Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].

Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.

With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.

Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.

This has been my life; I found it worth living.

Bertrand Russell

Bertrand Russell was born in 1872, the grandson of John Russell, 1st Earl Russell, who was Prime Minister in the 1840's and 1860's. He was a philosopher, a logician, a mathematician and a campaigner for social reform. He was a dynamic writer and commentated on many subjects. For most of his life he was a well known anti-war activist, campaigning for nuclear disarmament, and he tried to champion fair trade between countries. In 1931, he became 3rd Earl Russell. He is one of the world's best known intellects. In 1950 he was made a Nobel Laureate, "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."

___________________________________________

What governs your life?

I guess four passions govern my life -

My daily quest to know, understand, glorify and share God.

My family.

My longing to learn more.

My desire to write.

I know that I could never hope to have the impact on the world that Bertrand Russell had, but I would hope that I could make a differance to those around me, and that I could attempt to make a difference to a few who have to bear suffering and poverty, through supporting ethical charities, fair trade and by respecting my environment and this fragile planet we live on.

Charis and I decided to make another trip down the A82.

As usual it took me all day to get organised!!

After a glorious lie-in, we went to Andrew's work for lunch ...

This is Charis checking to see how many police are around before trying to open the cabinets!! (Andrew is an IT man for Northern Constabulary) She gave us quite a laugh on the way out of the station - we passed a uniformed officer .... she looked up at him ... smiled .... and said, "Nee-naw, nee-naw!" I didn't know where to look!

Then it was back to the house to pack ...after a coffee and a chat with our pal, Joanne, who had popped by to pick up clothes of her's that I'd had since December!

As Joanne was leaving, our bestest buddy, Amy, arrived ... and she and Iain kept Charis amused while I tidied and hoovered the car, then finally threw some clothes and bits-and-bobs together.

We then popped to the retail park with Iain - into Boots for some new PJ's, breakfast and snacks for Charis, then a latte and a sarnie at Starbucks in Borders. By now it was 5pm'ish so decided it was probably wiser to pop back home and give Charis her dinner before heading south. This meant we also got to see Andrew again!

We finally got going at the back of 6pm - fortunately the roads were quiet and Charis fell asleep before we'd even left the city!

The sky was quite dark and overcast at the beginning of our journey, but I thought these daisies looked quite stunning overlooking Loch Ness.

We stopped at Urquart Castle ... but there was no sign of Nessie! The earliest legend of the Loch Ness monster involves St Columba, when he was on pilgrimage to Scotland to spread Christianity (circa 563AD). He visited the Pictish king in Inverness and came across the burial of a Pict who had been mauled by a creature in the Loch. Columba ordered one of his servants to swim across the Loch to retrieve the dead man's boat, but he too was attacked by a creature that reared out of the water. Columba commanded the beast, in the Name of God, to return to where it had come to, and it disappeared into the murky depths, leaving the swimmer to scramble to shore.

Looking North towards Lochend and Inverness beyond, I pondered whether Andrew was missing us ... or had gone to bed already for a snooze!

Nearing Fort Augustus, the clouds started to dissipate, though the loch looks just as mysterious! This is looking North again towards Lochend, almost 23 miles away.

This is Inchnacardoch Bay, at the Fort Augustus end of Loch Ness. I love that old boat .... it's been there for as long as I can remember! I couldn't get a photo of Fort Augustus Abbey as it's now a construction site.

 

The Fort was designed by General Wade and built between 1729 and 1742. During the rebellion of 1745, it was occupied by the Jacobite Army. In 1867 Lord Lovat (the 14th one) bought the buildings from the government and it was used as a hunting lodge (if that was their hunting lodge, their main residence must have been awesome!!!!). Then, in the 1870's, the 15th Lord Lovat agreed to lease the buildings to the Benedictine Monks. The first architect they employed, Joseph Hansom (of Hansom cabs!), designed the reconstruction and extension to provide a school and monastery. Later a church was constructed and Barrack Square was replaced by Gothic cloisters and a lawn. Sadly, the school closed in 1993, then, in 1999, Lovat Estates put the property on the market, after the Abbey closed in 1998 with debts of £200,000. The 10 monks who remained to the end were dispersed to other monasteries. A consortium, Abbey Business Scotland, headed by TV presentor and wildlife expert, Terry Nutkins, bought the Abbey in November 2000, but millions of pounds was required to restore the buildings to their former glory. It was put back on the market and, though the local community desperately tried to raise the funds, the Raven Group eventually bought the Abbey in October 2003 for something well over £1,000,000.

