Some places we've been and some places we're going.

A Couple of Little Jaunts

June 5, 2025

In 1971 I was living in Aviemore when I decided I was going to get my ears pierced so Alex and I went to The Victorian Market in Inverness where there was a Jewellery Store called “Finkelsteins”. The person put a little dot on each ear then used a special gun arrangement to fire the stud into my earlobe. I remember thinking that having holes put into your body so you decorate it was very primitive and next I’d be getting a bone put through my nose. In 1974 Alex had one ear pierced at the same place but he gave up hippydom before we went to Australia in 1978. Today we revisited the Market and were happy to see that Finkelstein’s shop is still there.

Built in 1890 most of the Market still has the original features, elegant ironwork, glass and wood roof, vintage lights and round topped shop fronts.

All the shops are independently owned and there were many offering Scottish souvenirs where we bought a couple of things.

A new Food Hall was created in 2022.

When we left the Market we went across town to Howden’s Garden Centre for Lena to get some seedlings and for us to warm up in the cafe. I’ve never seen or heard of “Aussie Crunch” but am told it tastes like something called, “Hedgehog Slice” in Australia and in this case was very tasty. Not GF though.

For dinner Alex roasted the venison we bought at the Farmer Shop in Rothiemurchus along with some carrots and potatoes. At home some shops sell, “Im Perfect” or “Odd Bunch” fruit and vegetables which don’t conform to the prescribed supermarket criteria, the ones we bought here had a different name but were equally tasty.

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Scotland 2025, Uncategorized

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Along the Waterways

The River Ness is only 6 miles long and runs from Loch Ness to the Moray Firth which is an inlet of the North Sea. Today we went for a walk past the Hydro generating plant on the river.

  • Archimedes Screw
  • Water feeding into the plant.
  • Water flowing from the plant.

I was excited when I saw an arrow on a post beside an image of a squirrel and thought that at last we might spot one. I was wrong, we didn’t see any and the signs were only designating a particular path. We did see some bright flowers in amongst the grasses and trees.

  • Bluebells
  • Briar Rose
  • Buttercups
  • Foxgloves

We walked back towards our car on the Caledonian Canal side, the canal goes from Inverness on the east coast to Corpach near Fort William on the west coast. Some people were having fun in canoes until three boats came along towards them. One couple zigzagged wildly to get to the bank where the others were already grouped together. Those learners also struggled to get their canoe back on land when they returned to their starting place.

We did a bit of shopping then headed to another spot on the canal, this time closer to Lena’s home but didn’t get far before we had to wait for the road bridge to be repositioned. A boat was coming along the canal so the bridge was swivelled out of position.

As we walked towards a cafe beside the canal a man was mowing the bank and he wasn’t using a little Flymo!

The “Jammy Piece” cafe was very dog friendly even having a menu for them including Pupcakes, Puppucinos, K9 Coolers (ice-cream), and Dog Sausage. There were three dogs inside but only one seemed to be dining on mashed up Dog Sausage, I think they were all enjoying being out of the cold wind.


On our way back to the car and “home” we watched the activity at one of the 29 locks along the length of the canal. A couple of sailing boats were waiting to pass through the locks and the lock operator seemed to be explaining in detail how it worked but to get to that point the boatman must already have passed through at least one. As soon as the boats were out of the first part of the lock the gates shut and water poured in again to refill that section. The boats were flying French flags though I did see the name on the second boat was “Dilly Dally IV”. Not very French. If you ever need to open the control console of a canal lock apparently you need a key to the padlock and a butt strong enough to bang the door open.


I thought I knew what a car engine looked like until we lifted the bonnet of the Toyota CHR- hybrid we hired, we were upgraded from a Khia Ceed. It’s very smooth and quiet which can mean ramblers have no idea you are behind them.

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Scotland 2025, Uncategorized

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Carrbridge

June 3, 2025

I think when I lived in Aviemore I simply accepted the name of “Carrbridge” without giving it much thought but the story behind it’s old bridge is intriguing.

Before the “Packhorse Bridge” or “Coffin Bridge” was built if the water was high in the Duthil River no one could get across from the village to the church on the other side which caused big issues for mourners carrying the coffins in funeral processions. The bridge was built in 1717 and cost £100 and was paid for out of the Duthil Church minister’s allowance. A devastating flood in 1829 washed away the guard rails, it’s the Scottish Highlands oldest known stone bridge.

When driving through Carrbridge on our way to Aviemore to meet up with family we stopped in Carrbridge to check out the sculptures I’d noticed when passing through a few days before. They weren’t there back in the 1970s.

I discovered that every year since 2003 Carrbridge has held a “Carve Challenge”, it’s an open chainsaw carving competition and around the town are some of the sculptures which have been created over the years. The items carved remained the property of the carvers who could sell them at an auction if they wanted. There are plenty of amazing carvings in Carrbridge my favourites are on the poles supporting a bench in a local park. Each pole depicts little creatures and significant figures on its surface. Below are just some of them.

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Scotland 2025, Uncategorized

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