I hope you've had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. Let us pray for a gentle year ahead. Suddenly, today, when we are all back at work at Ben P towers, I realise that my batteries are fully recharged - not least because I could hardly remember a thing about any projects today, despite making some meticulous lists of what's what a couple of weeks ago before we closed down. It's strange how the mind shuts down for a while - and that is a very good thing.
We've had the most magical time here in Orkney and I'm still here for the rest of this week which is even more magical as we slip into the New Year. You notice things a bit more here. And I can't help noticing that the mornings are just ever so lighter and the evenings just ever so longer than when I arrived back up on the shortest day of the year.
I. Northward Journey
I had a rather lovely journey upward. We'd bought a little second-hand car in Elgin to be our mainland Orkney run-around. We are learning ferry (or call it Island) life and learning that a Rousay car and a mainland car so that you can be a foot passenger (unbooked) on the Rousay ferry makes life infinitely calmer. You just don't want to have to book a ferry and hope there's a slot for your car every time you want to cross. Often there isn't in fact a slot when you want it. It's a lot easier to walk on and off the boat.
And my task was to drive our new little car up just before Christmas.
I had some time spare between collecting it and my ferry to Stromness that night. What better than to call in to beautiful Cromarty, which I've shown you before on the blog is and one of my favourite places in the whole world. I posted a photo of this handsome house, which has been very finely restored, on instagram that day, and received a very nice message a few days later from its happy owner. What a dream place. It deserves to be the opening photograph of the new year blog.
Cromarty is a joy, all those little lanes and alleys...
This perfect house, which I believe may be about to get a lot more perfect with its new owners...
And so nice to have sights like this still. Gentle decay.
What a gift to us all this open gate was.
I finally managed to visit brilliant Gardiner & Gardiner Antiques. Here is Helen standing outside her superb shop. I left very full-handed. If you are thinking of visiting I'd leave it a little while, while Helen restocks....
And then I arrived in Thurso, by dusk. Heaven. I'd always wanted an explore here too. These are the fine villas on Janet Street - a dream.
Here is the library at the south end of Sinclair Street. Wonderful and very inspirational for our new town project at Tornagrain. The simplicity of the past is something that we always need to remember.
I can't be the only person who takes so many photos of old Victorian Hotel signs. They are somehow always in that same typeface, aren't they?
2. Rousay
But then it was farewell to Thurso for now. I arrived in Kirkwall after a very bumpy crossing to Stromness, but I'm glad that I managed to keep my dinner inside, unlike rather a high proportion of the passengers on the ferry that night. We got in late and I crept into a sleepy Kirkwall for the night. Charlie came over the next morning, we did our Christmas shopping (which was the cause of some comment that we must have a lot of people coming, but actually it was just us) and we were back at the Rousay ferry in good time. A perky green fishing boat was at the dock to greet us.
The Rousay ferry soon arrived.
Nothing quite beats the sparkling view of Westness, after weeks away!
First on the agenda, a walk with Charlie, inspecting the garden.
Woods completely cleared and looking amazing.
Enid had other ideas.
Charlie hadn't been quite so busy in the garden because he'd been incredibly busy in the house. This year's amazing tree, glowing as usual.
Sibyl in her favourite spot.
And I was lucky to have arrived when I did. A fierce storm came in the next day. We'd never experienced anything quite like it since our arrival. Fantastic. Awe inspiring, maybe a little frightening at times.
Huge waves pounding in on high seas.
Back home the house was buffeted by the wind but stood solid and ancient. Christmas inside, warm and cosy. We put down towels for the water which was pouring in through various windows as the house was lashed by rain (we knew things like this would need fixing, don't worry).
The next morning everything had blown through. As storms do.
Big waves still rolled in as a memory of the storm but the air was sweet and fresh.
We went down to the sea.
Always a seal, coming to say hello, whatever the waves (look closely - he's looking at you!).
Back by the farm and church at Skaill.
The sea always an amazing colour.
Charlie had decorated the chapel for Christmas. Nothing was more beautiful in Orkney that evening.
