A Good Morning in the Highlands

I was the first up on Sunday morning. It was nice to be a guest in somebody else's house where I wasn't compelled to start doing a thousand jobs. As it looked as though nobody else was going to be up soon, I got my shoes on and quietly sneaked out of the cottage.

In addition to the house where we were all staying, there is another little stone cottage on the property that can't be touched by any improvements. It is of great architectural interest (something about the way the beams are put in) so it sits there being all picturesque and home to birds and wee beasties. There is also a stone byer (where the cows used to be kept) with adorable stone steps and a babbling burn for added gorgeousness.

I heard geese earlier while still half asleep in my bed. When I got to the shore Loch Tummel, the geese had already gone. The sunshine more than made up for the lack of geese. It was a glorious morning. Nearby Schiehallion whose name loosely translates from Gaelic as fairy hill of the Caledonians was still partially obscured by a bit of cloud. It was a breathtaking view just the same.

On the shore were a few small remnants of the feast from the night before. A sailboat's keel was found on the shore. Isn't anybody missing this? We stuck it deep into the pebbles and thought it made great sculpture. Henry Moore really doesn't have anything to worry about.

The morning progressed. People got up and were wandering about the dewy garden with mugs of coffee. Blackcurrants were found at the very bottom of the garden and they needed immediate picking! There were also some really good gooseberries (shown above), raspberries and a few unripe blueberries.
I ended up taking about 3 kilos of ripe blackcurrants home. They are all in a pot on my stove as I type this waiting to be turned into jam. I better hurry up before they start to ferment!
When at home, it was such a tedious task to pick blackcurrants. It really is so much more fun to pick berries with your friends. It almost makes me want to plant some new blackcurrant bushes. . . .