Scotland, ho!

Posted by David
(Originally written in January, just haven't been able to finish and post.  Apologies).

Exams are finally over and not a moment too soon!   Debi and I were both beginning to look a little frayed around the edges; time to retreat to a quiet place where we could unplug, recover from the stresses of Uni, the holidays, and work, and just enjoy being together.

We'd spent a few days at the Tower House in Dunning this time last year, and had really enjoyed it.   It's just a few miles northwest of us, in Perthshire.  

The Tower House and the adjoining building were once the family Chapel of the Rollo Family, attached to their sprawling estate house, Duncrub Park.

Alas, the main part of the building was demolished in the 1950s.

However, across the road from the Chapel and Tower is a house that was originally the laundries of Duncrub Park.   Standing at the edge of the property line, it's fun to imagine what the house must have looked like when it was whole.

Last year, the fog set in as we returned from dinner in town one evening.  I joked as we set out across the first field that we might disappear into the mists, as in an old Faerie Tale.   Debi, of course, wasn't very happy with me.

By the time we got to the middle of the field, we could barely see the road at our feet.  The mists were eerie in the woods, and the skelletal trees and the framework of the polytunnels on the farms took on strange forms.   We missed this fork in the road that would have led us to the Tower, and wandered off into the grounds along the dirt road.

We got far along, when I decided to turn back.   We soon saw the dark silhouette of the tower rising out of the mist - a strangely welcome sight.    As it turns out we were never in any danger - the road only goes so far past the house, but at the time, it was a bit...em...well, I knew we'd be fine all along.

Though I swear I heard some muffled chuckling off to the side of the road every so often.

The grounds are extensive - mostly divided into farms and a golf course.   There are some great walks along the property, and a nice path that takes you on a circuitous path from town to the main road.

The light is wonderful, and I did my best to capture it.

It's a short walk through the fields and woods to town, and we had a great dinner at the warm and friendly Kirkstyle Inn. 

We listened to music, read, worked on projects (see Debi's sewing blog) and watched movies.  There's also badminton and ping-pong next door, in the old Chapel, and that was a lot of fun too.
 All in all, a great, relaxing holiday.
Alas, it's back to work now...until the next getaway.
More pics below.



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