Rockhunting Pink Larimar Pectolite in Southern Scotland

 

There are loads of beautiful rocky riverbeds in the west of Scotland, although one or two are protected, or have nesting areas for rare wildlife. As usual, always double check if you plan to have a visit yourself.

Onto the rocks! 

Finding Pink Pectolite

I first came across pink pectolite when I was out on the trail for jasper. Some of the best red/yellow jasper in Scotland comes from Ayrshire. I spent a lot of time hunting it down, as regular readers will know. 

So in between trawling rivers and doing a load of reading, hanging out in the Campsies and checking the River Clyde for some lovely yellow/black lined jasper - I stumbled across this weird pink rock that looked a bit like salmon. A bit of research led me to realise I had been in the right location for pink larimar pectolite - which I had found completely by accident.

Just to be clear: I went on a hunt for the most common rock in Scotland and found one of the rarest types of rock in the world. It's only known in a few places... not unlike the original brightly coloured blue/green of pure Larimar - which is only found in one single place in the entire globe. 

What is Larimar?

Larimar is the trading name assigned to blue pectolite, specifically found in the Dominican Republic. Pectolite is a fibrous stone with a hardness of between 4.5 and 6... making it easy to shape for us hand polishers. It has a perfect cleavage with crystals all facing the same direction, and it is opaque. If light comes through your larimar, it is probably a fake (sorry).

What the relationship between pink pectolite and larimar is, is that one is blue, and one is pink. They are of the same mineral family. The name "larimar" is just used to describe that specific, blue-coloured pectolite. It was discovered in 1974 and has grown in popularity every year since.

What is Pink Pectolite?

 

On the other hand, pink pectolite looks very much like salmon. It is a pinky-peachy colour normally, but I have come across pieces ranging from white through to a yellowish, almost agatized colour. Other locations that contain pectolite report it can be purplish, greenish, or even grey in colour. In the rivers of Scotland, the pectolite is pink.

Larimar and pink pectolite have the same crystal structure. They are found in different places, and larimar may be dark blue, light blue, or aqua green. Larimar is also pectolite and belongs to this group of minerals. I hope I am explaining this clearly enough.

Interestingly enough, some of the pieces we come across have a black face or black sides to it. We thought this was bedrock but Minerals.net have this as tarnishing due to air exposure. The pieces we found have come from the water, so we are assuming air exposure isn't a factor. They record the hardness as 4.5-5, although admit that when tightly packed, the fibres of this crystal can make it denser. Single crystals are rare because they would be so soft that they would erode on touch. 

The crystal structure looks exactly like you had cut into a salmon fish finger on these stones. The pink is lined, all usually radiating out from a single point. This means you sometimes come across sort of star-like formations in the grain of the rock. We have found a few pieces of stone with the ghost-shape of a missing pectolite crystal formation imprinted in it; the pectolite having been so soft it was worn away.

Where does it come from? We were recently in Angus and brought back some suspiciously pectolite-looking specimens to cut with the new saw and get a good look at. It just might be we found an unknown source right here in Scotland.

From now until I give up on the idea, Fox and I will be collecting, shaping, and hand-polishing pieces of pectolite. Some will stay as specimens; others will go out as jewellery. To date we only have a few pieces, but we are working on it. They will be listed as they are ready, on the Stone Circle site.

The Meaning of Pectolite?

Before we wrap up for the day, and as always, I wanted to cover the spiritual meanings associated with the pink pectolite stone. This gem is a sweet replacement for rose quartz, said to imbibe the wearer with a deeper sense of peace and relaxation. If you are suffering from anxiety, wearing some around your neck should help you maintain a calm composure. 

Some sources say that pectolite is incredibly useful for those overcoming addiction, behavioural, or emotional problems. Those going through grief or experiencing trauma will benefit from wearing a piece of pectolite, since it helps to balance out extremes of emotion. 

The colour of the pectolite that you wear will also affect its impact on your life. Pink pectolite is extremely rare, only being found in two or three locations worldwide. It is thought to reward the divine feminine in you, honour your emotions, and embrace realisations of the self. It is a wisdom stone. If enlightenment is what you seek, then add some to your collection and meditate with it.

