A Snowy Birthday in the Cairngorms

I recently celebrated a birthday and my beloved took me to the Mountain Cafe in Aviemore for their breakfast which we'd wanted to try for a while. Thankfully they serve breakfast until 11:30am which meant I didn't have to get out of bed too early - Aviemore is 53 miles away so with the snow and ice on the roads it took us just over an hour to get there.

The first order of business was a much needed latte as our milk had gone off at home so I was running on no caffeine which is never a good thing for the people around me.

It was lovely and warm in the cafe with the wood fire burning brightly. We were very lucky to get a table as soon as we arrived as the cafe is very popular. After we were seated people were having to wait quite a while and the staff give the waiting customers buzzers so that they know when the table is ready.

Ken had porridge with vanilla poached oranges, blackberry compote & toasted smashed hazelnuts which looked fabulous and I loved the bowl it was served in.

Whereas I had the very scrummy Tropical French Toast with chunks of eggy ciabatta with brown sugar, cinnamon & coconut baked pineapple, stewed raspberries, banana, pomegranate, a drizzle of syrup, crushed candied pecans & toasted coconut.

It was a perfect birthday breakfast especially as I had this gorgeous man sitting opposite me.

After our wonderful breakfast interlude we drove towards Cairngorm mountain to take Bramble Jelly for a walk in the snow - she loved it and kept trying to eat it.

Such a cutie and she was loving running through the snow covered undergrowth.

More posing in the snow - Ken said I was mean making her sit down in the cold, but as she was lying down in it by choice I thought it was okay.

 We then drove further up into the mountains and took a few photos of the beautiful landscape.

For the first time ever we were able to get a selfie with Bramble actually looking at the camera. Such a shame that we can't get one with both the furbies in the picture.

Our next stop as we came down from the mountains was at Loch Morlich which was frozen. It's the first time I've seen such a large expanse of water frozen, and it was amazing.

Ken standing on the loch - I was freaking out a little bit and telling him to stop and come back as I had visions of him falling through the ice.

When we got home, my choice of evening meal was fish and chips - a perfect meal to end my birthday celebrations with.

Until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a really lovely week.

Pamela & Ken

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Old Cars & Coffee in a National Park

Today was a lazy day out with the purpose of picking up our lovely painted plates from last weekends day of fun (Coffee & Creativity) which I'll show you later in the post. It's a really lovely drive to Grantown as it sits in the Cairngorms national park.

We went back to the cafe we discovered last week, The High Street Merchant Cafe and had a lovely lunch and of course an even lovelier latte.

The farmers market was on which was a lovely surprise, and there were some wonderful stalls including one with knitted hats. The Shivering Sheep Beanies lady had some lovely hats and amazingly she can knit two a day!! I bought a lovely tassled baggy beanie in, surprise, surprise, purple wool.

This van amused us because of what is written below the business information; 'Listen oot for the Toot Toot!'

Unsurprisingly Ken managed to find a couple of cars to look at - total projects. When we win the lottery we'll have to have at least a four car garage and a shed for him to store his projects in - he does love to tinker. These two are staying where we found them.

On the way home we stopped for a little wander at a scenic spot and I loved this old fence post that is all by itself in the middle of the woods - it's rustiness appealed to me.

Selfie of the two of us in the woods.

We found some very interesting fungi in amongst the trees - I tried to find out what sort they were for you, but couldn't decide which ones they were from the fungi identification website.

View across the moor on the way home - beautiful big sky.

This is a rock that we drive past every time we come back from Grantown, and it's always interesting to see what is painted on it. For months when we first moved up to the highlands, this is what was on it, but every now and then someone will paint something else on it. We've seen birthday wishes to people and declarations of love, but then Jesus Saves reappears after a while.

Now to reveal our plates after they've been glazed. First Ken's beautiful plate and then my bowl.

A short day out but still interesting things to be found. Until next time, be good, stay safe, and have a fabulous week.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: This week I bought Princess Cookie Cat a new bed as I thought as she ages she might like something a bit softer. Usually when we've bought beds for the brats in the past it usually takes them a day or so to really like them. Not this time, Cookie has hardly left her new bed she loves it so much.