Orkney.....The Ring of Brodgar....

....The Standing Stones of Steness....
After a huge breakfast we decided to get off the beaten track and discover some paths less travelled. Thanks to tour guide extraordinaire we found Castle (Ruins) Sinclair.......(extras). We walked along the grassy edge of the cliff...the view looking to the castle was breathtaking.
Again I experienced overwhelming emotions as walked over the little bridge into the what was left of a most amazing place. So far I think this is my favourite.
The day was just glorious the birds nesting in amongst the pink flowers having found their way in the cracks of the stone work....the beautiful bright blue clear water and ...bonus....for most of it we were the only people.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I felt such happiness and gratitude inside at the beautiful day....the beautiful place I have found myself in...my camera and of course the illustrious company of Sleepyhead.
After the castle we walked down to the water.....a fabulous little cove full of flat rocks perfect for skipping across the water......which Peter did. I have so many photos........already I have got a bunch of extras....what to do?

We got to the ferry just in time and took the last leg of the journey to Orkney....(extra)...which was rather uneventful except everyones car alarms kept on going off and Peter who hadn't seen me come out of the toilet thought I was sea sick or something and was just about to send in the cavalry to see if I was OK.....meanwhile I was lining up for our hot cups of tea.

On arriving in Orkney It felt so different........flat and rolling hills unlike the Highlands we had just left. We did a bit of shopping for supplies and then headed to our cottage in Birsay.....which I might add it just gorgeous with the most wonderful views of the Brough and Ocean.....(I will no doubt post pics later).

We decided to take a quick trip to the Ring of Brodgar to get the lay of the land for what we were intending a night shoot. Well that lasted a couple of hours .....WOW! I felt so at home amongst them...those stones that have stood there for goodness knows how long.....it was cold......I felt it this afternoon.......I stood with my back leaning on a lovely warm stone facing the sun........I felt embraced. .......(extras of The Ring of Brodgar).

After finally finding a place to have dinner we stopped in for another wee while to visit the Standing Stones of Steniss (extra .....squarer stones).

We put the kibosh on the starlight shoot as it didn't get dark till after 12 and I was just too cream crackers to do anything else...plus it was really cold....the wind wasn't nippy as far as I was concerned it had a HUGE bite and was hungry......perhaps I felt it more cause I was tired.

We watched the last of the sunset through the windows of our lounge room...in the warm......whilst I was having internet and computer problems........jeez!...had enough and went to bed only to wake at five to start my blipping and looking at yesterdays pics.

I really recommend you check out Sleepyheads Journal for another (pretty fabulous) viewpoint.