It's difficult to concentrate on blues when ....

[VikingBlues]

you're staying here with views like those below.

And in answer to Strummers questions (well some of them) on the String Bending Technique thread:-

Great holiday - very relaxed and chilled out - as you'll see ideal for just sitting outside the front door and looking at the view - all the pictures from just ouside the croft's front door. Midges were absent - I think they're more rampant in the west coast and islands - we were a bit too far north and east for them. But the dog got plagued by sheep ticks - got a dozen off him last night - yukk!

It took just over an hour before I picked up a guitar after getting home as I managed to get the unpacking etc out of the way - great restraint as I pointed out to my better half - I had a couple of short unplugged plays on the Hagstrom - but after a 5 hour car journey I'm not in best fettle, so it'll be tomorrow before serious playing is likely.

I think I managed to finish off some song lyrics I'd started working on - I will admit I took a CD of backing tracks with me and could be sometimes seen wandering around aoutside with the headphones on and making strange yowling noises in an attempt to vocalise my ideas. It's an advantage when you're nearest neighbours are several hundred yards away and you're 300 feet up the hillside from the road. But despite all my intentions of using my time away to study up on guitar stuff I did end up spending most of the time in an unplugged state of no mental activity at all.

I managed about 3 hours after getting back before logging on to my second home here at 12bar - what a lot of posts I have to look at to catch up. Sounds like you've all been busy. Looking forward to reading it all.

Other than that I've been wandering around here since getting back feeling a bit like a stranger in a strange land. I felt so much at home in the holiday cottage. I'm missing it a bit tonight.

[Golfxzq]

Hi there VB... great to have you back. Great looking views you had there, should have been very inspiring... can't wait to hear what came to you once you cleared your head from work. Never heard of a "midge" but they sound like dreadful little beasts!!

[MojoJim]

Hi, VB - welcome back. Sounds like a great holiday. Your posts have been missed.

Those tall blue flowers in your first photo look like they could be some form of lupine. That would make them cousins to our Texas Bluebonnets - the state flower of Texas.

After seeing where you stayed I pulled up Google Earth to learn a bit more about that area. The highlands seem to be a very beautiful area. Very conducive to a clear mind and musical inspiration.

Hope you give us a blues song soon about Nessie.

BTW, lots of Scots settled central Texas. Up the road in the town of Salado they hold the Highland Games in late summer each year. Caber Toss, competition parades with bands led by bagpipe players and other events. Who knew there would be such a link over such a long distance?

[Strummer07]

Morning VB .............( I should have thought about your holiday not really fitting with string bending !!.but it was late and I just noticed a cheeky log in from you .so felt an apt welcome back was appropriate!)

Those are powerful views that you had to contend with ..fabulous ! .......well worth the 5 hour drive I would have thought ... mind you from memory driving up there on anything vaguley resmbling a main road is "Speed Camera'ed" beyond belief ... so makes it all very slow.

I don't think I've been that far north , I worked for an oil company and spent a good bit of time working in Aberdeen and surrounds .. But I've done about every half decent hotel withing 75 miles of Aberdeen I think and a few that were not half decent too!!! ... So I've been up around the Spey area and Banf and Buckie , and down around Perth ...but I don't know that loch.
We've been planning aScotland trip for some while and these piccies might just crystalise something !!.who knows.

Sounds like you had a great time .. which is what holidays are all about really.

I guess that whilst the retyurn home to your apartment is welcoming ............as you say, with those views outside the door on holiday.............I guess you'll be feeling a bit hemmmed in for a day or so !

Good to have you back ... more later

Enjoy reconnecting with your "girls"

[VikingBlues]

Hi there VB... great to have you back. Great looking views you had there, should have been very inspiring... can't wait to hear what came to you once you cleared your head from work. Never heard of a "midge" but they sound like dreadful little beasts!!

Thanks Golfxzq.

The Scottish midge has a wingspan of 1.4 mm.
A swarm of midges can deliver approximately 3000 bites an hour.
A female will feed on the skin for up to 4 minutes taking 0.1 microlitres of blood.
A female midge can probably detect you from a range of up to 100 metres.
It is estimated that in the Highlands midge populations can reach densities of 10,000,000 midges per acre in ideal conditions.

Only the female midge bites, as she requires a blood meal to feed her eggs. When she finds a suitable host she may take a few minutes to drink her fill, but she also gives off a chemical signal which attracts other females. They will swarm and partake of the free meal so don’t hang around. A rare instance where we a man won't like the idea of a swarm of females being attracted to them.

With the midge, it's no wonder Scotland has such a small population for its size!

Morning VB .............( I should have thought about your holiday not really fitting with string bending !!.but it was late and I just noticed a cheeky log in from you .so felt an apt welcome back was appropriate!)
.....
Sounds like you had a great time .. which is what holidays are all about really.

