Day out

L and I had an excellent day out around Sutherland, whilst Mr A got on with various kitchen things back here.

With a couple of side trips in hand (Meikle Ferry (No Ferry), where it was blowing a hoolie and the south shore of Loch Fleet, a few seals and a light breeze), we fetched up in Rogart just after the Christmas market had started to find the car park almost full. And zero wind. It was quite odd. The market is a popular place and the newly renovated Mart makes a great event space. We picked up a few bits and pieces, including some charcuterie and a lovely woollen cushion which L gifted us for the house, and had bacon rolls. Not that we really deserved them, but they are always hard to turn down.

We drove over the top to Brora, stopping a couple of times along Loch Brora for photographs and I showed L where I swam in the summer. In Brora, we wandered along the north beach for a mile or so, and back along the edge of the golf course. It was breezy, there was a bit of swell, and it was raining a bit, but nothing to spoil the pleasure of a beach walk. Quite a lot of the Brora sand has gone in places, especially on the corner where the River Brora meets the sea. One of my ambitions is to go back to Brora to swim in the summer.

After coffee in a cafe, we browsed the gift shop, and L got himself a cheeky Harry Gow sausage roll, before we gave Carn Liath a quick once over. It's quite well preserved and an evocative site above the water.

Finally to what was the main event (for L, anyway), namely a tour of Clynelish distillery which, despite being a Diageo distillery mainly producing whisky for the Johnnie Walker blends) was quite interesting. The tasting was excellent, and we had a tour guide just to ourselves. I mostly brought mine home, of course, and I also bought a distillery exclusive bottle which was a good deal more expensive than I would normally pay. I've decided that Clynelish is very much to my taste and so I will watch out for it at the SMWS. It's distillery number 26, apparently.

They've built a striking front to the distillery, which - when lit up - looks amazing.

We came home to roast pork, cheese and apple pie for dinner.

Another fun day in the north, best represented through a collage.