June 5
We have to leave our nice Air B&B today. We have another wonderful breakfast and chat with Richard who tells about the family pictures on the walls of the dining room. Before we leave, Melodie wants to check out a liquor store that is supposed to have a wide selection of gins. Melodie is hoping to find a special one that Ole has requested. No luck, the store is closed.
We have about a 2 hour drive ahead of us. We stop for gas and a rest stop but end up going the opposite direction from the petro station. It's a beautiful little detour. A narrow little road along a stream. After a few miles, we decide to turn around. We pull into the driveway of a cute little stone house. A well dressed elderly woman comes out and tells us where the petro station is and signals to us when it is safe to back out onto the road. What a sweetie!
We are pleasantly surprised at the petro station. The car rental place had warned us about $100 bills to fill the tank. We were at half a tank so were expecting a bill around $50 but no it's only $26! I think the $100 is for the fuel only car that we ended up not getting. Our hybrid must have a smaller tank.
The Highland Folk Museum is an outdoor affair. Unfortunately, the oldest part that depicted Scottish life in the 1700's has been destroyed by storms and is closed. But we can see the 1800's and 1900s section. A wonderful older gentleman greets us at the thatched house telling us stories about sons leaving to go fight in wars only to return to find their families have had to leave the area. Helps bring it all to life.
Further on are houses from the early 20th century. I see things that were in my grandmother's house.
Oh dear, I start seeing things that I remember from my childhood. I guess I'm feeling ancient.
They have farm equipment that I remember my father saying they used on his farm. I can remember the uses of some of them.
It's lunch time (well past lunch time - 3:00) so we have sandwiches at the cafe on site. I have a delicious humus sandwich on homemade wheat bread. Delicious
From here, we head to the place for the demonstration of the sheep dogs herding the sheep. We have some trouble finding the place but after a few phone calls, arrive at the correct location on time for the demonstration. The shepherd comes up in an old pick-up and 6 dogs bound out ready for action. There are 3 puppies that stay in the truck. With whistles and vocal commands, each dog knows what to do, where to go. They are really fast and the sheep respond quickly.
Bringing the sheep up near to where we were.
Keeping them together.
This is the one he hooked to sheer.
Marilyn volunteered to try her hand.
So did Melodie. The dogs are there to make sure she does it right.
It all comes out in one big sheet if you do it right. You start on the tummy.
I think this one is going home with me.
Now it is time to find our next "home" for the next 3 nights. GPS gets us close but that isn't good enough. We ask a human for directions and we get closer. Yes, this looks like the apartment complex but the numbers don't align at all with the numbers on our reservation. There is a little store where we stop, show the young woman our reservation. She is stymied as well and lets us use her phone to call the owner. Yeah! We get directions to the place and where to find the key. We really don't want to go out at this late hour to find dinner. I volunteer to make dinner using what I find in the convenient store. I feel like it is a quick fire challenge on Top Chef. The store closes in 5 minutes, see what you can make. I find chicken breasts, broccoli, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, oil and vinegar salad dressing, butter and I hit the jackpot - marinated feta cheese, olives, artichoke combo. Let's go! Fresh strawberries for dessert.
Now we just have to get into the apartment. We end up having to ask a neighbor to help us find a key to the building. Great. We're into the building, bring in our luggage. Oh dear, the key goes into the lock and turns but we still can't open the door. We fiddle for about 20 minutes and then resort to going back to the neighbor. They Try for about 5 minutes, and then with great finesse, manage to get the door open. Yeah! Now I can finish my Quick Fire challenge. Everyone agreed that it was a winner with the bottle of chilled white wine.
We got a load of laundry in and are ready for bed. Another wonderful day!
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