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	<title>Alan - photoblog</title>
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	<author>
		<name>Alan</name>
	</author>
	<id>http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/</id>
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	<updated>2013-05-25T01:00:06Z</updated>
	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Sheep Saturday
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/463362.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				This is a Scottish Blackface lamb (I kid you not). They are the most common breed of domestic sheep in the UK. This tough and adaptable breed is often found in the more exposed locations, such as the Scottish Highlands, or, in this case , on the Outer Hebrides (this one is on the Isle of Harris). Roughly thirty percent of all sheep in the UK are Scottish Blackface. The Blackface epitomises the mountain sheep. They have long coarse wool that shields them from moisture and biting winds. They are able to survive the harshest winters in the most extreme parts of Great Britain. Blackfaces are horned in both sexes, and as their name suggests, they usually have a black face (but sometimes with white markings), and black legs. This breed is primarily raised for (sshh, in case it hears) meat.
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-25T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:b1317bf4-7736-2e57-9ba60ae26e49</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Boat Friday
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/463521.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				My hire car is the funny little red Fiat Punto shoved in the corner (I really wantad something like the big yellow thing). I had to fit the car into a space that was just 8in longer than the car. I ended up with a 5 inch gap front offside and 3inches rear nearside, all done without touching anything! Mind you, it took around 94 minimal movements to get it in :-) The ferry company wanted to fit on a huge concrete crushing machine on a low loader (you can just see the top of it bottom right - it fitted under the deck above it with around 2 or 3 inches to spare) and the yellow mechanical shovel. We are just leaving Berneray for the hour's crossing to Leverburgh on the isle of Harris. ---------------- Thank you all for my birthday wishes on Wednesday. I'm sorry for not being able to acknowledge them but despite my best efforts during the day, important Government work got in the way and then I fell asleep on the sofa in the evening; still recovring from my holiday .
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-24T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:5dcdb626-47ff-f1b8-4c84d16696fe</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Last light
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/463198.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				I had dinner one evening in Tarbert, Isle of Harris and it had been raining since around 4pm. As I left the restaurant to head back towards the BandB, I was aware of the sky starting to clear and so headed off to a point on the coast where I was hoping to get some sunset shots but a bank of cloud on the horizon put paid to that idea. This is the from the beach at Hushinish. The uninhabited island of Scarp is on the right.
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-23T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:7ad549a4-678c-166e-7375f126a52b</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Loch's edge
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/463194.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				If anywhere was appropriately named, then this is it. My BandB for three nights on the the Isle of Harris - Lochsedge on Loch Mh&agrave;raig (it's the large white house). A superb place - even better than my own home and cracking food. One down, another 1655 photos to edit. Happy birthday to me.
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-22T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:ed98bd69-668c-b725-7007b88fd122</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Àiridh a Bhàigh
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/463117.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				no photographer comment
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-21T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:b98f2f0c-0a40-e04c-5942e3150e79</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Sheep Monday
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/463116.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				By special request of Philine. This is the lamb that seeemd to be all on his own and lived in the garden of the cottage, despite the cattle grid and a "sheep proof" fence. On windy days (so, that was most of them!), whenver I came home, he would be sheltered usually in the door to the outhouse or occasionally in the doorway to the cottage itself. What I liked about him was that he seemed to have "clown" eyes. I really thought he was all on his own as I never saw any other sheep near him but he seemed to be eating well and was not calling at all. However, on Friday evening when I returned, there was another lamb in the garden with him (a sibling, perhaps?) and, presumably, mum just on the other side of the fence. Later, when I went out, the three of them were passing on their way up "my" hill and this little one turned to me and gave me a little bleat. Yeah... right... When I left on Saturday, there was no sign of any of them. Hopefully, they all go to live happily ever after.
