Tag: Scotland
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Elizabeth dancing the Highland Laddie
Elizabeth performed the opening dance for her school’s international festival last night. This is the Highland Laddie which is danced to the tune of the same name and is a renowned regimental march. Indeed the dance steps were apparently choreographed by soldiers in the first world war.
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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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Scotland’s new hate crime law
In 1697, Thomas Aikenhead became the last man to be hanged in Scotland for breaking blasphemy laws. He was a student at Edinburgh University and only 20 years old. His crime was to criticise Christianity. Edinburgh tour guides tell tourists that, while walking home inebriated one very cold evening he told his friends he wished…
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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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Aberdeen Town House and other photos
This week I had the pleasure of going into Aberdeen’s Town House, a civic building built in 1868-74 by architects Peddie and Kinnear. It is built in Scottish Baronial style which means it has a neo-gothic appearance and a roofline that resembles a castle more than a city town hall. The inside of the building…
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A Christmas to remember – snow, storm, vomits, and drunks
We’re back in Aberdeen having spent an enjoyable yet dramatic week away in Aviemore over Christmas. We arrived last Friday night packed like sardines in a hire car with the largest boot I could possibly get. It was a scary drive because it was dark and there were blizzard-like conditions. We had to take Rocket…
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Fiona the sheep
I was delighted on Saturday to learn of the rescue of Britain’s loneliest sheep. Fiona’s story went viral late last month after a plea from a kayaker who had spotted her while kayaking off the coast of Brora in Scotland way back in 2021. The sheep had apparently called out to the group and followed…
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Strathmore Highland Games at Glamis Castle
We gave Grandad a true Scottish experience today at the Strathmore Highland Games at Glamis Castle. There was highland dancing – which Elizabeth participated in – caber tossing, stone throwing, running, cycling, tug-of-war, and various other heavy weight competitions including ones I’d never seen before like throwing beer barrels and carrying whopping great hunks of…
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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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Glen Esk and Loch Lee
Scotland never ceases to surprise me with its landscapes. Decades ago when I came here as a very young adult I can remember driving around with friends and it felt like every mile or so we wanted to stop the car and take photos. It felt a bit like that today. You can drive up…
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More skiing and a 16th birthday
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…
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The suffragettes and a tartan scarf
I got myself a wonderful tartan scarf in the suffragette colours this week. I was inspired by the woman who was ejected from Scottish parliament for wearing a scarf in the Suffragette’s colours. Scottish parliament later apologised claiming it was a mistake but by then scarfgate had taken off and these lovely scarves have since…
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Glamis Castle
Glamis Castle is famous for being the ancestral home of the former Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. It has been in the Lyon family since 1372. Princess Margaret was also born in the castle. Perhaps an even bigger claim to fame is as the setting for Shakespeare’s Macbeth and also as a film location for some…
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Covid in the house, school camps, and Rocket the hamster
Ben has had covid this past week. He started feeling unwell on Friday night over a week ago. On Monday he took a lateral flow test and it was positive. He says he’s felt achy, very tired, was a bit feverish and headachy for a couple of nights, and lost his appetite. He’s much better…
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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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Cool in Aberdeen
The UK is expecting a scorcher today with a possible high of 42C. This will be unprecedented if it gets this hot. Many people have asked how we’re coping in Aberdeen but Aberdeen rarely gets hot and we’ve been hovering around 20C or just below the past few days. Today the forecast is for 25C…
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Knock Castle in the snow
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…
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Scottish wildcat
Today we think we saw a Scottish wildcat. This is another very elusive creature whose population has been decimated over the past couple of hundred years. It is critically endangered and although it once roamed all of the UK it is now found only in northern and eastern Scotland. If it is a Scottish wildcat…
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Ruthven Barracks, Kingussie
It snowed last night so it’s looking like a white Christmas for us this year, hooray! It was a lovely sunny day today so we walked to Ruthven Barracks. On a natural mound, a stone’s throw from the village of Kingussie is Ruthven Barracks. There was once a wooden castle here in the 1200s. It…
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Creag Bheag, Kingussie
We did a hill walk up Creag Bheag today. We were lucky to have views in all directions from the top and it was so calm with not even the whisper of wind at the top. The landscape has been gloriously silvery all day again today and it really felt like we’d stepped into the…
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