Researching!

I was doing some additional research for my current Scottish historical and stumbled upon the perfect place for my heroine to "hide".  I had a picture in my mind, but wanted to check the geography of the region (north east Scotland).  Amazing how my imagination closely matched what I found.

I love stumbling upon great images and factual tidbits. You just never know where you may use it in a story, but it's nice to tuck away for later use. These caves are perfect for my story and I can't wait to write the scene(s).
I also needed some flora and fauna information. We all know about the Scottish thistle, heather, and lavender.  I needed so deep details, more specific to a region. I was surprised to learn about some of the trees that grew in the area which seems a little bleak to even allow anything to take life.
I was pleased to learn about the bottle nose dolphin that populates the waters shown in the picture.  Moray Firth is swimming (sorry the pun) with them and I love the dolphin and will love to pull some into my story as well.

And who couldn't love the Highland Cattle (Gaelic: kyloe)? They are so cute and furry that I would love to have them in the back yard.  My husband said no. He didn't even hesitate, just no!  And I'm sure my dog would have heart failure at the huge beasties roaming her territory.