Can you imagine our mood? Dina reads aloud at the breakfast table with haggis and porridge (without whisky today) that John O’Groats is an awful place, grey and ugly. Better make a detour except one wants to take the ferry to the Orkneys like us. Other travelers agreed. Actually we already knew that Britain’s famous northern outpost was shamed being voted the most dismal place in Scotland.
“People use to delegate their seeing as well as their judgments to the travel guides” is our dear Master’s commentary crudely mumbled with a full mouth.
Ach du liebes Lieschen, Dina liest uns morgens bei Haggis und Porridge ohne Whisky im Hotel vor, John O’Groats sei hässlich, grau und unbesuchenswert, außer man möchte zu den Orkneys wie wir. Andere Reisende schlossen sich dieser Meinung an. Dass John O’Groats als hässlichster Ort Schottlands gewählt wurde, hatten wir schon gehört, aber all das konnte unsere Stimmung nicht trüben.
“Man delegiert sein Sehen und Urteilen an die Reiseführer“, ist Masterchens gemurmelter Kommentar unfein mit vollem Mund.
John O’Groats claims being the uttermost northern point of mainland Scotland, that’s a lie. This point is situated at the lighthouse of Dunnet Head, where we got our first glimpse of the Orkneys. Dina’s guide goes on writing that everybody who is travelling Scotland’s north ends up at the sign post in John O’Groats showing the distances to the world’s big cities. Well, one of the many standard pictures in the net. But not our picture! If you have the magic look you will see us sitting on the top of this sign. We can tell you it wasn’t easy flying up there because of the constant stiff breeze at this coast. Our beloved Dina and dear Master were really afraid of us being blown over to the Orkneys – well, this would have saved them our fairy ferry tickets. It’s a shame Bookfayries like us don’t get a reduction on this ferry!
John O’Groats gibt sich als nördlichster Ort des schottischen Festlands, stimmt aber nicht. Dieser liegt am Leuchtturm von Dunnet Head, von wo wir schon einen Blick auf die Orkneys erhaschten. Weiter schreibt der Reiseführer, dass jeder, der im Norden Schottlands unterwegs ist, in John O’Groats endet, um sich dort am Wegweiser zu den großen Städten der Welt fotografieren zu lassen. Wieder eines jener Standartbilder im Netz. Aber nicht unser Bild, denn wenn ihr den magischen Blick besitzt, könnt ihr uns beide oben auf den Wegweiser sitzen sehen. Das war gar nicht so leicht, dahin zu flattern wegen der steifen Brise, die dort ständig weht. Dina und Masterchen hatten solche Angst, wir könnten übers Meer gen Orkneys geweht werden – dann hätten wir doch den Fährpreis gespart. Es ist doch ein Skandal, dass es keine Buchfeenermäßigung auf dieser Fähre gibt!
John O’Groats (Taigh Iain Ghròt) – what a strange name! It’s neither English nor Gaelic but Dutch. Jan de Groot bought the ferry rights to the Orkneys at the end of the 15th c. For one crossing he charged one groat (4 p). He built an octagonal house with an octagonal table on which none of his 7 sons had a preeminent position, because as usual his sons fought for his heritage. We suppose Jan was inspired by King Arthur’s round table. But where did his wife used to sit? Was her place in the kitchen? And what about us, Siri and Selma? Who will inherit Dina’s and Master’s belongings? Do we have to build a square table standing in a square house?
John O’Groats (Taigh Iain Ghròt), welch komischer Name. Er ist weder englisch noch gälisch, sondern holländisch. Jan de Groot erwarb Ende des 15. Jh. die Fährrechte zu den Orkneys. Für die Überfahrt verlangte der große Jan ein Groat (4 p). Da seine 7 Söhne wie üblich in den Streit um seine Nachfolge gerieten, baute er ein achteckiges Haus, in dem am achteckigen Tisch keiner eine hervorragende Position hatte. Zu dieser Idee hatte ihn wohl der runde Tisch König Arthurs inspiriert. Aber hallo, durfte denn des großen Jans Frau nicht mit am Tisch sitzen, war ihr Platz am Katzentisch in der Küche? Und wie ist das denn mit uns? Wer von uns wird Masterchen und Dina beerben? Müssen wir uns daran machen, einen quadratischen Tisch und ein quadratisches Haus zu bauen?
We really like John O’Groats especially for those houses in the new Norse style which provide a dramatic splash of colour against the coastal landscape. Those houses are overlooking the sea from the place not far where Jan’s octagonal house use to stand. This place seems to attract special buildings. In the picture above you see The Residence, which are self-catering units. The inside was cleverly designed by NoChintz – we love this name which is a statement.
Uns hat John O’Groats ausnehmend gut wegen seiner bunten Häuser am Hafen im nordischen Stil gefallen, die in der Nähe des Hauses stehen, wo der große Jan mit seinen Söhnen wohnte. Diese Stelle scheint spezielle Gebäude anzuziehen.
Im oberen Bild seht ihr The Residences, das sind 23 bunte self-catering Einheiten, deren Innenleben von NoChintz – wir lieben diesen Namen, der Programm ist – entworfen wurden.
The architects of this ensemble, which is attached to a carefully renovated Victorian baronial hotel, are the most praised Scottish GLM-group, which is famous for giving form and meaning to space. They used mostly local materials and brought a happy lightness in this barren landscape that made us smile.
Die Architekten dieses Ensembles, das an dem weißen feudalen Hotel angebaut ist, ist die viel ausgezeichneten GLM/Edinburgh Gruppe, die weitgehend Materialien aus der Umgebung benutzten und mit ihen Farben eine Fröhlichkeit in diese graue Landschaft brachten, die uns lächeln ließ. Wegen dieses architektonischen Ensembles empfehlen wir einen Besuch von John O’Groats.
John O’Groats is not the dull port of the ferry to the Orkneys but the colourful place at the end of the world. Looking inside the houses you can get carried away by contemporary Scottish design. There was so much that we would love to have at home. Now we are even contemplating giving our Norse garden sheds a splash of colour.
Ihr seht, John O’Groats ist keineswegs der langweilig graue Fährhafen zu den Orkneys, sondern der farbenfrohe Ort am Ende der Welt. Hier guckten wir uns fast die Augen aus beim Bewundern des zeitgenössisch schottischen Design – das gab’s sooo viel, was wir auch gerne zu Hause hätten. Vielleicht sollten wir unsere Gartenschuppen ebenfalls bunt anmalen?
We have to book in here the next time we’ll go to the Orkneys. If we will stay here for a week we promise our dear Dina and Master to provide them every day with a grand breakfast (even porridge with whisky). Fortunately they know how healing it is to live in a NoChintz atmosphere – especially as so many B&Bs and hotels kill you with kitsch.
Das nächste Mal, wenn wir zu den Orkneys fahren, müssen wir unbedingt hier wohnen. Wenn wir The Residences buchen, haben wir versprochen, jeden Morgen ein leckeres Frühstück für Masterchen und Dinalein zu zaubern. Masterchen und Dinalein wissen zum Glück, wie heilsam es ist, mit NoChintz zu wohnen. Und wisst ihr übrigens, dass ‘chintzy’ auch ‘geschmacklos’ und ‘kitschig’ heißt? Wie viele B&Bs erschlagen einem doch mit kitschigen Rumstehchen.
What you see on the horizon are the Orkneys. We’ll take you there in our next blogpost! Have you ever been there?
Weit hinten am Horizont könnt ihr die Orkneys erahnen. Dahin entführen wir euch in unserer nächsten Blogpost. Seid ihr schon mal dort gewesen?
With finest fairy dust from
Mit feinstem Feenhauch von
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma 👭 , the style-conscious Bookfayries
© Text and illustrations, Hanne Siebers and Klausbernd Vollmar, Cley next the Sea, 2017
Beautiful photos and such wonderful colors to contrast with the scenery. I love haggis but have not had any for years. I do, however , have oatmeal porridge most days.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Good morning, dear Anne
did you ever try the real Scottish porridge with whisky and cream? Very special, especially in the morning. Our dear Master loves haggis as well, for the rest of us it’s rather strange having it in the morning.
Thanks for liking Dina’s photography. This contrast of colour and the grey bleak landscape is very special. We like it very much.
Have a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 4 people
We like haggis for tea.
With lots of fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you, viel dank, merci for the trip. The place does look a tad cold. (Can’t think about the winters)
The coloured houses are splendid.
And New York is really quite close. Amazing.
🙂
LikeLiked by 5 people
Well, we are planning to go up there in winter because unfortunately we live in a area with a very mild climate. We hardly ever have snow in the winter but we need lots of snow, frost and ice which make the winter’s magic.
