Chris and I had a wonderful much needed break in Scotland or as I named it “The Land of Furry Trees ” (more of that later) .

We stayed in a cottage near Loch Ness, which was situated in the most amazing setting. There was no vehicle access to the cottage a short muddy track, then a field, which was full of sheep, but my was it worth it, the views were incredible . We arrived to a roaring fire in the cottage on a cold dusky teatime .

We were tired, the drive had taken 10 hours which included several stops and walks for the dogs including one along the Caledonian canal .The four of them were so incredibly well behaved we never heard a squeak out of them, even Molly at 4 months seemed relaxed.

The first night I had made a chilli and taken it with us so we settled down with a bottle of wine and Strictly. Much needed after several trips to unload the car ! 

The first morning the views were appreciated properly It was white over with a sprinkle of snow and it looked incredible.

  

We headed to Inverness for supplies which is much like any other city / large town but had the necessary supplies. The girls walked around the old part of the town with us and attracted loads of attention. We visited Inverness more times than we had planned but hey ho ! 

Forests abound in the area which the girls adored ,they hunted squirrel, not caring that they were a different colour. Thanks to Cassie who is taking over from her mum, Willows’ mantle of hunting, we saw a Roe deer too and we managed to stop them.

    

My favourite place was Glen Affric , it had a huge variety of terrain , old pine forests , lochs, moors and mountains, beautiful waterfalls and the thing I just fell in love with, the trees were covered in many different Lichen, one of which is called Tree Beard. There is so little pollution in the air Lichens thrive. They hang from the branches of the birch particularl, so extensively the trees look like they have furry jackets. We are not great photographers but captured a few shots. We were walking up the side of Glen Affric when we came across what I thought looked like a fairy chandelier just hanging from a branch, a perfect circle of twigs supporting lots of Lichen, it was so pretty.

   

 The coast is also stunning. We visited  a nearby harbour village called Nairn, the beach was breathtaking . It had everything, the day was sunny and mild , in fact the weather all week was too good to be true, cold but bright. Willow had sand dunes to explore and hunt bunnies, she does occasionally peep over the top to check where we are. Kite had sea gulls to chase and Molly and Cassie did a bit of both !

       

I guess the area is much busier in the summer but for us it was idyllic. One thing we enjoyed was the quality of coffee shops. Cakes seem to be very popular and the quality superb, we did indulge everyday and though the cafes were dog friendly 4 seemed excessive so we sat outside and the girls enjoyed an amazing amount of attention from staff and passers by.  They always shared a bit of cake to.

Unfortunately Betty my Belingo got a flat tyre,Chris put the spare on and we dropped it off at a small garage while we visited another beach. Tyre collected we headed off back to the cottage.

The next morning we walked to the car to set off for our day out and Betty wouldn’t start, the battery was flat. Luckily we parked on a hill so I pushed and off we went ,we called in to Inverness to get the battery checked at Halfords and after the battery was tested to be fine ,Chris assumed it was a faulty connection and the day improved when we went up onto a glen to try to find some Red Deer. Luck was on our side we followed our OS map onto the moors and there in-front of us stood a pair of juvenile stags  Apparently they form Bachelor herds at this time of year when the prime stags are busy defending territory and wives. These were the first 2 of many we saw. The area was isolated away from the tourist routes and they seemed fairly relaxed. Though they were young they were still impressive. I was so excited.

Friday morning we had a good walk planned so we could tidy the cottage later and pack for an early get away Saturday .

We got to the car, the battery was flat as a pancake and the tyre was flat again! You guessed it another visit to Inverness the one blessing is the main road follows the banks of Loch Ness, really picturesque . The AA were called this time, the battery was the original one we had with the car which was the wrong size, too small, it was red hot and smelling of Sulphur. New battery fitted ,thanks lovely AA man then we went to get a new tyre. Kwik Fit had a 2 hour wait, Chris found another garage which had a 40 minute wait. We took the girls for a walk around an industrial estate trying to find access to the river to no avail. By this time I needed the loo so we went to B&Q ,what a morning.  Betty was finally fixed and we decided to go to the beach again at Nairn for a treat for us and the girls .Finishing off with another delicious scrummy cake and coffee . 

Our special thanks must go to John, Julie and Jas for house sitting. Both Chris and I really appreciated our break knowing our house and extended family were happy and in such safe hands. Bless you.