Drimmie Wood

What a lovely spell of warm sunny weather we have been having, great for all my guest's over the busy Easter weekend and super for drying all the B&B sheets etc. The children have been down at my Mum's for a few days, they usually always visit her at Easter, back to school on Wednesday though. The dog and I decided to go to nearby Drimmie Woods this afternoon for our daily walk. I have been a bit concerned about him slowing up lately, but he was running about quite happily this afternoon. Perhaps he was like me just getting a bit bored of our usual walk in the fields and needed a change of scene and sniffing opportunities, not that I have a tendency to go sniffing around trees.

Little's Restaurant - Blairgowrie

Every year a selection of local accommodation providers are invited to Little's for lunch (I've told you this before), so Tuesday was the day and I went with my plus one or plus three in my case, me and the children.  Little's is big on fish, so if you love fish it's a no brainer but to go to Little's. It was a 2 course, main and a pudding. The main was Halibut which was fantastic, clean plates all round and for pudding it was either chocolate roulade or that old favourite sticky toffee pudding. We enjoyed our lunch very much.
I have also been enjoying watching the space station go over and have the naff photos to prove it. I call the very squiggly one ' Wasp get's loose on ISS flightdeck'.
My neighbours have now got some chickens, so the lady of the house called me round to admire them, very pretty variety of breeds. She always looks so glamorous my neighbour, I just had a halo of dust and grass clippings all over me after mowing the lawn. Pinched my Mum's brilliant lawnmower, she has a man who does her lawn now, after mine finally called it a day (the lawnmower and the man...boom, boom!) It was a joy to mow the lawn without smoke billowing, blade clattering etc.

Castle Campbell - Dollar

First week of the school holidays and the sun was shining and a place I haven't blogged about before, I think! I have always enjoyed showing the children what is around them and I think they appreciate it and will grow up with a love for their country wherever they end up. I have American guest's staying for 10 day's and they were away to Edinburgh quite sharp for a long day which will include an evening spooky graveyard tour. I was kindly invited along, would have loved it, but unfortunately my eldest daughter would probably end up screaming down the street's of Edinburgh if she got so much of a whiff of a ghost.  The house my parents lived in before my father's death was incredibly haunted, trust me it is true. Would love to tell you the stories but you would probably think I was making them up, I know what I felt and saw. Coincidentally the said house is just outside of Dollar, where I ventured today to the impressive Castle Campbell in the Dollar Glen, which is also great walking territory in the Ochils. Many a school sponsored walk was spent in these hills, I very much doubt 'Health and Safety' would allow it today. Actually they wouldn't allow a school full of children to tramp the hills without any supervision whatsoever, well we did and it didn't do us any harm.
Dollar is the 'posh' town of the Hillfoots and has changed dramatically since my school day's. Very upmarket now with many a new designer home going up here and there, with the obligatory Range Rover in the driveway. From my perspective a bit of a blot on the landscape is the Dollarbeg 'executive, luxury' and amazingly expensive housing estate in the grounds of the Dollarbeg estate above the town. Dollarbeg was a magnificent old castle, I was friends with the daughter of the owner when it was a bit of a crumbling wreck, but what a building. Lovely to see it come back to life but why oh why could the sprawling estate of new houses not be a bit less 'bling'. Oh well guess people want to 'live the dream' or feel they have to at any cost.
Well I am digressing now from the title of my post which is Castle Campbell. You reach the castle up a very narrow road or you could walk up from the town and do a circular. The castle is in a stunning setting and must have been a formidable sight in it's time. Lot's of nooks and crannies to investigate and a steep stone spiral staircase to the top. There is a very pleasant garden area and the type of place you could sit forever and just enjoy the views. It is approx. 50 minutes from Blairgowrie. Had a quick stop for a couple of photo's of Stanley Mill on the way home.