East Coast Jaunt

Today we had our breakfast at a Garden Centre. While we were there we could have bought a waterproof jacket, boots, Polar fleece, crockery, Scottish souvenirs, BBQs, knick knacks, beds and bedding, kitchen gadgets or old fashioned lollies. The eating area is able to cater for about 100 people and on Sundays someone plays the grand piano and another person the guitar. There were a few plants around too.

We headed down the road towards Nairn, went to the beach where Alex reminisced about going there in a bus with the Sunday School and having Fish and Chips on the way home at Granton on Spey. At the harbour there was a statue of a Fishwife. The detail was fantastic especially the plain stitch knitting on the cardigan opening, the texture of the rope and the flesh on the fish. In her basket were birds’ eggs, a scale, herring and little packages. In her creel was a box. I’m always disappointed when I can’t find the artist’s name anywhere on a sculpture.

The old Abbey ruins at Kinloss were interesting as were the gravestones, some have carvings of skulls and bones which seemed to be tied in ribbons or scrolls. There were many skippers and shipbuilders buried there including an Australian buried in the 1800s. The language on many tombstones was archaic and some were highlighted by moss growing in the carved letters.

Burghead is a town built on the site of an old Pictish Fort, we couldn’t get into the Visitors Centre or the Well because they don’t open until May. The town is situated on a narrow spit and the streets and very narrow lanes run parallel along the spit. The houses are impressive solid stone structures mostly two storey but some low houses with front doors ideal for the vertically challenged.

It was a relief to get to Hopeman with its well tended facilities! The wind was so strong there that the rigging wires on the boats were singing. We walked until our eyes were streaming then came back to the car and drove to where I knew there was a geocache where I could leave something.

From there we made our way back “home” via Lossiemouth, Elgin and Forres. Even the main roads were narrow and it seemed that some farmers took their massive machines to town for their shopping.

Arrived home in time for Alex to get into the kitchen to make dinner and give Lena a break.

Detail on her clothing and the rope holding her creel.

Old English on a gravestone.

Short people only safely enter.

He says it’s a bargain!

Why wouldn’t you bring the tractor to town?