A walk in the woods – in Fife

Posted on 27 February 2025 by Katrina

Dust off your virtual walking boots if you fancy coming with me on a wee walk. It was cold this afternoon but the sun was shining so we decided to take a walk in the afternoon, it has been months and months since we did this walk.

We managed the very steep grassy hill much more easily than we thought we would, and that eventually leads to the snowdrops, they were a bit disappointing as that area seemed to have shrunk since last year, either some of the bulbs have rotted in boggy ground due to all the rain we’ve been having, or the local badgers have been scoffing them!

Sadly quite a few huge trees had been blown over in the recent storms and we had to divert from the path to avoid them. Trees are blown down at every storm nowadays, always the biggest and oldest of course, but there never seems to be any tree planting going on. I see young trees being thrown into the ground and heeled in on TV but what about the old woodlands? They need to be rejuvenated.

Anyway, it was really good to be able to stretch our legs among the trees for a change – and it didn’t rain!

Braemar – the Highland Games venue, Aberdeenshire, Royal Deeside

Posted on 12 February 2025 by Katrina

When we visited the Aberdeenshire area back in July we decided to have a look at the arena where they hold the Highland Games. It’s something I’ve seen on the news many times over the years – usually on the news with THE Queen in attendance in her tartan and tweed, while the rain battered down.

To be honest I wasn’t all that sure that I wanted to check out that area at all, but the teeny village only has a large Victorian hotel which is confusingly named The Fife Arms, and a couple of wee gift shops, or maybe it was only one, anyway it was shut so there wasn’t really anything else to do, except hang over a bridge to look at the River Dee. It was only when we got back home that I discovered that you can go for a riverside walk at Braemar. Below it doesn’t look much more than a burn (stream) but it was July and allegedly the weather had been good in June although we missed it all as we were in the Netherlands. Further research has me thinking that it might be the River Clunie which apparently flows into the Dee.

Below is a view of the scenery from the highand games field. I’m not sure what it’s called officially – a park, arena or maybe just a field.

The glazed shelter with the royal coat of arms on it is presumably where the so called VIPs view it all from, sheltered from the usual rain or if the weather is better – from the midges – maybe. There are folded chairs all around the place but I suspect parts of it are standing room only on the day.

This wee stage in the photo below must be for the Highland dancing exhibitions, that takes me back although I never danced at a Highland Games in my day.

So it’s just as well that the games park turned out to be quite interesting, and really quite stylish compared with the other places that the various Highland Games take place in, this one is definitely a step up from the usual local field.

My Scotland by Val McDermid

Posted on 31 January 2025 by Katrina

My Scotland by Val McDermid was first published in 2019, it has beautiful photographs by Alan McCredie and a foreword by Nicola Sturgeon, and is published by Sphere.

This is a beautifully produced book, with sumptuous photographs which are linked to some of her book locations. To begin with the focus is on Fife, where Val was born and grew up, there are plenty of places to ignite the imagination of a novelist, and it seems she has been salting away ideas since she was a youngster. This first chapter was all very familiar to me as I lived in Kirkcaldy for 26 years, and in the area where she lived, but it was nice to read of her links with the various places.

The East Neuk coastal communities feature, she mentions that most people probably never get through the doors of the old fishermen’s cottages but by coincidence, I also have relatives who lived in George Street, Cellardyke – as her aunt and uncle did. The atmospheric St Andrews nearby couldn’t be missed out.

There’s a chapter about Glasgow, a place she fell in love with as a young journalist, and then fell in love with again after she had moved away, and returned to find it much changed. It’s a city that’s close to my heart – as I was born there.

Obviously Edinburgh features, often there are excerpts from her books, linked to whichever area the chapter is about, and she mentions that even when a book had a mainly English setting she would feel the need to send her characters to a favourite area, somewhere in the Highlands where she had holidayed. At Loch Leven, by Kinross, Val is photographed on a bench where in a book she had placed a murder victim, overlooking the island where Mary, Queen of Scots had been held prisoner and eventually escaped from.

Linlithgow also gets a mention, for the ugliness of the 1970s/80s buildings that have been stuck right next to beautiful 18th century buildings. It’s one of my favourite towns, it’s so historic, but there’s no doubt you have to avert your eyes from the concrete brutality that was given planning permission in the centre of the town.

