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Thursday 24/8:
Woke to sunshine! Hooray! We've both got a bit of a cold but doing ok, so we headed to the coast at Stonehaven. The narrow roads remind me of driving in the south of England and they feel very familiar. We parked the Honda on the quay and set off along the coastal path toward Dunottar Castle which is perched on a headland. Apparently a small garrison held the castle for eight months against Cromwell as they were defending the Honours of Scotland. These are the Scottish Crown Jewels and consist of crown, sceptre and sword. The garrison only surrendered once they had smuggled out the Honours and safely buried them! They now reside in a Edinburgh Castle.
We had fun exploring the ruins which are very impressive and as we left to complete the six kilometre round trip, a canny piper was playing on the bluff with the castle behind him and many tourists taking photos. After a pub lunch at the Douglas Arms in Banchory, a quick visit to W.H.Smith for a newspaper and an ice cream for dessert we drove back to Birchlea Cottage for some chill out time.
Friday 25/8:
We had visions of walking our first Munro today. If you don't know, a Munro is a mountain over 3000 feet or about 914 metres and we had planned to do the 21km loop up and over Lochnagar (3790ft 1155m) on the Balmoral estate near Balmoral Castle where the Queen is currently in residence. We could have scored a second Munro on the way at Carn A' Choire Bhoidheach ( 'Carn a Horr-a Voy-eech') which is 3640 ft or 1110 metres. However our colds aren't great and so we drove west to Bellabeg, Strathdon where the Lonach Clan gathering and Highland games are taking place tomorrow. We have tickets to the games and intend getting there early to see them march up the glen and then watch the games at lunchtime. Apparently this clan gathering is a bit smaller than the more famous Braemar Clan gathering on 2/9/17 where the Queen will be with many other people I suspect. We also have tickets to the Ceiladh ('Kailey') dance at Lonach Hall. That could be interesting and me probably being the only man there without a Sgian Dubh!
Having done our recce and talked to the locals we went on to Braemar ( about 40 miles west of Banchory) and wandered about the town which is quite pretty and of course has it's own castle. I thought Wales had the most castles but there are a lot here in the highlands. Talking about Sgian Dubh's which is the small knife that goes on the top of your stocking if you're wearing a kilt, apparently it means " black knife". One lives and learns.
On the way back from Braemar it was of course necessary to have a castle fix, which we did at Craigievar Castle, a fairytale pink castle with turrets and all that has remained almost completely unchanged since 1625. The guided tour was fantastic with narrow spiralling stairs, hidden staircases, panelled walls, plaster ceilings and hidden doors. What more could a castle aficionado want?
Once more we stopped for a pub lunch and beer in Banchory and then home to chill out. Henrietta's cough is a lot worse and she isn't feeling well, whereas my cough is easing now.
Saturday 26/8:
Another sunny day with a blue sky, despite a predicted 40% chance of rain! Hett is not well and is obviously unwell enough to not do the usual 'soldier on' regardless.
We had considered a drive up about lunchtime to see the Lonach games but she has gone back to bed. I'm impressed that she is being sensible enough to give herself time to recover, as I suspect if she got wet up in the glen then she might become very sick. Being a homebody I'm not unhappy to read and write and put my feet up at home, although I did do a run into Banchory for emergency supplies, cold & flu tablets, the Times and Guardian and of course some wine. I'm told wine is very therapeutic for colds if taken regularly in large glasses!
Simon the Parrot is pretty quiet too. He spent most of the day snuggled up in bed with Sezza, complaining he was sick and faking a cough when I suggested he might come outside for a quick fly around in the sunshine. It's hard to know how sick he really is, because at times I think he fakes it a bit, probably wanting some attention.
I don't think he is as tough as Kiwi was in New Zealand, maybe because he doesn't know karate, although that beak of his can give quite a nip! Hopefully Simon, Sezza and Joepie will all be feeling better tomorrow?
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