I WAS TOLD THE SECRET TO STAYING

Alidstar's Voice Dropped Low....

I am going to skip ahead.  When I was packing up my car to leave Inverness, a gentleman was walking his dog down the street (a very cute jack russell).  He stopped and said hello and asked if I was leaving.  I said yes, my time was over in Inverness, but I was moving on to Forres. And to other places after that. We introduced ourselves.  "How long would I be in Scotland," Alidstar asked.  I said, "I do not know. It's open-ended.  It depends on how long the government will let me stay."  So then his voice dropped and he asked, "Do you know how to stay as long as you like?  You get married!"  I said I was aware of that.  He then asked with a twinkle in his eye, "Can I have your number?"  I chuckled and said "I don't think so.  But it's been nice chatting with you."  Those Scottish lads are so friendly!

One thing I really like about the UK is that they have the weirdest sounding pubs and small shops.  Here's a couple that I snapped pics of during my walk-a-bout. I ate at the Grumpy Chef and had the best hamburger on my trip so far. They were also a very hip group too!

All the menus were in pots - cleva!

My B&B was downtown so I did a bit of walking around.  The weather had turned, but it didn't stop this Alaskan Girl.

I thought this was a most interesting shape for a restaurant called The Kitchen Braissere. The river was behind me so I couldn't get far enough away to capture the entire building, but on the right was a straight wall down.  The buildings were close together so they maximized space.  I think it probably had another building here before and the owner tore it down and built this one.  The buildings on either side were very old.

I posted on FB the trip I took to the Leakey's Book Shop.  But I would be remiss if I didn't add it here too.  It was so filled with books, prints, and maps it took me a long time to leave (besides it was raining anyway). I belong to a FB book group and when I posted it there, one of the followers told me that it was an old church building.  I can believe it. The alcoves and windows looked church-ee.  And there were many churches in the vicinity and also on the adjacent street called Church Street.  I thought the name fit.

I like that this sign is in Gaelic too.

Wow - right??

Here are a couple of random shots~

Tipples have to be tastier, right?

And while I'm on the subject of things in grocery stores, there are these two.

Pretty sure these are pop tarts in the US.

I traveled up to Golspie about 75 miles away on the North Sea to Dumrobin Castle - home of the Sutherlands.  The castle has seen some times since it was built starting in the 1200s.  It's not as white as in all the pictures I reviewed when choosing to go.  I think maybe the family is on hard times as the castle could use a little TLC.  I really didn't get to see too much inside (compared to its size) - the garden was beautifully landscaped.  BUT, I was allowed to take pictures and there were some beautiful things to capture.

Off the balcony.  I really liked the clouds and that's the North Sea shimmering in the sun.

An antique throne - It's where the nickname came from!

A little selfie in the parking lot

The left & right side of the garden

And this beautiful courtyard between turrets.

My last big trip from Brodie was my drive up to Castle Mey - the Queen Mother's home when she wasn't in London.  She bought the run down castle after her King George died in 1952.  Renovations were completed by 1955 and she stayed there often until her death in 2002.  She left the castle to a trust.  An interesting factoid I learned about her was that she was one of the founding members of the Caithness Angus Cattle Club.  Apparently in addition to her love of dogs & horses, she dabbled in bovine genetics too.

The Castle is right on the North Sea too - at the top of Scotland.  

It was a long drive with twisty skinny roads and lots of traffic (all kinds of equipment - beyond farm type) and big hills.  A couple of times I even got a bit nervous at the view.  I also thought Fiona was going to get me lost again.  But she came through and I made it there (besides the time I was going off highway A9 to B870 and got on the right side!). That was definitely operator error and not Fiona's doing.  

Oh, and Tesco (local grocery & financial management chain across the UK) had a HUGE windmill farm I drove through.

Pictures inside were forbidden inside Castle Mey. Compared to other castles and palaces I've visited that feel "staged" (which of course, they are), this one felt homey.  I wanted to plop right down in a chair they looked to comfy.  She was short, like me. So they were all my height! But I also toured the Walled Garden.  As it's into Fall, all the blooming is mostly gone.  It was still pretty and I could appreciate how it would look in the summer.

Enjoying the sun peaking through.  It was very windy.  As it almost always is this far north surrounding by the sea.

Here is the last one taken of the sea.  The land you see far off in the distance (top of pic) are the Orkney's.  That's a trip for another time!

And lastly, I say farewell to Cormack Cottage here on Brodie Castle estates.  I stayed a whole 7 days - longer than anywhere so far.  I'm off to the Isle of Skye by way of Eilean Donan Castle tomorrow.

PS - The spacing in this post is a bit wonky.  I'll get it figured out - promise!  But it was late so I declared myself done!  

I do appreciate you reading~