Tag: Braemar
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Playing in the snow
We’re back in Aberdeen after driving back in extremely snowy conditions yesterday. Dad took this video from the car. Fortunately I have all-season tyres that are good in the snow so I felt safe on the drive. Before we left we did some more sledging. Here’s a collection of photos. They were clearing the ice…
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New Year’s Day is a winter wonderland
New Year’s Day was a magical winter wonderland in Scotland with snow all over the country including in Braemar where we’ve been holidaying. We booked lunch at the Flying Stag then did some sledging in the afternoon. I showed the visitors the wall of death at the Fife Arms. Obviously I prefer my crocheted animal…
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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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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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Ballater, Braemar, Linn of Quoich
We’ve had a lovely few days in Royal Deeside. Here are some photos from Ballater. We went to the Junior Highland Games in Braemar today and Daniel helped out for a bit taking children for train rides. Here he is driving the train. Dad gave caber tossing a try. Then we had a late picnic…
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Granny is here, a wave from the King, and a knitting trail
My mother is visiting from Australia which is extra special because it has been more than four years since we last saw her. Today we drove out to Braemar in celebration for lunch and a walk. As we drove past Crathie we saw lots of people gathered and realised the King was about to leave…
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School trips and a bothy concert in Braemar
The kids both went on school trips last week and we were all alone for five days. It’s the first time we’ve not had a child in the house overnight since becoming parents. It was very quiet. Elizabeth went to Keswick in the Lake District and Daniel went camping in Glen Affric. Both participated in…
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Anthony Horowitz in Braemar
How beautiful is this scene? The view is looking down towards the village of Braemar from Craig Choinnich. We do this walk quite a lot because you get such great rewards with little effort. It’s only about 25 minutes up the hill from the village and you get magnificent views in all directions. The first…
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Ceilidh at Mar Lodge
We went to a ceilidh at the stag ballroom at Mar Lodge last night. The ballroom is slightly on the macabre side with over 2,000 red deer skulls lining the ceiling and walls, many of which were stalked by members of the royal family going back to the 18th century. The building is almost unchanged…
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Royal Deeside
It was Etienne’s last day in Scotland today so we took him to our favourite place: Braemar. On the way there we stopped in Ballater to show him Queen Victoria’s train carriage. And her waiting room with toilet. In Braemar we had lunch first then walked up Creag Choinnich. This next photo is a view…
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Braemar Gathering 2022
We had a splendid day at the Braemar Gathering today which finally went ahead after a two-year hiatus. We previously went in 2017 and 2018. Friends of ours invited us to stay with them in Aboyne overnight which made it a much shorter drive to and from the games. We arrived late to avoid the…
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Celebration at the Flying Stag and more swimming
We went out for a celebratory dinner at The Flying Stag in Braemar last night because this week my application for British citizenship was approved! I just have to go to the ceremony, give my oath of allegiance to the Queen and then I get a certificate of citizenship. I feel honoured and overjoyed to…
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Linn of Quoich
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…
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Swimming in the Clunie
We swam in Clunie Water in Braemar yesterday in the same spot we swam over the summer last year. It was a lot colder this year. Absolutely freezing in fact so we used our wetsuits. It was still lovely and clear and we could see fish in it which is always reassuring. The colder temperatures…
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Loch Callater
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…
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Snow and lunch in Braemar
We had a lovely day in Braemar today: lunch followed by a walk in the woods. We finally got some snow and it was mostly sunny all day.
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Knitting trail in Braemar
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…
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Braemar 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…
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High tea at the Fife Arms
We did something special for Elizabeth today to commemorate her finishing primary school and starting high school. She somehow missed both the beginning and the end of primary school and I know she was upset about missing the end. When we first moved to the UK in October 2014, year 1 primary school had begun…
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Swimming in the Clunie River
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…
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