I'm 100% positive that the small island to the left of the photo (and to the right in the photo with the boat on its side) is a crannog, which was an Iron Age (dating to around 5000 years ago) homestead constructed on the loch and was a symbol of power and wealth.

These shots are of Loch Lochy. I was fascinated by the way the cloud seemed to be pouring over the top of the hills! It looked so bizarre, especially as it seemed to hug the contours of the hill!

As we drove through Fort William the sun was starting to set. I took this shot from Ballachulish and the one below I took just before we drove over the bridge (I did stop the car, honest!). You can just see the moon in the shot below!

Sunset over the hills of Morvern

Hmmmm ... not much to say just now. Should really be in bed as our wee monkey was partying from 3-7am last night/morning! But insomnia rules for now! And I'm really trying hard to get my head round making changes in my thinking and way of doing things. But .... here I am rambling ... listening to the cat make funny noises in his sleep ... having already been in twice to settle Charis .... hmph!

So ... here are some of the people who are special to me ..................

My darling hubby, sitting overlooking Dunstaffenage Bay, my home-village

Dad, Charis and Mum, at Port Appin

My Mum and Charis

My Dad and Charis

My sister and Charis

Charis and my brother

Our bestest bud, Amy, and Charis   

My gorgeous Dutch sister-in-Christ, Tjits, and her cutey-pie, Joy

Rhona and her youngest, Pheobe

Findlay Kruegar

David, my sister and Charis at our house

Marieanne, Daniel, Annie and Neills

I am sooooooooooooo  tired today .... and have so much to do! Charis had a dreadful night - she never settled til 4.30am and is still asleep at 9.30am! I got so upset and stressed, but probably only because I knew I had so much to do today! Our friends' wee one, Amy, is here til after lunch, I have shopping to do for an elderly friend, I have to tidy the house, and I've a couple of hours cleaning to do at some offices later for a friend who is away on holiday! Joy, joy, happy, happy!

So, I want to say a HUGE thank-you to one of my xanga buddies for well cheering me up! Simply_Paulette had a competition on her site ... and I won! I never win anything! It put a great big grin on my face and cheered me up no end! Pop over to her site and see what she has done with a photo I sent her of Charis on Nairn Beach (below).

 Anyway - hope you all have a great weekend!

Sunday morning - by now I am utterly exhausted! Charis had been so inconsolable when she woke (for the third time!) at 6.30am that I had to take her down to the living room. And she stayed awake til around 9am! We had hoped to go to the Fathers' Day service at Dunbeg Church, but it wasn't looking likely! Charis and I went back to bed in Mum and Dad's room around 9.30am - she was like a limpet and wouldn't unlatch! We woke around 1pm and Andrew brought us up a bacon roll and wonderful cup of tea. Mum arrived back not long after and Dad soon after that, having been preaching in Dalmally and its link. We took our time getting packed and headed off around 3pm - Andrew went ahead with Dad in his car to get a seat at Ben Lora cafe in Benderloch and Mum, Charis and I followed. I get more and more depressed each time I leave Oban .... "Who Says You Can't Go Home" is my anthem just now!!! We had a lovely lunch as usual ..... I sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo recommend the chocolate fudge brownies! Charis was in great form, splashing in the puddles in the pouring rain! Then it was time to say goodbye.

Ganavan Sands © AJ Harvey

 The road wasn't busy, but the weather was dreadful - torrential rain most of the way. If we thought the weather was bad, Charis's temper was even worse! She screamed the whole way and I had to stop at Kentallen to feed her again - I was pretty raging myself! We carried on ... and the screaming carried on until Fort William, when she finally fell asleep. We had the chart show on BBC Radio1 to keep us company once Charis quietened down - but it was just as nerve jangling with all the awful football songs being played!!

At No 27 - Tonedef Allstars, Who Do You Think You Are Kidding Jurgen

At No 15 - Crazy Frog, We are The Champions (Ding A Dang Dong)

At No 11 - Tony Christie, (is This The Way To) The World Cup (shame on you Tony - you've gone down in my estimation!)