I guess that whilst the retyurn home to your apartment is welcoming ............as you say, with those views outside the door on holiday.............I guess you'll be feeling a bit hemmmed in for a day or so !
......
Enjoy reconnecting with your "girls"

Thanks Strummer - I would have replied on the other thread but with putting up the pictures too I thought it would be a bit much. The hemmed in feeling is gradually reducing - just need to reacclimatise and come back to reality. Getting plumbing work done tomorrow morning - that should help the reality kicking in especially when I pay the bill. Still waiting for the guitar playing bug to kick in but there's been a lot to do the first day back. I just hope the guitars aren't in a sulk at being abandoned.

Hi, VB - welcome back. Sounds like a great holiday. Your posts have been missed.

Those tall blue flowers in your first photo look like they could be some form of lupine. That would make them cousins to our Texas Bluebonnets - the state flower of Texas.

After seeing where you stayed I pulled up Google Earth to learn a bit more about that area. The highlands seem to be a very beautiful area. Very conducive to a clear mind and musical inspiration.

Hope you give us a blues song soon about Nessie.

BTW, lots of Scots settled central Texas. Up the road in the town of Salado they hold the Highland Games in late summer each year. Caber Toss, competition parades with bands led by bagpipe players and other events. Who knew there would be such a link over such a long distance?

Thanks MojoJim. I must check up on the flowers. I'll need to work on the Nessie Blues song - it could be a monster hit. Bad boy Viking.
I'm not surprised about the Scots in central Texas - there's been so much movement of population out of Scotland (forced out by landowners, if not be midges), I think there's strong gatherings of clans all over he world.

[12bar]

Thanks VB for the fantastic views! Looks like a great place to paddle for me (my other hobby)!
I always enjoy this OT stuff

Well, holidays are coming...

[Strummer07]

The flowers in the top photo are indeed Lupins ...............or as they are known in the USA Lupines ... well spotted MJ !
Quote from Wikepedia
Lupins or lupines (North America) are the members of the genus Lupinus in the legume family (Fabaceae). The genus comprises between 200 and 600 species, with major centers of diversity in South America and western North America, in the Mediterranean region and Africa.[1][2][3]
Unquote

they are certainly pretty common in the UK .....we had them in the garden when I was a lad ....and that is a very long time ago !!
Loads of colours ..and quite striking in a larger garden as a back drop in boarders ...........intersperse 'em with a few nice delphiniums and you got a good show !!

I imagine that one must have been a wild one seeded by the birds in the roadside ..........have to say I didn't realise it was a flower associated with Texas ( you learn something every day eh!) and I've been there a few times too. ( Oil industry gets you around a good bit !!.it wasn't BP though in case anyone was a wondering)

[Blindboy]

Wow VB, what a beautiful place. Great pictures too. Must have been a nice vacation.
Glad to have you back on 12Bar.

[Golfxzq]

Thanks for the info. on the midge... they sound like miniature, female, vampires!!! Not something I want to run into while on vacation.... that could really turn into a blues song!

[VikingBlues]

Thanks VB for the fantastic views! Looks like a great place to paddle for me (my other hobby)!
I always enjoy this OT stuff

Well, holidays are coming...

If you do go to Loch Ness for a paddle remember to pick your spot carefully - it's 750 feet deep (230 m)! Apparently contains more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined - well all our rain has to go somewhere. Glad to see you back on the forums safely after all the construction work 12bar.

Thanks for taking up the flowers aspect Strummer - saved me research in an area I'm a bit vague about. Some quite differernt plants where we stayed to what we have in East Lothian, but very different soil and climate. We have dry and sandy, they have wet and peaty. They've really made a well kept garden - unusual for a rental holiday home - it was fully fenced in and enclosed so our dog enjoyed roaming round it.

Hi Blindboy - yes it was a beautiful place - quiet and isolated compared to our home, but nothing like as isolated as your neck of the woods looks to be. A great place to mentally switch off and enjoy the peace.

I've heard the midge referred to as a miniature velociraptor Golfxzq, which is possibly a bit exagerated, but it's not unheard of for holiday makers to leave on day one of a holiday after being attacked by the little buggers.

[12bar]

If you do go to Loch Ness for a paddle remember to pick your spot carefully - it's 750 feet deep (230 m)! Apparently contains more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales combined - well all our rain has to go somewhere. Glad to see you back on the forums safely after all the construction work 12bar.

230 m is a lot, indeed. The lakes around here are very shallow, you can even walk through them. On the other hand, the Italian lake were I'll paddle again this year ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nK9QsAb46ig ) is about 372 m deep. But it doesn't matter - 2 m are enough to get drowned... The good thing - almost no midges and always warm.
Today I went paddling here, water was 12 degrees brrrr.

Anyway, great photo quality! Maybe someday I'll go for a paddling there. If only they wouldn't drive on the wrong side...

BTW - the Lupines are very popular here, too!

[MojoJim]

Bluebonnets (lupinus texensis) in central Texas.jpg (47.28 KiB) Viewed 12575 times

[Blindboy]

Nice, MojoJim...
I remember driving down I-35 when the median and sides were a solid carpet of those and indian paintbrushes for miles and miles.