From Achnacree bay to Beinn Cruachan

I know I am almpst home when I gaze across Achnacree bay from the top road, and see my mother's house next to Achnaba church, with the Cruachan range in the far distance.

Today as we drove back from Oban without having visited a single charity shop, council tip, or even a Hardware shop, the weather looked good for blipping. we hopped out, and immediately I realised that there was no way I could squeeze the view into my lens. Unless, that is, I learned how to use the panorama function on my camera. I have had it for nearly a year now! So I practised a bit and got the hang of it without reading any manuals! So although it is not the best shot of the day, it is the most meaningful to me, and must therefore be my blip.

The mountains or hills are, from the left, Beinn Lora, Na Maoilean, possibly Beinn Bhreac and Beinn Mheadhonach, and then the range of peaks of Beinn Cruachan. The uncertainty is because the two OS maps don't join up and there is a gap! I have climbed Beinn Lora many times and several of the Cruachan peaks only the once. My grandfathers' ashes and some of my aunt's were scattered half way up Beinn Bhreac in 1982 and 2001. The wee brae behind our house, Na Moilean, is home to an old chapel above Ardchattan priory. There are also two lochans up there, Dubh Loch Mor and Dubh Loch Beag, that helped cause yesterday's flood. We used to play up at a reservoir in the hills in my sixteenth year, but I cannot find it on the map.

My mother's white house is somewhere a third of the way along the shot, on the edge of the loch, to the right of the church. It came out a bit smaller than I expected, but hey, you could try viewing it in large!

I also took some shots of flowers and shrubs in the rain at Arduaine gardens, south of Oban, where we went today. Have tried to add them to my blipfolio, but cannot seem to reconfigure it without help. Will let you know when they are up.

Sorry to those who were expecting Mull blips today! Steve needed a day of taking it easy, so we pottered about in the car, and finished a few jobs at my mother's home, including fitting smoke alarms. She said there is no point, because no one that lives here smokes, and there won't be another grill pan fire. I do hope she is right.