Our first weekend of car ownership has been rather nice. We can be a bit more spontaneous. With the car club you need to plan in advance and book it. With our own car we can just decide on the spur of the moment to go out.
Yesterday we had dinner with some friends in Aboyne which is about 30 miles west of Aberdeen. Afterwards went for a walk in the woods and visited the stone circle we first saw 6 years ago, not long after arriving in Aberdeen. Stone circles are very common in these parts and back in 2014 I had read about the Aboyne stone circle but wasn’t 100% sure how to find it. After walking what felt like the Kokoda trail in mid-winter trying to find it we eventually stumbled upon some large stones and I think everyone was a bit underwhelmed. My sister and her family were with us and it became the joke thereafter whenever I suggested plans – “It’s not to a stone circle is it?” My 2014 post about it is here – Stone circles and whisky.
They may laugh at me but I’m still fascinated by these things. Why did our ancestors move such huge stones, sometimes hundreds of miles, and place them standing in circles?
There’s a castle in Aboyne called, wait for it, Aboyne Castle. It’s privately owned so this is as close as we went.
This is the castle gatehouse.
Today we went for a late afternoon walk at Crathes Castle.
Everything is so lush and green right now. When the new leaves emerge in the forest they’re a lovely light, bright green. As the season progresses they get darker before changing to orange. I like watching the seasons change.
rachel.blog 
It was nice looking back and thinking how long I have been reading blogs and following people’s stories.
I think you did well to find the stone circle, you could easily miss it if you were expecting something bigger.
Exactly! In fact, the people we were with have walked through the same woods several times and never noticed them before.
Now I have ‘season envy’ as your Spring starts, merging into Summer. We are a few days away from officially staring Winter. We’ve had a nice Autumn, though.
The spontaneity and freedom a car gives can’t be denied, even with the extra costs associated with car ownership. I expect we’ll be reading about more exploratory ventures now – cool. I wonder when Daniel will ask for driving lessons 😊
You shouldn’t feel season envy. Winter in New Zealand is lovely! I’m a bit of a winter person and always look forward to it when autumn arrives. And you’re right! Daniel is not far away from getting his licence so a family car will come in handy for that. I shudder just thinking about it.