Duff House, Scotland, United Kingdom
Didn’t really have much planned, only that we wanted to be back by 5.30pm latest. We seem to be getting later leaving in the morns and later returning. It had rained over night, was still a little gloomy but refreshing after 23* yesterday.
Left cottage round 9.30am. Called at Downies Fisheries, the 2 ladies were great, gave us a lesson on all the fish in their seas. Yes, Roger, they were lobster pots and edible crabs, off shore salmon farms were an interesting piece of information, not like our fresh water canal farms. We did check yesterday temperature with them, and yes, it was 23 - 25*
Next stop was in Banff, Kevin has a sinus snuffle, mine has been & gone, so we stopped at a pharmacy and went to the corner newsagents next to it for a lottery tic, Kevin takes one Wednesday, I do Saturdays.
On to Duff House on the outskirts of Banff. On the way we spotted the allotments. What a picture, saw a man arrive and make his way up, so of course we followed him and asked our 20 questions. Over the past 2yrs or so the council had extended the area, it covers about 2acres, I asked how it operated, lease, rental etc, “the council notify users they can charge them, but they never do”. He was there to tend his daughters plot and take his dog for a run. Raspberries and blue berries were abundant - everything was!!
The berry trees in the pic at Braemar blog, are Rowan Trees, they do grow wild and you can make a jelly from them, it’s very tart but nice with meats. He also told us that the wheat and barley crops are down 40% due to the drought and and only getting half the normal straw bales for the winter feed.
Duff House, if it’s a rellie Xmas & Jimmy, you can be very proud! Beautiful place, huge history of course. We were there from 11.45am to 2.15pm, loved every minute of it. It was another Historic Scotland - used our cards. We learnt that the men wear kilts, the ladies skirts - and they look both the same. Lovely place, we both really rated our visit there.
Time for lunch, turkey burgers again. We had paid “£10 for 3" at Asda Superstore, we got 3 beef steaks, 4 pork chops and 4 thick turkey steaks. We think food is reasonable in relation to home. We had lunch as Portsoy, another wee fishing village, they are everywhere, delightful, similar but different.
We headed to Keith after that, stopping at the ruins of Deskford church and current cemetery, immaculateLyn maintained site, built in the16th century.
We arrived in Keith at the Chivas Regal whisky distillery at 4.30pm, only just in time to catch the tour. We were delayed and the man on reception wanted to know where we were from in NZ, “I lived in New Plymouth, worked in the oil industry”! The tour was 1.5hrs, brilliant, Cydnee (Sydney) was our guide and she was very clear, concise and brief but very informative and created conversation between us 6 participants. We took our samples home with us, Kevin wanted to drive and I was happy with that.
Soooo, it was 6.45pm when we returned, but pork chops and veg were on the table by 7.30pm.
Another eventful day, unexpected but interesting, the 16* temp made it much more enjoyable too.
Made a couple of bookings for tomorrow, you’ll have to wait and see!
Graeme nz
2018-09-04
Lovely photos to accompany very interesting dialogue. You guys are really seeing the sites. How is Kevin adjusting to the Scottish whiskey and and mountain water ?
Jasha
2018-09-05
Lovely account and photos Judith and Kevin. Wonderful day.