The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond

On Thursday, I woke once again to grey skies and thought it was going to be yet another day of rain.  Even the rooks on the chimney pots in Windermere seemed to be trying to find a warm spot!


But I wasn't very many miles down the road when the clouds swept away and blue skies prevailed!  As usual, I put my destination into the Sat Nav, and it led me off across the countryside on this little one lane road.  Very pretty ~ but not so fun when meeting a large tractor headed your way and no place to pull aside!  As I looked at the time for the journey, it seemed to be much longer than what I'd been told it should take, so I checked my settings and found I had programed in the "shortest" route.  Well the shortest route takes you as close to "as the crow flies" as it can ~ down little farm lanes, dirt tracks, etc ~ Shortest by distance but definitely not the fastest route!  So I reprogrammed it to "fastest" (I haven't had the courage to try the "eco" mode yet ~ who knows where I'd end up!) and finally got back onto the more major roads and a much better arrival time!  Sometimes, you want the slow pretty road, but other times, you simply want to arrive in a timely manner!


Welcome to Scotland via the Motorway! I was glad to be on the major roads, especially when it came time to pass around Glasgow!


It was amazing to me how much different the Scottish landscape was than the English landscape.  Much more broad and open ~ as were the roads.  As I headed north, I stopped along the way at the town of Luss on the banks of Loch Lomond to explore a little bit.


I did the little walking tour through town and passed this lovely war memorial, for soldiers lost in action from both WWI and WWII.  I've seen many of these "high crosses" used as war memorials across the UK.


Just down the road from this church they were taking wedding photos, and sure enough, at the church there were flowers and heart confetti strewn about!  Turns out that the Luss Parish Church is quite the spot for weddings ~ they do several a week!  It was a beautiful old building and a delight to visit.


The graveyard was filled with old, old headstones ~ and the lichen and moss made them technicolor!


Inside, there was lovely stained glass.  It seems that Psalm 121 is to be my theme for this trip.  It keeps showing up in one form or another at many places I've stopped!

I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.  

He will not let your foot be moved,
he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep. 

The Lord is your keeper
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night. 

The Lord will keep you from all evil,
he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
    ~ Psalm 121 (ESV)

The cottages of Luss are lovely with gardens and roses climbing the walls!


The hollyhocks were lovely!


I stayed at a wonderful B&B on the banks of Loch Lomond in the little town of Tarbet.  This was the view from my room.  Gorgeous!  I sat on the deck of my room and painted the scene and enjoyed the sunshine and fresh air.  What a lovely introduction to Scotland and a perfect way to end the day!