On Friday morning we left Edinburgh to drive north to visit my cousin and his family. After the miserable weather of the last couple of days, we were treated to perfect blue skies. Still not exactly tropical, but very welcome to have some warmth from the sun. It would have been about a 3.5 hour drive if we had gone non-stop, but there were lots of stops on the way so it took most of the day.
Our first stop was at Killiecrankie (I just love the place names here!) where there is a place called Soldiers Leap. According to Scottish legend, a soldier leaped 5.5 metres across a river to escape in a battle some time back in the late 1600s. It was nice to get some exercise and the river gorge and nearby rail viaduct were beautiful.
As we climbed into the Highlands, the kids were very excited to see snow on the hills. We had lunch at a classic Scottish cafe called Betty’s Pantry in Newtonmore. The weather packed in quite suddenly after lunch, and the kids were even more excited when they realised the rain coming down had suddenly changed to snow. It was pretty slushy snow and not really settling, but definitely the real thing. Near Dufftown the snow was settling, so there was a chance to get out and make a few snowballs.
We received the warmest of welcomes when we got to the farm. I haven’t seen my cousin Malcolm for 30 years, so I was just a bit older than Anna last time we met. Malcolm is 18 years older than me, so I suspect I have changed more than he has! Since we last met, Malcolm has married Marilynne and had three daughters (Sarah, Grace and Hannah). Sarah lives in Nottingham so we will not meet her, but it is great to meet the others. The farm house is on a hill looking across a beautiful valley. It has the most amazing farm house kitchen – huge with a large AGA stove and Tiger the cat curled up on the couch with her two new kittens (born earlier this week). The kids are having a great time feeding the animals, fetching wood on the forklift, driving the tractor etc. We are also being very well fed with wonderful home cooking – the kids loved the gammon we had for dinner.
Funny we had exactly same weather doing the same route at the same time of year as Pops had just had his 60th birthday at the manor. Glad you are enjoying the countryside it will make a nice change from the big city.
The family will be enjoying catching up with the NZ relatives too.
Have fun and enjoy someone else doing the cooking.
Love Nan & Pops. Xxx