3. Christmas
On the Monday before Christmas, we held our little service in the chapel. A beautiful morning, flat calm.
The service was at 3.30pm, when the Reverend Brenda Dowie was coming over from Stromness to take Eucharist - tea and cake afterwards.
A fantastic service, with great attendance, and a beautiful evening as everyone went home.
Here was the chapel that evening.
We woke on Christmas morning to the softest light you could imagine, and a pink-only rainbow, over Eynhallow. It seems pink rainbows are very rare.
An amazing light that morning.
Christmas lunch for two in the dining room.
And afterwards we collapsed upstairs to open some presents.
4. Boxing Day
Time to clear our heads with a long walk around the coast.
Charlie for scale:
Incredible waves that day.
Everyone in bed that night.
It's amazing how the weather changes so much, from storm to flat calm. The next morning the fishing boat was out, floating over the stillness of Eynhallow sound at sunrise.
We were up early to head to town - shopping, and I was collecting Bridie that afternoon who was arriving into Kirkwall airport. The most perfect colours and waves on the ferry that morning.
We had a lovely time in Kirkwall and then I dropped Charlie back at the ferry before heading to get Bridie. Knowing I had a little time spare before her flight should land, I called in to see the Stones of Stenness, which were completely beautiful and deserted. The stones are believed to be over 5000 years old.
I loved the little house next door to the stones. It's just perfect in its way.
And next door to them, the Ring of Brogdar - older that Stonehenge, a little younger than the Stones of Stenness. A magical sight in the gloaming hour.
But, bad news. Bridie's flight was severely delayed. We JUST made the last ferry back to Rousay that night. A neighbour kindly messaged the ferry that we were going to be a few minutes late and they said they'd wait. (And we were very glad that when we arrived, we were not the last ones on board - there were several people behind us which made us feel better).
Island living - a combination of great calm with a healthy dose of jeopardy. But we got there - and after a lovely evening, catching up with Bridie, and decompressing from the journey, we woke to a beautiful morning.
Our neighbours came over that afternoon and things got fairly festive. Putting it mildly.
5. Snowfall
We haven't had snow like down south but it's been through - fleetingly, as I think is so often the way in Orkney, surrounded by so much sea and salt air. It comes, and then it's gone. But for those moments the landscape is thrown into graphic simplicity.
It turns out that Sibyl, who you can just see balling along at high speed in this photo, really loves snow. She hasn't seen much in Dorset days.
The house looks pretty menacing when the render is drenched dark grey. We will paint it when we start our renovations later in the year. We're thinking about colours (and will need to get listed building consent). Watch this space!
The landscape looks like a John Nash watercolour.
It's also very cold.
But that's okay - plenty of fires inside.
6. Saviskaill and Sacquoy Head
We went for a long and bracing walk on New Year's Day. We'd had the happiest night and now it was time to blow away the old year and greet the new.
The wonderful lichen-encrusted steading down at Saviskaill.
And then we set off to Sacquoy Head.
Awesome sights and winds and waves awaited us.
(Charlie for scale).
Finally, after a maybe-slightly-too-long a circuit, we were back at the beach watching the seals play around in the sea as the sky turned pink.
Home, exhausted, but then to be greeted with the most wonderful Northern Lights that evening. What a wonderful end to New Year's Day - something I'd never seen before, and have always longed to. They are not quite so dramatic to the eye as to your camera, but by all accounts it was a superb display across Orkney and Scotland that night. Amazing.
7. Snow days again.
Heavenly light and stillness the next morning.
But flurries were hurtling through - one minute, beautiful sunshine, the next minute, snowstorm.
Sibyl never happier.
We walked up to Quandale and then home.
The following morning - how fast a week goes by - Bridie and I were up early to take her back to Kirkwall for her journey home. Charlie drove us down to the ferry on extremely snowy roads and on the other side we carefully made our way to town. We were due to have breakfast there before the flight but nowhere was open. The world looked like a Dickensian Christmas card.
