Food Provenance Workshop

Yesterday I attended a Food Provenance Workshop that had been arranged by  Love to Eat.  The workshop was to inform us how to incorporate local produce into our business, how using it and marketing it should hopefully attract more people to your establishment etc and to generally shout out about the fantastic World Class Scottish produce we have.  Using local produce supports local businesses, economy and your community.
As you know I am very into using local produce, but I certainly gleaned a huge amount of valuable information yesterday.  There was a super friendly group of people at the workshop and lots of ideas were exchanged.  I thoroughly enjoyed the day and even got a new scone recipe to try. (I'm always experimenting with scone recipes)

Kinclaven Castle

Following the riverbank down from Kinclaven Bridge high up amongst the trees is the remains of Kinclaven Castle.  Just a few walls remain now but it must have been an impressive sight and size in it's day, surprisingly some of the walls are in pretty good condition.The castle was built in 1235 as a royal residence by Alexander II. Our very own 'braveheart' William Wallace visited here 1297 and with his followers ambushed an English garrison in the woods and chased them into the castle which was then ransacked and destroyed.  Just give Kinclaven Castle a quick google to find out more about its history.

Bridges over the River Tay and Isla

If you park at the big layby by the Meikleour Beech Hedge you can take the short walk across a field to get a different perspective of two bridges, one spans the River Isla and the other spans the River Tay just before both waterways meet.  The rivers were quite low today so it was easy to walk underneath the bridges.  The Kinclaven Bridge over the Tay now has traffic lights on them so it is easy to walk across without fear of being crushed by a vehicle as it  was quite 'tight' before especially when a lorry and car met.

 An ancient beech tree, a sad victim of our hurricanes.

 The River Isla on the left collides with the mighty River Tay on the right.

When you think about it these bridges are an amazing piece of engineering, especially with the increased volume of traffic and HGV's in our modern world.

Murthly Signal Box

Was in Perth today and saw the lovely Broxden Birdie aka the Famous Grouse at the Broxden roundabout, then came the scenic route home, mind you all Perthshire is scenic, via Murthly and did a quick stop off to take some pictures of the old signal box and we were also treated to the barriers coming down at the crossing and a train whizzing past.

The story of 'Travel Bug' Baby Seal

Sorry going to mention geocaching again! At the end of last year I had a random e-mail from a lady in the USA who had come across a 'travel bug' called baby seal. The travel bug had originated in Switzerland and was on a mission to get to seal point in Scotland and back to Switzerland and had gone via the USA.  Anyhow the last person that had logged the seal seemed to have lost it and this lady had come across it.  The lady is not a geocacher and through the power of the Internet she googled geocaching in scotland and my website popped up so she e-mailed me to ask if she could send it to me and help it continue it's journey, naturally I was happy to oblige. 

So today I placed it in a cache and hope someone helps it get home.  After I had logged it I got a lovely e-mail from 'seals' owners and the lady who sent me the bug is delighted as well.

From people in Switzerland:

Hello gilmorehousebnb!

We have only discovered today that our TB Baby Seal was found and placed in Scotland. After almost one and a half year no news, we never thought that it will continue its trip. Thank you so much for placing it in Scotland. Our kids are very happy! We wonder if it will reach its destination.

All the best!

Greetings from Switzerland!

Mama "rubbas"

From lady in USA:

Yeah! That makes me so happy! I'm glad I was able to return him back to his trip.

Langedge Wood/Muirward Wood

I haven't been to this super woodland walk for ages, I used to go quite a lot with our last dog, so really don't know why I haven't been recently.  It is by the side of the main A93 on the way to Perth just past Scones of Lethendy.  You can park at the entrance to the wood (limited parking) or you could go up via New Scone and access the wood from the side or start the walk from St Martins or from Perth Aerodrome, all sorts of ways really!!, I'd have to show you on a map.  There are hundreds of beech trees which then leads into a fir tree plantation and there are tracks here there and everywhere.

 It's not really surprising so many trees toppled in the December storms as you can see how shallow rooted they are.

There was a bit of tree harvesting going on deep in the woods, amazing machines.

St. David's Church, Stormontfield

Another country church but this time in pristine order. This church is along the same back road as the ferry building in my previous post.  I particularly like the simplicity of this building and the exquisite detail in the sundial by the entrance door.