The Journey

Today we ventured to a few castles and a garden.

1st up is the Ardmaddy Castle & gardens a short trip from where we are staying. The drive up to the castle and gardens is quite stunning as we pass moss covered stonewalls on both sides and the canopy seems to close in on us. We pull into the car park and immediately a young timid female Labrador comes out to greet us. Well off to a pretty good start I’d say. The gardens opens up into a wonderland of native plants and flowers. I must say I have a weakness for some gardens and this one gets me buckling to my knees. I’m not a big fan of the typical English gardens with their topiaries & their manicured look, well this one has very little of that. Plants are left to their own natural shapes and sizes but not overly crowded as to seem unkept. My eyes seem to dart from one side of the paths to the other and I do recognize a large majority of the plants which pleases me to some degree. We walk through a few gates to even more areas that call out to spend more time there with them. Unfortunately, it begins to rain a little harder and we vow to leave but to come back and explore further before we depart this part of Scotland.

5 Stars for sure.

Oh yes the Castle was pretty nice too, although it’s apparently a private area under some renovations so we didn’t get very close.

Next up is the Dunstaffnage Castle and Chapel it is a partially ruined castle in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. Pretty interesting castle that we were able to walk through and learn some of its history.

Tomorrow’s original trip to the Isle of Mull has been postponed due to the possibility of nasty weather. We have been told that when the weather gets bad (windy) they sometimes suspend ferry service to & from the island and we don’t want to get caught over there. So tomorrow we plan on going to Kilmartin.

“If you want to be happy, be.” – Leo Tolstoy

Just wanted to give a GREAT BIG SHOUTOUT & THANKS to several folks watching and taking care of our fur babies (Penny, Xena, Willow, KP, Macey J, & Nellie). We can enjoy our time in Scotland knowing that our critters are being well cared for back home.

• Thank you Susan & Kim for taking care of & medicating Willow ❤️
• Thank you Jane (& Dan) & Susan for taking care of Penny & Xena ❤️
• Thank you Monica & Allen & Marty for taking care of KP ❤️
• Thank you Kyle, Emily, & John for taking care of Macey J & Nellie ❤️

“It Takes a Village”
– Anonymous

Well guess what? Yep, another rainy and windy start to the day so our plans are changed once again. It typically rains quite a bit in Scotland but apparently our timing has coincided with the remnants of hurricane Lee last week and storm Agnes this week which has resulted in even stronger winds and rain. Truth be told it hasn’t really kept us from doing anything and has only changed the timing that we do it.

Even on the rainiest days there are periods where the sun shines and it’s a glorious day.

You see in Scotland when we say that we often have four seasons in one day we do actually mean it, the weather really is that changeable.

– Anonymous

Trip to Kilmartin

Today several of us are feeling kind of puny but we decide to take a road trip to Kilmartin.

Kilmartin (Scottish Gaelic: Cille Mhàrtainn, meaning “church of Màrtainn”^[1]) is a small village in Argyll and Bute, western Scotland. It is best known as the centre of Kilmartin Glen, an area with one of the richest concentrations of prehistoric monuments and historical sites in Scotland. It contains over 800 monuments within a six-mile (ten-kilometre) radius. It is home to Kilmartin Museum and the Kilmartin Hotel.

Kilmartin is only about 36 miles from where were staying but its about an hour and a half drive. The roads are narrow and the scenery is gorgeous. The small towns with their houses that are only feet off the roadways are a sight to see. We take a nice walk to see some of the Cairns and standing stones before returning and having lunch at the Kilmartin Hotel. We then head back to our home base for a relaxing afternoon.

“The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” — Dalai Lama