So it was the airport cafe for bacon and egg rolls instead, and very good too. I will confess to being a bit nervous about Bridie's travel plans but with minor delays they all worked very well and she was safely home in London that evening. All good. Meanwhile our friend Erland was over for lunch. Rousay glowed in the beautiful light on the ferry back home that morning.
And that evening, after we'd dropped Erland at the ferry, the light was an astonishing pink on our walk.
The hint of a crescent moon, and Venus, which I think many will have seen that night.
8. The last of the holidays.
And yesterday, we had glorious sunshine. This was the view over Eynhallow to mainland on our walk in the morning.
Looking down to St. Mary's church.
We were exploring Quandale - this is Tafts, one of the earliest two-storey houses in Orkney. Its roofless ruin tells a harsh story of the 1840s clearances of this land... but it is a harsh landscape in general, and one couldn't imagine farming here easily.
We carried on to the coast.
Charlie loves peering over edges a bit more than I do. My vertigo simply won't allow it.
Ancient ripples in the stones, from when this was just sand underwater, trapped into the future.
Home via the astonishing Midhowe Broch, a 2000 years old house; can you imagine such beautiful stonework or a more remarkable position?
Amazingly we had lunch outside. The rest of Britain was under snow and rain. We were eating Charlie's delicious home-cooked chips and drinking Orkney beer in balmy sunshine and flat calm stillness. It's a strange thing. The storms blow through and are magnificent and the days are short, but these flat, still, beautiful days feel even more special because they are not with us the whole time. You are not warned about just how good winter can be when you are moving here. This is moment I think Charlie and I will remember for rather a long time.
The low, slanting winter light streamed into the house, as it has done every year at this time, I suppose, for almost 250 years.
And then, a rainbow like you've never seen before.
And a flat calm night, as the sun set.
And the moon glowing, and the stars shining, and not a breath of wind.
Happy New Year, and if you've made it this far through to the end of the blog, you deserve a prize for perseverance.
Tonight, as I write, the wind is howling again outside. Inside, all is completely still and the dogs are all fast asleep in their usual spots on the sofa.
At the start of the year, let's celebrate our season turning, this moving back into the longer days of spring, that are not so far away now.
110 comments
gosh. thank you. i feel more settled into the year thanks to your photos and pros. gratefully, cy
These photos were lovely to get lost in on this dark winter day in North Carolina. Thank you.
Thank you for the wonderful photo’s
Gorgeous read… so glad to hear your adventures in Scotland are as beautiful вs they were in Dorset.
I read your blog this morning while drinking my first cup of tea, my view was nothing like yours! I didn’t want your writing or photos to end, so beautiful & peaceful. Thank you for sharing. Happy 2025 to you both x
Heaven/ the photograph from your visit to Saquoy Heads (the one with the illustrious clouds and the pretty light) stopped me on my tracks.
All so interesting and I’d love to visit that antique shop!
A different world from our hot and snakey (albeit pretty) SPW x
What a lovely post—both the photos and your prose showing what it’s like to be there. I’ve been reading your writings and admiring your photos for so long—thank you for ushering in the new year for us!
Love reading your blogs and you have inspired me, to get back to writing! I simply love your images and the light… oooo Lala the light on the landscape is just stunning! Thank you!
Wishing you, Charlie and the doggies a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing. That house was waiting for you and Charlie to come and make it a home. Happy New Year 2025.
I loved reading about your Christmas and New Year and the photos are amazing, maybe we’ll have another Scottish holiday this year and explore further north as I’m inspired!
I cannot tell you the joy it gave me to read about your Christmas in Orkney on this dark morning. Thank you for sharing, it made the perfect start to my day and I will carry your beautiful images with me all day.
What a dream. Thank you so much for sharing your photos and experiences. An excellent reminder of why we love this world.
Totally captivating and beautifully written. Thank you so much for sharing!