Larimar is said to be excellent for clearing blockages to the throat chakra. If we had to guess on the pink pectolite, we would say it affects the same chakra, since the makeup of the stones is almost identical.

A Note on Thomsonite

Let's just clear this up once and for all... Thomsonite and pink pectolite are two different minerals. Thomsonite does not always have perfect cleavage, and has orthorhombic crystal structures, as opposed to the specific triclinic crystal structure found in pectolite. They look a little like each other, but they are very different minerals. Beware of sellers marketing Thomsonite as pink pectolite to you. Ask where the crystals came from, if it isn't the west of Scotland, then the pink pectolite they are trying to sell you is likely to be pink thomsonite, instead. You can always read the Wikipedia pages on the two minerals to clarify. You will find both Pectolite and Thomsonite on there. Be aware that you get either mineral in different colour variations, too.

Thomsonite in basalt (source)

And that just about wraps it up on pink pectolite. If you have managed to buy a piece from us - congratulations! If you buy it in late 2020/early 2021, you will be one of our first pectolite customers, which is something to celebrate. It will have been picked, brought home for a clean, polished by hand, and wound up at your door. If that's not an ethically sourced mineral, we don't know what is. Enjoy your new piece of pectolite and be sure to tell us if it does what it is supposed to. It's the last few days of 2020. We could all use less stress in our lives.

(With @rockhounding_fox, @katrionamacmillan)

 

An Interview with a (Rockhounding) Artist

 

For the last few weeks I have been playing host to a good friend of mine. Some of you know him as @geometric_fox already, or by his rockhounding handle as @rockhounding_fox if you follow the Instagram page. His other handle is Kev and he is a German spraypaint artist by trade... though there's a bit more to it than that.

What's so special about this particular German? He's not just a spraypaint artist, he's the OG rockhound. The one that first handed me a lump of quartz and asked me why I wasn't picking it up because it was "Lying around everywhere up there - and you can just take it!". Fox is the dude that first got me into rockhounding, sparking 3 years of adventures all over Scotland... hopefully with many more to come.

As you guys know, lockdown, quarantine, and random rules keep separating us and I live with Kai, who doesn't speak much. When we heard it was coming, Fox packed up his spraypaints, grabbed a six pack of opals (I'm not even kidding) and crossed the sea so we could spend it doing fun things like picking through farmer's fields, climbing hills and mountains, and getting stuck on top of piles of rocks in the dark.

 

It's been a blast so far, but we want it to continue. With the markets closed and no relief on the horizon, we have made the group decision to list some of his art and rocky goodness in the Katriona's Rocks Etsy store. Which is why we are here today, writing a blog to explain why I'm suddenly stocking spraypaint art and the occasional opal.

Introductions are out of the way, so let's dive straight in. I asked Fox some questions and here are his answers... Don't forget you can find information on all the rocks you get from me/us through this blog, so stay a while and have a look around.

 

 

What to ask a German Spraypaint Artist...?

You all know I do rocks and writing, it was genuinely difficult to do an interview! What do you ask a German rockhounding spraypain artist, anyway? It went a little something like this...

What Inspires you/what brought you to art?

I was always really creative and always very drawn to painting pictures when I was a kid. I grew up in an area where graffiti art was a big thing and you saw it everywhere. All these different graffiti’s on the trainline were super impressive, so I started to create some letters and graffiti for myself.

I got into spraypaint art when I was about 13 and my interest in it just kept going. I went to art school for a couple of years and met lots of other different types of artists, but I always knew spraypaint was my preferred method. I painted for years on walls, then I wanted to use the medium of spraypaint to get my ideas on canvas.

The planetary pictures are inspired by meditations. The pictures come to me when I am meditating. 

 

You mentioned meditation, how did you come to create art by using such a spiritual method?

<he repeats the question a few times, English isn't his first language>

I lived in Australia for seven years and got really into lots of meditation practise. I decided I wanted to capture the pictures that I see in my meditations and transform them into something artistic. My artwork is super inspired by the universe. For me, art is just an expression of my feelings and emotions and it's really hard for me to put that into words.

