Cluny House Gardens

We were pretty limited with what we could do in Tummel as it had to be outdoors, only a short walk and the weather wasn't great. 

I found a house which had an impressive wild-ish garden. And best of all, it had 2 redwood trees and supposedly red squirrels, which we didn't actually expect to see. But we did!!!! I tried to get a photos but he/she was very quick and I just got a tail.

The redwood was near the start. I think Mom had a religious experience. She has always wanted to see one but never thought she would. I was so happy she got too. Both mom and dad were amazed. And it is huge!

Looking up.

The fuzzy thing int he middle is a red squirrel tail. Honest.

The walk around the garden took about 1 and 1/2 hours and was on a hillside so we took it slow. It was lovely and I would love to see it in the summer.

I tried to get some nice photos of mom and dad but they (in particular mom) was not into it. I got a few nice ones, as well as a few were mom looked like she would happily push me off the hillside. Honestly I only took a couple of minutes.

Mom is not amused

Photo war!

200 yr old fallen pine.

Ruthven Barracks

The last part of our day traveling to Tummel was a quick stop at Ruthven Barracks. We nearly didn't stop as it started chucking it down when we parked but cleared up 190 mins later and dad and I decided to brave it (mom's too cold and stayed in the car). It was worth it. There were even some bits of blue sky oddly. 

The barracks where built by the English in the 1700s to house troops to protect the area against the Jacobite rebels who did eventually take the barracks but they had to work for it. 

Chimmney

Great view

Never a straight road.

Arrow shooting window

Stables

It is even steeper than it looks

After this we drove to the last stop. (Well I drove - I didn't let mom or dad drive until the end of the next week. They had issues staying awake, especially  mom.)

5000yr Old Tree

After a big day travelling on the Monday we didn't go far on the Tuesday. Mom and dad insisted on going out so we went to see the oldest living tree Europe and maybe the world. The Fortingall Yew tree is 5000 yrs old and is in the yard of a church. (Well it was there first and a pagan symbol so they decided to build a church nearby.) Sadly they have had to put a wall around it as people suck. They were climbing over it and breaking off bits. It used to be 17m around but people used to set fires inside it and eventually used to walk and ride horses through the middle. 

Despite all the abuse it has suffered it is still alive and green. It was so lovely and humbling. This tree will have seen it all. 

The church was open and we went in. It is a very pretty little church. There used to be a 1000 yr old bell instead but someone stole it! People really suck!

Old bell tower

It was rainy on and off and cold so difficult to find outside places to go. So we ended up at Kenmore on the banks of Lock Tay where we could park looking out of the Loch. Dad and I went for a walk while mom had a nap in the car. 

View from the caravan

Loch and wood sculptures.

Sadly I don't have any photos from our weekend in Aviemore. Mom and dad both came down with covid on the saturday so they spent the weekend sleeping and I spent it looking after them. Luckily I had had covid 3-4 weeks before so I was still immune (I tested often and didn't catch it again). So I got to play nurse maid. (I am NOT a good nurse!)

I amused myself with some craft things I had brought with and the view form the lodge was pretty. I spent some time just watching the sheep. So it wasn't a complete loss.

View from the lodge balcony

We had to move to the last stop on the Monday so they had to get up. We had 8 hours to kill between leaving Aviemore and being allowed into the caravan at Tummel Bridge. I managed to find a few places which were outdoors, only short walks and on the way. 

The first stop was Loch Morlick which is not far outside Aviemore and has a beach. We took a walk and some photos. The weather was so different from last week. Autumn has arrived and it was really cold (below 5C). 

Nice little beach.

Even the ducks don't look too amused at the weather

I think they were cold. 

The second stop was was near Feshie Bridge which is (in theory) on the way to Tummel. We took the more interesting back roads. There is a park on the way which was a sculpture walk by an artist called Frank Bruce. Due to some high winds some the sculptures had been taken down which was a shame. But the ones we saw were cool. 

This one was a bit freaky

Most of the sculptures are created in wood and not varnished so they will eventually rot down back to where they came from which I thought was pretty cool. There were a couple of stone ones as well.

I did like the windy paths through the woods. Sadly it started to rain again (this was the worst day, weather-wise) and mom was really cold by the time we got back to the car. So we had our lunch and tea/coffee in the car. (It pays to be prepared and this is not the first time we have had sandwiches and a flash in the car watching the rain.)