This read is just what the Dr ordered. Thank you for taking us on your journey- literally and figuratively – and sharing such beautiful scenes from your new home. Every single one is a painting waiting to happen. I feel like I’ve been whisked away for a few minutes. Thank you. And a happy New Year xx
I loved every word and image. Your photographs are stunning. So evocative. Thank you.
I absolutely gobbled this post up! I didn’t want it to end! First time reading your blog and now infatuated 😍
This is just stunning. What an amazing place. My husband and I were in Edinburgh this fall and stayed at an incredible B&B whose owner was a man named Erland. Same person? I look forward to more of your blog.
A wonderful read and thank you for sharing your life with us!
ps: Happy 2025!
I so enjoy your blogs. Such delicious details – your love of the place shines through with each and every photo.
That was magical, thank you! Happy New Year!
Spectacular photography and equally wonderful narrative- Happy New Year!
Beautifully written and stunning photography!
I’m a New Zealander living in London but constantly have a hankering for remote Scottish travel (must be a deep seated DNA tug!) so are thrilled to read about all your progress on this blog. Thank you for sharing your exciting and inspiring journey!
I discovered your beautiful life together just as you were leaving Dorset, but I’m totally captivated!
Your design style is stunning, and I can’t wait to see how it develops further in this beautiful place.
Happy New Year! x
Gorgeous photos and a beautiful blog. Happy New Year!
This is by far the most beautiful blog I have read. Thankyou for taking us on such a wonderful journey, I am madly in love with the location and possibly Sybil. Happy New Year to you all and so look forward to more wonderful stories. Best wishes from Canterbury.
Thank you for your posts from Rousay and the lovely pictures ! It seems to be a place fallen out of time and it remembers me of a journey to Skye 40 years ago. I wish you all a very happy 2025!
Such evocative writing. Thank you for sharing your adventure and beautiful photography
Thank you for taking time to share your adventures. Looking forward to seeing the changes you will make to Westness. It’s wonderful to learn about Rousay with you! Thank you!
Me encanta vuestra “Cumbres Borrascosas”, los paisajes son espléndidos con esos cambios de color y tiempo, Charlie muy bonita la decoración de la capilla, espero que podés un poco esos árboles que parecen mágicos por las ráfagas de viento y los años, Feliz año nuevo
Thank you for sharing your first Christmas in your new home and the most beautiful and peaceful photos. I really feel your sense of awe and wonder at this beautiful place. Just lovely.
Thank you for sharing your lovely pictures and words. And the chips look delicious!
Wonderful post, enjoying every photo and word you post about your new home. What a dream to live there.
Splendid photography and blog. Happy New Year.
Merci de partager avec nous ces magnifiques images et ce récit comme un journal intime, comme une lettre que vous nous écririez. Je vous suis avec grand intérêt depuis votre déménagement et votre installation à Rousay. C’est un délice de vous lire et de regarder tout cela. Je vous souhaite à tous deux ainsi qu’aux chiens, une belle année à venir . Nathalie, de Paris.
Such evocative writing brings the spirit and essence of place so warmly to life
I hate the word Blog, it makes me think of something stuck in a drain, but your blog is anything but that.
Started reading it and couldn’t stop. The photos, breathtaking, the descriptions poetic and clear as a bell. I loved it…thank you.
I’m sitting in bed in Brisbane, Australia reading your wonderful post and thinking how different your landscape is to here! So beautiful and thank you for taking the time to share this with everyone.
A beautiful part of the world, loving the pictures, the detail. A beautiful home – I look forward to any changes and progress updates. Thankyou it is inspiring- loving the garden progress too. Living your best lives 😀
Your blog in addition to the photos you post, opens up a fresh unspoilt world which adds a wonderful new dimension to life. I bought my brother, (the architectural historian), John Martin Robinson ‘An English Vision’ for Christmas and he loved it. Looking forward eagerly to renovations and developments.
thank you for so generously sharing your beautiful home and life there, its an utter joy to read
Happy 2025 to you all
Utterly beautiful, calming and inspiring x
Perfection 😌
These beautiful images are so cheery , I absolutely love following your adventures and am inspired by the way you live . Thank you for sharing the joy .
