Not Much Time for Blogging

We have been busy showing Gene and Carol around. Stirling Castle and the Wallace Monument on Saturday were big hits. That night we had dinner out at the Achray House Hotel in St Fillans with views looking over Loch Earn and the mountains beyond. On the way back to Comrie, Don took us to the golf course and on a wee walk to see his favorite view from one of the holes (or greens or whatever you call it).

The next day, after the traditional Sunday brunch, we got in the car for our trip to Glen Lyon at 10:15 just as the Comrie Parish Church bells were ringing to call in the faithful. We had on-and-off sun and drizzle but enough sun that day that we got to see what we wanted and could get out of the car for "photo ops" every now and then. First stop was Killin so Gene and Carol could see the fabulous Falls of Dochart which run right through the village. We've had enough rain lately that the falls were much more dramatic than the last several times we saw them. Before leaving Killin, we stopped for a ramble around and on Finlarig Castle ruins. The nice thing about Finlarig is that it is mostly unknown and has no visitor center or any other "official" anything other than a plaque telling you its name and that you climb on it at your own risk.

We then drove on a road up on the hill overlooking Loch Tay. Soon, however, we turned off and took a very minor road northward across the mountains and into the next valley over, Glen Lyon. We stopped for lunch at the Bridge of Balgie Post Office Tearoom and then drove eastward to the end of the glen. The views were terrific, as usual. Carol particularly enjoyed taking photos of the Highland cattle and the ewes with their lambs. We retraced our route back to Bridge of Balgie and then finished driving through the glen to the west, stopping once for a photo at the Roman bridge, an old stone bridge said to have been built by the Roman army's LIX legion. It's in a wonderful setting on the opposite side of the River Lyon at a place where the river is fairly narrow. A waterfall cascades down from the hill opposite and the water rushes beneath this old stone bridge. It's wonderfully picturesque.

We drove past the village of Fortingall which used to have mostly thatched cottages. Now there are only 2 or 3 of them left. We don't know whether that's because of increasing insurance rates or decreasing numbers of folks in the thatching trade--probably a combination of the two. Our next stop was the town of Aberfeldy. Various friends have been recommending that we stop at the Old Watermill there which has been turned into a gallery, booksellers, and cafe. We had a wander through and bought a couple of items. It was a nice place to stop but very crowded on the day we were there because it was a bank holiday weekend, so there were lots of tourists, including us. We were all done in by the time we got back to The Rowans but we had enjoyed the day, especially Gene and Carol who wouldn't have seen such sights without our taking them there.

Yesterday was the day we had tickets on The Jacobite, the steam train from Ft William to Mallaig in the Highlands. We had to leave the house at 7:30 to be sure we got to Ft William, found the train station, and got the car parked in time for our 10 a.m. departure. Driving there we passed through the ever-dramatic Glen Coe with its sparse greenery and looming great mountains. Carol was clicking photos out the window fast and furiously.

The train ride was a lot of fun, especially going to Mallaig. The scenery from the train was terrific (although Don and I concluded later that it wasn't that much more spectacular than what we had seen from the car the 3 times we've driven that route). Once we got to Mallaig, we had almost 2 hours to walk around and have lunch before boarding for the return trip. We had booked in at The Fish Market Restaurant because we had eaten there in 2004 and had a wonderful meal. This one was up to the standards we expected.

The highlight of the return train ride was going back over the Glenfinnan Viaduct (the one that features in the Harry Potter film). We were in the next-to-last car on the way back and so had good views out our window of the engine (puffing smoke!) and front cars of the train going along on the curve of the viaduct as we slowly chugged along. I think I got some good photos. As we were approaching Ft William, we also had some gorgeous views of snow-capped Ben Nevis, the UK's highest mountain peak at around 4,000 feet. (I will post some photos from these days of sightseeing once I get them downloaded and have the time to put them up for you.)

It was a little after 6:30 when we got home, so you can imagine how tired we were. Don put together a wonderful meal for us and I made us an apple crisp for pudding. None of us lasted very long after dinner before turning in for a very sound night's sleep.

This morning Gene, Carol, and I left at 7:45 to go to the Glasgow Airport so they could pick up their hired car. They are now on their way to the Lake District. They will meander their way through the countryside to Wales and then on down to Cornwall where they have a timeshare for a week, followed by 4 days in London before they fly home to Tucson. It was really good to connect with my cousin again and to get to know Carol. We all enjoyed our time together.

This morning Don got to play golf for the first time in several days. After the round, he was presented with his first place prize from the Probus Golf Outing at Monifieth (near Dundee) last week. He received an engraved pewter cup and a gift certificate along with the acclaim of his fellow senior golfers at the Comrie Golf Club. When he returns the cup next year, it will be engraved with his name and the year and then presented to next year's winner. Meanwhile, the prize will have pride of place in our home.

When I returned from the airport, I found Derek finishing up the roughcasting on the exterior of our new entry wall. He will come back tomorrow to finish the last bit, but we are much relieved to have that done. When the wall has completely dried (which could take a couple of days), we can strip the plastic protection off the door and put our new walkway and mail slot into use. (We've been using a lidded plastic bin ever since the conservatory, which had a mail slot in the door, was torn down over 6 months ago.)

This afternoon Don and Peter Innes will play 9 holes and then Don and I will go to Robbie and Peter's house to pick up the last of the items they stored for us from my studio. We probably won't unpack anything, however, because we must get the studio rearranged so that it's ready for the Horn sewing machine cabinet which will be delivered tomorrow morning. While Don and Peter are playing golf, I need to get 15 of my quilts ready to deliver in the morning to St Fillans for the upcoming So and Sew's exhibition. Who knows when the studio will get unpacked or the pantry loaded? By Thursday the painters should be back to put the wallpaper on the sitting/dining area walls and to pain the entryway, hall, and a few other odds and ends that remain to be done. Then it will also be time to unpack the boxes of items we packed up from the sitting room. As you can see, we have a lot of putting away to do and then we must get to work on window treatments.