Great that you like our post about the far north of UK’s mainland. Without the colourful houses John O’Groats would be boring.
Thanks for commenting and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 5 people
Some like it cold
like us, the clever Bookfayries
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cheers back to the Fab Four. And a lovely week-end.
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful images. (and yes, I have a rather poor photo of my friends and I standing under this sign)
Did you visit the Smoo Caves near Durness when you were up this far north in Scotland?
LikeLiked by 6 people
Dear Vicki
yes, we have been in the Smoo Caves on a very hot day and were happy about the cool temperature there. There were a lot of breeding birds in and around the cave.
Thanks for liking Dina’s photos 🙂 🙂
We wish you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
I love those bright and cheerful houses! They look so comforting set against the dramatic skies and landscape. Thank-you for this wonderful tour! The photos are beautiful and I love reading about your adventures. Clare x
LikeLiked by 5 people
Good mornig, dear Clare
those houses bring a great brightness into this grey and barren area. A genial idea of those architects who got a lot of praise for it.
Thank you for liking our blog 🙂 🙂 There are more adventures to come …
With lots of love
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
It’s really fun writing about our adventures
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
what a colorful display of colors!
LikeLiked by 4 people
We love it!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
and we as well
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
Beauteousness!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Cindy
thanks a lot and thank you for using this expression from the 17th c. We feel honoured.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow, these photos are superb! I love contrasts of colours against the stark landscape. Beautiful!
LikeLiked by 7 people
Dear John
this contrast was inspiring us for the photos and writing about it. And we love special architecture.
Thanks and all the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
Marvelous and adore those colorful houses near the sweeping seascapes.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Dear Sally
we did as well. We were immediately taken by this architecture in this bleak landscape.
Thanks and a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
we wanted to stay there!
Finest fairy dust from
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
wonderful images. love the colorful houses.
LikeLiked by 4 people
They are great, aren’t they!
Thanks, dear Jim
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
I must not have the magic because I saw nothing on top of the sign. Beautiful photos and lovely town
LikeLiked by 5 people
Well, dear John,
don’t worry the magic eye is not only a bliss, quite often you see too much.
John O’Groats is actually a little hamlet only widely known for the ferry to the Orkneys – and for it’s colourful houses since today when we published this blog 😉
Wishing you an easy wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
We would feel inhibited if everybody could see us. We are happy for everyone who can’t.
With finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you, Klausbernd. A peaceful weekend to the Fab Four as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
bigwig…touch of Heligoland 😉
camera witcheries… *chapeau*
LikeLiked by 4 people
THANK YOU
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
different to Heligoland the surroundings are grey here.
Well, Dina’s photography is always helped by our two clever fairies, especially Selma.
Love from the sea
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Once we flew around the red pillars there
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
Such vivid colors, beautiful images and as always I love your background information.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Thanks a lot, dear Cornelia!
We love colours and we love those buildings 🙂 🙂
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Cornelia
thank you so much for liking our writing!
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
The colors brighten it immensely, especially with the sunlight capture of the photographer. And of course the writers, Siri and Selma’s magical energy of words 😀
LikeLiked by 4 people
Good morning, dear Mark
these colours do magic to this barren place! We love it 🙂 🙂
Thanks for liking Dina’s pictures and our beloved Bookfayries’s text.
Happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Mark
we are so happy that you like our writing!
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the clever Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 4 people
Such a beautiful place!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Since these houses are build it really is.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
I love the contrast of the colorful homes and the landscape.
LikeLiked by 4 people
We do as well!
Thanks for commenting and all the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very merry fairly fairy ferry bookfayries… and…
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wooden shoe
However, the lyrics of the bridge provide a clue:
If the words sound queer and funny to your ear, a little bit jumbled and jivey,
Sing “Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy.”
This hint allows the ear to translate the final line as “a kid’ll eat ivy, too; wouldn’t you?”
LikeLiked by 4 people
GREAT!
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Here are your merry fairly fairy ferry bookfayries writing, oh love to be called like this!
We have to admit we dont ear ivy. Our dear Master told us it’s poisenous.
Thank you very much for your lyrics!
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 4 people
https://youtu.be/EU2CKQQr90E –The music, on You
Tube.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear John
thank you VERY much! We didn’t know this song.
Happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Gorgeous landscape and structures, beautifully captured!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you! 🙂 🙂
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
We loved John O’Groats too – didn’t read the guide books!
Great photos.
LikeLiked by 3 people
You were clever!
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
It’s sometimes wise no to read the guide books. We suppose for every friend of contemporary architecture John O’Groats is a must-go.
Wishing you a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those brightly coloured houses are spectacular. My wanderlust is rising just looking at your gorgeous photos.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Follow your wanderlust – what a nice German word from the Romantics!
With lots of fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 4 people
It’s worth going up the west and north coast of Scotland to John O’Groats.
Have a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Awesome images! I particularly love those colorful houses against the moody skies…
LikeLiked by 4 people
We loved those houses as well.
Thanks and wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Amazing pictures! The color contrast, the clarity and everything about these are just perfect! 🙂
LikeLiked by 4 people
Indeed it’s clear nordic architecture set perfectly in this bleak landscape.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful photos! Love the colors 🙂
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you! 🙂 🙂
Happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stunning colours of the houses! Did you also see the Stacks of Duncansby on the shoreline?
LikeLiked by 4 people
Yes, we did! We had quite clear weather up north.
With fairy dust from
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks for commenting! 🙂 🙂
We hiked a little bit on the cliffs near John O’Groats and admired the views.
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
great pics , great story
I had my picture taken by that sign , together with my bicycle , as it was my turning point , and went from there on with a big loop back to Manchester
so I did not go further north , was 1997 and I do not recall these colored houses 🙂
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you!
Happy biking
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 4 people
Those houses were build about 5 years ago. When you were there John O’Groats was a dull grey hamlet.
Happy cycling
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
at least is was dry , in three weeks I had r real rainy days 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Welche Bildkompositionen – wow. So toll. Bin so begeistert! Welche Bilder am frühen Morgen! Welche Farben! Und KB mittendrin! Danke! Habt weiter gute Tage! Das Wochenende steht vor der Tür. Herzliche Grüsse Ruth
LikeLiked by 5 people
Liebe Grüße von uns
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
Liebe Ruth
wir waren auch völlig angetan von dieser Architektur. Toll, dass dir Dinas Bilder so gut gefallen.
Dir wünschen wir ein rundum schönes Wochenende
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liebe Hanne, lieber Klausbernd,
da habt ihr enen sehr schönen Ort festgehalten. Ich kann mir denken, dass man beim Schauen der klaren Farben gleich gute Laune bekommt.
Wir sind inzwischen bei Roswitha und Martin in Kerpen und werden heute unsere Bilder hängen. Ich freue mich schon und bin aufgeregt.
Viele Grüße von Susanne
LikeLiked by 6 people
Liebe Susanne
frohes Bilderhängen wünschen dir
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 4 people
Guten Tag, liebe Susanne,
ja, das ist schon etwas anderes als die Architektur von Kerpen 😉 Wir haben uns bester Laune von dort zu den Orkneys eingeschifft.
Viel Erfolg mit eurer Ausstellung.
Liebe Grüße an dich und Martin
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
A great post about somewhere we’ve been intending to visit since we went to Land’s End. Your photos are stunning and I enjoyed the history behind the name. We’ll just have to make the effort to get up there after reading this.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Land’s End is different because it’s green, here on the island’s other side it’s grey and barren. It’s really worth going up the west and north coast to John O’Groats. Do it soon before it’s getting too touristy.
Have a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Gosh…John O’Groats has changed. Not sure how many years ago we were last there but not ‘that many’ and it was looking the worse for ware. The Hotel was closed and dilapidated, the new visitor centre need some loving care. So a big surprise to see the colourful Bergen style houses and fresh looking hotel. I hope it gets the trade it deserves and visitor numbers to support it.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear David
the hotel is very posh now and the colourful houses are high class. There is a beautiful pub as well. But outside these buildings in the old hamlet there is a pub f.e. it’s worth seeing because it’s that horrible you wouldn’t believe it.
With lots of fairy dust from
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear David
those houses are relatively new and this ensemble changes the whole atmosphere of this hamlet. The nordic architecture fits ideal into this barren landscape.
There are more and more visitors coming to John O’Groats, especially since the MC500 was voted by international photo-journalists as the second most beautiful road in the world after the Atlantic Highway in Norway.
