Scotland In Spring!
Posted By Judith on 13th June 2024
Well, it’s that time of year again, and I’ve been to Scotland to visit my sister and her husband, first of the year.
A little later than usual having just got the cats Mozart and Merlin on February 14th,
I was hopeful of some good weather.
Sadly that wasn’t the case, waterproofs, hoods and log fires every night were the order of the day, not that Arran complained.
Trains were on time going up, but even so a 7.5 hour train journey is not fun, and I’m always glad to arrive, and look forward to Graham’s vegetarian shepherd’s pie with cauliflower
which has become a tradition in recent years.
This is how good it is.
(Janice’s finger for scale!)
Just as we were approaching their house we saw a Pine Marten at the side of the road. They are normally quite elusive, and this was my first sighting. He stared at us for some time, so we got a really good look at him, sadly no photo as I couldn’t get out of my seat belt in time!
We obviously peaked early, because after that the wildlife spotting and the trains rather went downhill.
Several hares, 1 gannet, 1 jay, 1 fulmar chick (at Findlater Castle) a local woodpecker called ‘Pug’
and of course the resident badgers.
My return train journey was delayed and I was an hour late getting home and 8.5 hours on and off trains with luggage is no fun.
Anyway, back to the holiday.
We resumed our long-running Ludo tournament each evening,
I had no idea Ludo could be so competitive!! Janice keeps meticulous records and Graham is the current champion.
During the days we had trips out and managed to stay mostly dry, except at Pennan where we got rained on eating cake at ‘Coastal Cuppie’ and I managed to pour hot chocolate down the front of Graham’s jacket (which I’d borrowed for the day) and then succeeded in getting caught by a big wave which helped wash it off!!
On other days we managed to dodge the showers but the wind was fierce. Janice and Graham looked like polar explorers at Spey Bay.
Arran came with us on 3 days, having recently lost his brother we didn’t want to leave him on his own, and there is no doubt he thoroughly enjoyed his trips out to the coast.
On the day we went to Bow Fiddle Rock I had been so concerned about how he would cope getting up and down the steep, narrow paths, (he’s 14yrs next month) I forgot to consider how I would do it.
Not as well as Arran as it turned out. He went up and down like a 2-year-old, with Graham hanging on to him for dear life on the rocky paths. I on the other hand went up and down like the 70-year-old I am, often taking a leaf out of Arran’s book and resorting to all fours!
It is truly a spectacular place,
but not for the faint hearted.
Similarly at Findlater Castle.
Arran sat that one out and stayed on the cliff top with Graham, and I only made it down (and up again) with Janice’s help. She’s the Spring chicken of the group. Getting old sucks, but I only fell over twice in 4 days, so that’s not too bad!! (And in my defense, it was tricky terrain.)
All in all, we had a good time, despite the weather.
I should be visiting again in September when I hope to be writing about walking with Alpacas which had to be cancelled this time.
Apparently, Alpacas don’t like wind and rain, which begs the question, what are they doing in Scotland?!