Thanks for taking us on this journey! I cannot wait to see the garden in spring when you’ll discover the established planting. Also looking forward to the renovation projects you have in store. Inspiring.
Magical photos & words. (Re: your windows… We have a house in a very exposed spot, above Stenness village, and sometimes even triple glazing can’t withstand the force of the rain being hurled against it during high winds!) So glad you’re settling in well and finding your feet. It’s a wonderful community and place to live.
Un grand merci pour ces images merveilleuses et ce récit de la vie dans les iles.
Cela fait très plaisir pour commencer l’année.
Une bise aux chiens. christian
Seriously beautiful place. All the very best for the new year and enjoy the restoration!
Happy New Year Ben & Charlie for scale! Beautiful read and images as always, looking forward to the renovations (very curious and nosy). Stay cosy, and all the love and luck! Bravo guys!
Thank you, thank you, thank you x
Enjoying your new location and all the wonders you are capturing with it. I can’t wait to see how Charlie transforms the grounds into his beautiful gardens.
Absolute joy to see – I am taken straight back to Mull – the colours of your photos are sensational and I will make sure I take more photos when next on Mull. Thank you so very much for your posts – some joy in a dark January! Rachel x
Thank you Ben for sharing the stunning beauty of your new home, what a place. Your photos are so good, wishing you all a very happy 2025.
No perseverance required! Such beautiful photography and so lovely to hear about how you spent Christmas and New Year. Your house is just perfect! Island life is very special indeed and that northern part of Scotland is wonderful too. Trying to persuade my Sassenach husband to move north (I am a Scot) but he’s afeart of the cold and dark!
note to Vanessa Innes Wagstaff (in comments). – My husbands grandmother Mary Reid of Shandwick used to visit Captain Innes in Cromarty in the 1960’s and he was teasingly known as ’granny’s boyfriend’.
note to Ben and Charlie – its fun and scenic to approach Cromarty from the Nigg Ferry and if approaching from the north means you don’t have to flog out the length of the Black Isle.
Firstly, wishing you both a Happy New Year for 2025. Lovely photos, can’t believe those waves and snow and then calm, sunny days. The Northern Lights were incredible. Loved seeing the town streets covered in snow. Loved your Christmas trees, always so enchanting with the lights and ribbons. The chapel was beautifully decorating and the tree in the chapel. That must have been quite the time spent in the chapel and service. Nice Birdie was able to come for a few days and enjoy the holidays with you both. Yes, days are getting a big longer and hopefully, Spring will come early this year. Will be spending some time in London in the Spring and can’t wait, even to see the daffodils. All the best, so nice to hear from you both and your wonderful holiday with the beautiful fires going and everything looking so cozy.
Such a beautiful place made moreso by your words. The northern lights take on a special effect and meaning when you know the Inuit say they are the souls of those waiting to be born. I don’t know what they would say about the pink rainbow. The best life is one in the country by the sea with dogs and friends. Wonderful to see and read. Thank you
Goosebumps Ben…every image and word…no wonder you’ve forgotten where you’re at! Happy New Year and thank you for sharing these enchanting visions of your special holiday time. Mx
The boarding across the windows and doors in Kirkwall is temporary protection for the annual Christmas and New Year’s Day Ba’ street game
Such a beautifully written post of pure escapism.
Happy new year to you both , the rainbow over Westness was a sight of wonder- as was Charlies’s chips!
As always ravishing images of your home and the countryside, wild waves, ruins and so much more. Some of those extreme cliffs remind me of the West Coast of NZ, Pancake rocks at Punakaiki for one. But we don’t have the ancient ruins to go with them. Our historical sites are from Maoridom, which is nice to have. I love reading your long blogs and seeing all the things going on in your new abode…will look forward to the changes you will make…perhaps some of those yummy William Morris wallpapers and fabrics! Happy New Year from NZ
Dear Ben, this was a specially magical post! Thanks to Bridie for letting you share her visit with us. And for all those magical photos. The images of the sea in many moods, seem to strike a chord from some anachronistic place deep within our minds, that we modern people haven’t heard in way too long. I imagine the full force of actually being there, is really something to savor!
