Home Again, Home Again

Final sunrise in Scotland. After almost a month it's hard to say goodbye, especially knowing I probably won't see my friends up there again for a year or so. My last day was greeted with an utterly beautiful rainbow over the Ochils.

(click to enlarge)

I popped to the shop in the shower, and on the way back I thought I'd follow the stream and try to find the end of the rainbow.

I succeeded!

I couldn't get any closer than the second car before it moved behind the trees and up the mountain, but it was so beautiful. Sadly, no crock of gold, but a wonderful sight all the same.

Amazingly, within just a few hours the sunshine had turned to snow!

That's Scotland for you.

The next day I drove about six hours south to mum's. Greeted with a festive fox.

Even our local pub was decked out.

The same night, my aunt arrived from Wales ahead of our annual family gathering, which I'll post about at another date if I can get any pictures. Her lovely dog Peaches came too.

After family had departed, mum and I went to buy a Christmas tree from Welford Christmas Tree Farm, who apparently supply wreaths to Downing Street. They make the most beautiful decorations, including one made entirely from peacock feather. Have yourself a very Gothic Christmas.

They have a petting zoo full of traditional Christmas food - erm, I mean, animals. Even reindeer!

Three-legged Dog

We let the tree settle overnight, then mum and me decorated it and started to put the presents under.

The Wife With the Bratty Plaid

Excellent day walking yesterday in Stirlingshire near Balfron. Paul and I headed out to find the Carlin Stone and the Wife with the Bratty Plaid (the wife clothed in plaid - link to come shortly). 

With OS map in hand we set off into the forest and soon came upon a logging operation.

The world smelled of pine, but it was a sad sight. A sustainable forest, but a 'tree farm' all the same. The machines were in full flow. One minute a standing pine, the next a toppled log. Sad to watch. We took a small path deeper into the woods, away from it all.

The ground was saturated after the recent rains which have caused chaos in the North of England and even brought to life one of the largest waterfalls in the United Kingdom for the first time in centuries. The moisture also brought out a wide selection of fungi, including this nest of honey fungus, which glows in the dark.

And plenty of moss - yes, more of that shortly.

Eventually we came to the edge of the wood, where it gave way to open moorland. The stones were shown as being along the boundary of the forest and the moor. 

Moss on a Gate

The large clumps of heather and grass (lovingly referred to as tribbles) can be a burden and a boon. They keep your feet out of the water, but they're also hard going to trek across. Definitely a work out.

We soon found the Wife with the Bratty Plaid, and both agreed she has a lovely nature. A really nice, if somewhat stumpy, standing stone.

We were trying to work out the name. From a certain angle, the bobble on top sort of looks like a woman's head looking down, pulling her plaid about her for warmth, but it's tenuous. Perhaps it relates to a dressing ritual of local boundary walkers or something like that, or to the moss, but little is written about her.

Pulling Her Plaid About?

There's another slab of stone a little further up the path.

And one just over the fence.

But the most interesting is a lump of rock placed next to her, almost like a table or altar, with thick seams of quartz running through it.

Right, time for some moss shots...

There was just time for a quick cup of coffee before heading on to find the Carlin Stone.

To get there, we had to wade across a marshy stream. The ground was thickly covered in moss, but it moved with the water beneath. We did well on the way there, managing to use clumps of reeds as stepping stones, but on the way back, with feet already soaked, we just waded through it up to our knees.

I got ever so slightly distracted in the woods. There was a gap in the trees and I followed it down. I could see lumps between them that almost looked like a hut. Slightly uncertain, I ventured in and soon discovered that the lumps were clods of up-turned tree root.

I then discovered a set of fairy steps up the side of a tree.

Too cute for words. Moss shot... 

I found a fairy pool. An exchange was made, and suddenly all the light in the woods turned golden. It was very beautiful. By the time I found my way out again, there was just time to see the Carlin Stone (even smaller than the Wife) and have a little snack before we began to lose the light.

I didn't feel so affectionate towards this one, but the landscape was lovely enough in the last of the light.

We made our way back through the forest...

Passing a farm house with its own wind farm. 

And reclaimed Kitty from her desolate spot just as the rains came down. Rather good timing, and a lovely night of red wine and waffling commenced.