The Day - 200

A bit of humour for a Thursday............. Deck the Hall. Do you know the Christmas movie Deck the Halls starring Danny DeVito? He wanted to have his house so brightly lit up with lights that it could be seen from Space.

Well...........I think Historic Scotland has borrowed the script because there seems to be a pretty determined effort to paint the Great Hall of Stirling Castle so brightly that it can be seen from the Moon. Because the castle is perched on a commanding hill it can be seen from miles and miles away. The brightly painted Great Hall now increases yet again the distance from which it can be seen.

The 'what's that?' effect on passing travellers is top notch. I suspect it may also have made its way into aviation manuals as a visual landmark for plotting courses. Even in bad weather it shines like a beacon. I wouldn't be in the least surprised if ships in the Rivers Forth and Clyde also use it as a navigation beacon.

This painting of the Hall is not new, its a re-paint as part of the preparations for the grand re-opening of the adjacent Royal Palace in June after a multi-£m refurbishment to restore it to how it would most likely have looked in the 1500s. There will be a grand opening over the weekend of 4 and 5 June (advance tickets only if any blippers plan to attend - obtainable from Historic Scotland or Stirling Castle website).

I've been told a number of times that the painting is authentic - but I'm afraid my dull mind just finds this hard to accept. So, from now on I'll just get over it and look to simply celebrate what is a great building of huge historical significance in Scotland. Must also find out how to bid for this work as it has the feeling of being a project a bit like painting the Forth rail bridge - once you finish you can start again. Great work if you can get it.


Oh, it's the day - 200 in Blip Planet today. Much to my surprise I've managed to find the photographic oxygen to get to the 200 mark. I offer a very big 'thank you' to everyone who has looked in on my blips. Taking the time for this in what are very busy days is no small matter and I appreciate your taking the time to do so. An additional thank you to all the blippers who subscribe and to those I subscribe to. I have found your blips inspiring and rewarding. I am constantly amazed at the quality, originality and brilliance of blips that appear in blipfoto. It gives me something to aim for in improving my more pedestrian and mechanical offerings which are probably too often dipped in the ink of history. There is much to celebrate, marvel, admire, be annoyed or angry about, or just plain everyday living in the world today that create great material for blips. Seeing it, capturing it and being brave enough to blip on it are challenges.

If the opportunities arrive and circumstances permit I'll press on to the 300 mark and perhaps even 365. Borrowing from one of the tracks on Moby's latest album 'The Day' ...."there's a sequence that starts all again"..........onwards to the next 100.

Thanks again and have a great Friday.