Wishing you an easy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am still surprised it took them so long to discover the route …… and a little part of me wishes it had been kept a secret. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
The Norse houses on your header looks somewhat similar, David. Gorgeous vivid colours! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Bergen it was 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
We feel a bit guilty having written about it. But anyway it’s no more a secret as many people wrote about the NC500.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Liebe Hanne, lieber Klausbernd,
wunderbare Bilder, die ihr uns da präsentiert, natürlich mit dem passenden und stilistisch tollen Begleittext! Besonders das Erste und Dritte Bild haben es mir besonders angetan. Bei Beiden bekam ich Gänsehaut, so wunderbar finde ich diese. (Passiert mir wirklich nicht sehr häufig) Euch, nun ein superschönes Wochenende!
Liebe Grüße
Konrad
LikeLiked by 5 people
Da Masterchen und Dinalein gerade busybusy sind, schicken wir schon mal liebe ❤ ❤ Grüße vorab und natürlich feinsten Feenhauch
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 1 person
Guten Tag, lieber Konrad,
habe herzlichen Dank, dass dir unsere Post so gut gefällt 🙂 🙂 Du hast mit deinem lieben Kommentar Dina eine große Freude bereitet. You made her day!
Dir und Astrid wünschen wir ebenso ein ganz tolles Wochenende. Hier scheint abwechselt die Sonne und dann plötzlich schauert es, sehr gut für den Garten.
Mit lieben Grüßen vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
It certainly can’t be all that bad with those cheerful colors?
LikeLiked by 4 people
This nordic architecture (like in Bergen/Norway) has changed this former dull hamlet entirely.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Loved this read! Fab pics as well… looks beautiful; We might go to Scotland next summer or the year after that and I was thinking of visiting John O’Groats 🙂 Years ago we visited Land’s End, which is on the other end of Great Britain 🙂
LikeLiked by 5 people
Thank you for liking our text.
Funny our beloved Master’s initials are Kb > kaybe (for Klausbernd)
With fairy dust from
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
hahaha, hadn’t noticed 😀
LikeLiked by 3 people
And i will certainly take a look at the other Scotland stories on your blog for some inspiration 😉
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Kaybe,
as we wrote before Lands Ends has quite a different character, it’s green instead of grey, and of course it hasn’t this nordic atmosphere.
Thanks for liking our post 🙂 🙂
Happy weekend
Kaybe of The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
The next post will be about the Orkneys – Viking land!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That colour is glorious!
LikeLiked by 4 people
We were taken by it too!
Thanks and happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Well, we stopped off at John o’ Groats years ago, and I don’e recall those Nordic houses. Just a very dull motel…..
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Sue
those houses are relatively new and this hotel is VERY posh. Since the NC500 was voted as the second most beautiful road in the world by international photo-journalists everything up north became poshed-up recently (mostly with EU money well spend).
We wish you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, I interesting! H ave a great weekend xx
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
We are nearly flying away, quite a wind …
LikeLiked by 2 people
Well, the fairies will have an interesting time….
LikeLiked by 3 people
… of course!
They make our life interesting 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hey ho! Has it calmed down today?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Fortunately it did. Now the sun is shining and we have nearly no wind any more. It’s quite warm and Dina is harvesting our figs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, how wonderful! I love fresh figs, and used to have a tree where I lived before.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Sue
the problem with our figs: the birds a quite often quicker than we are.
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
D’you know, I never had that problem for a good few years, but latterly the squirrels cottoned on to them….
LikeLiked by 3 people
We got some greedy squirrels here as well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
More wonderful photographs. At first glance I thought the houses were beach huts. Thanks for informing me about Jan de Groot – I hadn’t known that
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you for liking our text 🙂 🙂
Finest fairy dust from
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Derrick
a few people know about the changes of John O’Groats and the story of Jan de Groot. You are right, at the first glance those houses look like beach huts – it’s the colour and the material.
Thanks for commenting and wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
When I was a schoolboy, I had my photo taken under that sign, but there were no stickers on it in the 1960s. I wish I still had that photo.
I remember the place as cold, windy, and very bleak. They have done well to improve it, and the colourful houses are just right.
As always, you capture the spirit of the far north with your writing and wonderful photographs. I think you have the north in your souls!
Love from Beetley, Pete and Ollie. X
LikeLiked by 4 people
YES, we have!
With lots of love and finest fairy dust from
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Pete
YES, we have the north in our souls, indeed!
These stickers are a plague, people leave them everywhere and there are stickers above stickers … Now this sign post is a kind of place of pilgrimage. It’s actually only a few steps away from those colourful houses.
Thanks for liking our post! 🙂 🙂
With lots of love from the sea
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful photos. Any travel agent would employ you like a shot!
LikeLiked by 4 people
We hope so!
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Margaret
well, we would like to be found …
Thanks and happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow those colorful houses are so lovely! Great scenery in the area too.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Pooja
yes those house of contemporary Norse architecture are set perfectly in this as grand as barren landscape.
Thanks and have an easy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Magnifique !!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks
Takk
Danke
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Super shots! Cannot wait for your Orkney writeup, it is one of our favourite places in Scotland. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for non-Orkney mainland recommendations so it helps us plan our next visit 🙂
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you!
Well, we recommended in our last post the Scourie Hotel in Scourie which is great and if you want it posh this white hotel on the pictures here in JohnO’Groats is very fine or self catering in those colourful units “The Residences”. For B&B in John O’Groats we would recommend The Anchorage. Avoid the pub there on the cross road but the one in the colourful houses is really very nice.
The post about the Orkneys will be published in a fortnight, we just started designing it.
Thanks and happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
I had a peek at NoChintz; I love the signage inside the inn.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes, we agree! We love this styling too – actually every styling that NoChintz did. NoChintz is our style as well. If we do colour consultancy we call ourselves NoKitsch.
Thank you very much and wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely. I have never been there and shamefully had no idea it was like this
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Hanne
it’s worth going there for the architecture and design – inside and outside – and for the landscape as well.
Thanks, happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
As ever, a beautiful, informative post from the Fab Four! Gorgeous photographs Hanne!! I hope you all have a great weekend ahead. With love from myself and Chris! 🙂 xx
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Chillbrook
thanks for liking our writing.
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLike
Dear Adrian
thank you so much for liking our post 🙂 🙂
We will have a relaxed weekend, walking on the beach, maybe having a picknick there and enjoying our cosy house and beautiful garden just doing nothing.
Wishing you a relaxing weekend as well
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Was sind das überschöne bilder! I didn’t know the story of my fellow country man Jan who gave his name to the place. ‘Groats’ sounds harsh, like the barren landscape and perhaps the grumbly state of mind of the strict father who had to deal with his seven eager sons. His wife by the way, her name was Neeltje, had her own throne next to the fire place. The best and warmest place in the house. If she wanted something she just snapped her fingers and one of the sons or even Jan himself brought to her whatever she desired. She lived to be 106 and her spirit is still floating in the chilly breeze when autumn comes and the people of the Orkneys softly whisper her name.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such an interesting story. I have learnt something today. I never knew such a place existed. Those colours are simply stunning and I see how it has given you inspiration to paint your sheds… Lorelle 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you very much for liking our texts 🙂
With lots of finest fairy dust from
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the chirpy Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you fine fairies 😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh dear, Siri and Selma already bought the colour for painting our sheds. We are afraid if they will paint them they will end up as colourful as our sheds.
With lots of love rom the little village next the sea
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh my they are one step ahead!!! Enjoy your weekend Klausbernd. 😊
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hallo Ihr Lieben,
danke fuer die Bilder. Ich wusste gar nicht, dass John o’Groats so bunt ist. Was mir an den Bildern so ganz besonders gefaellt ist der Kontrast zwischen den farbenfrohen Haeusern und dem teils etwas bedrohlich wirkenden Himmel: eine ganz fantastische Stimmung erzeugt das.
Habt’s fein,
Pit
LikeLiked by 4 people
Gute Reise, lieber Pit. Ist das Auto schon fertig beladen? 🙂 Ihr wird bestimmt eine tolle Reise haben. Herzliche Grüße and dich und Mary! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Guten Tag, lieber Pit
wir wünschen euch eine gaaaaanz schöne tolle super Reise und klaren Himmel für die Mondfinsternis. Siri und Selma sitzen bereits im Oberstübchen und weben die entsprechenden Zauber für euch. Fahrt vorsichtig and have fun!
Wir drücken euch für alles fest die Daumen.
Gaaanz liebe Grüße von Norfolk nach Texas
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Fab Four,
This town looks a like like the Scandinavian areas I’ve seen – beautiful. Curious though, being so far north, have they become affected by the rising seas?
