Menoquisitive [men-oh-kwizzy-tiff]; following one's nose

Squelching our way over to the 'lapidarium', Mac1 and I slithered the last step through the gated door. Inside was another surprise. Eleven stones of the 14th and 15th century, from what is called as the Loch Awe school. These carvers were almost specific to the Argyll area and produced work which was rougher and less defined than many other West Highland schools. these carvers also did not carve their inscription, so there can be no accreditation or differentiation between the artists. The stone used is believed to be local and is schistose in nature, having a greenish hue. Most of the stones had the usual assortment of knotted motifs and animal markings, though one is much later and clearly a marker for the grave a church minister. Then there is this one; believed to have been a part of a market cross and worn by the hitching of animals to it.

There was a surprising sense of peace in that little room of ancient presence.

There was an additional surprise. We located not one, but two geocaches up behind one of these stones!!! Not that we were actually looking for any - but one had clearly not been replaced very carefully from the last discovery and was visible to the naked eye; in attempting to replace it, Mac1 knocked the second one down - both had been placed behind the same stone!

We squelched our way back out of the graveyard, to Little Ren and back onto the road. We did make the stop at Jubilee Point - a favourite photographic stop. Mac1 made all the sounds of stripping off and going for a dip. The presence of others prevented this demonstration of masochism and instead, the tootsies got chilled.

Then it was back home for a quiet night in. Sunday morning we fitted in a pleasant walk around the neighbourhood. The weather had been really kind to us - if a tad chilly. I walked Mac1 down to the ferry after lunch and that was the end of a very fine visit. We packed a fair bit in to our 48 hours!