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 - May Scavenger Hunt

Today for the top ten we're doing another photo scavenger hunt with the list provided by our lovely host Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom. These are the ten items we had to take a picture of:

1. Yin and Yang - this is one my two cheats this week as I've had to use old photos. We came across this headstone five years ago at Nunhead cemetery in London. As the grave is for an actor it seems fitting to have the yin and yang symbol to represent the two sides of the personality or maybe the real person and the people they play in their various roles.

2. Outdoor Art - in one of the streets in Inverness there are several of these installations that look like the pavement has been lifted up by an earthquake.

3. Bus Terminal - the huge bus terminal in Nairn, the town we live in. It's in the middle of a car park which has take away shops on one side and apartment buildings behind where we are taking the photo from.

4. Heart - this lovely wooden candle holder was turned into a vase by my beloved this week, and it looks lovely with some of my favourite flowers in it.

5. Pink Blooms - beautiful rhododendron in our garden.

6. Clock Face - this musical clock is in the shopping centre in Inverness, and when the music plays all the animals plus Mr & Mrs Noah move around. I love that there is a kangaroo in the crows nest and how there is always a row of people watching it when it strikes the hour.

7. Mexican Food - homemade nachos.

8. Vintage - it's amazing how many modern things are being designed to look vintage, even cars. I found these kettles this week and think they look really funky.

9. Black - the only thing I could have for this is our own little black cat, Lord Rocky Horror, who earlier this evening licked the top off my portuguese tart. I'd looked away for a second and he took full advantage, living up to the horror part of his name.

10. Shoes - this is my second cheat photo, they are chocolate shoes which were at the Chocolate Show we attended in London in 2014.

Hope you've enjoyed my scavenger hunt finds and make sure you hop over to Tamara's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with.

Until next time, take time to do whatever relaxes you.

Pamela & Ken

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Friday's Happy Fill Ins

Welcome back to the fill ins which are hosted by Ellen at 15andmeowing.com and Lorianne at Four-Legged Furballs who provide the prompts in bold and the rest is by me.

1.Happiness is being married to my best friend.

2. Ten years ago, I never would have pictured all the changes that have happened in our lives including leaving the NHS and moving to live in the north of Scotland.

3. Time spent with animals is the best medicine. More specifically time spent with cats, but I love all animals and of course I couldn't miss out Bramble Jelly, our lovely puppy dog.

                      Princess Cookie Cat                              Lord Rocky Horror & Bramble Jelly

4. Most people don’t know that I love an over the top disaster/action movie. Think 2012, The Day After Tomorrow,  and the gorgeous Vin Diesel in XXX - I can watch these films over and over.

That's it today, so until next time, be good and stay safe.

Pamela & Ken
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Top Ten Thursday - The Circus

It's top ten Thursday time and we're going to the circus - thanks to Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom for hosting this blog hop. As I haven't been to a circus since I was a child, I've decided to write about how our life is a circus, especially this week.

Let's consider the essential components of any circus:

1. Clowns - ours is one of those sad clowns that has his smile painted on upside down. My beloved had something wrong with his back so we ended up in Accident & Emergency - it took a lot of convincing and he wasn't impressed with all the waiting around.

2. Jugglers - The day Ken went to A&E I was due in at work and of course we had Bramble Jelly in the car as well. After walking Bramble my lovely colleagues sent me off to be with Ken and they took Bramble into work to be with them - I think she's turning into our mascot.

3. Clairvoyants - it's amazing how a person with medical knowledge can look at another person and, without any tests, say what is causing a problem. I had to do a lot of tongue biting when the "professional" told my husband that he'd had exactly the same thing in the past.

HOW DOES HE KNOW!!!

4. Bed of Nails - it's not a typical bed of nails but Ken decided to sleep on the very hard floor the night after his visit to the hospital to see if it would help him. It was very, very strange not having him in the bed with me. He only tried it for a night before coming back to the comfort of the bed.

5. Tightrope walker - balancing life when all I wanted to do was stay home and take care of my beloved is a little bit tricky. Thankfully my lovely colleagues are a great safety net underneath my tightrope and understand when I'm a little distracted.