Have a great weekend – all of you!!
GP Cox
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear GP Cox
indeed this architecture is contemporary Scandinavian and fits very well into this barren grey landscape.
There is no doubt that the sea level is rising but not so much that those colourful houses are endagered – at least not until the next 50 or more years (as the predictions are). It’s about 2 mm/yearly right now.
We are wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m happy to hear that response. All my best to you all.
GP Cox
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
So special all those colored houses.Magnificent.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Natuurfreak
that’s really magnificient architecture!
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Wonderful photographs and narrative – as usual! Those who believe that this is Scotland’s most dismal place evidently haven’t experienced the architecture of the Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
You are absolutely right. Scotland had and has great architects like Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife. A couple of years ago we blogged about the Hill House
https://toffeefee.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/hill-house/
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Your photos are stunning Dina! It looks so different to when we went there over ten years ago. These fresh new colours on the new part of the building make it so less dreary! They have also removed the ugly built-on parts of that old hotel making it look grand again. Look forward to hearing about the Orkneys too. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks, dear Cathy,
the new assembly of these colourful houses and the renovated hotel changed the mood of this little hamlet entirely.
Enjoy the weekend
Love
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂 It looks beautiful there at the end of the world 😉
Have a very HAPPY Friday 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
And you have a happy weekend! 🙂
Thanks a lot
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful and so colorful! Thank you so much for taking us there. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Amy
you are very welcome!
Wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
💖
LikeLiked by 2 people
My dear friends,
did you have porridge with whisky for breakfast?? 🙂
You style-conscious lovely girls have come up with some great information and Dina’s photos are wonderful as always, but I do miss some coloured reflections from your beloved Master, a colour expert himself. 😉
Your presentation shows that colour is a brilliant way of creating impact and enhancing spaces and make a gloomy place looking happy! 🙂
Sending you love and hugs from my stuga,
KRAM
Annalena x
LikeLiked by 2 people
Our dear friend Annalena
our dear Master tried porridge with whisky and cream. He said it’s yummy.
He thinks that these colours first of all look especially colourful against the grey of the surroundings. The blue picks up the colour of the sea, green the lawn in front and grey the predominant colour of the area, the climax are the yellow and red on the end. But there is an optical movement of this colour arragement: blue always moves away from the observer’s eye, green and grey are neutral, and this shade of red and yellow are moving towards the eye of the observer. And the blue draws you to the distance but yellow is jumping on you. So there a constant movement done by the optical effects of colours which enhances the effect of every colour, you can say it makes those houses stand out and enhancing their colourfulnesss.
Thanks you very much. Actually we Bookfayries did ask our Master the same question.
We send you lots of love ❤ ❤ Have a great time in your cosy stuga 🙂
KRAM
The Fab Four of Cley xxxx
LikeLike
The color combinations and contrasts utterly charm the mind.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Tanja
we are absolutely agree with you. We wrote a bit about the optical effects in the answer of the commentary above. We forgot to mention that grey as the neutral colour stands in the middle between the rather cold and warm colours. It logically belongs there and even if you don’t know this you feel it.
Thanks and have a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excelent photographs by Hannah, love the coloured shed-like buildings. Considering how near to Scotland we live, we don’t visit very often, will have to remedy that!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you for liking Hanne-Dina’s photography.
It’s worth visiting John O’Groats for its new architecture – by the way Scotland is full of examples of excellent architecture. See our blog about the Hill House
https://toffeefee.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/hill-house/
Wishing you a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: John O’Groats – The World according to Dina – thebluepolarbear
No, I’ve never been there, but now I’m dreaming about it! I love the colorful houses and would like to stay there. Certainly after reading your enthusiastic explanation. Best regards from Breskens!
LikeLiked by 2 people
We are sure you would like it there. You can either book in there for self catering at The Residence or if you like it really posh at the hotel. It’s a treat! Be careful it’s addicting staying there and from your room you can see the Orkneys.
With regards from the North Norfolk coast
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
That sounds very attractive!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It really is!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful! Must be some fae magic that makes these photos looks as if you can just reach out and touch them.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Our beloved bookfayries treat all of Dina’s pictures with a special post-production-magic-fairy-dust (PPMFD) that gives them a kind of illusion of 3 dimensions and that you are really there. Actually they think, if you see a picture that’s treated by them you are really there.
Thanks for commenting and wishing you a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
I must say, I like those houses. That vertical look–my daughter bought a condo in Maryland with that sort of narrow upright look. I’ll have to tell her about the Norse roots.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Jaqui
yes, that is used very often in contemporary Norse architecture (like in Bergen/Norway f.e.) but it’s going back to old Scandinavian and Finnish houses and barns. But there they traditional colour was always oxblood – a brownish red.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Great stories and beautifully colorful photos!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Ed
Thank you very much for liking our post 🙂 🙂
Happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Wunderschön bunt sieht es aus. Es verführt zum Reisen!
Liebe Grüße
U+H
LikeLiked by 2 people
Liebe Urserl, lieber Herbert
klar doch, diese Häuser am nördlichen Meer in karger Landschaft sind schon eine Reise wert. Und schön ist’s in ihnen zu übernachten. Wir können es empfehlen: schlafen in fein gestylter Umgebung.
Liebe Grüße xxx
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Love the humor and very crisp reading of what looks to be a fantastic ‘dreary’ place ~ wonderful colors and photos. Given what Dina was reading about this place, I do not know how you could not have had a few shots of whiskey know what you had to look forward too 🙂 (also, whiskey would help with the haggis…). Cheers to a great post!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Dalo
after our dear Master had tried porridge with malt whisky and cream and loved it, he will now try haggis with whisky. Oh dear, we weren’t offered that treat! 😦 Unfortunately he couldn’t have porridge with whisky in the mornings we were driving.
We immediately felt at home at The Residence, a fantastic place. As we wrote before living in a clear designed surrounding is healing.
Thanks for liking our post 🙂 🙂
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Beautiful colours, excellent photos, informative writeup! I do think the Bookfayries should get a reduced fairy ferry fare.
LikeLiked by 2 people
YES they should and especially as they make such good PR for Joan O’Groats and this ferry to the Orkneys!
We are happy that you like our post. It’s was fun esigninh it! 🙂 🙂
Wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
@ https://thebluepolarbear.wordpress.com/2017/08/18/john-ogroats-the-world-according-to-dina/
Dear Polarbear
thanks a lot for reblogging!
Wishing you many visitors and a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
No kitsch to be seen there. Love the striking architecture and accent colors against what nature stocked the place with. Enjoyed the read, thanks
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you very much for your kind words 🙂 🙂
Funnily we call ourselves NoKitsch when we do colour consultancy for architects.
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Fab photos from the Fab Four of Cley! I really like the looks of the blue house. It must have an incredible amount of light inside on even the cloudiest of days.
Ω
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good morning, dear Allan Ω
there is a lot of light in all these houses and you are right, it’s important because of many grey cloudy days up north there. The whole atmosphere of the rooms is healing.
Thanks and wishing you a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Stunning photos as always! The Residences look charming and colourful. I would certainly like to stay there. So basically John O’Groats is as hyped as Land’s End 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Dippy-Dotty Girl
fortunately John O’Groats is not that hyped as Land’s End – yet. But we suppose it will be within the next couple of years.
It’s a great experience staying in The Residence, we can highly recommend it!
Thanks and happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
I assumed it and am happy to hear it is not. I always read so much about people undertaking cycling expeditions from Land’s End to John O’Groats. It tempted me to do that stretch on feet! 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Oh dear, it’s quite a hike!
We did it by car and were amazed about the distances in the North.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can imagine but the stories that would come along the way! Someday maybe I shall get to do it. Who knows. The distances do seem so lengthy up North. I suspect it is the winding roads that are the heart of the matter.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed the roads are quite narrow and windy and the territory is quite boggy. If you are hiking you can’t go straight. Even the footpaths are winding through the moors. Nevertheless we did a lot of hiking and liked it very much. Often we felt like the only person on earth.
Wishing you a happy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a priceless experience. I am inspired. Though I am scarred by memories of tumbling into bogs and smelling nasty after!
LikeLiked by 2 people
If you stick to the footpath it’s fine but to avoid smelling horrible 😉 or getting sucked into the underworld don’t try short cuts.
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hahaha I shall do my best! 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
We suppose you always do your best.