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-20T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:bc77a35a-7782-98d4-63e0d1ca12d2</id>
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	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Another Sunday, another (ruined) church
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/461769.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				Teampull na Trionaid, North Uist, Outer Hebrides. I'll repeat the information in case you missed it: Is is the remains of Teampull na Trionaid, or the Church of the Holy Trinity. This is also the location of Blar Chairinis or the Battle of Cairinis, fought in 1601. The tourist sign is subtitled Feith na Fala (ditch of blood), but no other information is given. The Battle of Cairinis is said to have been the last battle fought in Scotland using only traditional weapons. The resident clan at the time were the MacDonalds, and a dispute arose when one of them decided to divorce his wife, a MacLeod from Harris. The result was the arrival of a strong raiding party of MacLeods, and the battle seems to have taken place here because the MacDonalds were seeking sanctuary for themselves and their belongings within the precincts of Teampull na Trionaid. The battle was a victory for the resident MacDonalds, and the subsequent naming of part of the battlefield as the "ditch of blood" is an indication that few if any of the raiding party survived to see Harris again. The Book of Clan Ranald, written in the 1600s, says that Teampull na Trionaid was founded in the late 1100s by Bethag, daughter of Somerled. It was subsequently enlarged in the second half of the 1300s by Amie Nic Ruari, the first wife of John, Lord of the Isles, before being reconstructed in the 1500s. After the Reformation the church fell out of use, and despite stories of a continuing role as a school in the 1700s and the presence of sculpture within the church in the early 1800s, the church was in a ruinous state by the time it was visited by MacGibbon and Ross while compiling their Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland, published in 1896. There are references to Teampull na Trionaid having served as a monastery in its early life, and it is believed to have been an important centre of learning in the middle ages (and possibly until well beyond the Reformation). The early scholar John Duns Scotus, who lived from 1265 to 1308, is said to have briefly studied here. You reach the church across fields, with duckboard paths constructed over the marshy areas. Teampull na Trionaid is most impressive from the south, where the curved wall around the graveyard is complete. Access is through a gateway in the west end of the wall, and from here it is possible to enjoy the magnificent views offered by the slightly raised location set amid a very low-lying landscape. The main church comprises a rectangular building measuring 18.75m by 6.5m, with walls about 1m thick. The west end is best preserved, though all trace of decoration and all the facing stone throughout the church has long gone. In summer the interior of the church, and many surrounding areas, are colonised by aggressive nettles: don't visit in shorts! On the south side of the church at its west end is a ruined burial enclosure. Standing a little clear of the north side of the church at its east end is a separate, possibly later, building about half the length and width of the main church, and linked to it by a once-vaulted passage. We refer to it as the sacristy in the images. This is called the Teampull Clann a'Phiocair (Church of the MacVicars), a name probably resulting from the use by the clan of this area as a burial enclosure after the church had fallen out of use. No wall encloses the north side of the church. But there are more than enough nearby lumps and bumps, and nettle patches, to convince anyone with an even slightly active imagination that Teampull na Trionaid could once have formed the focus of a significant collection of buildings, giving more life and credibility to stories of an early roleas a monastery or ecclesiastical centre of learning. There, so you know!
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-19T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:91dce975-c4e7-5ed1-245e16967f18</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Sheep Saturday
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/461906.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				I think this was a case of mistaken identity; they thought I was the farmer with bags of food of them because as soon as I appeared in the field, they all came running towards me. Don't you just love their little lambs? -------------- Please excuse me if I don't comment today. I'm flying back home from the Outer Hebrides and I may not got a chance to get on the internet.
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-18T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:3875ce2a-10ad-0110-941594fa4a4a</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Boat Friday
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/461766.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				The fishing boat has just unloaded its catch at Crinanand is heading out into the South of Jura.
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-17T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:64fbd2e8-0b23-e99b-451ef7e32156</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Joy
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/461336.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				or maybe Sophia. One of the two female white lions at the Sanctuary, lorded over by a magnificent male called Themba (photo here "soon"). If this is Joy, then she's expecting cubs any day although neither of them looked pregnant to me (but then I'm no expert on lions!) These two are part of the 196 females in registered collections in Europe, USA, Mexico, Asia and Australasia. In the wild, there are around 39,000 white lions (2010 figures - down from 75,800 in 980). (Have I already posted this? I think I'm going gaga...)
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-16T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:b408bb47-67eb-18e2-53f60044595d</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Fluffy
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/461781.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				My mother's cat sat under a cherry tree in the garden of Mum and Dad's previous home. I think at the time he actually belonged to a neighbour of my parents but Fluffy seemed to spend more time with my parents as his real owner had two dogs and Fluffy never really got on with the dogs. Fluffy's owner suggested that Mum may like to take over ownership of Fluffy and that arrangment seemed to suit everyone. I think in in pecking order, Fluffy comes higher up the list than does my dad!
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-15T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:fbb9e7b5-a53d-5e92-021d01ec503e</id>
	</entry>

	<entry>
		<title>
			<![CDATA[
				Dalehead and Hindscarth
			]]>
		</title>
		<link href="http://imagesbyalan.shutterchance.com/photoblog/461778.htm" />
		<summary>
			<![CDATA[
				Another from the Lake District, December 2007. This is Dalehead and, to its right, Hindscarth. I'd come up Catbells and on to Maiden Moor and I can vividly remember the struggle to get up Dalehead. As I got on to Hindscarth, the snow start started to fall and I thought it was time to get back to "base camp" for afternoon tea and a sit in front of the fire. Happy days!
			]]>
		</summary>
		<updated>2013-05-14T00:00:00Z</updated>
		<id>urn:uuid:2ed83075-a900-14da-1ac58adb6eb6</id>
	</entry>

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