At No 10 - Sham 69 & The Special Assembly, Hurry Up England - The People's Anthem

At No 9 - Baddiel / Skinner / Lightning Seed, 3 Lions

At No 8 - Embrace, World At Your Feet

... and there were probably more ... it was dreadful!! Bad enough that we are subjected to all the media coverage of the English team, but do we have to be further tortured by banal songs too!? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

I was pleased, though, that Bon Jovi charted at No 5 with 'Who says you can't go home?' and that Sandi Thom is still holding at No 2.

The trip back up the A82 was uneventful and we arrived home around 8pm 'ish. I was knackered and in foul form by now, so I went straight to bed with Charis! But that didn't work and at around 9.30pm Andrew responded to her shouting 'Dada' and came and took her for an hour or so! Yet again it was after midnight by the time I got her settled! This can't go on! It really spoiled the weekend for us all and my nerves can't take much more!

McCaig's Tower from Oban Bay © SM Simpson

Saturday morning - after a horrendous night with Charis (who didn't go down til after midnight, woke around 5am and would not be consoled!), we were disappointed to see that the rain had got worse overnight and the midges were dreadful! We had planned on going to the Rare Breeds' Farm Park in Oban but decided we'd rather not be eaten alive by the midges! So it was a trip to Benderloch for lunch at Ben Lora Cafe (always to be reccommended!) and then a trip into Oban to boring old Tescos! Back home I had to feed a frazzled Charis, who by now was almost constantly holding her left ear, and we both fell asleep on the sofa. Fortunately we woke in time for Dr Who! Then Mum and I started dinner - French bread, cheese, salami and       to start, followed by chicken stuffed with basil, mozzerela and Chinese 5 spice served with roasted veg and potatoes, and scrumming chocolate pudding to finish. Yum! We had hoped to visit my cousin Gael and her family - her husband's Mum passed away last week - but Charis was just too poorly.

Hoping for an early night ..... fat chance! Charis got her second and third wind and after entertaining the whole household, settled after midnight again! I'm soooooooooo tired!!!!

Inverness 

As Charis had recovered from her vomiting bug, we thought we'd drive down to Oban to my parents on Friday. As usual, I was late picking Andrew up from work, so we never left until 6pm 'ish .... however we got to the Inshes roundabout and had to go right round it and back into the carpark at Tesco - Charis was bawling! Took her out of her seat and she asked to be fed .... and as usual I gave in and fed her! So, back on the road 20 minutes later and we finally got out of Inverness!

Urquart Castle, Loch Ness, Inverness © SM Simpson

 The A82 was pretty quiet - the weather took a real turn and it was drizzly and cloudy. Charis dropped off somewhere along Loch Ness side thankfully! We picked up Ness Radio as we got closer to Fort William - they were broadcasting from the Skye Music Festival .... but were extremely ticked off because the press officer was messing them about and they were not getting access to the bands they wanted to or to broadcast the acts live! It was most amusing listening to them bitching about the organisation of the festival! I hear that it was wet and midge infested too!! 

© SM Simpson

We stopped off at the Commando Memorial to take some photos. There was a couple of tractors there (photos to follow!) that are doing Lands End to John O'Groats for charity. We decided to stop at Spean Bridge for something to eat. Bored of the Little Chef, we drove up the hill to the Old Station Restaurant - it looked lovely but was a bit expensive for just a stop off, so we'll visit it another time. The Spean Bridge Hotel now has a fish & chip shop, so we thought we'd get a takeaway - fish for Andrew and macaroni for me. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT go there!!! It was like eating pasta straight from its pan of water! Andrew said the fish was fine, but I didn't rate the chips and most of mine ended up in the river, which we were sitting above. A cute wee mouse charmed us by popping in and out of the grasses by the path.

Commando Memorial, Spean Bridge 

Back on the road (after another Charis bawling incident!) we continued south. There was amazing low cloud base the rest of the way, totally obscuring the hills round Fort William and there was a constant drizzle by now! The rhododendrons were in full bloom and looked spectacular lining the road as we crossed the boundary from Highland to Argyll and Bute. But the drizzle and harr stayed with us all the way .... as did Charis's girning! We had to stop twice more for her - and got eaten alive by midges on the shores of Loch Creran!

As soon as we arrived at Mum and Dads' in Dunbeg, Charis was all smiles! We were so relieved to have arrived ... babies crying really frazzles the nerves!