This post is filled with photos and is more than a week late. I have been away on holiday in Shetland and didn’t manage to post this a week ago on Friday or Saturday because there wasn’t great internet where Inwas staying on Friday night and I was travelling all of the next day. I’m home now, so will do my best to fill in a bit of information between the pictures I had already downloaded.

The first pictures are of Criffel, which I walked up with Triar. At 569m, starting near sea level, it was on the ambitious side for me. Indeed when I saw the above view, I felt I had bitten off more than I could chew, but I decided to give it a go. After all, I could always stop half way up…

Reader, I could not stop! There were good views over the Solway, though it was too cloudy/misty to see over to the Lake District. Perhaps I will try it again sometime on a clearer day.

I thought going down would be easier and, at first, it was. By the time 8 was three quarters of the way down, I was wondering if I was going to make it. My legs were so tired they were beginning to malfunction and there was a very real possibility of falling on my face, but I made it there and back without doing that, and of that I am very pleased.

After that there was another trip to Perth to learn about veterinary risk assessments. I met Sue again and this time, we went for a scone at Scone.

Triar thought he’d try his paw at being King of Scotland, but this is only a replica Stone of Scone, and anyway, I didn’t have a crown, so for now, we’re stuck with King Charles.

Despite being autumnal, there were some very pleasing parts of the gardens at Scone Palace.

On Tuesday, now on historical Scottish kings, Sue suggested we should climb Dunsinane Hill, to visit Macbeth, so we did. Again, it wasn’t the best weather, but it was an interesting hilltop with a flat peak where you could see there had been walls and structures in the past, though there wasn’t a great deal left. The views were wonderful though and it must have been a great lookout post.

Wednesday saw me driving back to Dumfries, where I had a day and a half of whirlwind work, trying to ensure I had everything vital done before heading off on holiday.

On Friday, I drove down to Yorkshire to drop off Triar at Mum and Dad’s. We wandered into the Lake District on the way down, to visit Castlerigg Stone Circle, which was lovely, but relatively busy for a non-weekend in late September. I guess to find it really quiet, I may have to try at dawn on a chilly Tuesday in February.

Anyway, that’s it for now. I shall post about my Shetland trip next week. I did so much that it will take some time to write the post. Suffice it to say, I had a wonderful week, catching up with old friends and making some new ones, while learning a whole load the crofting life in Shetland and making some interesting things out of wool.

Have a good week all!