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
You too! 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
💃🏼🚶👭
LikeLiked by 1 person
so beautiful and colorful! your photography is superb! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks a lot for your kind words 🙂 🙂
Wishing you a relaxing weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love the bright colors! A great addition to the place since I was there in August, 1999. Your post prompted me to pull out my photo albums from the trip. We nearly froze in John O’Groats. In our pictures, we’re bundled up in heavy winter jackets with hoods, shivering, and having to hold onto immovable objects to keep from being blown out to sea. Can’t wait to see your blog post about Orkney! We took a day trip there by ferry and really enjoyed it. It was one of the highlights of our trip to Scotland.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Janet
when we were in John O’Groats we had quite a wind there as well. We suppose it’s always breezy there. Even if the sun was shining it was rather cold especially on the ferry to the Orkneys. Nevertheless we had a great time.
Thanks and wishing you an easy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Hi my dear friends in Cley!
“Short and sweet”
Fantastic photos. The energy simply “oozed” reading your blog.
Siri and Selma, you both looked fantastic on top of the sign in your colourful kilts.
Thanks for the magic energy.
🇨🇮🙋
LikeLiked by 5 people
Thank you dear Joanie🇨🇮🍀🙋!
We are off to Wells next the sea in a minute. I’ll call you later today.😊
Hugs 💃🏼🇳🇴
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good morning, dear Joan
Siri and Selma are that proud of their colourful kilts! And do you know these are magic kilts, the are able to pick up colours from their surroundings and they can make the colours of their more shining. Great, isn’t it?! Well, that’s fairy magic. And looking at the pictures of those colours is healing.
Thanks a lot for commeting and wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
No, but I’d like to! Most islands hold an appeal for me. 🙂 🙂 But if I miss the ferry at least I’ll have a cheerful place to stay.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Jo
we recommend you to stay in any case in The Residence for a day or two, it’s an unique experience. And from there it’s only a few steps to the ferry.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sounds like an excellent idea, Klaus. Thanks a lot! 🙂 🙂 Have a good weekend!
LikeLiked by 3 people
We will have if we are not blown away. Quite a wind at the North Norfolk coast.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Love the colors of the houses there. They are vibrant and give such strong contrast to the surrounding.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed, they do! And they transformed that dull hamlet into an interesting place worth visiting.
Thanks and wishing you a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
The landscape is perfect for these seemingly cookie cutter houses with their bright primary colors. A bold architectural statement that you have captured so very well.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks for liking Dina’s photography.
The architecture is contemporary Norse like in Bergen/Norway and other Scandinavian places.
Thanks a cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
I also love the colors of the houses. I wonder if many Scots emigrated to the eastern shores of Canada, Newfoundland and other rugged places on the Atlantic. Many of the houses I have seen are of the same bright and colorful look as in your photographs. Perhaps they felt the need to color their world in a mostly cloud covered and gray environment. Nice work and congratulations to all four!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you very much, dear Peter.
This architecture is genuin Scandinavian. It has quite a tradition there and is used nowadays in a lot ot Scandinavian cities like in Bergen/Norway but you find it in Greenland and especially on the Westman Island too. We didn’t know that you find in Newfoundland as well. We think so too that it has to do with the barren and grey surroundings and the long time without much light. The traditional red of Scandinavian wooden houses goes back to oxblood as a wood preservative used there since hundred of years.
Happy wekend wishing you
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
I looked very hard, even squinted, but alas I could not see Siri and Selma on top of the signpost. I am so glad they didn’t get blown away! I did though, by the lovely photographs and those cheerful buildings. Definitely a place to stay if I ever get that far north. Not sure I could manage a ferry up there though, I am a very poor sailor. Wishing you all an enjoyable weekend and hoping Gert doesn’t make it too wet and windy for us all!
Jude xx
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good morning, dear Jude,
well, Siri and Selma on one hand are very courageous and brave but on the other hand they are rather shy like little girls and don’t want to be seen on photographs.
You don’t need a ferry going up there, you can do the whole way by car. And if you don’t like sailing don’t go to the Orkneys just stay at The Residence and enjoy seeing the Orkneys from your window.
We have quite a wind here but it is sunny. Yesterday evening we had some rather wild showers but today it’s dry. We will to go to Wells beach. Dina wants to make some pictures there because of the dramatic clouds. But we have to take our beloves Bookfayries on a leash that they don’t get blown away.
Happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley xxxx
LikeLiked by 2 people
Clouds are lovely to photograph, I got some great white cumulus clouds the other day with a deep blue sky. Have a lovely time at Wells!!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Jude
actually we are unphotographable, well, that’s the fairy way. But we can be seen by the imaginative eye. We are wearing our colourful kilts that Dina and Master bought us for looking like Scottish fairies and we like those kilts sooo much. We even wear them sometime here at home.
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the stylish Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
I can picture you in your kilts. I had a lovely pale blue and cream one, with the large pin, when I was a small child.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m sure you looked absolutely adorable, Jude. 💕
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The clouds are quite dramatic right now because a strong wind is blowing and sunshine and rain are alternating. Dina is happy 🙂 She doesn’t like a boring blue sky.
In Wells we have such a lot of sky and this vast Holkham beach.
Love
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like Wells and Holkham beach is magnificent. If only house prices along that stretch of coast were cheaper we would have considered living there.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Jude
it’s an easy life at the North Norfolk coast. Some people call it England’s California – well …
The house prices are over the top here, well, there are not many beautiful houses left in nice postions.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Scotland never looked so beautiful!! Many hugs from across the pond going out to my dear friends, the Fab Four of Cley!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good morning, dear Rebecca,
Scotland is worth visiting just for it’s architecture, of course Glasgow with all the arts-and-crafts buildings, and the new Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh and John O’Groats – just to name a few places of architectural interest. We loved this colourful Norse design in this barren landscape.
With a big HUG from breezy but sunny Cley xxxx
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
With lots of finest fairy dust from for you in Vancouver and a big HUG
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the stylish Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
Reblogged this on per mare….
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you very much for reblogging 🙂 🙂
Wishing you a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
You’re very welcome…loved the colours, Scotland and the Kombi van. Cheers.
LikeLiked by 2 people
We as well!
LikeLike
Colorful place, great photos!
LikeLiked by 3 people
THANK YOU
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
Loved northern Scotland
LikeLiked by 3 people
We as well 🙂 🙂
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
We could live there!
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the stylish Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a wonderful post, the landscape as always dramatic, the history lesson about John O’Groats fascinating and the colourful houses are just brilliant…ditto your desire to paint your shed a similar bright hue, I’m also enthused! 😀😀
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Annika
oh dear, Siri and Selma started painting, well, it hard to say by the looks of it if they are painting our sheds or themselves. But they love to be colourful Bookfayries 🙂 🙂
Thank you for liking our post!
With lots of love xx
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 3 people
That’s not true! Only some splashes of colour are on our arms and T-shirts, well, and Selma trod in the pot of red gloss. But we don’t mind.That could happen to any of us.
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the stylish Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
well, well …
LikeLike
Klasse Siri und Selma, dass ihr die beiden zu diesem schönen Ort gebracht habt! Witzig die schmale tanzende Litfasssäule mit den Zeigearmen und den lustigen Nummern, der Ohrwurm: You should be dancing….BeeGees…
Jedesmal denke ich, dass ich Dinas schöne Fotos ausdrucken und aufhängen möchte, aber ich kann mich nicht entscheiden und hoffe, dass es keinen Stromausfall gibt und ich mir alles einfach immer wieder anschauen kann, so großartig!!!
Liebste Grüße von Pia
LikeLiked by 4 people
Unser liebes Pialein,
du bescherst uns immer beflügelte gute Laune und meinen Samstag hast du 🌟☀️⭐️☀️💫☀️✨ gemacht. Danke❣️ 😍
LikeLiked by 3 people
Ganz herzlichen Dank, liebe Pia,
oh, jetzt hat schon das liebe Dinalein dir so fein geantwortet. Auch von dem Rest der Fab Four die allerliebsten ❤ ❤ Grüße und vielen Dank für deine lieben Worte
The Fab Four of Cley xxx
LikeLiked by 2 people
Da schließt man sich gerne an liebe Dina! Herliches aus Schweden von LOVISA 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Such fabulous photo’s of John O’Groats.. So colourful and happy the Sun came out even though I saw a few dark clouds.. That Breakfast sounds just the thing..
Wishing you a wonderful week Dina..
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Sue
especially our dear Master loved this classic Scottish breakfast – even with haggis!
We wish you a wonderful week as week as well and thanks for commenting
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes I had to try the haggis when in Scotland, And the Porridge did you try that.. Hope you had some cream with it 🙂
Enjoy 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
It is entirely our doing that the sun came through. We can tell you it costs us lots and lots of power blowing those dark clouds away as our dear friends, the weather fairies, were sleeping.
