Sunday 28 April 2013

From Ballachulish to The Boogaloo

When we left London a week ago the sun was blazing and there was not a cloud in the sky as far as the eye could see.
I had hoped that the glorious weather would travel with us up to Scotland but alas that was not to be, pants!
The further north the bus took us the darker the skies turned and we quite literally drove into a whole heap of bad weather.
It would have been nice to have a week of sunshine and blue skies but I'm not one to let a bit of dreich weather spoil my fun.
We stopped off in Greenock with my brother-in-law for a night before continuing the journey up to Ballachulish in The Highlands.
When we visited last September, I brought all my shapeshifter ponchos and we staged a little photo session in the glen and I had hoped to do the same thing this time. My suitcase was full of frocks and photo session paraphernalia and every day I was up with the lark monitoring the weather forecast hoping that there would be a wee break in the thick blanket of cloud. We did get a few pictures done but the conditions were not ideal to say the least but I'll blog about that tomorrow.
As per usual I took loads of pics all week and I thought I'd share some of them with you...
It's grim up north! Not really but it was rather dreich it has to be said.
The River Laroch and the Loch Leven shore. 
Swan in Loch Leven & the St Munda burial island.
The River Laroch in Ballachulish, Scottish heather in mums garden and a cool as a cucumber sheep in Glen Nevis.
Glen Nevis and Scots pine tree.
There was still some snow on the hills. Despite it looking like it never stops raining in the Highlands it has in fact been "unseasonably dry" and at the beginning of this month there was even a wildfire outbreak
Little chirpy bird in Glen Nevis and big chirpy bird at the Lochan Trail in Glencoe.
I was delighted to catch a bunch of Kyloe cows having their breakfast in Glen Nevis. Later on that day we went to Glen Coe to attempt a photo session, we ended up having bemused tourists taking pictures of us taking pictures, och! In the evening we met up with my father-in-law at The Laroch Bar for a few bevvies :)
On Thursday it was my mother-in-laws 70th birthday :)
It did clear up for a few hours in the early evening so we zipped down to the lochside to take a few more pics. Then mums friends came around for a little 70th birthday get-together at the house. Loads of  cake, wine and laughter :)
The morning after mums birthday we left Ballachulish at eight, stopped in Glasgow for a quick pub brunch before hopping on the bus back down to London.
We arrived in London at half ten in the evening and I had my market the following day.
Thankfully I had prepared everything before we left so it was just a case of packing everything up in the morning. I was a wee bit zombified on Saturday but Mark helped me to The Boogaloo and stayed around until I was all set up. Who would have guessed that sitting on your arse for twelve hours could be so physically & mentally exhausting?! 
Despite being a bit of a hazy-daisy I did have a very good day, chatted to some lovely folk & made some people happy with my vintage threads and that's what it's all about after all ;)
Here are some pics from yesterday's Can't Buy Me Love market....
What I wore:
Indian frock, tulle tutu, shaggy cardi with flower brooch, tights, 80s boots, Frocktasia earrings, Tibetan prayer bangle and my trusty market peddlers bumbag ;)
So there you go that was my "dropping off the blog radar" week.
I'm totally behind in my blog reading but as I have already picked out most my stock for next Saturday's Dandy Lion Market I should have a few hours to spare tomorrow to indulge in a little bit of catching up, looking forward to it, I've missed you's!
I'll leave you with one of my favourite Scottish bands, enjoy :)
Loads of love,
Jennie
xXx


9 comments:

thorne garnet said...

those cows are so cute. Bangs are so in right now.

I still can't get over a market onside a bar,wonderful idea.

Panty Buns said...

Yet another word I had to look up in the course of reading your blog: ("dreich"). Sorry to read that the weather didn't cooperate with you while you were visiting your brother-in-law in Greenoch. The photos and camera work! are fabulous.
The "selfie" of Mark and yourself in the reflection of the glass and for that matter all of the photos are remarkable. I love the sign above the doorway in the stone wall by the railroad tracks saying "Way out -->" Of course I thought of the 60s expression first, then of my wastebasket (the way-out box) and finally of a welcome sign for anyone with claustrophobia.
My word, Ballachulish is such an amazing and wonderfully scenic place! I hadn't seen photos from near Loch Leven. Being an ignoramus from the U.S. I'd only heard of Loch Lomond and Loch Ness. I'm surprised at the signs in English like the one that says "water". What beautiful scenery! I love the whitewater. Oh, to be young again, clambering up on large boulders like you did.
It looks like Mark's mum had a nice family celebration of her 70th.. I keep forgetting how young you all are.
Your outfit at The Boogaloo was lovely. I love the tulle tutu at the hem of the Indian frock. I see Monia made it there too. The white cap sleeve dress hanging up by itself in the photo is a pretty one. The deserts look yummy.
Your "dropping off the blog radar" week was a beautiful whirlwind. It's nice looking at all the pictures and reading about it.
You and Mark do an amazing job getting all that beautiful vintage apparel and other goodies out to the jumbles and markets where it can find lucky new owners. It's amazing that you're already making preparations for Saturday's Dandy Lion Market at The Oxford.
I hope you both catch up on your sleep and rest and tuck all the wonderful memories away to smile about in the future.

http://www.full-brief-panties.blogspot.com/

Connie Staccato said...

That looks like heaven. And you look SO happy!

Olga Rani said...

What beautiful nature. And those cows look very much like Himalayan yaks, I had no idea there are such hairy creatures in Europe.

Unknown said...

Otroligt vackert!

Vix said...

Loved yesterday's photos of Faith, worthy of a trendy magazine shoot, Jenni!
The Scotland pictures are stunners and I'm delighted you had a great day at the fair. Your stall looked fabulous and most enticing. Hope you've sold that gorgeous rik-rak trimmed mini! xxx

Frocktasia said...

Vix, it was the first thing to go. Jet-Marie the CBML organiser snapped it up & I'm so delighted that she did cause it looks brilliant on her :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, Jennie, the Scotland pics are amazing - what rugged beauty. Great market pics too. Love your outfit and your hair - is it shorter now or just styled that way? xo

Frocktasia said...

Mark cut my hair for me a while back but it looks even shorter when I curl it a bit :)