17th
July 2017 (Monday)
.... 08.00 We have another “bright and breezy”
morning.... a nice morning for doing things.
I’m driving up to Auchnagatt, stopping at “Peggy Scott’s” for
breakfast. My ‘plan’ is to go over the
‘Cairn o’ Mount’ to Crathes; I want to get a few photos of the house (or
what remains of it) that we lived
 |
| Cairn o' Mount road - south side. |
in from 1943 – 47. Slight ‘flap on’ I’ve just remembered that
the car is at the other end of the Ferry High Street. The next ‘update’ will be from “The Backhill
of Inkhorn” (Auchnagatt).
19.00 I am now at “Backhill of Inkhorn” after a
nice drive up; I was going to say
uneventful, but the journey did have one ‘event’: I arrived at Ganochy Bridge to find the road
was ‘Closed’ for repairs to the bridge.
Someone must have hidden any signs there were previous to arriving at the
bridge; I wasn’t the only one to have to
retrace my ‘steps’ and travel a few miles North on the A90 to the next Fettercairn
turn off. Even that ‘event’ didn’t
spoil the drive.... it was a gorgeous day, ‘wall to wall’ sunshine, and I was
enjoying myself.
I
left Ivy at 08.50 ... and arrived at “Peggy
Scott’s”, just after 10.00. where I had a ‘Full Peggy Scott’s Breakfast”; before, eventually, getting onto the Cairn o’
Mount road. I stopped at the ‘viewpoint’
to phone Iain... and had a chat with a couple who
 |
| Myrebird, Crathes. |
were about to have lunch in
their ‘camper van’. From the ‘Cairn o’ Mount’ I made my way by a
devious route (I got slightly lost) to Myrebird, Crathes, to take some photos
of the house we lived in from 1943 -47.
That
was a sad mission, even though it brought back happy memories; because, though you wouldn’t think so to
look at it now, we had four happy years at Myrebird. I think we were the last family to live in
the house, though a ‘travelling person’ lived in it for some months. It’s
hard to paint a picture of what it was like then ; but I remember many ‘Bothy Ballad’ type evenings...
in the days before television became the ‘norm’. Sadly I found a dead ewe and her lamb
inside the house: all that’s
left of both mother and lamb, is fleece resting on bones.
 |
| Living room. |
The good news is that a Barn Owl has taken
up residence.... I like that. I know
this because when I went in, it ‘floated’ out.... as only Barn Owls can. Of course the house had a big vegetable
garden, sheds, and chicken runs etc.... and didn’t stand ‘naked’ as it does
now. I photographed the house from all
angles, inside and out: much as I loved
Myrebird I don’t think I’ll ever go back again.
This
has been an eventful day for ‘the Boy’... and the weather forecast for us tomorrow,
.... “wall to wall” sunshine.
Photographs
: Top – Cairn o' Mount road - south side,Middle – Myrebird, and Bottom - the living room.
