Sorry this post is a bit late but I've been up to my eyebrows with other commitments. Anyway, let's not waste anymore time and continue our tour of Scotland.
It's Tuesday, and we thought we'd have a look at the gemstone museum at Creetown and take if from there. The photo below was taken in Creetown.
My wife has always been fascinated by gemstones (show me a female that isn't) and in years gone by, I had a curiosity about them myself. I wasn't interest in gemstones from an adornment point of view, I had no desire to have them swinging from various parts of my body. I was interested in the materials and where they came from etc. I did collect a few gemstones especially the ones that were shaped like eggs, they were so tactile and I'm sure they had a calming effect on me when I touched them. I reckon they must have put my heart attack back by at least 6 months.
Yes, I was interested in gemstones, I bought a book about them and almost bought a lapidary machine, so that I could rumble a few stones from my local ford. However, at the time, a good machine cost about £80 and I couldn't justify the expense. So my interest in gemstones and lapidary died along with so many of my other dreams. There's no need to get the violin out, I'm still alive and kicking.
Anyway, we soon found the gemstone museum at the back of Creetown and it was fascinating. Not only were there some beautiful gemstones on show but there was an abundance of information about them. The display cabinets were stacked with hundreds of different gemstones many of which I'd never heard of before. They even sold lapidary machines, but I still couldn't part with the cash. Perhaps there is a bit of the Scottish in me somewhere?
We spent quite a while admiring the stones and then had a spot of lunch in the cafe whilst we pondered our next move. We decided we'd take a drive around to Gatehouse of Fleet but not via the main road, we'd go via a lane that looped off into the mountains. Actually, we tend to do most of our driving around lanes because it necessitates that one drives slower, and if one is driving slower one is apt to see more of the countryside and wildlife. Zooming from place to place like a bluebootle trapped in a greenhouse isn't our preferred way to travel.
And so it was that we set off up the lonely mountain pass and we soon came to a little haven at the side of the road.
A small, but very well thought out nature reserve. There were pools and paths leading everywhere and yet all the while you were never far from the car. If you look at the photo above you can see our car in the background. Whoever designed the place should get a big pat on the back. I suppose we spent about an hour wandering arounding and taking photos of primroses by the stream and other items of interest before we moved on towards our intended destination. I'll tell you how we got on in my next post, but for now I'll leave you with a photo of a stream wandering through the trees and remind you that more photos of Scotland can be seen on our website at Click here to see some of our paintings and photos
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