There is a truism that if you want to test the quality of food, don't ask for complex dishes but choose "simple" items, eg, can an Italian pizzeria do a good Marguerita, a French place onion soup etc. Well, the humble fishcake may seem easy, but this was utterly delicious.
And yes, chatting to Julia and Jason, when we phoned to book, Julia said "It's Helen and Stevan - make the fishcakes without coriander." So kind and thoughtful, and much appreciated.

We've decided on a little treat this evening and are having out dinner at An Cala in Lochinver.
Jason knows I have an allergy to coriander, so knowing we'd booked, he made his legendary fishcakes without it. This will be good.
This contrasts with a very expensive restaurant recently where I asked about coriander, they assured me a salad was fine, but when it arrived, herself spotted it was laced with the stuff.
(More later, we're eating!)

I have for many years been intrigued by natural paths, of which there are many here and, of course, in Assynt. There's so much more to them than meets the eye. Here, ,why was this gentle W necessary? Yes, maybe originally around a tree, but why does that route continue?
The answer is extensive, of course, and when we got to this section, our feet took us in that W, because that's the best way for the path
#TLHHTravelling

Good morning. Hopefully I can get through posting some other pics from yesterday. We're at the Talamati Bush Camp for 2 nights, and it's been rather full-on, so we're taking a rest day for ourselves.
Left out of yesterday's post on the early morning walk was the importance of aardvark holes to other animals, who take up residence when they can. There is this aspect of re-use, in the animals kingdom from which we can learn. Less positively, some call it opportunism.
#TLHHTravelling

Calling Android gurus of the Fediverse.
We have an Android 13 phone with which we've been trying different networks. It's supported VoWIFI until now. We tried one SIM, and VoWIFI has since stopped on any and all the others. All settings are correcttly set up. The command *#*#4636#*#* shows VoWIFI provisioned, but it doesn't work.
Can that SIM have borked VoWIFI on the phone? If so, is it recoverable?
We've tried all we can find on the net, except a factory reset, which is next but undesirable.

Pinned: Your necessary reminder of the White Rose movement, a group of young people who saw what was happening in front of everyone's eyes, and acted, while their elders did not.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/White-Rose

Interesting exchange today. Person approaches.
"Why are you wearing a mask. You know you don't have to."
" We don't want to get covid." Person looks skeptical, so we continue "Have you had covid?"
"Oh heavens, yes. It was awful. I was so ill"
"Well that's why we still wear masks."

Addendum: Again, I can't put myself into the shoes of the writer of the piece.
But I got a glimpse as a 9 year old. I went to the library, & spoke to the librarian. I was told to speak Afrikaans. I recall my embarrassment and, yes, anger. I now wonder if she was covering up her own poor English, & neatly made it my problem.
But if that still stings with me all these years later, how much more did Black people of the era have to endure, what depths of forgiveness have they found in their hearts?

4. But with a few exceptions, I think we understood why we were petrol bombed, why people might lash out at us. We did not represent the state, but we did represent the state's privilege.
So I'm profoundly grateful for that article. It offers a welcome to me and those like me conflicted about the past we did not ask for, but in which we found ourselves.
As laws are bent, humanity is set aside, and corruption reigns now in the Britain, I wonder at how long the tail of our own evil days will last.

3. Now that we no longer live in SA, it's quite hard to square the circle, acknowledging my tweetalig upbringing, and trying to relieve myself of excess baggage while at the same time remembering the harnessing of language to evil ends.
In that article, I was on the other side of the divide during the 1976 riots, when the Apartheid government wanted to force black education to be exclusively in Afrikaans. We (privileged boarding school) were petrol bombed, and were in some danger.
4/...

2. While I could speak, and now still understand, Afrikaans well, the correlation the Apartheid powers established between the language and white supremacy did not sit well with me, and I turned my back on the language.
It is only in the last 10 years or so that I have understood the origins of the language as actually being among the enslaved and downtrodden. In fact, the earliest known written Afrikaans was a student's payer book from the early 19thC. It's written in Arabic script.
3/..

Here is an interesting article, setting out many aspects that resonate with me. I am unable, obviously, to put myself inn the position of the writer, but even my own privileged experiences leave me similarly conflicted, as someone who grew up "tweetalig" (bilingual.)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-61787582
The picture of the Dutch landing halfway down is almost like a trigger to me, as it was in our classroom when I was 8 or 9, and featured in the one-sided history books of the time.
2/....

Pinned: Your necessary reminder of the White Rose movement, a group of young people who saw what was happening in front of everyone's eyes, and acted, while their elders did not.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/White-Rose