Ah, the bliss of a slow morning in the quiet of Kirkton on
Rayne before anyone else was awake! This
house is so quiet and so peaceful and I really enjoyed the time to catch up on “paperwork”
and enjoy a cuppa ON MY OWN!!!
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| Kennels Cottage |
Once everyone else was awake I took on barista duties to
make a cappuccino or two. Tim decided to
head for the nearest high hill around here which looked much closer than it
actually was! He set off on foot armed
with water and food but we feared it was an ambitious task.
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| Our little lane |
Meanwhile, the rest of us drove to Inverurie, the nearest
town, to return a faulty battery charger to Curry’s PC World. The result was helpful service and a new
battery charger for my camera battery.
We had a little look around the retail park before heading back. Annika and I were keen to find Tim on the
road somewhere as we realised he had set himself a huge task. We did eventually spot him and as he’d
already walked 11 kms he was glad of a lift.
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| Our views |
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| Little roads...if that's what you call the little tracks! |
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| Across the fields |
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| Inverurie |
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| Only in Scotland |
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| One lane underpass - common around here. |
We drove to the base of the hill he was heading for:
Bennachie Hill.
It is quite a long walk
so we’ll go back another day.
Today we
walked to the Maiden Stone, a 9
th century pink granite stone carved just
when the Picts were changing from Paganism to Christianity.
We could touch this ancient stone and finger
the carvings from so long ago.
Quite amazing.
The great thing about seeing all the history
here in Scotland is that unlike more well known stones and other Celtic and
Pictish artefacts, here we can get really close.
Stone Henge is unreachable and probably costs
a bomb whereas here there are loads of ruins and I can’t wait to check them
out!
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Bennachie Hill walk
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| Pittlodie Quarry |
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| Foxgloves |
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| Woodland walking |
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| Karl in contemplation |
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| Over the fields... |
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| Wild raspberries - delicious! We thought of all the foragers and people who have lived here for 1000 years, foraging berries in the forest - quite a thought! |
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| Back of the Maiden Stone |
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| Detail of hand mirror and comb |
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| Karl touching the mighty stone |
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| Luke leaning on the stone! |
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| Wildflower |
It is so wonderful to wander and ponder and enjoy the different flowers growing wild decorating the roadside....and then there's the berries!
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| More wild raspberries |
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| View from the road on the way to Bennachie Hill car park. |
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| Luke and "Haggis", our grey garden companion |
Luke and I were playing Lego in our room when we heard the invitation from a grey cat to go out and pay him attention. I am not sure how he worked out that Luke and I love cats but he chose the right people! Out we went and had a lovely time as he purred around our legs showing us the garden! We have called him "Haggis" for the time being.
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| Wildish garden - lovely! |
We had a relaxed dinner and watched “Saving Mr Banks” (thanks
to Fiona Daly Perez for the recommendation).
It is a delightful, tear jerker of a movie about the author P. J. Travers
of Mary Poppins fame versus Walt Disney and it portrays the story most
beautifully. The therapy of writing and
reflecting even years later was evident and poignantly expressed in the
movie. Highly recommended!
Enjoying catching up with your travels. I've been sick this past week, not even up to reading :( Sounds like a beautiful spot you've got there. I've been watching 'Call the Midwife', wonder if you've seen any episodes? Love 'Saving Mr Banks' such a lovely movie :)
ReplyDeleteOh Jane, that sounds really sick - hope you are better now. LOVE Call the Midwife - we cry every time!
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