Kirrimuir, Cats and Cows

 This post is roughly three weeks late but never mind. XD

Barely a couple of days after returning from Clochan, I got on a train again, this time to Perth, where Heather would be picking me up to stay with her for a few days.

See my previous post for all the Magpie Model related shenanigans, and stick with this for shiny scenery and amusing anecdotes.

Tfw you see a whole field of cobs from the train but can't get
your phone camera out quick enough to catch them all. 😥 .

After meeting the whole family again, I was also reunited with my new favourite cats. (sorry Miko!)

- the ridiculously friendly Aki...

...Toby...

...and the gorgeous but incredibly difficult to photograph, Sullivan.

I haven't had a cat (or any pet for that matter) in literally 18 years, so the novelty of having a cat happily purring on my lap all evening was one I honestly couldn't get tired of.

We spent most of the time talking horse, miniatures and of course, cat, but the rest was spent in the great outdoors, exploring the gorgeous Angus countryside.

Our first port of call was Edzell, which has this very striking arch at the entrance to the town.

A little walk from the main street was the River Esk, and the famous 'shakin brig' - a very wobbly suspension bridge that certainly lives up to its name!

It was a lovely day, so after crossing it, we wandered along the river for a bit, admiring the beautiful variety of stones which made up the banks.

Chatting as we walked, we continued along the path...

 

...until we came across some fields...

...absolutely full...

...of muddy cows and fluffy calves...

I've always thought there's just something inherently good about cows. They've got such pure expressions and come in such a wonderful variety of colours and patterns.

We hung around with them for a while; Heather doing her best bovine impression to catch their attention while I photographed them, which was uncommonly successful. XD

Just past the field was what I assumed was the farmhouse, and there in the garden was the most beautiful border collie I've ever seen.

There was no barking or licking, just a very, very waggy tail and an overall Very Good Dog as we gave him a big fuss. I just wanted to give him a big cuddle though, he looked so lonely in there. :(

We continued walking down the farm tracks, saying hello to some more cows and awwwing at the sight of these two gigantic bulls grooming each other. They were all alone in their equally massive field so it was really sweet to see them being friends.

We finally reached the main road and as the weather was so nice, decided after a quick google maps consultation, to continue on to the right and loop around back to Edzell. We'd already been walking for a couple of hours so it wouldn't take us long to get back as it was a nice simple circular route, with the road on one side of us and some beautifully lit woodland in the other.

Right?

A nice circular route...

Oh.

Another check of google maps an hour or so later revealed that we'd accidentally gone in completely the wrong direction and were miles away from where we thought we were.

Slow clap for us.

Because we hadn't been intending to do much walking at all, neither of us had brought any water or snacks, and with the sun now blaring and our feet aching, the few miles back home seemed like the longest journey ever. At one point I was seriously wondering if I was going to make it back at all, as my feet, which don't do a phenomenal amount of walking in general, were really suffering. It probably didn't help that the majority of the route was in a seemingly endless two mile long stretch of straight road which felt like it went on forever. Eventually we staggered back to Edzel (quite literally) and shuffled painfully into the nearest cafe for some much needed lunch and a sit down. All in all it was only (ha!) eight miles, but as we'd only really intended to go a few hundred metres at the beginning it was rather a lot to recover from!

Luckily I got lots of Aki purrs when I got back to make up for it.

I'm getting aaaaaaall the purrs today. 😍❤

A post shared by Christine Sutcliffe (@lynkhart) on May 1, 2017 at 8:15am PDT

 Another day we ventured out to the 'Saddle Up Ranch' which, while they haven't officially opened yet, were still happy for us to come along and meet some of the horses. They specialise in Western riding and Natural Horsemanship.

We were greeted at the gate by an assortment of dogs, big and small, as well as the most beautiful cat!

Heather's young son came with us this time and was given the chance to groom the adorable miniature Shetland, Bright.

Unfortunately watching the dogs' rough and tumble play proved far more interesting to him than grooming, so we enjoyed some pony time instead. XD

One minor tantrum later (I want a snaaaaaaaack! XD) we watched as one of the horses (Kryztoff) was let out in the arena to blow off some steam. Apparently he didn't like one of the new ponies in the neighbouring field and he was going a bit mad.

While it's never good to see a horse so stressed out, I couldn't help but admire his paces.

One of the staff was in there with him, encouraging him to 'join up' and calm down...

....and gradually...

...after a few minutes...

...he was relaxed and happy enough to stop.

As much as I like the idea behind a lot of  'natural horsemanship', so much of it is needlessly gimmicky and a lot of the techniques are really just common sense and not some magical bond you create with your horse. That said, it was really nice to see how something as simple as quiet and confident body language could make such a huge difference to a horse's behaviour.

After that we went for a short walk at Backwater Reservoir in-between rain showers.

The wind was biting and we didn't linger long. XD

Another visit later was made to the Scottish Antique & Arts Centre where, while we didn't buy anything other than a handful of postcards, we had a good peruse of the items for sale, especially anything horse shaped.

Brass Hartland knockoff

Most were just hilarious though.

Prepare for the understatement of the century.

My final evening there was lovely. Homemade burgers eaten outside by the fire, complete with a variation on the old classic s'mores, this time with chocolate digestives instead of crackers.

Om nom nom.

It was a really lovely evening, and we ended up getting out a couple of bottles of bubble liquid for the hell of it, and adults and child alike I think had far too much fun chasing down and popping them.

Let's face it, you're never too old for bubbles.

Before I left the next day we sqeezed in a visit to the best craft shop I think I've ever visited before (Letham Crafts) and went on a quick walk in the countryside. (emphasis on the quick this time!)

It was beautiful weather, so we went for a paddle in a burn, I took some photos of one of my Skyrim figures (which I'm sure I'll post about eventually) and even spotted a couple of green/black pheasants en route back!

Heather also managed to find a pheasant skull by the burn which she very kindly gave to me. I kinda regretted it when I got it home and started cleaning it as it wasn't completely skeletonised and still had eyeballs. 😬😖 It looks far nicer now though, and I even found it a friend amongst the bits of grass and weed it was tangled in!

Weird thing to end the post on I know, but I had a lovely time as ever, and can't wait to visit again!

I don't do this kind of thing often but I'll be posting about yet another trip away at some point this week - our usual family holiday to Dumfries and Galloway - then it'll be back to something a little more modelly/doll shaped. I promise!