Do you have a favourite artist?

My inspiration is life and what happens during it to create this connection between the 3D world and everything else. I'm inspired by nature, by people, but not really by other artists... I'm not that guy. 

(My best friend is probably my favourite artist but he doesn't have an @.)

The reason I got back into painting was because of Covid. I was working markets selling rocks and the odd artistic piece, when everything shut down I had lots of time on my hands to pick up the spray cans again.

 

Your paintings seem to have two main themes. Some are geometric prints, and some are universe themed. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Yes, the space themed art and the geometric abstract art. Argh it all goes so deep. I can't explain it in a few words. The reason I do the geometric stuff is sacred geometry, which is something you can't explain without time. Sacred geometry is the source of everything, what we are all made of. I like to play with the patterns of sacred geometry, then as well play with the 3D forms.

 

How big an impact does colour have on your paintings?

I like to use natural colours. It's not something I'm thinking about that much while painting. It's just what is in my head at that time. I like a nice fade between dark to bright, but if you met me in person, you'd see I dress in greens and browns to tie in with the trees. I spend a lot of time in the forest.

 

What was your biggest exhibition?

I had one in an art gallery in Germany, but my favourite exhibit was one where we put art in all the empty buildings in my home town. I am always travelling around the world, so I usually do a lot of live painting when I am on the market circuit.

Got any videos we can share?

Yes, but it's super German. It's from the exhibit in the empty buildings of my home town.

 <The video in question>

Last question… How did you come to be a rockhounding artist?

How did I become a rockhounder? Ooh that's hard. It has nothing to do with art. So…I was always obsessed with stones. Like when I was a kid, I found them really fascinating. When I moved to Australia, I felt like I had returned to my roots and as time passed, I got to know myself better. I discovered the magic of the different rocks around the area there.

Rocks are everything to me, I don’t know how to explain it. I am here to bring the rocks out of the earth and get them to where they’re meant to be, It’s as if they speak to me, talk to me, everything. It’s my purpose in this world. I hate to talk about myself like this and I hate that I can’t put into words what it is that drives me. It’s like I am part crystal myself… and you don’t have to tell me how crazy that sounds… but it’s just the truth.

 

 

You can find out more about @geometric_fox in a previous interview by We are Superheroes. Don't forget that you can catch some of his work on my Etsy page, or that you can drop him a follow and make an offer if you see something you like.

The Southern Highlands of Scotland

It's been a while since I wrote an update on the southern highlands and I've learned a lot since I started going there. Nowadays, I know better than to go up in the ice and get stuck. I might have more common sense but I'm still quartz daft.

I was up there on the 27th of December '19, then again in February. I was going to go in March but 2020 happened. Between murder hornets and bat plagues it didn't seem like a good idea to be on any mountains for a few months. I was back in August, then again to show a friend the area in the start of November. 

The November trip was crazy. The water was higher than I had ever seen it. I try not to pick much now because I have enough quartz, but the odd piece still catches my eye.

I have found a fair amount of pyrite up there, as well as garnets, mika schist, rare rutile, lovely smoky, and goethite, which forms on the pyrite to make it black. I only just learned on Brittanica that the goethite forms as a result of weathering iron compounds. It makes sense that it would be there because the mountains are wet. Just all over.

I was at some mines in Spain a few years ago and I am always fascinated by the difference in the hillsides. Our cliffs are craggy and crumbling. Our mountains have bedrock made jagged by streams carving out paths. Spain's mountains aren't like that. They erupt and only spend a few months wet. They crack and dry and crumble in the sun. I always thought it was an interesting comparison.

Quartz crystal

Pyrite with goethite coating

Rutile on Quartz

Garnets in schist 

Remember!

I'm not a geologist and I do this for fun. I really don't know much more than what I pass on to you guys. However, you can join me on Facebook, Instagram and other places if you want to keep an eye on my rock finding adventures.

You can find my old post on this are, in which I got my car stuck up a mountain, here. 