With lots of finest fairy dust
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma, the stylish Bookfayries
LikeLiked by 2 people
Our dear Master even had porridge with a mixture of cream and malt whisky. His reaction: “yummy yummy, more, please!”
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
haha… Now that is true Scottish Style.. 🙂 lol..
LikeLiked by 4 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Don’t tell anybody: our dear Master loves malt whisky.
Siri 🙂 and 🙂 Selma
we just sneaked out to write on his notebook
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha.. Love it… 😀 that you sneaked to write.. lol.. not too fond of whiskey, unless it is tea on a cold winters day 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Well, whisky in the morning isn’t something we are used to. 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha… no.. me either lol.. But a wee nip as my hubby says doesn’t do you any harm.. 😉 😁😂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Indeed!
Have a happy week full of joy and sunshine
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Absolutely stunning work, Fab Four. Your humourus writing and excellent illustrations are first class.
What a great job they did with this grey and dull place. Instead of electing to mirror something from the surrounding environment, reflecting the genius loci, they went for colourful inspiration from the Norse style. Very clever! Amazing how they managed to transform the place by doing so.
Have a great weekend!
Sarah x
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Sarah,
this Norse architecture – and the very north of Scotland as well as the Orkneys and Shetlands are Norse – enhances the genius loci. The barren landscape is as much part of the design as these colours which seem to be even more colourful because of the surrounding grey landscape. In grey as in black all surface colours are united as you can see when painting in watercolours. Your water ends up brownish grey. We would say these colours of the houses are set free from the surrounding grey.
We love that the Norse tradition is remembered there in a contemporary way without kitsch, this is the genius loci and the identity of the locals. They are more Norse than British by tradition. So we suppose these architects actually didn’t mirror the surroundings but started a communication with it. And everything was done sustainable and in style. That’s the way to do it. Well, Scotland has a long tradition of brilliant architects like Charles Rennie Mackintosh (see: https://toffeefee.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/hill-house/).
For us this is a great example how to revive a dead hamlet and a forgotten landscape.
We are wishing you a great weekend as well
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Post Scriptum
if you want to create harmony in the realm of colours you have to look how the classic painters were using colours. Quite often they used all the colours of theirs objects and overdeterminated this colour they wanted to show. Actually there are layers of colours but there is one colour on the surface which the observer sees. But on the subliminal level of perception the observer is aware of this special shade of the colour he sees which is produced by all these layers. In a way these architects did something similar here but in reverse. From the grey of the surrounding they set free all the colours that make that grey of the surrounding. And did you notice, they in a way gave a hint in the arrangement of the colours as grey is used in the middle house, left of it are the cold shades of colour, to the right are the warm shades. Showing the logic (or grammar) of colour makes the observer feel safe and produces the feeling of harmony because there is a clear order (which is recognised more or less consciously).
Thanks for inspiring me to analyse the language of colour of these buildings 🙂
With lots of love ❤
Klausbernd 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Klausbernd, thank you so much for your in-depth analysis of the colour theorie and especially the language of colour of these buildings. How interesting! The emotional impact of colours in this barren environment is impressive. You are right, the great painters understood how to use colour to create a specific mood and evoke a desired emotional response. I remember an interesting exhibition in the Guggenheim museum with abstract expressionists, (like Gorky, Pollock, Clyfford Still etc) – they relied entirely on colour to convey emotion in their paintings.
Sarah x
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Sarah
it’s so interesting that colour on hand communicate directly with the emotions (of nearly all animals) and on the other hand they are following a logical linguistic system. I wrote just a little bit about the grammar of colour in my answer to one of the last commentaries here. The logic of the prismatic colours is best seen in the colour circle, the logic of black, white and grey is linear.
Thanks and have a great weekend as well
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
The buildings remind me of the old riverfront buildings in Trondheim, which used to be warehouses, I think. One had been converted in a great pub.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Dear Byan,
you find such buildings in a lot of Scandinavian cities, mostly on the waterfront. And in these buildings here there is a great pub as well.
Wishing you a happy weekend, we have quite a wind at Norfolk coast
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
And how well I know it, but these particular one remind of the ones in Trondheim.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful pictures!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you very much! :-):-)
Have a great weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Thanks. Have a great weekend too!
LikeLiked by 3 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
Doing a motorcycle tour around Scotland next month (September). Having a look at your blog, great info and photographs.
Safe trip,
George
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear George
we met quite a lot of bikers, mostly driving in groups. We talked to some and they all were happy touring the NC500. With all the ups and downs and sharp bends it must be a paradise for bikers.
We wish you a safe trip as well, be careful there are sometimes little rocks on the minor roads.
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wow, so colourful. Wonderful pictures.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you! 🙂 🙂
Wishing you a wonderful weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Ich war da vor 25 Jahren, an die bunten Häuser kann ich mich nicht erinnern 😉 Es war neblig, grau und hat die ganze Zeit geregnet…..Wunderschöne Bilder!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lieber Marcus,
nee, die Häuser kannst du nicht gesehen haben, sie stehen erst seit etwa 5 Jahren dort. Wir hatten Glück mit dem Wetter, das völlig unschottisch war.
Vielen Dank, dass dir Dinas Bilder gefallen 🙂 🙂
Mit lieben Grüßen von der heute stürmischen Küste Nord Norfolks
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am enjoying your photos…beautiful colours. My husband is Scotish and we visit Scotland often, but have never been that far North….maybe next time?
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hi, dear Gilda,
thanks a lot for commenting.
We came to John O’Groats on our way to the Orkneys. Scotland got more and more magnificent as further north we came and, of course, more nordic. It’s really worth going there. We lived for nearly a year near Inverness and didn’t came further north, but the real north is very special and different. We love this nordic atmosphere as we are partly Norwegian (Dina is) or brought up and lived in Scandinavia. We felt at home.
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
ABSOLUTELY loved your photos!
LikeLiked by 3 people
THANK YOU very much! 🙂 🙂
Warm greetings from the breezy sea
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
OMG – those colors are simply sublime – I am SO unhappy that I was unaware of this place when we visited Scotland. The photography is superb. I shall simply have to return!!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good afternoon, dear Tina,
John O’Groats is worth visiting for this architecture. And actually the very north of Scotland is really magnificent. You will like it if you love a nordic atmosphere. We felt at home, it was more Norse than British.
With lots of love
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Unique würde ein Americaner glaube ich würdigend sagen, und da könnte ich mich durchaus anschließen. Das ist doch für ein relativ neues Ensemble duch aus gelungen! Ein gutes Wochenende wünsche ist Euch vieren. Ich bin gespannt, was Ihr als nächstes bringt 😉
LikeLiked by 3 people
Ja, das ist wirklich unique und sehr gelungen, das finden wir auch. Besonders Siri und Selma waren begeistert. Sie wollten gar nicht mehr weg.
In der nächsten Post werden wir dich zu den Orkneys entführen.
Einen wunderschönen Sonntag wünschen dir
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s years since I’ve been to John O’ Groats – it’s looking better than it did. Even years ago, though it wasn’t cheerful, it was far from the most dismal place in Scotland. Annan, on a drizzly Tuesday evening in Autumn – that’s dismal. 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
We have never been to John O’Groats before but we can imagine how boring it was looking before The Residences were build. This highly awarded architecture makes John O’Groats an attractive place to visit. We have never been to Annan and after your commentary we are not keen to go there.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
My great-great-grandparents left Annan in the 1860s and went to Blackburn. I can see why. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Fortunately we moved to a beautiful village at North Norfolk coast more than 30 years ago from Montreal, a city we liked very much.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s good when you can live in places you like. Moving to North Norfolk is a retirement plan for people round here (in Nottingham).
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s a stairway to heaven 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Porridge with whiskey and cream sounds wonderful. I love the vivid and varying colours of those cute houses. No, I’ve never been to John O’ Groats or even Scotland. England, Ireland, and Wales, but somehow we missed Scotland. 😦
LikeLiked by 4 people
We love to visit places in the North because we live at North Norfolk coast where actually it’s much too mild for us. We very much miss snow, ice, frost and every sort of cold weather. So this time we went to the north of Scotland. Wow, how magnificent the NW and N coast is: high cliffs, fjords, barren land, peaty black lochs and then this avantgarde architecture. It’s worth visiting and especially for a photographer as you don’t have these boring blue skies there, the weather and with it the light is constsantly changing.
Thanks for commenting and wishing you an easy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gosh you take beautiful photos. Loved the ones of the houses. So nicely framed.
