Tag: Aberdeenshire
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New Year’s Eve 2025 and Elizabeth’s 16th birthday
Happy New Year and welcome to 2026. I hope the new year brings peace to places of conflict and health and happiness to those of us lucky enough to live in peaceful places. We had a new year to remember. It was Elizabeth’s 16th birthday on New Year’s Eve so it was a double celebration…
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Balmoral Castle in winter
It was a stunningly beautiful day at Balmoral Castle today with clear skies above a crisp, frozen landscape filled with the colours of nature. The temperature may have got up to 0C. I’ll let the photos tell the story.
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Honka Hut in the Ballochbuie Forest
We went for a lovely walk in the Ballochbuie Forest on the Balmoral estate today. We love these forest walks as they have a nice mix of forest, waterfalls, scenic views and beautiful old bridges. Today we added a new destination with a visit to the Honka Hut which was a gift from Finland to…
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A family walk at Finzean and a visit to the farm shop
We went for a lovely walk in Finzean yesterday with a visit to the Finzean Farm Shop. Finzean is pronounced “Fing-an”. The z replaces an old letter than no longer exists and has an ng sound. Finzean is such a pretty spot to walk as it has a good mix of forest as well as…
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Newburgh seal colony
We took mum to see the seals yesterday as she’d never seen them before and it’s quite a fun outing. There are hundreds of them lounging on the sand at the mouth of the Ythan Estuary in Newburgh which is about 16 miles north along the coast from Aberdeen or a 20 minute car drive.…
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Knitting with cables and photos from the weekend
Yesterday we went to Blairgowrie to have Elizabeth measured up for a new highland dance jacket at Piob Mhor, a shop that makes kilts and highland dance outfits. It was a gorgeous drive as Aberdeenshire is still covered in snow and the hills to the west were white. As we went south the snow gradually…
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Finzean walk and shop
I think I’ve fully recovered now aside from being a bit snotty with a lingering cough. We made the most of a sunny, mild winter day today to go for a walk in the countryside. I chose Finzean because I wanted an excuse to visit the Finzean farm shop. We arrived at the farm shop…
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The Secret Diary of Henry VIII at Drum Castle by The Three Inch Fools
Last night we were at Drum Castle watching The Three Inch Fools performing The Secret Diary of Henry VIII. This is an activity we’ve done almost every year since we moved here – except for the covid years – and we all love it. Last year it was Robin Hood, also produced by The Three…
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Seabirds at Fowlsheugh
We took dad to see the birds at Fowlsheugh yesterday. Over 100,000 seabirds come to the cliffs of Fowlsheugh over the spring and summer to breed turning the cliffs into a bustling King’s Cross Station of Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kittiwakes as well as the odd Puffin and Fulmar. Scotland’s seabirds have had a challenging few…
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Picnic at the King’s house and a smile from the Queen
We had an epic day today. Dad is a very keen e-bike tourer and has completed several cycling holidays now in multiple countries. He suggested we go for a bike ride while he’s here so we booked some e-bikes from the Bike Station in Ballater and cycled to Loch Muick. It’s my first time riding…
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Lost Loch Distillery and standing stones
I experienced a tasting session at the Lost Loch Distillery yesterday for a friend’s birthday. It was a wonderful experience. Lost Loch is very different to your average Scottish distillery because it’s not a traditional one with giant copper stills and they don’t actually make any whisky. They do produce two whisky products but they’re…
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Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve
About 20 minutes south of Aberdeen by car along the coast is the Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve which hosts the largest seabird colony on the east coast of Scotland. In summer it is teeming with over 100,000 Guillemots, Razorbills, and Kittiwakes. We visited it today. Since it’s only March there were not very many birds. You…
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Hill of Fare
Cold frosty mornings often turn into bright sunny days in this part of the world which is what we got today. To make the most of the clear skies we walked up the Hill of Fare knowing we’d get some good views at the top and we weren’t disappointed. You can see in every direction…
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Falls of Dess and new oven at last
We had a delightful picnic today beside the Falls of Dess in Kincardine O’Neil. It’s Daniel’s birthday this week and he wanted to go for a walk in the country and specifically chose this waterfall which we visited once before for Ben’s birthday. It’s a lovely, mostly flat walk beside farmland and through forest with…
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Autumn in Aberdeenshire
Stunning autumn colours in the Scottish countryside today. This is Scolty Hill in Aberdeenshire: the best little corner of the planet. The tower behind us in this next photo is a 300m high monument built for a local man, General William Burnett, who fought alongside Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars. There’s a spiral staircase inside…
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The Battle of Corrichie re-enactment
We had a terrific day in the field next to Milton of Crathes watching a re-enactment of The Battle of Corrichie: a bloody clash in Aberdeenshire between the forces of Mary Queen of Scots against the Earl of Huntly on the 28th October 1562. There was also a fascinating living history camp, a birds of…
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Willows Animal Sanctuary
Yesterday we visited Willows Animal Sanctuary just north of Aberdeen. They rescue abandoned farm and domestic animals and give them a home to live out the rest of their lives in peace. They’re a charity entirely dependent on donations and have struggled over the past few years, first with covid, now with the cost of…
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I knitted a dress
I’ve been slack at writing lately because all my spare time has been spent knitting. I need one of those stickers for the car window that says, “I’d rather be knitting”. I just completed my first dress and it has turned out rather well. It was knit in the round from the top down. Last…
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Fettercairn Distillery
Earlier in the week we visited Fettercairn distillery which is in the loveliest of little villages, Fettercairn. Fettercairn has a general store, a cafè, a dress shop which was incredibly busy when I went in – it seems people travel from all over to visit it – and of course the distillery. The village has…
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Photos of Glen Esk, Fettercairn, and Fasque House
This is a collection of photos of Edzell and surrounds from the past two days. This is the gorge in the River North Esk looking downstream towards Gannochy Bridge. Incidentally we think we’ve been pronouncing Gannochy incorrectly. It’s not like the potato pasta – ga-nocchi – but more like the thing you blow your nose…
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