The First of the Summer Guests

Here are Wendy and Jami in the Glen just before the sun went down last night. They arrived tired, hungry, and jet-lagged in Edinburgh at 2-something yesterday after an overnight flight from Washington, DC, to Heathrow and then a shuttle flight to Scotland. After getting them home, we gave them a brief tour of The Rowans and a bite to eat. Wendy crashed for a couple of hours but Jami was too pumped up to sleep. I took her for a ride out to the strawberry farm (which, alas, was already closed by the time we got there) and then, on foot, showed her "greater downtown Comrie."

Don made a delicious chicken dinner with roasted new potatoes and grilled marinated vegetables. I made gravy for the chicken. Jami had chosen a frozen chocolate confection in one of Comrie's little grocery stores for our dessert since we couldn't get fresh strawberries.

Our weather of late has been dull at best and sometimes a bit rainy, so we were quite pleased to see the sun get stronger as the day went on. At almost 9 pm we drove up into Glen Lednock in the warm light of almost-sunset. "Official" sunset didn't occur until after 10 as it is almost time for the summer solstice. As you can see it was lovely up there at about 9:30 last night.



Jami, at 12, is petite and quiet but was really enjoying seeing new sights. She loved the ewes and their lambs which graze everywhere around here. When we saw some "running loose" up near Glen Lednock dam, she wanted to pet them and for them to pose for photos. As you can imagine, the sheep were not very cooperative so Jami had to settle for climbing on rocks instead.

We look forward to showing both of them this gorgeous country over the next six days. The forecast isn't particularly encouraging and, at almost 6:30 am on Tuesday, the sky is overcast and it looks as though we will get some of the promised rain showers. But by the time they get up, perhaps there will be a brighter outlook.

The blog hasn't been updated because we've been on the go lately. Don had a golf outing with the Comrie Seniors on Thursday of last week. As he got a ride with someone, I had the car so Helen Rae and I had a day out in Perth. My objective was to do some clothes shopping. Having now lost 23 lbs on the South Beach Diet, I am in need of "nice casual clothes" that fit. Helen was very patient and helpful as I tried on slacks, tops, jackets, skirts, and so forth in McEwens of Perth. I did quite well and was very pleased with the mixable and matchable items I brought home. We had lunch at Cafe Tabou, a favourite French bistro and made a lovely day of it.

On Sunday we spent the day in Arbroath (on the North Sea coast near Dundee) with Val and Bill Campbell. Don and Bill played golf at Carnoustie for most of the day while Val and I amused ourselves. We spent some of that time walking on the beach in Arbroath which, although the weather wasn't particularly warm or bright, was at least dry. There were occasional showers but our timing was such that we managed to avoid them.

Don and Bill returned in the late afternoon. We enjoyed drinks and nibbles and then had a lovely meal from carrot and coriander soup to smoked haddock with a rich velvety sauce to fresh strawberry pie and ending with cheese, biscuits, coffee, and chocolates. Those who weren't driving (in other words, everyone but me) finished with a Drambuie.

On our way back to Comrie, we stopped at our Tescos in Perth for a bit of a shop.

We have a number of outings planned, some of which depend on good weather and others of which can be done even on dull and drizzly days. Still, we are hoping for the best weather to show Scotland at its best.