LikeLiked by 3 people
WOW, what a kind commentary! 🙂 🙂 Thank you VERY much.
Wishing you a happy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
“John O’Groats is not the dull port of the ferry to the Orkneys but the colourful place at the end of the world.” Yes, nothing makes me happier than arriving at the end of the world! No matter where it is, even if it is barren and lonely. And Groats is colorful! More colorful than I remember it. Thanks for the trip. Now, whisky for breakfast? I want to visit your B&B. 🙂 –Curt
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Curt
those houses are pretty new, when you were visiting they might not even have been planned, which was after 2010.
Yeah, whisky for breakfast is great, isn’t it?! But don’t get too excited it’s only a little amount which gets blended with cream – but very yummy!
We will not post about the destilleries we visited, but we tasted the finest whiskys on our trip. Our dear Master likes the peaty ones, but for them the best place to go were the Western Isles where we started our road trip up North.
Thanks and so long
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
I do suspect that a little whiskey goes a long ways at breakfast. (laughing) My trip to northern Scotland was in the 90s, so you are right. I would have remembered those buildings! Thanks. –Curt
LikeLiked by 3 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
That looks lovely!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you 🙂
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Atemberaubend schöne Arbeit!
LikeLiked by 2 people
DANKE 🙏🏻
Schönes Wochenende wünschen dir
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Fabulous post as usual! I just love the first and third pictures particularly, the coast is gorgeous and the colourful house just stand out brilliantly. I wish you hadn’t mentioned haggis – I just love it! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks, dear Jude,
sorry about the haggis 😦
We love an architecture fitting perfectly well into it’s surroundings and which is sustainable too. We found it quite often in Norway and now in Scotland at the end of the world. Quite unsuspected.
With lots of love and have an easy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
A wonderful week to you Fab Four too 🌻🌻🏵🌷💮🌸💐🍀
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
Absolutely fantastic photos, I love the vibrancy of the colours through nature and human buildings. That sea looks gorgeous.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Ste
thanks for your kind commentary 🙂 🙂
This use of colour in this landscape is very clever. It really makes a difference.
Have an easy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful images – I’ve never travelled to John O’ Groats and didn’t know it had a dismal reputation, it certainly doesn’t look that way from your post.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good morning, dear Andrea,
this dismal reputation goes back to times before these buildings were erected.
Wishing you a happy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love the way you captured the beauty of the country!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thank you very much, dear Michael, for your kind words.
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful images .. I have never been to Scotland, but it is on my ‘wish list’. The colours are striking 😃 Have fun ..
LikeLiked by 4 people
Good morning, dear Julie
Scotland and especially its NW and N coast is worth visiting.
Thanks for commenting and you have an easy week full of fun as well
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
The colors are beautiful, especially against that sea and sky. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
This is very well done, high quality contemporary architecture.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
hello dina its dennis the vizsla dog hay i reely like those kolorful howses it luks like it must always be sum kind of a holiday their!!! or at leest a party!!! ok bye
LikeLiked by 2 people
Hi, dear Vizsla dog,
it’s the ideal place for having a holiday. We met quite some dogs there.
Have a great week!
Bye
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Looks lovely. We’ve just been to the ‘other extreme’, Land’s End. It was raining hard and windy. That really was true dismal; not even worth a photo let alone a blog post! RH
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear RH
oh dear, we are sorry to hear this. Fortunately we had a kind of un-Scottish weather on the other end of the land.
Thanks and wishing you an easy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a beautiful spot. The picture of the dark skies and colourful houses almost look fake. I have to stop looking at these blogs. So many destinations, not enough time.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Lisa
Scotland is worth a trip, especially the north.
Thank you very much for liking Dina’s pictures. It really looks like on the pictures at John O’Groats. Dina didn’t even enhanced the colours.
Thank you and wishing you a happy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amazing. I will add it to my list.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Gorgeous photo. I like the new layout.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Good morning, dear Brenda 🙂 🙂
thank you very much for liking Dina’s photos!
We wish you a happy day
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful area and photography.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes, it’s an ideal place for taking photos.
Thanks for liking our post 🙂 🙂
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
What a landscape and what beautiful houses. I bet they are filled with all the light available. That last photo, with the color of the wall, the sea, and the grass in the lovely light–Ah! I have never been so far north in Scotland.
LikeLiked by 3 people
It’s worth to going up north in Scotland. The landscape is getting more and more magnificient and nordic.
We had ideal light for photography. What makes taking pictures interesting in this area is the ever changing light. We were lucky having lots of sunshine in the north, quite un-Scottish.
Thanks and wishing you an easy day
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ha, this is superb! Colour is the spice of life and the colours choosen for this project are stunning. What a powerful form of nonverbal communication!
The photos are once again outstanding. With you good humorous writing you are excellent ambassadors promoting Scotland. 🙂 I want to go there! 🙂
Klem to you all
Hjerter ❤
LikeLiked by 4 people
Our dear friend Hjerter
in the second part of “Faust” Goethe writes “in the colourful reflection we grasp life”, that’s exactly what you are expressing in your commentary. Colour is a kind of language directly communication with the feelings of the onlooker. This is what the architects in these buildings use. It was used in architecture since the Bauhaus and before in Baroque to produce visual illusions.
Thank you so much for liking our post.
With a big HUG
KLEM ❤
The Fab Four of Cley xxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
P.S.:
if I remember it right, it was Gunnar Asplund the Swedish architect who was mostly influenced by the Bauhaus and the colour theories of Itten and Kandinsky, the specialists for colour in the Bauhaus. Kandinsky’s colour theory goes back to Goethe’s “Farbenlehre” (Theory Of Colours) via Rudolf Steiner. Goethe was one of the first writers who reflected the psychological impact of colour.
Love
Kb
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s always a treat to communicate with you Kb. ❤ Colour is a complex subject with many strands and it has the power to subliminally convey values and stories and I'm looking forward to your next ones. 🙂
Wishing you all a happy day.
KLEM
Hjerter ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
My dear friend Hjerter
I suppose quite few people are aware that colours are a language with a logical grammar. It’s all based on the number 3, the 3 prime colours and their 3 complimentary colours. These are the prismatic colurs, for black, white and grey we have a linear logic and for the prismatic colour a round one, the colour circle first used by Newton in his “Optikks”.
Thanks for your kind words.
With lots of love
Klausbernd
LikeLiked by 1 person
😍 Hej von LOVISA aus Schweden lieber Klaus Bernd. ich kann jetzt auch bunte Smiley-Bildchen 😜. Eure Fotos sind wieder grandios .. aber das ist ja fast schon tausende Male erwähnt. Euer vorgestelltes Ausflugsziel 🤠 ist supidupi 👍 und wir echt mal fest angepinnt. I love it – Jag älskar den 💛💚💜! Allt gott – alles Liebe von Lovisa
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hej, liebe Lovisa
fein von dir zu lesen 🙂 Ja, der Norden Schottlands ist wirklich eine Reise wert, die Natur ist großartig mit Fjorden, sumpfigen Lochs, nebligen Bergen, ein ständig wechselndes Licht und sehr freundlichen Menschen. Es gibt auch viel sehenswerte Architektur zu sehen, nicht nur in John O’Groats sondern auch besonders in und um Glasgow. Wir bloggten vor einigen Jahren über Charles Rennie Mackintosh – arts and crafts, ziemlich ähnlich dem Bauhaus
https://toffeefee.wordpress.com/2014/10/10/hill-house/
Dann mach’s mal gut, take care und liebe ❤ Grüße vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Wir können nur bunte Smiley-Bildchen bringen, wenn wir wie Siri und Selma auf ihren FairyMacs schreiben oder wir auf dem Apple-Rechner. Wir schreiben gerade auf einem PC Notebook, auf dem wir keine lustigen Smiley-Bildchen installiert haben – "eine Schande!" wie unsere beiden geliebten Feen meinen.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Haha .. echt das hab ich auch so heraus gefunden an unserem Feenrechner oben bekomme ich Bildchen und hier – an dem Kleinen – geht die tastenkombi nicht 😉
Glasgow hatten wir auf unserer Rundreise gar nicht dabei! Da lohnt es sich jawohl nochmal von Schweden auszurücken. ? ! Danke für den Link .. und dann müssen wir SchwedenWaldRäuber wohl bei euch unterkommen 😉 LG Lovisa
LikeLiked by 3 people
Na, das wäre doch nett, wenn ihr vorbeikämt. Allerdings sind es von Cley next the Sea nach Glasgow etwas über 600 km. Wir nehmen uns stets für diese Fahrt 2 Tage.
