Birthday in Scotland: 6th - 9th Aug 2013

I had a 1/2 day at work, & set off for Perth at lunchtime. Blackpool to Perth was about 240 miles. According to Gmaps, that's about 4 hours. Ahem! I was quite a bit less time than that ;-p

I stopped for some petrol & grabbed some food to takeaway from the attached Tesco. Then I continued through Perth, over the Tay & up the Coupar Angus road through Scone to the airport on the A94 where I was booked in for the night.

I dumped the bags & went looking for the hall ~ in Scone village, where the dance was later that evening. I didn't find it, & had to rush back to change, eat some of the Tesco takeaway for tea, & wash it down with a hotel brew before looking again.

Back in Scone, I eventually found the dance at the Robert Douglas Memorial Institute on Abbey Rd. I was a tiny bit late, but they hadn't quite started. I was very happy to see Sandy Nixon's band were playing for the evening :-)

I did all but 1 in the 1st 1/2, grabbed a brew & a biscuit, & danced all the 2nd 1/2 dances. Sandy Nixon is great.

Then it was back up the A94, & bed at the airport.

Next morning a very basic breakfast was provided. That is, boxes of cereals, toast, & tea/coffee. Still, better than nothing.

I was due at Carnoustie that evening, & another dance at the Beach Hall Leisure Centre. This time with Marion Anderson. It didn't start till 8, so I had all day to explore the Kingdom of Fife.

When I had attended the RSCDS Summer School in August 2010, I'd been minus a car, so it was nice to be mobile.

I stopped at a boutiquey shop & got a pressed felt stole to wrap round my middle that evening. The reason being that the £3 silk dress I'd bought from a charity shop in Edinburgh didn't go in at the waist & just 'hung'. It needed a bit of help to give me the shape I worked-out for ;-p.

The stole was Very expensive, so I called it my birthday present!

I also stopped at a ballet shop & picked up some purple shoes to go with both.

As you can never get enough Good dance shoes, I thought I'd nip to St Andrews, as there would be a shoe shop at the Summer School. I went via north Perth, crossed the Tay, & took the M90 & A91 to St Andrews.

Sadly the St Andrews pics I took in 2010 while I was at Summer School 2 nevr made it onto my PC & went to the photo graveyard. I didn't blog it at the time & now the pics would have come in handy. Here're views of the famous St Andrews cathedral, the golf course, and the beach & skyline.

Tiger Woods on the Old Course in 2000 apparently

In St Andrews this time round I got a great pair of leather leopard print shoes for a fiver. Bargain! 

They are the most comfortable dance shoes I own, & I've got 9 pairs of the bloody things. Well, a girl has to have enough colours to go with all her frocks, eh ;-p!

After a memory lane drive round town, I headed NE & hit the coast at Tayport where I took these pics of a dog having a great time jumping into the harbour to get a ball!

I think his name was Mungo? It's 20 months ago, so not sure

After I got home I sent the pics to his owner.



About 200m upstream I got these of a seagull, some fishermen, & Broughty Ferry across the Tay. 
Writing this in April '15, I know I'll be dancing in Broughty Ferry on June 30th as I travel up to Aberdeen to embark on my Svalbard adventure :-)

That's Dundee across the Tay

I could hear Dad giving instructions on how to cast.
Shame about the blobs on the lens :-(

I had to get across the Tay & up to Carnoustie. That's in the distance on the coast in the last picture, & like many places in this part of Scotland, Very famous for golf.

I took the B946, Newport Rd, & got onto the Tay Road Bridge. At the other end it was very busy, but I found a place to leave the car for a few min while I enquired about a boat trip to Bell Rock for my birthday.
Then it was back in the traffic on the A92 to Carnoustie where I checked in & organised tea at the very nice Sea View Guest House.

Once fed I got ready & headed to the leisure centre.
There were quite a few there from the Scone dance, & I only sat 1 of the 18 dances out.
With my work cap on, I did notice some dancers leaving in cars parked in disabled spots. 
Er? 
Not sure that's right?
Lovely bed, followed by porridge for brekkers, & then north along the A92 to Arbroath & Montrose.
I went all the way to Montrose 1st, & bought a Forfar Bridie for lunch.
Then I found my way down to the shore for some pics & a paddle.
This is the Scurdie Ness lighthouse from the top of the steps down to the beach.
The tide was going out, so I went down to find the sea.
As I said above, shame about the blogs on the lens. I'd waited quite a while for that wave.

Seagulls & Scurdie Ness lighthouse

The water was shin deep

Once in the water I took this showing the current making the seaweed stream.

After my paddle I washed the sand off in the ladies, & grabbed a brew in the cafe on the prom. before heading south to Arbroath where I planned to get an Arbroath Smokie ~ 

Arbroath smokie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Smokie bought, I headed back down the A92 to Dundee, crossed the Tay bridge, & had a quick look at Newport on Tay before heading down the closest road I could find to the Tay. This was a very minor road passing through Wormit & Balmerino, & at a junction I saw this circular cloud.

A bit further on I passed a Vet's & caught sight of a large green rabbit. The road was too narrow to stop right away, & I went quite a way before find somewhere to turn & go back for a picture!

