Leaving

I missed the otter frolicking beside the ferry, but the rainbow proved to be slightly more obliging.

The Craignure-Oban ferry ride offers an extraordinary amount of breathtaking moments in its 45-minute timespan.

Duart Castle, the Lismore Light and the distant views over to Islay and Jura (I think): always varying in their aspect according to the ever-changing light and weather conditions.

On Friday's return journey a perfect rainbow added a hint of both elegy and promise...

North and west

A pause in the postings as Mr Gnome and the Human Being  journey once again to the remote, beautiful island of Iona.

We shall be staying with the Iona Community.

Northern homage

Mr Gnome recently dropped in at the National Museum of Scotland to visit the Isle of Lewis chess figures.

Probably created in Norway in the twelfth century, the figures were discovered on the Isle of Lewis in 1831.

The compactness of the design (they are carved from walrus ivory) and the extraordinary facial expressions intrigue and inspire.

People of the HB's generation probably know them best as the inspiration for the much-loved characters in the stories of Noggin the Nog.

The call of the north...

Mr Gnome is taking a brief blog-break. He's going to Scotland.

But not to Iona, where these pictures were take in June 2007 while Mr G and the HB were visting the Iona Community.

Gnome of the north

Mr Gnome is preparing for a tartan-tastic late-winter visit to Edinburgh.

The Athens of the North beckons.

Mr G is making a list of must-visit locations, mostly based on his recollections of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and the novels of Alexander McCall Smith.

But he's open to suggestions....