The Hagstone: Scotland's Fairy Stones

I was just reading through some of my old posts there. I had such a hard time identifying that jasper and now I see it all over the place. Today's topic is hagstones, and the only examples I have at the moment are jasper hagstones. I wanted to create a page for these, to go along with the legend.

Recent movies and TV shows have made hagstones unerringly popular as part of the pagan/witch culture. Legend has it that you can see the fae, or fairies, through these special stones. Of course, there is a geological explanation that I'm not nearly skilled enough to define. Let's start with the basics first... What's a hagstone and why do you want one?

What is a Hagstone, Anyway?

Put simply, a hagstone is any stone with a hole bored into it. It can't be a man-made hole and has to be all-natural for it to be counted. They are much rarer than normal stones and were historically prized since they were easiest to polish and stick a lace through to make jewellery. It's feasible that the legends surrounding them grew from those who sold such necklaces as a way to make them sell. What we know for certain is that crofters in Scotland would often sell found crystals and stones to make extra income.

How Are The Hagstones Made (Really)?

If you are under ten years old, they are made by fairies. They want to let little children have a glimpse into thier world without having to take them away forever... because fairies are nice like that.

If you are an adult? There are two ways. One is by tiny stones caught in a tiny whirlpool. With a repetitive current and a few years' time, the tiny pebble will wear away the mountain...or the slightly bigger stone, in this case. There is also a type of clam which burrows into the stone and weakens a spot, allowing the water to wash through. Either way, the holing of a stone takes a lifetime, and that's what makes them special.

The ones I have provided photos of in this post are even more special because they are inside jasper. They are the only two examples I have come across yet in three years of looking at rocks.

Nicknames and Legends About Hagstones

So... A Hagstone is called a Serpent's Stone, an Adder's Stone, and multiple variations of these names. Ancient Germanic folklore has it that they were made from serpent's poison/bile/saliva, or that they are serpents themselves. The ouroboros is symbolised in connection with them, and they were used in areas along the coast of the Baltic Sea to ward off evil.

In Scotland, we have different legends about the hagstone. We called it a 'hagstone' because they would be used to ward off witches. That the witch community now use them for charms speaks volumes.To htis day, some have them as protective charms used in fertility magic or in the protection of livestock. They suggest that the stones were used to ward off ailments created by invisible witches - or hags. Basically, some believe the hagstone can break curses.

Other nicknames include the Holey Stone, although it is perhaps a different type of holey than we are used to.

If you have bought a Hagstone from the Stone Circle, then your stone came from Ayrshire unless otherwise stated. You will also find a video of the jasper hagstone on my YouTube channel, here.

 

The Story of Scottish Hagstones

Somewhere in the midst of all this, there will be the truth. We're not saying the Scottish version is the true version, but it is what the Scots ought to be taught in schools. This legend involves the Seer o' Brahan, of Clan MacKenzie. This man has long been considered to be the Scottish version of Nostradamus.

Back in Ancient Scotland, to be given the two sights (to be psychic) was not considered to be a good thing. At one point you would have been executed for witchcraft. I don't know if I have mentioned this before but half of my own clan history comes from a place called Crawford, where ten witches were executed. There is a great witch record via Edinburgh University which you can use to track the witch trials throughout Scotland. Anyway, Crawford has around twenty houses. That ten witches were killed there is harrowing.

Back to the Seer.

The Seer of Brahan is renowned as having predicted the deaths of the clans. He could tell each of the major highland clans, in great detail, what was coming for them. People came from all over Scotland to have conversations with this man. There is a record somewhere of a whole bunch of his recorded visions that his scribe tossed on the fire because he believed it was too nonsensical. Having lived through murder hornets and 2020, I believe I know why.

This seer wasn't always destined to be a seer, however. There is a legend that before Kenneth Mackenzie, AKA Kenneth of Sallow, Coinneach Odhar, and the Brahan Seer, was born, his mother was known to commune with spirits. One night, she waited and watched in a graveyard where spirits were known to roam. Once there, she saw a Danish Princess strolling as a ghostly vision. Kenneth of Sallow's mother demanded a tribute from the Princess before she would allow her to return to the grave.

