We've been away for a long weekend to Crieff, in Perthshire, about an hour to the north of Edinburgh.
We stayed in a house in the grounds of Crieff Hydro, among the trees.
This is the view from the porch.
When we go to Crieff, we always walk up the little hill behind the house. It's called the Knock, from the Gaelic "cnoc", meaning "hill". Not a very inspired name...
but the views from the top are lovely.
You can see for miles...
in every direction.
Why do we live in a city when there are places like this? I would like to have that white house in the middle of this photo.
It was sunny but a bit hazy.
This is Crieff from the path downwards.
Another day we went to Drummond Castle, which has the most amazing topiary garden. We had it almost to ourselves. Do click to enlarge this - it just shows what can be done with very few actual flowers.
Distant cows. What a peaceful scene. I'm not so keen on close-up cows. They're a bit large for my liking.
I'm glad I don't have to trim that box hedging.
Or any of it, in fact. We kept waiting for the Red Queen or the White Rabbit to pop out from behind a tree.
My lovely son-in-law stopped this one from falling over.
And Mr Life, Daughter 1, my mum and son-in-law all got a bit silly.
Distant cows. What a peaceful scene. I'm not so keen on close-up cows. They're a bit large for my liking.
I'm glad I don't have to trim that box hedging.
Or any of it, in fact. We kept waiting for the Red Queen or the White Rabbit to pop out from behind a tree.
My lovely son-in-law stopped this one from falling over.
And Mr Life, Daughter 1, my mum and son-in-law all got a bit silly.Who was looking after the cats, you ask? Well, for the first and last nights, we abandoned them! Karen, our nice neighbour, popped in and out, adminstering cat biscuits and prawns, however, and shut them in overnight. And for the two nights in between, Daughter 2 and/or her actor boyfriend were here, having driven back since they had a wedding to go to. So our furry friends weren't totally neglected.
They seemed pleased to see us when we returned, however.
Back to work tomorrow. But not for long. Three and a half days and I'm free for seven weeks. Hooray for being a teacher. (Not gloating or anything...)
That topiary garden is amazing! But I'm glad, too, that I don't have to trim the hedges. Whew - what a lot of work that would be, getting them even.
ReplyDeleteHurray for summer vacation! I also have only a few days left at school and I'm very much looking forward to the time off (although I have some work to bring home. sigh.)
What an amazing topiary garden!
ReplyDeleteThose fields are lovely, but where's the gorse?? Do Shropshire and Ireland have a gorse monopoly?
ReplyDeleteAmazing Topiary garden. It all looks so COOL, while we are melting here already....And it's only June!
Love all your photos I just had a nice walk through Scotland Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteHugs Mary.
Lovely.
ReplyDeleteSilly is good.
That topiary garden looks like somewhere that my two boys would have great fun. Running, hiding; what a great garden.
ReplyDeleteLovely scenery. After much searching I found where you went on my map ( I like to know ).I think I prefer the wide open spaces , to the topiary garden, amazing though it is. ( could well put a body off gardening, all that precision. ) Would make a lovely quilt pattern.
ReplyDeleteRoll on holidays!
Drummond Castle gardens look quite lovely. We have driven through Crieff on our way somewhere from Perth maybe we should stop and explore a while.
ReplyDeleteOhmygosh -- those hedges are amazing! This was the vacation I meant in my question -- I worded it wrong -- I knew this trip was sneaking up here somewhere. It looks like the weather was beautiful for you. Someday I'm going to visit in the summer! ;-) LOVE Love those cute pictures with the goofy family!
ReplyDeleteThose are BEAUTIFUL pictures - what an amazing time you had! - and oh, Isabelle, how wonderful all that cool green and wide-open-spaces must have all smelled!
ReplyDeleteCrieff is a lovely part of the world. Husband went to school near there and whilst he hated his school, he has a lasting fondness for the countryside around it! (I think Ewan McGregor comes from Crieff too, doesn't he?)
ReplyDeleteIt looks gorgeous. But those formal gardens, while amazing, leave me rather cold. So much order, so much pruning. Not enough flowers. I fancy that all those clipped plants must be aching to be allowed to grow.
ReplyDeleteDid the passion for wildernesses come a little later? In Collodi, where the writer of Pinocchio was born, there are wonderful formal gardens replete with flowers, ascending a hillside, with some birds and animals, which back on to a wilderness.
What a gorgeous weekend getaway .... the castle is like something from a fairytale!
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely place - gorgeous scenery and great weather from the look of it. As we head into winter here - one day with a max of 2.6 celsius already, NOT normal! - I do hope you have a wonderful and refreshing summer.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely place - gorgeous scenery and great weather from the look of it. As we head into winter here - one day with a max of 2.6 celsius already, NOT normal! - I do hope you have a wonderful and refreshing summer.
ReplyDeleteI fear I'm parroting the other commenters, but - amazing! You visit such wonderful places. Thank you for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteI just love doing these tours around the countryside with my cyberspace friends! Beautiful green scenes, peaceful and no doubt quiet. My recent photos are quite different of course, showing a small Aussie town in all its brown-ness. Love it to bits though.
ReplyDelete