Scotland part 2

The second half of the week continued in much the same vein.  We had one rainy afternoon which was actually quite nice to be holed up in the house with the rain lashing the windows.  It probably wasn't quite so nice for the two visitors that came on their bikes but they're tough cookies - and its only water- but I did feel sorry for them having to cycle six miles back down the track in the wind and rain, but given Scotland,  it wasn't as bad as it could be.

The big quest for the 2nd half of the week was to find some deer antiers!  The chap that owned the house dropped in to visit - he was a very friendly fella and was chatting about how this was the time of year when all the Stags lost their antlers (he collected them and sold them) so after that we were on the serious lookout.   It's always been Fred's mission to find some dropped antlers....

 The Monro baggers continued with the mission to bag the remaining three Monros... there is discussion as whether one of the Monro is still a Monro but for the purposes of this blog we are including it.   The sixth Monro was actually off site but still needed to be done..

I continued to faff about in the house doing some more painting, reading and taking endless pictures of pretty lichen and generally enjoying the tranquility. 

The owner had asked us if he could show somebody around, they were considered doing a long term let and we agreed this was fine, so after they had been on the following day I went for a wander along the track antler hunting.   Basically I just walked for an hour one way and then I sat and looked at far off walkers through the binoculars and then I walked back via the hummocks and grassy bits in case I came across the ever elusive antlers and I didn't find any!   However, the walkers did, and by the end of the week we have three large antlers and a deer skull so it was a pretty good haul really. 

The weather continue to hold, it was quite cloudy and the last Monro was shrouded in mist but down in the valley it was quite nice.

On the thursday 3 of us went off to Inverwe Gardens and we just seemed to be there at the right time.  The sun came out and the gardens were full of mature azaleas and rhododendrums and plenty of other really interesting plants.

It's really nicely laid out with viewpoints across the coast and in spite of the devastation caused by a storm last year,  it really was quite full of a variety of foliage and lots of nice primulas, bamboos and all sorts of other things.   The birds were singing as well it was just all together very splendid.

On the last night to celebrate being in a Scottish glen, successfully climbing six Monros,  doing some nice drawings, and being in good company we had roast venison for dinner and it was delicious.  

So the house was tidied, and the bags packed and we all headed back down the six mile bumpy ride -  which for most of us was just the beginning of a long haul home... but it had been a really good week and was worth the hours sat in the car and hopefully we'll do it again next year...