Obviously the Isle of Skye features too, a favourite place for lots of people, more than the places though this book is a really entertaining read and Val McDermid comes across as having a really warm and friendly personality. It was good to be in her company while I read it.

I borrowed this one from the library.

The Coorie Home by Beth Pearson

Posted on 10 September 2024 by Katrina

The Coorie Home

The Coorie Home – Beautiful Scottish Living by Beth Pearson was published in 2019, possibly as a sort of reply to that Scandinavian Hygge book that was around about then, but this one is more intense.

I borrowed the book from the library and I did think that I would probably just dip into parts of it, but I read it cover to cover, it’s an interesting read which is informative and also attractive, with lots of eye candy type photographs.

For anyone looking for Scottish made homewares or arty crafty things there are plenty of pointers to help you track things down, and there are even some Scottish recipes. The contents are wide ranging, I really enjoyed it. The photographs are by Ciara Menzies and the book was published by Black and White Publishing.

I must say that the only time I’ve heard the word ‘coorie’ is in that Scottish phrase ‘coorie doon’ often said in the past (I’m not sure about nowadays) to children at bedtime meaning ‘snuggle down, get comfy and cosy.’

Arbilot Falls, Angus, Scotland

Posted on 25 August 2024 by Katrina

A couple of weeks ago we travelled up to Aberdeenshire to stay there for a few nights, on the way up we stopped off at the tiny village of Arbirlot in Angus to see the waterfall there. We had driven past the sign to this place quite a few times but had never noticed it. I bought a Scottish magazine recently and it had an article on waterfalls which were worth seeing, so as we were more or less going past it we thought we might as well take a look at it. It isn’t massive but it is pretty, and quite noisy. We had thought we might have to walk a mile or so from the village to reach the falls but as soon as we got out of the car we could hear them, as you can see from the photo they are situated right by the bridge into the village.

There were a few people already there, a young couple and a family wading further down stream, we didn’t stay there long though as we wanted to get back on the road up to Aberdeen. We had a secondhand bookshop to visit. Annoyingly, when we got there it was shut! We have no luck with that bookshop. However, there was another one in the city and I did well there, so I can’t complain.

Balvenie Castle, by Dufftown, Moray, Scotland

Posted on 17 August 2024 by Katrina

We were out and about in the far north-east of Scotland for a few days a couple of weeks ago, and one of the many places that we squeezed into those three nights away was a visit to Balvenie Castle near Dufftown. It’s in the middle of nowhere up a quite scary steep and very narrow road, and when we reached the castle it was shut! It doesn’t open on Monday.

Anyway, we were undaunted as we were able to step over the fence easily to have a closer look, we kept well away from the back as per instructions, and as we’re Historic Scotland members we weren’t doing them out of any money.

We were only there for a few minutes.

I took the photo below through the gate, as you can see it has a nice barrel vaulted roof.

Balvenie Castle was owned by a few prominent Scottish families in the past, including the notorious Black Douglases from 1362 to 1455. It’s a very scenic ruin, unfortunately the photo that I took of the farmland nearby came out too fuzzy to use. As ever, click on the photos if you want to see them enlarged.

I’ve just realised that this castle is actually owned by an absent American from Atlanta, Georgia! It is just managed by Historic Environment Scotland.

Adam Bruce Thomson at The City Art Centre, Edinburgh

Posted on 3 August 2024 by Katrina

We went to the Adam Bruce Thomson exhibition at The City Art Centre in Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago. The exhibition is titled The Quiet Path.

Below is his painting of Dean Bridge, a part of Edinburgh which looks very much the same now as it does in his painting.

Below is his painting of the North Bridge with the Salisbury Crags in the background, Edinburgh.

With a very different style he painted the village of New Galloway, below.

In Bringing in the Hay below he has documented a part of social history, before everything on farms was mechanised.

In another style Adam Bruce Thomson portrays The Royal Engineers Building a Bridge, below, a scene he would have witnessed in his time in the Royal Engineers in World War I. If you want to see more of his works have a look here.

This is a great exhibition which is in a gallery just off the main streets of Edinburgh, at the back of Waverley Station, it’s well worth a visit if you are in Edinburgh. As the Edinburgh Festival started yesterday when we happened to be in the city, it felt like the hordes had descended on the place, apparently the population doubles in August.