Your photos of the buildings, and Westness House and Chapel, feel like the essence of the Christmas season: stillness, calm, snow-bright nights and gently fire- and candle-lit interiors. However, Sybil making snow-angels almost takes the photography prize for this post!
Wishing you and Charlie, and your fur-family, all the best in the New Year! And we, your devoted readers, look forward to sharing it all with you!
I have just spent a delightful hour with my morning coffee propped up in bed pouring over your words and photos. Having checked the news headlines I needed some beauty both written and visual. Thank you.
I have been anticipating this post so much wondering what your tree looked like and imagining you snowed in to the gills as I hear of heavy snow over Britain. Amazing you have a manageable amount to enjoy.
Charlie seriously needs to consider a recipe book!! Those chips!! How?
Thank you for this much needed post. I have revisited all three of your books over Christmas and I continue to dip into them.
Happy New Year to you both we can only hope for calm but sadly I suspect it will be anything but. 💐
Exterior house colour.
Pale mustard ….just like that sunset…..beautiful.
It’s a sunny day in Playa Vista, CA. I took a peek at your email, and couldn’t stop. Beautiful.
I love the handmade walls with no putty. Thanks for sharing your beautiful holiday time. I am English but have lived in the US. for decades. How I miss the gorgeous countryside of England.
Thanks and Happy New Year.
Thank you Ben for such a beautiful post! I live in the Blue Mountains, 2 hours west of Sydney in Australia but I absolutely adore winter in the northern hemisphere. I am loving your photos and accompanying narrative and am so looking forward to joining you, Charlie and your furry friends on this next renovation adventure! BTW loving your latest book! My collection of Pentreath extravaganzas is now complete! Happy new year to you both!
Love your images and your beautiful home . I love Orkney and go up there as often as I can to paint, the light is beautiful . The people are quite special, so welcoming and friendly . Wishing you much joy in your new home .
Ahah.. our “perseverance”.. truth is I could not wait for these most beautiful pictures!! Thank you always for sharing your incredible new place Ben, I was so missing your blog, and wish you all the best for the New Year, Maria
Marvellous images! An entirely different world from the one most of us live in.
Happy New Year to you !
Utter perfection, what a spot, shall watch to see renovations, what colour you paint the house and Charlie making another special garden. Happy New Year!
Enjoying these articles very much. My grandfather used to live in Alderney, which could easily be mistaken for “bleak” in winter but in fact was, in low afternoon sunshine after a gale, at its most alive. I used to spend much time there and am enjoying island life vicariously through your posts. And there is nothing like the light of December for looking at buildings!
Just beautiful ! Thank you Ben. Your posts convey space, clarity and peace in a frantic world. Happy New Year to you, Charlie and the dogs.
Splendid. A Happy New Year to all.
I absolutely LIVE for your blogs, Ben, but sadly many of your magnificent photos didn’t come through, although the comments did. Perhaps your wild weather was the cause. Happy 2025 to you and Charlie and please continue with your blogs as they are so very special.
Absolutely stunning.
(And those darling dogs have adapted so well. Dorset?? Where’s that?)
The most amazing otherworldly fantasy ever seen! I feel almost as fortunate as you must feel to experience such a wonderful place. The clouds like no others and the blues, silvery and lush. I’ve got the color for the house in my mind’s eye. Can hardly wait to see your choice. Thank you Ben and Charlie Happy New Year
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this Ben—no perseverance required! Your vivid descriptions and lovely photos capture both stillness and anticipation. Here’s to celebrating the longer days ahead and finding comfort in these in-between moments.
Happy New Year to you and Charlie wishing you all thats good and joyful in 2025 x
Thank you for sharing these beautiful photographs of this very special place.
A prize for perseverance?? I loved it so much I went back to the beginning and read it again. Beautiful photography and a lovely meander through your festive period. I thank you for sharing it.
can I come and collect my prize?!
