Edinburgh and the House in the Woods By a Wee Loch

SUNDAY - Whilst in the Edinburgh area we are staying in a self catering, three bedroom cabin on a 100 acre property belonging to Colin and Carol. They have their own loch (lake in english) with woods  (area of trees) right to the waters edge. Our cabin is nestled in the woods.

The weather was delightful when we arrived however the forecasts were predicting wind and rain for Sunday and they were correct. On Sunday morning the scene through the large, double glazed bedroom window was not encouraging us to leave our toasty warm bed. During the afternoon the weather improved a little so we ventured out for a drive to Peebles.

MONDAY - Happy Birthday Nancy. After a chat with Jayson, Tim and Laura and a text from Dean we went into Edinburgh for some site seeing. We did a few of the site seeing, open top bus tours and Bryan spent a few hours at Edinburgh Castle (Nancy had been previously).

TUESDAY - Back to Edinburgh, this time Bryan spent the day at the Scotland Peoples Centre trying to work out where he came from and Nancy did another bus tour and checked out some of the shops in Edinburgh.

WEDNESDAY - We were on to move again heading north via a detour to St Andrews - the home of golf.

The cottage in the woods by a wee loch. This is where we stayed while in the Edinburgh area. The  temperature dropped considerably and the strong wind made it feel even colder. The fire place got a good workout.

Sunday afternoon the weather improved so we took a drive to Peebles and beyond.

Some inquisitive sheep.

The entrance to Edinburgh Castle. Some may recognise this scene from the annual Military Tattoo that is  seen all around the world. In fact they record this event in August at the conclusion of a major festival. As you can see from the photo below they were still pulling down the stands.

This photo taken from the gates looking down towards the city.

Edinburgh Castle is perched on the top of a high rocky crag. What Military Tattoo TV viewers would not realise is that immediately behind the stands that the crowds are sitting on, there is .......... well ........ nothing. 

This Castle has lots of history. Many have tried to breach its defences, none have succeeded.  The gentleman above is explaining some of the weaponry used. He actually loaded it (minus the shot) and discharged it. Loud ....... but not as loud as the cannon below.

This monster cannon used 55 kgs of powder to launch one of those150 kgs steel balls. No, this  one has not been fired for many years.

A model of Edinburgh Castle shows the steep terrain surrounding the walls.

Any attacker would have been at a considerable disadvantage due to the steep approaches and high walls.

Wednesday morning - the weather was much more agreeable.

A short walk from the house is the loch. The large house at the far end  of the loch is where  the owners/hosts Carol and Colin live. They were very friendly.

The driveway into the property. The moss on the road shows that the weather here is a little different to the Tanami Desert.

On the road again - the white dots are sheep while the black dots in the distance are silage bales.

St Andrews - the home of golf. Just above Bryan's left shoulder there is a group teeing off.

This is one of the group. The first tee at the famous Old St Andrews Course. This is where the British Open is played. They have six other courses here as well but this one has all the history.

The Old Course is to the far left. The New Course (1895) in the middle and the Jubilee Course to the right. There are no trees and the wind usually blows quite freshly from left to right. The North Sea is just away to the right of this photo.

The fairways of the Old Course were better than some greens we have seen. The greens had a lot of slope.

Back in the mountains again. This is where we stayed Wednesday night - The Spittal of Glenshee. The photo below explains the name. They do have interesting names in Scotland!