The Danish Princess gave her a hagstone - a blue and white stone with a hole in the centre. Kenneth later used this as his instrument of prophecy. When he looked through it, he could see the future... and many of those visions came true. Most famous of all was when he saw the moors of Culloden for the first time. He told his fellows that many a Scottish head would be lopped off on this field. It was really quite uncanny.

A stone with a fairy ring of its own, from the Highlands

 All Legends Contain a Grain of Truth

Some stories have it that the seer was already born when his mother met the princess. Some have it that he found the stone on his own. Some make no mention of a princess, and talk of a witch, or a spirit, or a ghoul. Whatever the case, by the time he was burned for witchcraft he made thousands of prophecies. Since the Scottish had a reckless history of spreading tales via word of mouth and nobody ever wrote anything down - we might never know for certain what they all were.

We do know he existed, he was famous, and that people flocked to hear him speak. All from one little circular stone with a hole in it. So in Scotland, you might also hear of a hagstone being referred to as a seer stone, particularly if it happens to be blue and white.

I am still looking for mine.

That I added a Reiki symbol to...

Where to Sell Rocks?

This is the briefest blog ever. I am in the process of setting up an Etsy shop as a switch from Ebay (whose fees are making selling rocks a little pointless).

If you came here to look at rocks then head to Etsy by following this link. If not - carry on. Forget I said anything. Also, I highly recommend reading the one about Wilsontown. It's a nice place. Bit windy though.

Please enjoy this discarded book cover photo while you are here.

The Online Content Writer's Handbook - Isolation, Quarantine, and Advice for Budding Writers

That time I gave up.

Hi Guys!

I am just as stuck inside (and going slowly mad) as everyone else is. The bonus for me is that I was already stuck inside working from home. I've been busy though and I absolutely advise all of you to do the same.

Now is the time. For a revolution? If you like. Just stay 6 feet apart. No, now is the time to write that thing that you always wanted to write - but never had the time to do. Now is the time to start writing every day... To pick up the pen and paper and create.

Writing is like magic! You are conjuring something out of nothing. You have the power to make someone laugh or cry using words that already exist. Give it a go. It doesn't matter if it is rubbish - do you think Shakespeare knew how to write perfect Iambic Pentameter from his first play? Hell - it wasn't even written down! You don't get better by looking at a blank page.

With that in mind... I refer you back to this earlier blog post about writing a novel. There is good stuff in there about idea generating. Read it, generate some random ideas and start writing your own story. Once done, type "Short story competitions and submissions for (your genre)" into Google. Find somewhere to submit it and follow their instructions.

I don't know if I have told you this before but you can find an industry standard short story format template courtesy of William Shunn. Honestly? That's all there is to it. All the publishing houses are bored stiff right now. Send them something. The worst that could happen is that they say no.

If they do say no, send your story somewhere else.

Now...if you are interested in making the full time career switch to writing for a living, you need to go a step farther. After you have had a published short story is when you will start to get the itch. Step two is fairly easy as well. Get yourself on a site like Fiverr, put up an add with links to your past work, and wait...

Then there is formatting. Online content writing is a little like novel writing in that it is all about how you format it. You also get to be creative enough that you can give firms really excellent 'About Us' pages or blog posts. You learn loads about random subjects and as your knowledge grows, so does your client base.

Easy, right? I can offer you more cheats to working from home as an online content writer inside my new book. I've had this in the works since October last year and really, really wanted to have a book release party. Unfortunately Coronavirus means social distancing and I am reduced to digital advertising.

So if you're a budding writer that wants to learn how to do what I do, then here is the link to The Online Content Writer's Handbook. If you don't want to do it for a living, but still want to write your first short story, then pick up a pen or sit at your keyboard. A half hour a day adds up to quarantine entertainment with something wonderful to show for it in the end... your own little piece of magic.

And you never know who has been waiting for you to tell your story.

Happy New Year! (and the Best Bits of 2019)

Jan 2019 - First Jasper Ever!