6. Big Cats - thankfully real circuses no longer have animals, but our life has two big cats that create interesting moments in our lives. Princess Cookie Cat is still barely tolerating the newcomer, and Lord Rocky Horror is a little bit of a psycho, but in the nicest possible way. They do actually sleep in beds next to each other now without any growling or hissing from Cookie.

Princess Cookie Cat

Lord Rocky Horror

7. Strongman - my beloved is definitely a strongman in how he deals with being incapacitated, trying to do more than he should, but also trying to hide how much pain he has been in so as I don't worry.

8. Lion Tamer - Bramble Jelly is a great lion tamer, and if the cats start fighting, she runs in between them to break it up. She also wrestles with Lord Rocky and comes out unscathed - they're very funny together.

9. Illusionist - like Dynamo doing one of his incredible levitation acts, my beloved has improved and whilst I still think he should be resting more he's much better than he was.

10. Ringmaster - I'm claiming this title after the last week, but I feel I can hand that title back over to Ken now as he is much better at the job.

Hope you've enjoyed my interpretation of today's top ten - make sure you hop over to Tamara's Blog to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with. Hopefully I'll catch up with everyone's blogs over the next few days now that Ken is improving.

Be well.

Pamela & Ken
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Friday's Fill Ins

After a break from the fill ins during April it's time to get back to them. The fill ins are hosted by Ellen at 15andmeowing.com and Lorianne at Four-Legged Furballs who provide the prompts in bold and the rest is by me. Annie from McGuffy's Reader is having a well deserved break from the blogosphere and we're sending lots of good thoughts her way.

 1. I spend too many hours per day online. Between Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, e-mails, and blogging, I need about four more hours a day.

2. When I go online, I use my phone, tablet, and laptop.

3. Mother’s Day in the UK is in March and in lots of other countries including Australia and the USA it is in May.

4. I wish we had our own home so that we could decorate to suit us, and we could catify the space for the furbies. Check out The Cat's House where some very lucky kitty cats live - I would love to do even a fraction of the things they have for their feline residents.

Lord Rocky Horror

Do you spend lots of time online or are you very strict with yourself? Make sure you hop over to Fur-legged Furballs or 15andmeowing.com to see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their fill ins.

Pamela & Ken

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Top Ten Thursday - Spring

It's May and the A to Z blogging challenge that took over April is done so it's back to normal blogging for all of us crazies that took part. It's time for top ten Thursday and today we're looking at all the things we love about spring. The top ten is hosted by Tamara at Part-time Working Hockey Mom - make sure you pop over and see what my fellow bloggers have come up with for their posts.

1. Crocuses - it really feels like spring is here when these colourful little flowers start appearing. I love how they look like a multicoloured carpet under the trees. The most expensive spice in the world, saffron, comes from a breed of crocus and in the language of flowers, the crocus represents youthful gladness. (Meaning of Flowers)

2. Daffodils - such a happy flower with so many variations. A bunch of daffodils in the home brightens up the gloomiest day with their yellow cheerfulness.

3. Lambs - one of the great joys of the journey to work and back during spring is watching the lambs and all their antics. They jump and climb and play and just look adorable.

4. Cherry Blossom - a short season of gorgeous flowers and when the flowers are done it looks like there is confetti all over the ground.

5. Calves - so cute and beautiful at the same time.

6. Gorse/Broom - spring is when the highlands turn yellow (or Xanthic as I posted about previously) with gorse and broom all over the place.

7. Wildflowers - I love seeing the different flowers that appear in the woods in spring, creating a haze of colour to walk through.

8. Highland Games - spring and the month of May sees the beginning of the Highland Games in Scotland. I love seeing all the traditional activities - dancing, bagpipes, strong men activities, and tug of war.

9. Warmer Weather - finally it's time to leave the coat and gloves at home and enjoy the fact that the sun has warmth in it again. Much better weather for getting out and exploring the fabulous old graveyards we often stumble across.

10. Sunshine - this one is purely for the cats. Princess Cookie Cat and Lord Rocky Horror are very happy that it's spring as they can find much warmer sunshine to lie in, and it's even better if that patch of sunshine is across the nice comfortable human bed.

What's your favourite thing about spring? Until next time, enjoy the warmer weather and the joy of natures rebirth all around us.

Pamela & Ken
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P.S: Final photo that I have to share is the three brats in one photo - amazing.