Fwd: July 18-25

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From: Tina McInerney tina@mcinerney.tv Subject: July 18-25 Date: 27 July 2015 3:56:05 pm BST To: "MCINERNEY@yahoogroups.com" mcinerney@yahoogroups.com

Hi there

here is our latest week:

July 19 - Sunday was the 3rd day of the Golf so Tony and Andy went off early. Claire and I had a relaxing time in the morning and then went for a scenic drive and had an afternoon tea at an old hotel in the countryside. It was lovely and grand set in beautiful grounds but a little shabby - the chairs were lovely and comfortable but if you moved the cover on the arms, the fabric was a little worn-out. Nonetheless, the afternoon tea was delicious. When I mention the drive as being scenic, there is not much of this country that is not scenic. It is very magnificent and stunning in most parts. Tony and Andy had a great day at the golf as there were plenty of people still playing. I think Dad dragged Andy round the course twice trying to keep up with the 15 Australians playing although I am sure he made up for it by getting him into the HSBC hospitality marquee. Dad went up and made himself known as we are HSBC Premier account holders (which means we owe them our lives). Anyway, Andy might have enjoyed it but Dad was a bit taken aback when he found you could only get haggis crisps and whisky!

July 20 - Monday was fine and almost sunny so we drove down to Scone Palace (pronounced Skoon) and had a lovely walk in the gardens and a tour of the palace. The chapel here is where they used to crown the Kings of Scotland. It is quite small and a copy of the Stone of Scone is outside - this is the Stone upon which Kings placed their feet when they were crowned - there is a big story about the stone being stolen by the English king Edward 1 (or one of the Edwards) and then being stolen back by uni students. Anyway, you can google it - I rely on Lonely Planet for my information. Another funny thing, the chapei is on a mound and this is supposed to have come about because when the Scottish King was crowned, all the lesser lords and earls etc would bring soil from their own lands IN THEIR BOOTS and empty it on a pile from which grew The Mound! Can you believe it? Tony and Andy then drove on to St Andrew’s for the last day of the golf which they enjoyed immensely especially when there was a 3 person play-off. Bad luck for the Australian. Claire and I drove home to Blairgowrie.

I don’t think I have mentioned the house - it is a big old stone place which has been refurbished. There were 3 quite large bedrooms all with ensuite bathrooms - even Abigail could have her own shower. They were all very comfortable. Downstairs were the kitchen and lounge room which were well set-up. We enjoyed being in the house. It was lovely and warm even though Andy kept saying it was summer and we didn’t need the heating!

and on this afternoon, I slipped on a gutter and sprained my ankle! So annoying and it has been quite sore - my leg looks a treat. Lovely and colourful and my toes are quite black with bruising but it is all getting better now - I think I am on the mend. Monica, dad bought a bag of ice so I am in bed putting ice on my leg.

July 21 - Tuesday, Dad took me to the cottage hospital in Blairgowrie to see the doctor who told me I had a sprain then I went home and sat on the couch for the day. Dad went off to play 9 holes of golf at the Wee course of Blairgowrie - yes, Andrew, 9 holes only!! He didn’t like to leave me for 4-5 hours apart from the fact that it cost 65 pounds a game!! Green fees here have been a bit of a shock for him although club memberships are so much lower than Australia.

July 22 - Wednesday - as I couldn’t walk, we decided to do this drive from Blairgowrie to Rannoch Station via Pitlochry. It included driving along a couple of Lochs which Lonely Planet said shouldn’t be missed. It took about 2 hours each way but it was a great drive. It was very scenic and ended up on the edge of mountains where you couldn’t drive any further. We had morning tea on the Rannoch station which closes over winter as the snow closes the road and the rail. We then drove back to Pitlochry where Tony and Andy went off to inspect the smallest whisky distillery in Scotland. Claire and I looked at a couple of shops and had a coffee.

July 23 - Thursday - we had a late start today after Abigail had her morning sleep. We drove up to visit Glamis Castle - about 1/2 hour away - which was the former home of the Queen Mother - did you see the movie ’The King’s Speech’? The Queen Mother is the wife of the king - She was Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. Her family has lived in that castle since the 14th century although the castle was rebuilt in the 17th century. It was very beautiful - and interesting stuff in there too. A stuffed bear that used to be the children’s pet?? and hundreds of deer antlers on the wall. (is that an idea for family pets? you could ask Cousin Lucy Selleck to help you out as I think she has stuffed birds…)

After that, we went for a drive 20 mins the other side of Blairgowrie to inspect the town of Dunkeld. There is a great Cathedral there and we stopped and had a drink at a pub in the very shining sun - the reason for Dad wearing his handkerchief on his head.

July 24 - Friday we took a drive to Stonehaven on the East coast for lunch. We have been very disciplined making up rolls to take for lunch and just buying a tea or coffee. We have been taking it in turns to prepare dinner so this was to be the treat. I had read that it was the best place to go for a seafood lunch and it was very worthwhile. The restaurant overlooked a pretty harbour, the sun was shining and the food was delicious. After a bit of walk along the beach, Claire and Andy went the short way home while Dad and I took the scenic route. We drove through the Cairngorm Mountains - it was superb. This country is so, so beautiful!

And that was that - Andy had prepared a lovely antipasto platter for us and that was the last night. It was a great week.

July 25 - Saturday, we packed up and Andy took off in the car back to Romsey and we drove to Edinburgh with Claire and Abigail. We had a bit of a walk around Edinburgh which looks great in the sunshine. It only started raining about 3.00 and I was in the Scottish Museum inspecting an exhibition called ‘Finding Fashion’. It was about the Scottish knitwear company, Pringle, favoured by the Queen, Princess Grace and Tilda Swinton. The Queen is given a piece every year and each year, she responds with a handwritten thank-you note. In the meantime, Dad was out looking for a pub we had a meal at last time we were here in 2005. He found it so we went then for tea- the only probably it was full of very noisy people drinking so we had our very nice tea and left to go to our hotel which was also full of very noise people drinking. Fortunately, I think the hotel management put us on the top floor and the others on the floor below. Anyway, I can’t say I heard them at all and the hotel was pretty cheap. We chose it because it was a bit cheap and also not far from where Dad was playing golf next morning. This course was free as it was one of the reciprocal clubs for Riversdale so he played 18 holes early in the morning.

That is it for now -

Love to all

Tina xxx