So we planned to leave Stonehaven early.....we ended up leaving at 11:30, so we need to practice departures. On our road trips we are a well oiled machine - we can be up and gone on 20 minutes and leave no trace. Like ninja warriors.....Fat, middle aged, near sighted, bad tempered ninjas - the fiercest of all the ninjas. Another difference we also are squeezing 5 adults and 270 pounds of luggage into a Skoda, not 2 into the Camaro. Anyway, we are off to Tomintoul.....
My wonderful friend Kim is a speech pathologist and cringes when we mispronounce any word, Kim, you need to mentally prepare yourself for our future visit. Just because it is spelt Tomintoul does not mean it’s pronounced that way. It’s pronounced Tam-in-towel. Everything we say sounds harsh - I’ve never felt (or sounded) so American. We are butchering these wonderful names.
Darian was not feeling well, a combination of the windy roads, rich food and alcohol- so Dekker gave her 2 Dimenhydrinate, which he promised would not make her sleepy. Fail. She was a zombie. We stopped at Crathes Castle for a tour and Darian was in an alternate universe. We got to legitimately use the handicap parking spot. I’m so glad we brought her caregiver Michael.
Crathes was beautiful, we are a little early to appreciate the beauty of the gardens but the castle did not disappoint. On each floor of the castle there is a person to explain the history of the room, artifacts in the room or stories of the lairds and ladies through the centuries. Very informative and answered all of our questions. On the fourth floor we met the lovely Bertha Forbes (pronounced Forbis) who was 118 years old and 4’3”. She was so friendly and eplained all of the coats of arms and various books around the the room. I loved Birdie (my new name for her) and I wanted to take her with us to pronounce words properly and explain different parts of the Highlands and rub my feet. Alas, Scotland too frowns upon kidnaping.
We told Bertha that Mike is a Gordon......silence........awkward silence......... Bertha slowly turned to Mike and raised her fists. Apparently Forbes and Gordon’s are historic enemies. Michael apologized for all the wrongs committed against the Forbes on behalf of the Gordon’s but I think The Little B (my new, new name for her) questioned his sincerity because she pulled out a binder of newspaper clippings and other documentation about the Forbes/Gordon history. Who knew we stumbled upon the Scottish Hatfield’s and McCoy’s? Little Bertha has a lot of pent up anger and has been preparing for a Gordon meeting for the last 118 years. Unfortunately Mike left his binder - “The Shitty Things Forbes Did to Gordon’s” at home so he was ill prepared for the battle. We left/were escorted out of the castle but Mike vows to return and raze the castle (I am claiming rights to the future book).
Just a quick history lesson: the Gordon’s supported Mary Queen of Scots (catholic) and Forbes supported her son James VI (Protestant). There was a long-running feud between the Forbes and Gordon families which culminated with two full scale battles - first The Battle of Tillieangus and then The Battle of Craibstone. The 6th Lord Forbes’s youngest son known as Black Aurther Forbes was killed at the Battle of Tillieangus. Legend has it that “he stooped down to quench his thirst and one of the Gordons gave him his death blow through an open joint in his armour“.
Now on to our new house on the Delnabo (I know how you are pronouncing it and you’re wrong) Estate. We have rented the gamekeepers house and it is so cute. A very rural location so we’re right at home. There are lots of bunnies, pheasants, ducks, chickens and grouse that wander through the yard. We have named our resident hen Beatrice. She is quite stunning - as chickens go.
The Delnabo cottage is very quaint and everything you would expect a Highland cottage to be. Looking forward to our visit.
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