Taexalia

wild.life

Isle of May

A few photographs I had the pleasure of taking on the Isle of May yesterday...

If you are going to climb Ben Nevis then I highly recommend not doing it on the first heatwave day of the summer. I don't recommend doing it during any other heatwave either - but the first heatwave of the year and climbing Ben Nevis is a combination that will leave you puffin, pechin, puggled an pitifu... Last year we didn't heed this advice. Thinking about it, we didn't really not heed it, we just didn't really think about it in real terms. The day before we just thoucht "Aye fine ... read more

Sunscapes

Sunworship with my ... read more

Scottish Landscape Gallery

I'm fiddling with my image plugins and trying to discover the coolest way to display a whole gallery of my images... So here's the NextGen Smooth Gallery with some of my landscape and scenery photos taken in Scotland. ... read more

Burntisland Solstice

The message from the Firth of Forth this morning was of light following dark. Yule, the shortest day, eases into the longest night. The wheel turns. Life moves on. Bright ... read more

Reflections 2009 ~ March

Having bought a house and spent a week flying by the seat of our collective knickers before finally selling the flat, we entered March in a curious state of limbo. We weren't actually moving until April, yet we had kind of left months earlier in our own hearts. We didn't even have the twice weekly cleaning rituals for the no longer happening open viewing sessions to keep us occupied. We took a trip to Fife to give various parental units a drive-by of our soon-to-be new home - this included ... read more

Corvid Cheek

I have been to London several times, enough times that I can navigate myself around some areas without always needing a map - and can even be of help to resident Londoners who find themselves confused on the Tube (read one Londoner and technically it was the Overground - but I knew which train she needed and she didn't!). Until last Friday I had never been to the Tower of London. I have been *this close* to the Tower of London, I have photographed it ... read more

How It Is

I love the way I feel when I walk into the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern. Sometimes I wonder if I even need an installation at the other end, or if I could just be satisfied with the imposing hulk of space. What would I do with the space? How would I move in it? Would I start to build something? Today there is a big black box looming at the end of the hall. Half-term children are running and screaming underneath the huge steel structure, trusting the construction won't start to creak and ... read more

Philly Cheese Steak

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow, forget about the calorie count and stand in line with the locals. I am told that in Philadelphia there are three places that sell worthwhile Philly Cheese Steaks. Two of them are right across the street from each other and I am told this is where the tourists go. I am told that to get the real deal one must hand dollars over to Tony Luke.

Tony Luke's ... read more

Snake(s) In The Grass

Oh how things change. For years I have travelled to America visiting many interesting places, spending my tourist pounds and being curiously welcomed by strangers asking if I know any Ferguson's in Falkirk as that is where their great grandfather's second cousin twice removed came from. The only thing I've ever done in Falkirk is visit the Falkirk Wheel. My closest link to a Ferguson is the tractor my Granda drove around Belt Croft. My knowledge of ... read more

Women With Altitude

My Mum and Dad have been known to do the odd bit of walking in their time. Their pursuit of height has seen them conquer more than one hundred Munros, as well as many other smaller hills and winding paths. I have joined them on occasion and my own walking resume includes some long paths like the Lairig Gruh, as well as a small puckle of Munros and assorted hillage. There are various reasons why our hill-walking exploits have been curtailed in recent ... read more