Eilean Donan Castle Part 1

 

Eilean Donan Castle is said to be the most photographed castle in Scotland, and it's easy to see why. (I certainly have taken more photos of this castle than any other.) The castle stands in one of the most beautiful locations imaginable, on a tiny island where three lochs converge at Dornie. This island has served as a fortified site for over a thousand years, but the current castle is not yet a hundred years old. It was rebuilt between 1912 and 1932, with great love and determination by Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae-Gilstrap.

 

The name Eilean Donan means Island of Donan and was probably named after the 6^th century saint, Bishop Donan. It is said he traveled from Ireland to the Dornie area of Scotland to spread Christianity. Several churches in the area are dedicated to Donan so it is likely he and his followers had a cell or community here on the island.

Loch Duich

Another legend implies that the name comes from Cu-Donn, an otter, called the "brown dog" in Gaelic. It says when the King of the Otters died, his 'glittering robe of silver' was buried on the island beneath where the castle sits.

Eilean Donan is surrounded by three lochs--Loch Duich, Loch Alsh and Loch Long. It is easy to see whether the tide is in or out, depending on the level of the water under the bridge. The castle is most beautiful and picturesque when the tide is in and the castle reflects in the water. Even though it is surrounded by saltwater, there is a freshwater spring on the island. There is evidence that the island has been inhabited at least since the Iron Age. A castle was probably first built here in the early 1200s to defend the surrounding areas from Viking invasions. The fearsome Norse had raided, settled in and controlled a large portion of the north of Scotland and the Isles between the years 800 and 1266.

Loch Alsh

A fortified castle occupied the small island by the middle of the 13^th century and was likely defended by a large garrison of men from land and sea invasions.

The castle here has taken on many forms over the centuries. The remains of the 13^th - 14^th century castle shows foundations of towers and a certain wall which are still visible. The wall enclosed about 3000 square meters, larger than any other subsequent time, and enclosed almost the whole island. The keep stood on the island's highest point. But a massive northern tower with 3 – 4 meter thick walls dominated the site. The wall also contained smaller towers and sea gates.

 

 

 Beautiful stained glass tells the history of Saint Donan, one of the early inhabitants of the island of Eilean Donan long before the castle was built.

The castle is in a perfect strategic location at the meeting of the three lochs, to defend the Kintail area because they could monitor the comings and goings of boats, galleys or birlinns. These vessels were the main mode of transportation for the Highlands and Islands of Scotland during medieval times. After the Vikings ceased to be a threat, there was the conflict of feuding clans. Chiefs showed their strength by the number of men and birlinns they had. The boats were defended by archers and slingers. Birlinns had square sails to take advantage of the abundant wind in Scotland and most had between 12 and 40 oars. These boats were shorter than the similar Viking longships and more maneuverable.

Click to Enlarge

 The museum area at Eilean Donan has been improved recently and I love the new displays. The birlinn (galley or boat) display is great.

A Birlinn Model (Click to Enlarge)

 Do you think you could lift this stone? It's huge, by the way.

Eilean Donan as viewed from where Loch Long comes in.

Also, you will notice Eilean Donan Castle on the cover of the first book in my series. :)

I'll continue my post about Eilean Donan Castle next week.
Thank you!
Vonda

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Stay Warm with a Book

Tomorrow is the release day for Playing for Real, the final book in the Paolo's Playhouse series. I love these characters, have lived with them for a long time. Paolo and Julianne first appeared in Plaything. While that short story was released as #4 in the series, it actually was the first one I wrote, so for me, these characters have been with me the longest.

I have joined with thirteen author friends of mine who also have February releases in a month-long giveaway "Stay Warm with a Book". If you'd like a chance at some great books and a gift card too, you can enter here!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Playing for Real releases Feb 4th!

Blurb:


Paolo’s Playhouse, Book 5

Paolo Mancini’s needs are simple: a committed relationship with a submissive who will let him love and care for her. But after a long, heartbreaking string of relationship failures, he’s beginning to think the perfect woman for him simply doesn’t exist.

When Julianne Barnes steps into his playhouse for one night of bondage sex, she blows him away with her beauty, sass and bravery. She could be the one…if she will allow him to show her how to weave bondage and submission into her life. And hopefully, into his.

Julianne keeps her craving for soft ropes, dark blindfolds, and strong fingers apart from “real life”, where this successful businesswoman doesn’t need anyone telling her what to do. Yet Paolo’s lyrical, steel-under-silk voice affects her body in ways that make her want to offer up her soul.

