048_S1.jpg


Kaa

[TimH]

nice shots!

Im suprised its not more developed.


whats Kaa stand for?

[Kaa]

whats Kaa stand for?

"Fool that I am! Oh fat, root-digging fool that I am," said Baloo, uncurling himself with a jerk, "it is true what Hathi the Wild Elephant says: "To each his own fear"' and they, the Bandar-log, fear Kaa the Rock Snake. He can climb as well as they can. He steals the young monkeys in the night. The whisper of his name makes their wicked tails cold. Let us go to Kaa."

"What will he do for us? He is not of our tribe, being footless - and with most evil eyes," said Bagheera.

"He is very old and very cunning. Above all, he is always hungry," said Baloo hopefully. "Promise him many goats."

:D :D :D

Kaa

[Captain Blight]

I knew it, I knew it.

I knew it.

[Mrleft8]

Damn that's pretty country! Too bad it's so damned cold!

[Tom Hunter]

I recognize some of those places, but when I was there is was raining.

How many goats did you have to sacrifice to get the sun to come out, Kaa?

[Thorne]

It actually gets not only sunny on Skye, but even hot every decade or so. When we visited in '96 it was shorts and flipflop weather, and the cooks at many restaurants were on strike -- "too hot to cook", so cold sandwiches were the order of the day.

Of course this was during a major heatwave in the UK -- most of the time it rains...

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Damn that's pretty country! Too bad it's so damned cold!
A man from Gnu England calls Scotland "cold"!

Sadly, this is not true - it has a mild climate, a very mild climate for the latitude.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

It does not actually rain; you just have soft days.

Nobody has mentioned midges yet...

[Thorne]

See "shorts and flipflops" above...ouch! And because it is usually cold and damp, most of the accomodation either didn't have windows that would open, or certainly no screens in same. Ouch again...

My last painful experience with the Highland midge was camping in Kinlochleven near the stream by Ye Olde Al-lu-min-ium Plante in '05.

The Midge Forcast website -
http://www.midgeforecast.co.uk/2008/


From http://www.wyrdology.com/edinburgh/midges/index.html -
Midge Facts

The midge, also known as "midgie" or "midgy", is a tiny flying insect of the genus "culicoides". There many thousands of known midge species, of which only a few bite. One of the most ferocious biters is the Highland Biting Midge, Culicoides impunctatus. This is known in Gaelic as "Meanbh-chuileag" which means "tiny fly". Due to its small size the midge is sometimes known as a no-see-um (or "noseeum").
There are other species (http://www.wyrdology.com/edinburgh/midges/species.html) of biting midge in Scotland as well as the Highland variety and these pests can be found all over the country where conditions and the weather are suitable. They prefer damp conditions which are warm without being too hot - not too much sun. They also like still air. They are often encountered in the early morning or evening near to natural water, especially still water such as ponds.
We're not just talking about a few midges here. We're talking about swarms of the little critters. It's actually only the female midge that bites, but that's little consolation when the air around you is thick with them!