October in the Highlands

Silverbirch, beech, bracken, heather, sea weed, white sands, sheep, highland cows, rain and sun, big skies and rocks, lochs and glens, on repeat.

Late October, we spent a week up in the Highlands. Places get booked up really quickly nowadays, so I was happy when we found this lovely cottage online, still available. And dogs allowed too! It didn’t have wifi or phone signal in and around the cottage at all but that’s just what we needed. It had, however, a log burner and a week supply of logs. Perfect.

We travelled via Glencoe as the road to the Forth Bridges was closed. I didn’t mind it at all as driving through Glencoe is one of my favourite things to do in Scotland. After Glencoe, as we really get into the Highlands, the spaces open up and the sky just gets bigger and bigger. Traffic is almost non existent. This is what I really wanted from this holiday after a busy year.

We stopped in Fort William to stock up on food supplies. It was another hour from there until we got to the cottage. A very long drive all in all but it was so worth it as it all slowed down after.

The drive to our cottage with views of Loch Moidart.

The Cottage. And lichen covered trees everywhere.

From a walk on our doorstep..

We walked a lot and one of our best walks was the one to the Singing Sands in Kentra bay. This beach is not accessible by car so you have to walk to it and it’s totally worth it. This walk led us through a variety of scenery but most if it was through a forestry plantation - pine trees as far as you could see. It was absolutely magical and you were almost waiting for a fairy to appear. It rained a lot, more like a heavy drizzle than heavy rain but it was enough for us to get soaked as we walked there. When we stopped, all we could hear is the raindrops gently landing on the trees and the ground. Absolutely peaceful. This peacefulness followed us to the beach too, there was not a soul and Finn enjoyed having the whole place to himself. Well, and me too, I must say. I didn’t bring my camera here. It was a long walk through woodland and I just didn’t fancy carrying it for hours and in the rain. The phone worked just fine capturing moments to forever remember this special place.

We went to other beaches too, like the Silver Sands of Morar, near Mallaig. While Finn was chasing a ball, I was admiring all the colours and textures. I also had a little commission of photographing sea weed and it was the perfect place for it.
Silver Sands is more popular as it’s very easily accessible. When I say more popular, imagine maybe maximum 12 people on the beach. On a huge beach.

Someone once told me one shouldn’t include too many images in a blog post so here you go, I’ll continue with more images in a different post.

Garden by the sea

In recent years, one of the highlights of my trips up to Scotland is meeting Rachael of Hedgerow / @hedgerow for a coffee or lunch and a walk and chat around the streets of Portobello. She shows me the most beautiful little streets , colourful old doors and gates and we admire anything green and flowery (I must do a blog post just on that). When, after a long long time, we finally travelled up to Scotland again in May, I got to see Rachael’s beautiful garden too and her stylish home (proper magazine material but I didn’t want to be too pushy on that front, maybe next time)

Rachael is a floral designer and an architect and these passions of hers can be found everywhere you look in her garden and home.

We had tea and cinnamon buns and a good, much needed chat and I spent some time out to her rainy garden with my camera. We then headed out for lunch to Rachael’s favourite place - Skylark - before walking back home through rainy Portobello and making a flat lay with flowers from her garden.

Making this flat lay with flowers from Rachael’s garden was such a treat. I never take it for granted picking flowers (or dismantling a bouquet) just for this. The backdrop we used was her kitchen table and the light in the kitchen just worked perfectly and helped us create this moody image on that rainy day.

Thank you Rachael for this very special day, I had the best time. This must have been the most relaxing day of my holiday.

I’m going to share with you more private gardens, do come along.

October in Scotland

We were very much in need of leaving the house. I did get to travel (and photograph wonderful gardens with the most wonderful people and I can’t wait to be able to tell you more about this) but S. has been working from home (which is great too, of course) but well, we just needed to be away a bit. And so we went to Scotland to catch the beautiful, golden October there. I was craving for the wilderness, cool and rainy days, muted colours and that quiet and calm I very often find there.

We stayed in a self catering accomodation only twenty minutes from Edinburgh but really out in the middle of nowhere. This suited us and the current situation perfectly. We went for quiet walks, up the Lammermuir hills but also to the sea a couple of times. It felt so good being somewhere this tranquil.

We stayed on a farm in a wee bothy. Backing our garden there, there was a walled garden and an old abandoned building that captured me the first time I saw it. It looked derelict and I sooo wanted to see what was behind the walls of the garden. One morning I took a photo of the house, shared it on Instagram and tadaam, not long after that, the owner of that house messaged me. But what are the chances??! Someone who follows me must have recognized the house and let her know? No idea. But long story short, she let me go over and have a look around. I was so excited to (officially) trespass and see the house and the grounds from close! It’s been lying empty for years and the new owners have now started the works and I cannot wait to see the changes next time we’re up.

So above is the house as I first saw it from behind the fence and then from a bit closer. I took many more images of it but I also want to respect its privacy. Oh and the garden is full of beautiful holly bushes and mostly lived in by sheep and that’s about it at the moment but I’m sure it will see some wonderful changes.

So yes, I was looking for peace and quiet. Crisp and grey. Muted colours and wilderness. I needed headspace and to be able to think without sitting in front of a screen. What is a bit unknown of a Winter and a new year just round the corner, these few days away were so important to me, to see clear and to make plans. All this - and more - happened in Scotland. I had two shoots that I’ll tell you about soon. Until then, enjoy October wherever you are. This is by far my favourite month, for all the reasons I mentioned above, so I’m just happy being here.

Cove Harbour - Scotland

The moment Storm Dennis arrived in Scotland, I stopped at the wee parking in Cove and went for a walk after a long drive up from England.

Crovie

On our trip to Scotland during Easter, we travelled through the Cairngorms up to the seaside villages of Moray. My favourite of them all was the picturesque and tiny village of Crovie, which is lying on a narrow ledge between the cliffs and the sea. Due to its location, you have to leave your car up on the cliff and take some steep steps down (and back!) to the village. Which is absolutely beautiful and so very peaceful. You definitely hear no cars only the waves and the occasional seagulls. If you’re ever in the area, do not miss this tiny, tranquil place.