Mit lieben Grüßen aus dem sonnigen Norfolk
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Das geht klar .. wenn wir kommen machen wir 👩👱👶 sowieso eine Rundreise 😉 🍁🌼
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear friends,
I’m very late to the party as I’ve been holidaying in the south of Norway visiting friends and celebrating my sons birthday. Thank you so much for your kind birthday gift and best wishes!
I love this post. What an interesting read and Hanne’s photos are brilliant. Colour is such an immense part of art and architecture whether in abundance, lacking, or displayed in a harmonious pairing. The mindful use of colour should always be used to an artist’s or place’s advantage and I think they did very well choosing those colours for John O’Groats.
Now I’m on my way to Tromsø. Sending you warm greetings from Gardemoen.
Very much looking forward to your next post,
Per Magnus
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good morning, our dear friend Per Magnus,
colour is a very important tool to change feelings. This is, of course, very much studied in advertisment and especially for logos. Colour always communicates meaning.
Have an easy way home and thanks for your commentary.
With lots of love from all of us
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lovely pictures!! ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Daniela
thank you!
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
A very enjoyable post that increased my knowledge of John O’Groats. The clean lines and saturated colours of the images make a powerful impact.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you very much, dear Louis 🙂 🙂
We love clean lines and clean colours.
Warm greetings from the sea
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
What beautiful photos, I particularly like the pop of color in the houses. We are just back from Scotland (mostly Edinburgh) one of our stops was at a farmhouse and we had haggis with our breakfast. I had never had haggis, what a treat!
LikeLiked by 3 people
For us it was the first having haggis as well. Especially our dear master loved it. We noticed that we can buy it in the supermarket here too.
With lots of love
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The simple forms of the architecture, the primary colors, and the juxtaposition with the older style – they’re wonderful, but in someone else’s hands it would not have been nearly as nice. You framed and processed these so beautifully, Dina – I think you all were inspired!
LikeLiked by 2 people
We were very much inspired by the combination of old and new and the communication of these buildings with the landscape. That’s architecture we like.
Thank you very much and have a happy 😊 day
💃👭🚶
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Awesome! Those houses are so striking 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dear Joshi
thank you! 🙂 🙂
Great architecture, isn’t it?
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLike
Beautiful photography!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Caroline
thanks a lot for liking Dina’s pictures.
You are a linguist, our dear Master studied linguistics as well and was a specialist for the grammatical structure of symbol systems.
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
“The colorful place at the end of the world”. Well said, and just perfect. Gorgeous photos.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Dear Jennie
thank you so much for liking our post 🙏🏻
We wish you an easy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are welcome. Every post is a feast for the eyes, and for the soul. Happy weekend! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
💃🏼🚶👭
LikeLiked by 1 person
😀
LikeLiked by 2 people
I like those new norsk houses but I don’t think they blend with that mansion so well.
LikeLiked by 3 people
We find this combination of old and new very well made. Of course it’s a matter of taste. It’s clever from the logic of colours as white is addition of all the prismatic colours you see in the following buildings.
Thanks 🙏 a lot and have a happy 😊 rest of this Sunday ☀️
💃👭🚶
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes the colors go well together!
LikeLiked by 1 person
What wonderful colourted buildings. Don’t think they were there when I visited. Mind you, that was about 30 years ago.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Graham
Those buildings are not more than five years old.
All the best to you and thank you very much 🙏
🚶💃👭
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful pictures !!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you
All the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
It’s all in the eye of the beholder. You have transformed John O’Groats with your gorgeous captures of its colorful houses set amidst the darkening skies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much for commenting and especially for referring to Geoge Berkeley’s theory of perception. Even if it is a classic theory of the Age of Enlightenment it’s still worth reading it.
Thanks 🙏 for liking Dina’s photography.
All the best
🚶💃👭
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Another fun story with beautiful colorful pictures! What did Dina like best, the porridge or the Whiskey? 😀 I thought I just saw the Bookfayries fly away … 😉
Sincerely, Heidi
LikeLiked by 2 people
Dear Mariposa,
our dear Dina didn’t take the whisky 🥃 in the morning and she isn’t a friend of porridge neither – oh dear!
Our dear fairies are all over the places in the last days.
Thanks 🙏🙏🙏 and all the best
💃🚶👭
The Fab Four of Cley
Special fairy dust 💫✨for you from Siri and Selma 👭
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, great photos!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks a lot 🙏🙏
All the best
💃🚶👭
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Thank you for letting me tag along! I loooove the colorful houses in particular! 💖💖💖💖
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thank you very much, dear Trini,
we love those houses as well very, very much.
Have a happy day
The Fab Four of Cley xxxx
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on kbvollmarblog and commented:
Perfect colour, isn’t it?!
LikeLike
Beautiful, sharp captures!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you very much, dear Cindy.
Happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
I love your pics Dina. And the colors – like spilling a box of crayons in a gravel pit. 🙂 Whiskey in Scotland is Scotch, no?
LikeLiked by 2 people
Good morning, dear Thorsaurus,
thanks for liking Dina’s photographs. Great colours, indeed!
Well, actually it is a matter of spelling
Whiskey is Irish
Whisky is Scottish
You wouldn’t say Scotch to a Single Malt or really fine Scottish Whiskies. Well, with the plural there is a problem as well – some spell it whiskys and some spell it whiskies. No semantic difference as we see it.
All the best, happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Yet another lesson from the Fab Four. 😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am absolutely sure that it would do us – in our surrounding- do a lot of good, if we used more wood and colour for our constructions than all this concrete. Entschuldigt, aber ich habe vergessen, dass ich hätte Deutsch schreiben sollen! Liebe Dina, lieber Klausbernd, vielen Dank für diesen Bericht, der meiner Seele wohl tut! Cari saluti dal Ticino.:)
LikeLiked by 2 people
Guten Morgen, liebe Martina,
ja, diese Farbfülle macht sogleich gute Laune und natürliches Baumaterial zu nehmen, pleases the eye. Huch, da schreiben wir auch schon Denglisch 😉
Ganz liebe Grüße aus dem spätsommerlichen Cley
The Fab Four
LikeLike
🌊❄️💦⛄️
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’ve learnt something new about the history of John O’ Groats, thank you!
LikeLiked by 3 people
You are very welcome! 🙂 Happy to read that you learned from our post.
Wishing you a happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLike
Beautiful☺️💖
LikeLiked by 2 people
Takk
Thanks a lot.
Happy weekend
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
You 2❤️❤️❤️Love
LikeLike
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
such colourful houses!
LikeLiked by 2 people
They are great 👍 modern architecture.
Wishing you a happy weekend
💃🚶👭
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
Such a lovely place to be! Thanks for sharing it.
LikeLiked by 2 people
You are very welcome 🙂
Sorry for answering not earlier. We have be holidaying in the Cotswolds without electronic gadgets and just came back.
Have a happy week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gorgeous photos. I’ve heard the same about this place being dismal. Your photos certainly do make it look lovely.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you very much and sorry for the delayed answer (we had an electronic free holiday in the Cotswolds).
Wishing you a great week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
It is really nice to be electronic free from time to time!
LikeLiked by 2 people
👍🏻😍👌🏻😀🤗
LikeLiked by 1 person
We think it’s necessary – at least we need it.
Thanks and all the best
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 2 people
This literally looks like a wonderland !! Love your pictures !!
CHeers
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much! 🙂 🙂
Cheers
The Fab Four Of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
wonderful blog!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much. We try our best and sometimes even succeed 😉
Have a wonderful week
The Fab Four of Cley
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t been to John o’ Groats since I hitched there to get the ferry to the Orkney’s back in 1985, when I was solo-backpacking around the world.
Don’t remember any brightly-coloured Norse style houses when I was there but imagine that this Scottish region must of changed a lot over all these decades.
I loved it there!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Indeed, parts of Scotland have quite changed. So John O’Groats got this avant-garde architecture that is a Mecca for architects and well visited by tourists.
Thanks and cheers
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Solche bunten Häuser waren mir auch 2014 in Tenby (Wales) über den Weg gelaufen, sehr schöne Tradition und guter Kontrast zum doch oft grauen britischen Himmel.
Beste Grüsse aus Berlin
Ulli
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ganz herzlichen Dank, liebe/r Ulli.
Das ist besonders abstechend, da auf den Orkneys Stromness und Kirkwall grau sind. Übrigens gibt es in Kirkwall eine kleine Strasse mit dem Namen Khyber Pass.
Liebe Grüße vom kleinen Dorf am großen Meer
The Fab Four of Cley
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person