Slowly, delicately, Paolo tantalizes her closer to the idea that fantasy and reality can live as one. But to convince her it’s safe to open the last compartment protecting her emotions, he’ll have to expose his greatest vulnerability. His heart.

Warning: Features a petulant sub looking to live out her fantasies and a sexy Dom looking for love of the forever kind. Contains an intense sex-with-a-stranger fantasy, ropes, chains and a spanking. Or two. Or more.

Baby, It's Cold Outside - what could be better than staying warm with a book?

Natasha
Her Royal Masquerade - available now
Her Royal Bodyguard - available now
Playing for Real - pre-order now
Her Royal Mistake - coming spring 2014
www.natashamoore.com

Winter - Fun or Fury?

The Fun part of winter: To the left is a picture of some of my friends playing paddle tennis. It's not really like regular tennis, more like squash or racquetball (because the ball is rubber-like) but it's a lot of fun and will keep you warm on a cold day. The courts are heated, which keeps the snow off.

The Fury part of winter: What a lot of Americans lived through last week. There's scarcely been a spot in the US to hide out from a nasty winter this year.

But it hit the South last week, with an unusual cold spell. My husband got stuck in a small city in North Carolina. When he picked up his rental car, he went back to the counter and asked for a snow scraper. The clerk laughed. "Honey, you're in the South. We don't have those things." He had to sit in his car until the heat melted the ice and snow off the windshield.

But worse than that was the fact that no restaurants were open. He found himself staying in a No-Tell Hotel with no food service. No restaurants were open because everything was covered in ice, including the roadways.

On the second night he called me while he was literally in the kitchen of a restaurant that had closed early. He was begging food. The lady said she'd give him some clam chowder for free because they had to throw it out. Next I heard him say, "Do you have any crackers?"

She said, "No, but how about a slice of bread?"

"Great. Thank you."

She hands over a four-foot long commercial loaf. "If I cut it, I have to throw it out, so I might as well give you the whole thing."

He says to me, "What do I do with this four-foot loaf?"

"Save it for tomorrow? In case the weather doesn't improve?"

The scary part of the week for me was that my daughter lives in Atlanta – first job. Well, we all know what happened there. Luckily, thank you, God, she chose to go home via back roads. It took her two hours to do a 30 minute commute, but she made it home. If she'd gotten on the highway, which is her usual route, she would have been stuck all night. And it was cold – 20 degrees. I feel for the Atlanta folks who were stranded on the roads overnight.

My daughter reported that about 50 people stayed at her office for the night, including top management. They decided they could not go home while other employees were stuck there. I'm glad she works for people with that attitude. Even though Atlanta only got 2.3 inches of snow, it all turned to ice, and the city was shut down.

Sometimes Mother Nature just wins.

Did anyone else have any bad/funny experiences with this brutal winter?

 

A Day in the Life of an Author

 I'd like to say I am female version of Richard Castle, author teamed up with a beautiful homicide detective, only in my case, with a hunky Highlander from Scotland Yard, or maybe a JAG agent in the jaguar shifter world, or following the Silver Brothers around to help with anything they need help with, or the SEAL wolves....yes!!!

The reality is that I was rereading Jaguar Pride again, finished two more bears for orders, made up gift baskets for RT Convention, and fed the cardinals and got some pictures. Oh, and began reading another Rita book. While I was working on the bears, I watched Richard Castle have all the fun!

LOL

Just kidding! Everything I do in the day of a life of a writer is fun.
 

Another bear finished for another order! Two more to go! Plus, I have to ship these today.

And I was super excited to see the female cardinal feeding on one of the bird feeders my mother had out, which makes it even more special for me. Right behind the cardinal, you can see the bunny's ears as the bunny thinks the dish is his. Or... it's sharing the seeds with his bird friends. See how I have to make up a story for everything?

 And I'm back to writing! Still trying to get everything back up on my new computer after my old one crashed and it's amazing how much I lose every time. :(


And so that's what I was doing. :)

So my question to you is: Can my cardinals eat too much seed? Do the birds feed at night? I didn't think birds did, unless they were nocturnal birds--birds of prey and such, but the seed is all gone by morning. It will sit there all day and no one will eat it. So just curious!


Terry
“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male!”
www.terryspear.com