Bring your own ladder!

You know that delicious moment when you realise that you have woken up on holiday and you are cozy and warm in your sleeping bag.

No deadlines, no rush, no need to immediately get up.

The pleasure of cupping your hands around a steaming hot mug of coffee as you look out the window.......and watch the billions and billions of dancing midgies...ravenous, man-(woman too) eating midgies.

The pleasure of a smile to the sun when it attempts to peak through the rain clouds while you anticipate the endless micro adventures (daubed in anti-midge cream thick enough to repel elephants) that you will have.

Our adventure was history and murder all rolled into one.

We followed a stony track then a boggy field to find

Hughe's Castle on the rocky shores of Lock Snizort.

Built with no entrance, relying - in it's day - on a wooden ladder to the second floor, 

we scrambled through a small window located in the thick stone wall.

Inside all we discovered was a riot of weeds 

happily growing in a sheltered walled ruin.

We squeezed back out and sat on the loch shores and thought on the story of the castle.

Hugh (Uisdean MacGespig Chleirch) built his little castle after a wild life of pirating and buccaneering. He was an ambitious man and plotted against his uncle - Donal Gorm Mor - to become the clan chief. He hatched a plan and wrote a letter to both his Uncle and an assassin to invite them to his castle.

The only problem with this plan?

He sent each person the other's letter.

His Uncle, for obvious reason was not impressed with his nephew so 'invited' him back to his own castle, threw him in the dungeon and (so the story goes) Hugh was only fed salted beef and fish and not allowed anything to drink.

Hugh was then walled up and left to die a lingering death.

Happy families!

 Our return journey was not as sunfilled as the outward one.

Within a blink of an eye a torrential downpour soaked us to the skin.

Shivering in the car, Himself put the heating on full,

steaming the windows and

warming us all.

The rain continued for the rest of the day.

Later, during the evening, when we had eaten, scrabble played, tea and hot chocolate consumed, Himself noticed a chink of gold through the breaking clouds.

Rousing three teenagers from their snug spots was easier than we thought as we

chased the sunset over the hills then down to the sea.

 We stood and watched.

I shivered in the cool evening air.

It was so incredibly beautiful.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on my last couple of holiday posts - It makes my heart skip a happy skip when I read them (✿◠‿◠) xx