Thank your this gift! It is all magical.
We are facinated by your photos and descriptions of living in your new home. We watched a few YouTube shows about Orkney and Rousay to learn more about life there. Even here on the Central Coast of California (Morro Bay) the sea is nothing like what you experience in those storms. Happy New Year to you both.
What a wonderful post. I grew up opposite the Black Isle and Fortrose was always a favorite place to visit. I bought some things at the Antique Shop three years ago on a visit. Did you know that the dolphins in the bay are called ‘Dauphins Francais’ ? There was a tearoom there back in the day where the owner would make you tea and fresh scones any time of the day as you sat by her fire. In the Highlands you have to adapt to the land, it doesn’t adapt to you but it’s a natural process that you hardly feel until one day you find lichen growing on your leg! I grew up with fireplaces, no central heating, some paraffin heaters whose smell reminds me of my youth. I walked home from school along the beach from Invergordon to Alness, picking up stones and shells and dead crabs that mum would smell out and throw away each night ! Blaeberry picking (and eating), wild rasps, a totally different taste, dorkin collecting in a buggy for winter and bunches and bunches of copper leaves, catkins and grasses for the house. Mum would press out jumpers under the rugs between newspaper and in winter she knitted us balaclavas, a must for the winter. So many memories of sledding in the dark as night fell at 4 pm, days were short and nights were long but we played board games, or made shortbread and mum knitted for us as I sewed or read. I feel sorry for young people who have never known that. You should try to visit a Georgian house, now sadly a ruin, in Milton. I played in it as a child, it even had some furniture but is now on the buildings at risk register, how sad is that. I tried to find out who owned it, to no avail then one day as I spoke to an elderly lady on the plane to Inverness she said that she was staying with her nephew in Milton, in the outbuildings of that wonderful house called ‘Tarbet House’, the gardens of which were glorious. Look up Rosehaugh House and cry at how sad that demolition was in the 50’s! Happy New Year to you and yours XO
Happy New Year Ben Charlie, and doggo’s 🐶, beautiful blog Xx
Stunning photos, and what an absolutely beautiful place
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I have never seen so many rainbows that have appeared over such a short period of time and so clearly formed.
I can’t help but think they are a sign of a very auspicious year for you and Charlie.
The photos were works of art and revealed the magic of your beautiful new home.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Ben for such a beautiful post and a rare glimpse into the incredible world of island life in Scotland. Really special to see the old ways kept. A timely reminder of what we cherish and need to keep. Serenity, sacredness and space to be.
Certainly not perseverance Ben! Just so pleasurable looking at and enjoying your beautiful photographs.
I am fascinated by the rock(or is it slate?) formation at Sacquoy Head.
Also the boarding across windows and doors in Kirkwall. Is that to prevent vehicles sliding into them?
Thank you for all the photos and a Very Happy New Year to you both.
Beauty and awe. Thank you for sharing your world.
Ben, I think we might be related and I would like to come for an extended visit—-
Thank you for such a beautiful post! It was such a joy to see your photos. So many astonishingly varied qualities of light and scenery. I experienced an inner giddiness just looking at them, stuck here, as I am, in the city centre of Toronto. Looking forward to visiting London and Wales (and P &H of course) in the spring time. Happy New Year to you and Charlie!
Magical. You couldn’t have chosen a more beautiful spot. Thank you for sharing it with us and allowing us to transported to a place we would never otherwise have imagined.
I absolutely love reading your blog with the accompanying photos. Such spectacular views that lift the spirit on what seems like our endless wet days down south. Thank you. Happy New Year.
What stunningly beautiful pictures, your posts are always inspiring. Happy New Year
So enjoyed reading this Ben, looking forward to seeing the renovations!
Like watching the most beautiful ever changing painting! Love the Christmas cats. Gosh one needs a cast iron stomach for the ferry. Happy New Year Ben. xxx
Amazing pictures. Serenity, tranquility, nature at it’s best , peace of mind. Happy new Year! Cheers!