Ceud Mìle Fàilte

Photography Nature Technology Food
Movies Music Politics

and life in the Highlands.

Fàilte

Thank you for dropping-by, I hope you enjoy your visit. The main content is to be found in the blog where I discuss everything and anything but topics including photography, nature, technology, food, movies, music and politics make regular appearances.

I commonly write reviews of movies (or films, if you prefer). Some movie reviews are short, others will be discussed in more detail. The scope covered will be mainly mainstream English language movies from the 1930s until the present day.

About me

My name is Iain MacDonald and I live in the Highlands of Scotland (although I have lived elsewhere in the past). I am a big fan of Free & Open Source Software which I use both professionally and at home.

Computing and technology tend to infuse themselves into my other interests, as once you learn some skills in one area it is convenient to use them to solve problems in other spheres.

When not tinkering with computers, I am likely to be found repairing things because living in the countryside you learn to be resourceful.

Of course, man doesn't live by SSH tunnels and kerosene vapour burners alone so food, as a subject, makes regular appearances too. Did I mention I used to work in hospitality?

Latest Life articles

My most recent ramblings.

  • Eurovision

    I'd like to apologise, publicly. The poor woman went for some peace and quiet, and what did she get? Two eejits rolling-up in a campervan, blaring out the Eurovision song contest. [Read more...]

  • Feeling sheepish

    I went for a walk along a forestry style track, yesterday. Ahead of me was a ewe, with two lambs. The ewe felt nervous about my approach, and started to trot away from me. The lambs were, of course, following her closely. However, the sheep didn't trot away uphill or ... [Read more...]

  • Regatta Hydrafort Matt Jacket

    I needed to buy a waterproof jacket for use when working. I also have a Gore-Tex jacket from Craghoppers, which is excellent, but I didn't want to ruin that jacket by using it for working every day. I have a few other Regatta products which are well made, so, for ... [Read more...]

  • Highland Life and the Coronavirus

    It is quite extraordinary, I've never experienced anything like it. We are now a couple of weeks away from Easter, which is normally the time when the summer tourist season starts. The roads would see increased traffic, and the tourist hotspots would start to be busy. Not this year. [Read more...]

  • New Manual Coffee Grinder

    I was without my vintage wooden Zassenhaus, so I rushed out and bought a new manual coffee grinder. The one I got is from Maison & White, and it is amazingly good. It is adjustable from very fine to coarse. Grinding is done with ceramic burrs, and the rest of ... [Read more...]

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My latest Mastodon posts

Mastodon is a microblogging app that is part of the decentralised web known as The Fediverse. See this article for more details.

Fitheach

Sat, 06 Aug 2022 11:57:03 +0000

Rugged campervans are becoming ever more popular. Spotted this one to-day.

Note it is called "Knuffi". 😃

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 22:27:18 +0000

Content warning: cancer

To-night, I met a young woman from Western Australia. She was on holiday with her parents. It is a "goodbye trip". She has terminal cancer. The cancer started in her brain, and has moved to her heart and lungs. The cancer is inoperable. The woman is in her late twenties or early thirties.

Sometimes, life can be so bloody unfair.

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 13:16:07 +0000

The lochside isn't steep along this section of the path. Consequently, there are lots of nice pebble beaches to be explored by canines and humans.

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 12:43:57 +0000

To-day's main was along the western shore of Loch Lòchaidh. The section we did was mostly beech forest, and had a gravel footpath for the whole distance. The path is part of the Great Glen Way. For August it was amazingly quiet, we only met two mountain bikers.

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 13:40:19 +0000

and I will take a walk to the cairn, this afternoon, to pay our respects. It is possible some of my (Glengarry) ancestors may have been involved in the battle.

Air Muir 's air Tìr.

Thu, 04 Aug 2022 13:34:15 +0000

The Mackintosh army arrived at the MacDonald seat of Keppoch, but, found the place deserted. Instead, the MacDonald army was waiting for them on the hill at Maol Ruadh. The Mackintosh army made the fatal error of attacking uphill.

The battle was a rout. All of the Mackintosh leaders were either captured, including the clan chief, or killed. The Mackintosh chief was released on condition that he relinquished any claim on the Keppoch lands, which he did.