So it's New Year once again. I have to admit this one snuck up on me and I was unprepared. I've learned a lot, seen a lot, done a lot, and lost a lot this year.Those close to my family will be able to tell you how hard it has been to keep everything together and moving forward... but this is not the place for personal madness!

What has 2019 brought then? Mainly travel, writing, and learning. I found out in June that my job in catering was finishing up. Since I had only been there 6 months and my previous place had also closed down I took it as a bit of a sign. I quit the kitchen entirely and have been full time freelance writing since October. So far, so good.

I wanted to take this quiet winter time to reflect on all the best bits of this year. Like a reminder to myself to keep my chin up, or inspiration for you guys to go explore.So I went through my Social Media pictures and pulled out the best bits. If you don't already, you can follow me on Facebook here, or add Katriona Writes on Instagram.

One of the first things I did this year was take a trip up to the Campsie Fells and hunt down some Jasper. I now have a few Jasper sources for both red and yellow jasper... I can hardly believe how much I struggled to find it before!

After the Jasper hunt I took a trip out to Wilsontown. This was one of the few things I actually managed to blog about. Wilsontown is a former mining village near the area in Scotland where I live. It was famous during the industrial era for inventing some essential smelting supplies. Unfortunately, I forgot to add the stone markers into the post. The one opposite was the funniest.It reads:

"William Wilson owned a double-barrelled shotgun and called me Buffoon, villain, and rascal!"

Signed by Alexander Gunn.


Next came a trip to the Southern Highlands. This is just a second home for me now. I'm there all the time. It had been my intention to go camping up there but I never managed it this year. There is always this summer, I hope.

If I ever get rich enough you will see me in a Landrover or a Jeep... you can keep your ferrari. I want to get around!

an old mine working

Of course, all of this was interspersed with trips to Dumfriesshire. If I don't have the petrol to go all the way to Perthshire then I stick to the Central Lowlands. I have been up and down to Dumfries this year - and even had a trip to the exemplary Creetown Gem and Rock Museum. They have a great collection...






 

Anyway: this is perhaps the best find from the year's trips to this area. Don't get me wrong, there have been some great pieces (see the Cauliflower Quartz below) - but this one is my favourite. I believe it is copper under quartz but I'm no expert on the green minerals yet. I'll get there.

Asides from finding quartz druse shaped like Cauliflower (shout out to whoever bought this, I loved it and hope it brings you great happiness) what else happened this year?

Well next I found out what I looked like as a boy. I dd this by discovering Snapchat. I also know what I look like as an old witch woman, a baby, and an old man. It's an absolute scream if you don't have it yet...

 

Made this one nice and big so it can haunt your dreams, too.

Around July time the furface and I took a trip north, and north, and then north a bit more. We visited family in Dingwall, stayed at a campsite, and panned the river. We found zip-all gold but it was fun to try. I've had problems with my feet and pain this year so I haven't been out on the water much since then.

I love panning, I absolutely love the thrill of hunting for gold. when It's freezing cold and soaking wet all season and you already hurt it is hard to stay motivated. It is most definitely a fair weather sport.

That being said I did make it along to the Gold Panning Championships. Well done James Linnett on the win!






In Spring I also found out that there was a castle near me known as 'Danger Castle'. This started a bit of a spate. Pictured to the left is Castle Douglas AKA Castle Danger. I also visited Castle Gloom... the home of at least some of my ancestors. I will put together a separated post on the Campbell clan eventually. For obvious reasons that one will take a while and I'd like to get it straight in my head first. It can be a bit of a touchy subject up here...





Not too long after that I found this absolute beauty of an agate from Ayrshire. That agate though... I still have it in my own collection and I still don't have either a table to cut it on, a wheel to grind it on, or a tumbler to polish it with. As usual, answers on a postcard, please.

On the side there you will see the inside of one of the rooms in Carmicheal House. A couple of friends and I ended up there in July. We had been out rockhounding and came back up through this way.

Carmicheal House lies in its own estate, within the ruins of a garden that General Roy mapped back in the eighteenth century. It was supposedly built around then, supposedly for the third Earl of Hyndford.  It's a beautiful mess now, with a graveyard out back and the forest literally growing up through the walls.