The Japanese Garden at Cowden – The Zen Garden

Posted on 17 May 2024 by Katrina

A couple of weeks ago we decided to go to The Japanese Garden at Cowden again, it was a sparkling day and it was the first time we had really felt any warmth this year, and we were really enjoying our visit, but it’s obviously not for everyone as we heard a fairly youngish woman complaining bitterly that she had paid a lot of money to get in and there was hardly anything to see! She said that loudly as she walked quickly past what I think is a beautiful, if small Zen garden, and she didn’t even glance at it. Oh well, it takes all sorts I suppose.

Japanese garden design seems to incorporate a lot of moss, which is something I’m going to have to embrace in my own garden I think after all the wet weather has encouraged it so much.

But nothing is perfect, I’m sure that in Japan a Zen garden wouldn’t have a redwood and lots of various mature conifers in the background, but I can see why the designer decided to leave them in situ.

We enjoyed the afternoon there anyway, although I must admit that we took advantage of this month’s Gardeners’ World magazine offer. It seemed steeply priced at almost double the normal cost, it was £9.99 but came with seeds and a 2 for 1 ticket entry into lots of famous gardens all over Britain. After visiting this garden we’re already quids in.

Green Willow’s Secret by Eileen Dunlop

Posted on 10 April 2024 by Katrina

Green Willow’s Secret by the Scottish author Eileen Dunlop was published in 1993. This book is meant for YA readers but is enjoyable to people of all ages I’m sure.

Kit had lived in Edinburgh with her parents and older sister, but a family tragedy has led to the father travelling to Australia and Kit and her mother moving to Maddimoss, a rural area. Kit isn’t settling in well and when her teacher tells the class about a Japanese exhibition she has been to the other pupils tell her that there’s a Japanese garden where Kit lives. Kit knows nothing about it but later when she gets home she does some exploring and discovers the remains of a very neglected but wonderful Japanese garden.

There’s a photograph of the garden in the house they are living in, as it was in its heyday, and there are people in the photo, including a Japanese man in traditional dress, but strangely he appears and disappears in the photo. There’s something slightly spooky about the garden. When Kit meets Daniel who is also not a local they decide to work on the garden together.

There’s a lot more to this book, but I don’t want to say much more other than that I enjoyed it. As it happens there is a Japanese Garden at Cowden, not that far from where we live and a hop and a skip from where Eileen Dunlop lived in the wee town of Dollar. I’m sure that is where she got the idea from because the garden at Cowden fell into neglect and was vandalised in the 1960s. As in the book the original Japanese gardener is buried in the local churchyard. You can read the garden’s history and see more photos here. It has fairly recently been brought back to perfection and is open to the public, obviously it’s a business too nowadays so you have to pay an entrance fee. It’s quite a few years since we visited, (you can see my blogposts on our visits here) I seem to remember that there was a small play area for youngsters who may not be so enamoured of the beautiful surroundings.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Posted on 19 March 2024 by Katrina

It really felt like spring was on its way when I visited the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh on Saturday. It was busy, maybe the sun had brought people out, but there were quite a lot of tourists around who would have been there whatever the weather I suppose, they were mainly American and German I think. Entry to the Botanics is free, which seemed to puzzle some people, but they do recommend a donation of £3.

It seems to me that the gardens are quite sheltered, which could explain the early flowering of some of the rhododendrons, but there are still many that haven’t bloomed, I think I’ll visit again in a couple of weeks. The daffodils at the east gate will be over by then though, I think I saw them at their peak on Saturday.

My favourite area is the rock garden, in recent times it has been tweaked so that there is some wheelchair access but in general most of the paths are made up of stone steps.

There’s a burn/stream rushing through the rock garden which begins with a small but powerful waterfall.

As you wouldexpect there are some great trees in the garden.

From some parts of the botanics you can see the spires and roofs of some of the buildings in central Edinburgh, not too far away, but the photo I took was too blurry.

While I was there Jack was at a football match nearby, Dumbarton beat Spartans 6-2 (it’s not like them) so a good day was had by all.

Pining for the West

Meanderings about recipes, books, craft and more

Category Archives: Scotland