A short circular trip

Was finished everything quite quickly today, so had a 10 minute drive along to Alyth. Upon passing through the town and bearing left you come to the 'Den of Aylth' . It is a wooded valley with the Alyth Burn running through it, there are several walks through the woods. Scottish Natural Heritage has designated the Den as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, beautiful, peaceful walk. Continuing along the road I came to Primrose Hill Interiors, which I only found out about the other day, lovely studio, lovely lady, lovely situation. http://www.primrosehillinteriors.com/

After my visit I continued along the road and followed the Bridge of Cally signs then the Blairgowrie signs, great single track road and so quiet, the views of the countryside are spectacular. On route you pass near to the Drumbeg windfarm, the sky was a bit dull for a good picture, they are quite an interesting addition to the landscape. Then past Drimmie wood another good walk, then you get a fantastic view of Blairgowrie and Rattray, before you drop back into the town joining the A93 on the Balmoral Road in Rattray.

Billy's Halo by Ruth McKernan

One of the interesting aspects of running a Bed and Breakfast is the people you meet from all over the world and from all walks of life. At the moment I have a lovely couple from Belgium staying and they were telling me about this book they had read and how it mentions my B&B, I thought it must be some sort of travel book. Anyhow this morning they showed me the book 'Billy's Halo' by Ruth McKernan, unfortunately for me it is a Dutch translation copy and on page 177 there is a mention of Gilmore House. Naturally I was intrigued and once I had done my morning's work I was onto the internet to find out more about the book and author, it looks fascinating reading http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/ and there seems to be quite a few pages about the family's visit to Blairgowrie so of course I have ordered a copy. Intrigued even more by the fact they had stayed here out came old reservation books to find the name McKernan, couldn't find it, then flash of inspiration maybe the author had booked under her married name, more research, and I eventually found their booking way back in September 1998, when they had stayed for 2 nights, from having the date I dug out my old visitor books and was able to find their comments. Even more bizarre, my Belgium lady has had pan fried apple slices for Breakfast and if you read the comments made the McKernan's did too.!

To Ruth McKernan:

Should you come across this blog I hope you don't mind me writing this and thank you for the mention and I apologise for not being able to remember your stay. I look forward to reading your book.

Mushroom Hunting

With the weather having turned to torrential showers and bright warm spells over the last few days, it was an ideal day to go mushroom hunting, particularly for the chantrelle or girolle as they are otherwise known. So off I went and had quite a successful search, I found a couple of good patches and picked a few, but left the others for another day as they are still quite small.

They have a delicate nutty, sometimes fruity, earthy flavour and are just pan fried like a normal mushroom.

Strawberries and Gardens

Pretty miserable weather today, heavy showers on and off throughout the day, quite warm though. Had more guests set off on the Cateran Trail this morning. Seeing as it is strawberry season and this area being renowned for them as well as raspberries, I have a lovely picture taken today, delicious at breakfast!!

Had a trip over to Murthly to look at a garden open under Scotland's Garden Scheme http://www.gardensofscotland.org/ very beautiful and inspirational.

Stobhall

I had a couple of hours free this afternoon so had a trip along to Stobhall Castle and Gardens, which are open to the public in June. http://www.stobhall.com/ I was given a very informative tour around the chapel, part of the dower house, the rose garden and the folly. I have never been before, despite it being less than 15 minutes away!! It is the most amazing place, if you are ever in the area when it is open, it is a must see.

Blooming June

My favourite time of year in the garden. My Rhododendron's caught a bit of late frost this year so are not as prolific as usual.

Had a few guest's head off on The Cateran Trail, a 4-5 day 64 mile walk, so the weather has been mixed for them, hope they enjoy it. www.pkct.org/caterantrail