Sunday, May 4 - Aberfeldy, Scotland

(See pictures on Flickr - the set is UK 08/Aberfeldy)

We are in Aberfeldy, Scotland. There may or not be a genetic memory of things past, but there is definitely a childhood memory of hills and valleys and glens and trees and rushing water and birds and narrow curving roads - and all these things are here. Being here in Aberfeldy is like being home, especially at home in West Virginia, especially in the northern parts from where I originally came.
We have a detatched cottage here, the biggest lodgings we will have on our trip to the U.K. We have two bedrooms and two baths down stairs and kitchen and a nice-sized living room, complete with balcony, upstairs. From the balcony, we can listen to the rushing waters of a stream feeding the River Tay below, watch the grouse as they soar through the air, perhaps readying their nests, listen to the song of other birds accompanied by the loud caw-cawing of crows nearby, and watch the young spring branches of the trees sway in the cool breeze. It's an ideal place for those who love the outdoors with the close-by conveniences of a town and warm lodgings.
We were delayed for about an hour taking ownership of our week at the Moness Country Club because they were putting new furniture in our cottage. We're not sure just what's new, but it all looks in very good condition, so maybe they replaced everything. Our beds are especially comfortable last night, and I don't think that's just because we were so tired from yesterday's driving. As in other parts of Europe, we sleep under one comforter encased in a duvet, but the one on the bed we choose last night was especially just right - warm and cozy.
The temperatures are cool here, and each room has a wall radiator. Because we're charged for the electricity we use while we're here, we're selective about which rooms we heat. We closed off one bedroom, with twin beds - each holding our open sets of luggage, and we heated the master bedroom a little. The master bedroom has its own bathroom, so the heat from the bedroom makes the bathroom warm enough to shower. The other bathroom is connected to the hallway where it's much cooler.
The arrangement is definitely suited to an economy of utilities because you need to heat only those rooms you choose; but the lack of a bathroom upstairs means you must go down the stairs.
There's a Murphy bed in the living-dining area (up stairs), so the unit is suitable to sleep six comfortably. For two people, we have ample space, and we're enjoying it a lot.
Today, we're going to set out to find the Church of Scotland for morning services lead by a circuit pastor at 11:15. We think it's within walking distance of our cottage, but we aren't quite sure yet how the town lies from our location, even though we drove through town a couple times yesterday afternoon doing our grocery shopping. We found that we left our cereals (those yummy cereals) on the boat in a cabinet - they're the only things we had hidden away, and now I wish we hadn't, so we made a second trip to the Co-op to replace them. We had already been to the Co-op, so I knew exactly where to go and exactly what they had, and it was a short trip.
Driving these roads is tiring, and many roads in this part of Scotland - the Central Highlands, are narrow and twisty. I promised Lauren, once I realized how tiring it would be for him to do much driving, that I wouldn't request that we go far. I had originally thought we might make it to Inverness, but at 90 miles away, it looks a bit far. We'll see. We will catch as many local sights as possible, though. I especially want to see the stone circle at Croftmoraig so I can take a picture of it for Judy; and I would love to look at some traditional Scottish crafts, wools, and Highlands clothing. I would like to find a pub (public house) that has live music, too, but it looks like most of those are in Dundee, quite a ways away from here. We are a little early in the season for much entertainment, but there are so many beautiful and interesting things here that we will be ok without that added benefit.