Natures Beauty in the Highlands

The weather was absolutely gorgeous over the weekend so of course we had to get out and explore the countryside. Somewhere that we have driven past countless times but never visited was Burgie Arboretum, so on Saturday we went and discovered the natural beauty hidden up a very rough gravel road.

One of the houses we drove past had interesting things all through the garden and hanging in the trees. This tree had beautiful dreamcatchers and sparkly things that caught the sun - I loved it and think that we should do this to one of the trees near our cottage.

As we walked into the woodland gardens we were greeted by a sea of fairy wishes, otherwise known as dandelions or a way to tell the time.

Throughout the garden there were lots of bluebells out, mixed in amongst other wild flowers including daisies, buttercups, and forget me nots.

I'm now going to share lots of photos that I took to show you how stunningly beautiful the arboretum is - we'll definitely be going back as it's such a peaceful and calming place to walk.

The scent of the different flowers was intoxicating and the two of us spent lots of time with our noses in amongst the petals.

The arboretum is split into different areas and there is even a place for Eucalyptus trees - I felt right at home
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Very colourful signpost with the distance to other countries in the world - I was most put out that Australia wasn't there.

I'm in love with alliums as they are everywhere and so gorgeous in there purpleness. Alliums are basically an ornamental onion, and if we had our own garden I would have lots of these.

Selfie in the sunshine - I don't know what was going on with my hair on Saturday, it looks like it's trying to leave my head. It was a little bit fluffy. Ken looks totally bald as the sun was reflecting off his fair hair - he's actually got very thick luxuriant hair (that's my line and I'm sticking to it).

On our way home we stopped off for a coffee at Brodie Castle and the gardens are looking so green and lush - these beach and oak trees are stunning.

Here's hoping for lots more sunny days so that we can spend time immersed in nature. Until next time we hope that wherever you are in the world that you are having a good week.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: The brats taking complete ownership of our bed - Lord Rocky Horror doing his yoga moves and Princess Cookie Cat choosing to sleep on my black work trousers rather than the rest of the bed.

Top Ten Thursday - February Scavenger Hunt

This week for Top Ten we're doing another photo scavenger hunt (Check out the January one) and I have to admit that my beloved had to help me get these done and his picture for #3 is inspired. Here's the list that Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom has set us for February:

1. Buddha 
2. Salt & Pepper
3. Calm
4. Phone Booth
5. Harbor
6. Stop
7. Devotion
8. Vitamins
9. Cart
10. Friendship

And here are my pictures for the above......

1. This Buddha was given to me by a colleague where I worked about 18 years ago. He's survived fairly well in our home and has only lost a finger after being knocked off his shelf by a curious feline.

2. At the weekend we went to Brodie Castle for a coffee and they had these lovely copper and wooden Salt & Pepper shakers. They're quite modern looking but they still suit the old fashioned kitchen we were sitting in.

3. For Calm my beloved took this photo as he thinks that if the calm meditations don't work for me then there is always Prosecco and chocolate.

4. This Phone Booth was for the AA which is the car rescue company, though due to mobile phones all of the roadside rescue points were decommissioned in 2002. Some, like this one, still remain as a symbol of days gone by.

5. Over Christmas and New Year Nairn Harbour had been emptied out for repairs, which was very strange, but all is back to normal now with the yachts back in their rightful place.

6. Stop - I was going to try and find something funny but have gone with a simple sign instead. If I'd had my phone with me yesterday at work when I went to buy my lunch time latte I would have had a perfectly ironic picture. There was a patient smoking right in front of the stop smoking sign.

7. This bench is a great example of Devotion. There are three of these benches in the highlands that are to remember a much loved minister, and on every bench there are carved socks of different colours as Reverend Ranald Gauld would wear odd socks. The community raised the funds to make sure there was a lasting memorial that celebrated the reverend's quirks.

8. This picture isn't technically vitamins but it's what we've got in our cupboard - supplements for various aches and pains.

9. I couldn't find a cart anywhere but my beloved found this one when he was out walking with Bramble Jelly, so saved the day.

10. Friendship - these three horses at Brodie Castle reminded me of teenagers hanging out together when they just stand around casually chatting about nothing. 

How do you think we did? Before you go, make sure you hop over to Tamara's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and take time to enjoy the world around you.

Pamela & Ken

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Christmas at Historic Brodie Castle

Today we went to our first Christmas fair of the year. It was held at Brodie Castle which was the home to Clan Brodie and parts of the castle are thought to date from the 1100's. It's a beautiful setting for all things Christmas, especially with a light dusting of snow on the ground.

This year the stalls were set up in three different areas - a marquee, upstairs in one of the outbuildings, and then in several rooms of the castle. Loved these wooden deer that one of the stalls were selling.

One of the stalls in the marquee contained visions of scrumptious delight. Who could resist such pretty edible things, so of course we didn't.

Ken had one of the raspberry bakewell tarts, and I had one of the keylime tarts - we were very happy little munchkins.

The area in the outbuilding.

With our entrance tickets we got a mug of mulled wine (nonalcoholic) and a mince pie. They had put tables and chairs in the old kitchen for this, and it was really lovely sitting in such a historic setting.

The mulled wine was lovely and warm which was perfect on such a cold and damp day.

As it was quite muddy outside, to go into the castle we had to put on these very sexy shoe covers - Ken said he felt like he was in an episode of CSI.

The castle rooms looked even prettier with all the colourful Christmas decorations and interesting things for sale.

 Choir serenading us with Christmas carols.

After enjoying the delights of the castle and the stalls we headed to the tearoom for some more refreshment, and discovered this fabulous sign at the entrance.

The tearoom with a table covered in sweet treats. The ladies working in there said that we should have been there at the beginning of the day when nothing had been touched - we thought it still looked great. Shockingly neither of us had anything off the table, instead I topped up my caffeine levels and Ken had soup.

Apart from the scrummy tarts, this is what I bought at the fair. It's a bat for our Christmas tree - I love it as it's so cute. Apparently the star hanging off it glows in the dark, which I'm a little bit worried might be too tempting to Cookie when it's on the Christmas tree.

Have you been to any Christmas fairs yet? Do you like these sort of things or are you a bit of a humbug when it comes to Christmas?

Until next time (and I'm warning you, there may be another Christmas event in our very near future), be good, stay safe, and be kind to yourself this week.

Pamela & Ken
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