Eats plants
It's Daniel's 16th birthday tomorrow - I can't believe how big he is now. He is turning into a wonderful young man. Yesterday he asked if he could vacuum his room. Although he's the first 16-year-old I've had I can't imagine this is a common request. He's kind, polite, considerate, has a wonderful sense of… Continue reading More skiing and a 16th birthday
I took the kids to the Lecht today which is another ski field close to Aberdeen. After our successful day at Glenshee last weekend I thought I'd try to keep the momentum going with skiing and get another half day in for the kids. We chose the Lecht this time for several reasons. It's better… Continue reading The Lecht
We were not deterred by our failed attempt to ski yesterday and went back again today with high hopes. Most of the snow disappeared overnight but Glenshee has snow machines so the beginner slopes were open and we got to ski! One advantage of not much snow is it was quieter. I have been there… Continue reading Skiing at Glenshee
We had a delightful walk at the Linn of Quoich today. We walked upstream along the Quoich River further than we've gone before and I found myself having to stop over and over again for photos because it was just so pretty. It was very quiet too. Practically no-one else there. Daniel pooed on the… Continue reading Linn of Quoich
We had a lovely picnic at Castle Fraser today for a friend's birthday. The walled garden at the castle is one of the best I've seen so we had a lovely wander around the estate and gardens before eating lunch then playing badminton under towering shady trees.
Last night before I had a chance to put the wildlife camera out the hedgehogs had already left their houses to forage for food. We saw Horace in the undergrowth hopefully consuming some of the many slugs and snails that live in our garden. It really is a paradise for hedgehogs as we have very… Continue reading Glen Tanar and swimming at Cambus o’May
The kids were talking the other day and said something that made absolutely no sense to me so I asked them to explain and after the explanation I was no closer to understanding what it meant. They speak another language. I'll tell you what they said and you see if you can figure it out:… Continue reading The strange language of teenagers plus foxes, birds and standing stones
There's a lovely loch in Aboyne that I didn't know existed until recently. It's only small so good if you just want a quick walk through forest. It's called Birsemore Loch and it's special not just for the beautiful scenery but because you can walk past the Queen's Hut which is a log cabin built… Continue reading Birsemore Loch
It's always nice to find a new walk we haven't done before and that happened today with a walk up to Loch Callater. The walk starts about 3 miles south of Braemar at Auchallater Farm. There's a small carpark there which costs £3. It's about 7 miles to the loch and back from the carpark… Continue reading Loch Callater
It snowed in Ballater today so we decided Knock Castle in snow was the place to be and we weren't disappointed. You can't beat a castle ruin in Scotland in winter snow. I got Ben doing a jumping shot this time. My jumping shot is fab. Look ma, no legs! You can go inside Knock… Continue reading Knock Castle in the snow
We had a lovely afternoon with friends in Portlethen today. Portlethen is a small village about 7 miles south of Aberdeen. It was originally a fishing village and there's an old harbour there where the fishing boats used to come and go. Today it is more like a satellite suburb of Aberdeen with lots of… Continue reading Portlethen and vegan galette with friends
It has been a while since we last went out to the countryside and I was starting to feel the pull of forests and hills today so we drove out to Braemar for lunch and a hill walk. Braemar was looking beautiful dressed in autumn colours. We were also lucky to see a space-themed knitting… Continue reading Knitting trail in Braemar
The kids and I went to the Cambus O'May suspension bridge today. Ben is snowed under with work and couldn't join us unfortunately. The bridge reopened in April this year following major repair works after Storm Frank nearly washed it away back in 2015. It's a beautiful Edwardian suspension bridge built in 1905 across the… Continue reading Cambus O’May Suspension Bridge
We haven't been for walk in the country for a while. Saturdays are busy again with Highland Dance and Sundays is allotment day. Late this afternoon we decided to head to Crathes Castle for a walk. How many people who live in cities can decide late on a Sunday afternoon for country walk and then… Continue reading Sunday walk at Crathes Castle
Today we went on a tour of Braemar Castle, an L-plan tower house built in 1628 by John Erskine. It has a colourful history having been a hunting lodge, an important garrison after the Jacobite rising, it was attacked and burned by John Farquharson in 1689 and then a century later bought by another John… Continue reading Braemar Castle
There was more wild swimming for us today. This time we swam in the Linn of Dee and the Linn of Quoich. Linn means a "pool below a waterfall". The Linn of Dee is a well-known tourist attraction about 6.5 miles from Braemar. It was a favourite spot of Queen Victoria's and is a gorge… Continue reading Swimming at the Linn of Dee and Linn of Quoich
Yesterday was another warm day and we swam in the Clunie River in Braemar. It was refreshing, crystal clear, and home to lots of juvenile trout. The trout ranged in size from tiny to an adult that was at least half a metre long. They can live for 10 to 20 years apparently and are… Continue reading Swimming in the Clunie River
There are two mighty rivers in Aberdeen: the Dee and the Don. Both start some 80-90 miles west in the Grampian Mountains and flow into the sea at Aberdeen. The Dee is quite well known thanks to Queen Victoria and Balmoral Castle which is in the Dee Valley. The whole area is known as Royal… Continue reading An adventure in Strathdon
It was a very warm bank holiday in the UK today and since both the kids and I had the day off we went for a picnic and a walk. I'm not a fan of hot sunny days like this. Give me dull, muted lighting any day so I wanted a forest walk where we'd… Continue reading Picnic at Craigievar Castle
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… Continue reading Aboyne stone circle and Crathes Castle
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