 One of my favourite memories of the second half of this year was coming through the forest at my usual dog walking spot to find a book in a plastic wrapper. The book had a message, basically saying to read it, then hide it for another person to find.

Of course it was a kid's book... but if it had been Pratchett I'd be on it. Maybe I should add a few more adult ones? There's no reason that kids should be the only ones who get to play.

At some point in late August I took a trek out to the south east of Scotland. Mainly because I had gone in every other direction so far in the year. I found this lovely little geological marvel that is simply called 'Cove'. I recommend you do so too, if you can.
Cove has an underground tunnel. When you pass through it you come out at this lovely little sheltered bay. Presumably smugglers used it, afterwards the locals used it to store dry goods and keep them cool. Nowadays it is a tourist hot spot. I genuinely don't know how I missed it before.

In summer some time (but don't ask me when) some friends brought me this rock. They had been working at a building site near Thankerton, which is close enough to the base of Tinto hill for me to think of it as Tinto.I had no idea other than it might be a fossil. I took it to the mineral collectors of Facebookland, who gave me a positive ID.

This is a Dendritic Fossil. It is caused when some liquid manages to seep into the pores of the rock before crystallising. It looks like a tree, hence why they call them Dendrites. Pretty cool. It's on my window ledge with the copper-quartz.




As if I hadn't done enough already, September saw me heading down into Dumfries and Galloway once again... this time on a new hunt. Amethyst was my intention.  Reports of an Amethyst vein running through the hills of Dumfrieshire have been greatly exaggerated. That's not to say that it isn't true: just that there is about 600 metres of climbing, a bit of scree kerfuffle, and about 20 yards of brambles to fight through to get to it. I did find a point, I am still not convinced it was worth it...The views, on the other hand, most definitely are.




There was the obligatory yearly migration to New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde. You can read about this on this very blog. This area is where the Welshman Robert Owen introduced a socialism model to Scotland. The people all benefited and so did the establishment. New working hours laws and such were started here.

There's a hotel, the River Clyde with its scenic falls, there's a museum, a cafe, a gift shop, a woollen mill, loads of walks, wildlife, guided tours, a swing park, and some really good ice cream. There are old world mill worker's restored cottages too, just for kicks.



By this time I was writing full time and slowing down a bit. Besides anything else, I am running out of new places to explore. Towards the tail end of the year I took a cracking shot of the estate where I walk the dog. The old Braidwood House is in slightly better nick than the one at Carmicheal, but it's still pretty wrecked.








On another, more dreary, day, I took a trip out to Cambusnethan Priory. I found a really lovely piece of Jasper in the roadway. Asides from that the woods around the place feel horrible. Not great at all. I ended up taking a quick snap and moving on. You can see the contrast between the two buildings, even though they are both in a similar state of affairs.

Interesting aside: when I told my Mum I'd been here she told be she was once offered a job as a 'Wench' in it. Back in the 70's and 80's it was a medieval banquet hall... I wish it still was. I could get a job as a bard.




Most recently (asides from a wee trip to Killin after Christmas) I took a December ride up to Balquhidder. Now... I went to look at the Loch but by the time I got there you couldn't tell where the Loch ended and the field began. I have never seen such bad flooding in all my days as I have this winter in Scotland. Full farms were under water. There is one in particular, named Witsend (which is why I remember it) that was almost wholly under water when I passed.

Anyway; Balquhidder happens to be the home of Rob Roy's grave. He was buried there alongside the clan chiefs of the MacLarens. His grave is decorated with potted flowers and white quartz chips, even to this day. I left a piece of agate from Dunure. In years to come I like to think someone will puzzle over how it came to be there.

Happy New Year!

Well that took a lot longer than I thought - but it made me feel a hell of a lot better about this year's achievements. Stay tuned for Iolite, fourth in the Dark Science series (Jan 2023 update, I just published Comfrey, part 5, in December) and keep following, liking, sharing, reviewing... I'm not fussy, I just need the work...

Happy New Year 2020. Let's hope the adventures keep on coming.