Eventually, after doing a lot of rubbernecking & enjoying the small quiet roads, I got to Newburgh, & it was time for a comfort break. I ended up walking along the Tay path for a while & found some kids trying to make a tree house ~ with no nails. I sent a lad home to beg some, & then helped them get the floor ready. While I waited for the young lad to get back I called Maire who was hosting me at Auchtermuchty to give her an ETA.

After Newport it was more or less due south to 'Muchty ~ which is what the locals call it.

I was headed there because there was a folk festival on over that week, & this included a chance to dance on the Friday night, Saturday in the square & at the ceilidh on Saturday night.

Once in Muchty I called at the festival office, & picked up a bloke who directed me the long way round to Maire's house. The long way, as there was a path between hers & the village square which was less than a quarter of the distance.

Maire's was a little bungalow & I had her son's room for 3 nights.

She also didn't mind I warmed up the smokie in the microwave & stank the place out - oops!

I was planning an earlyish start for my birthday, & having decided not to take a boat trip to Bell Rock, I was going to go to Scone Palace, back near Perth.

So, next morning, off I went along the A92, the A921 & the M90 to Perth.

Here're some links & pics about Scone Palace:

Scone Palace - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Scone Palace - Perth - VisitScotland

The Inner Hall

I stopped off at the cafe 1st, & decided to do the Palace then as it was spitting a bit. You weren't allowed to take pics, & ones I got off the net have not copied..

Outside is a massive Pinetum, & I spent nearly 3 hours walking round it.

Here's some info from the web?

History of the Grounds

The celebrated Moot Hill was the ancient crowning place of the Kings of Scots. It is located immediately in front of the Palace and is crowned by a tiny Presbyterian Chapel. A replica of the famous Stone of Scone sits in front of the Chapel.

The village of Scone once stood within the grounds of the Palace. However, when the medieval house was rebuilt as a Gothic Palace in 1803 and the landscaping of the new Palace grounds took place in 1805 the entire village was relocated two miles away and became known as ‘New Scone’. There are still many reminders of Scone’s past around the Grounds. From the Mercat Cross (Market Cross) and Old Scone graveyard to the 16th century archway which was the grand entrance to the ‘City of Scone’.

David Douglas and the Pinetum

David Douglas was born in the village of Scone in 1799 and worked as a gardener here at Scone Palace for seven years. Douglas went on to become an explorer and a great plant hunter. To discover more about David Douglas, some of his fellow Scottish tree planters and the Pinetum visit the David Douglas Pavilion. Constructed from Douglas Fir, the structure is erected within sight of the towering conifers at Scone and features other timbers sourced from the Estate. Scottish slate, re-cycled from the Estate, was also used in the construction.

Stroll at your leisure through the magnificent Pinetum where, amongst others, giant redwoods and Noble Firs tower over you then onto the New Pinetum of less hardy and decorative conifers.  

Pseudotsuga menziesii One of the finest trees within the grounds at Scone Palace is a giant Douglas Fir which was raised from the first seed sent home from North America by David Douglas in 1826.

The famous Scone Diagonal Douglas Fir!

The first 3 pics are of the famous Fir.

It's so tall I turned the camera onto the diagonal to get it all in!

The next 6 are all trees in the Pinetum. I think I got the names right?

Sequoia trio

Thuja where the main trunk in the middle had died,
leaving its children round the outside

Another Thuja which I thought were like
Dinosaurs, or even Nessie!

A grove of Sequoia

This may also be a Thuja, but whatever
 it is, it has great arms :-)

Another Sequoia

After hours wandering around the Pinetum, I can't believe I didn't get a Cedar ~ I love them :-/

This is the Murray Star Maze from on the viewing
platform ~ it's Perthshire's only maze.
If all was shown you'd be able to see a tartan effect
from the 2 different beech leaf colours

After looking at the maze from the viewing platform, I went in & found my way into the middle & out with only 1 wrong turn. I was quite chuffed :-)

Then it was time to chase peacocks ~ not really ;-)
In fact, I spent ages sitting on the grass or crawling on my knees & elbows trying to get a decent pic.

The bally thing went headless just as I clicked :-/

This was on a lot of zoom so I didn't freak him out.
Consequently it's a bit blurred, but I've blown it up 
for birthday cards, & it's not too bad

Again, just as I clicked, the silly bird had a peck ~ doh :-/

When I went to have a look at the building from the front, I saw this one in a tree.

I zoomed for this as well. Nice colours :-)

This is the SW face of the palace with a peacock up a beech tree.

The south turret

I found a peacock feather on the lawn, & I got all arty-farty with it ;-p

Peacock feather on the stone garden wall

Peacock feather & face on a tree

The Eye of Argos ~ Peacock feather on a tree

Then it was time for a final brew in the cafe, a trip to the Ladies, & back to Muchty.

I actually went past Muchty & on to Cupar where I organised a ride for the next morning ~ see next blog. 
After that I detoured on my way home, hoping to get high enough for a sunset shot, but no luck.

Back at the village I went for a takeaway, followed by a trip to the pub to listen to some live music, & have some local cider.

Maire was still up when I returned to her house, so we put the world to rights over a glass of red :-). 
Well, it had to be done.

OAO