I decided not to spend the whole wee-end in my office . . . especially when the weather was still good. We headed out east on North Deeside Road . . .
Our destination was Banchory, about 30 miles west of Aberdeen. When we arrived we took a small road toward the river because we had heard that the salmon were jumping. But, when we arrived at the River Feugh, we could not resist going in for tea and scones at The Falls of Feugh Restaurant. Yummy.
Such a yummy place indeed.
The river Feugh was a fast and rocky stream.
We stood on a bridge and some old local people told us that today there was only one large and one small salmon trying to make it up and over the rapids. We saw the large one make a great leap . . . but fail.
Our next destination was a farm store that had been recommended to us in the area. We took to a country lane dotted with wonderful cottages here and there.
Several people had been talking to us about the charms of the rural farm stores. Finzean Estate Farm Store was nondescript on the outside.
But on the inside it was a food photographer's dream!
The low, flat light was perfect for capturing the subtle shades and shifts of light.
Yes, I have to say it, a veritable cornucopia!
I was taking so many photos of the vegetables that I actually drew an interested crowd of onlookers!
We bought parsnips, hot peppers, and garlic.
I love to photograph vegetables. What's wrong with me?
Just give me a cabbage and some good light . . . .
. . . and I'll even shoot in black in white, in spite of the color!
They had more for sale than food . . .
. . . lots of honest, simple items.
We left the farm store and went on down the country lanes of Aberdeenshire. I love how people name their homes.
We drove deeper into rural Aberdeenshire and were rewarded with a blanket of yellow ferns along the road.
Blue grey light on the white beech bark above a carpet of yellow.
It was a perfect day to be in the forest of Abedeenshire, Scotland.
I have never seen this yellowing fern array in my life. Very beautiful!
We have equipped ourselves with the perfect road trip vehicle: the VW Taureg AWD 2.0 Diesel . . . 50+ MPG!
We meandered around on the small Aberdeenshire country roads until we came to the Potarch Hotel. We went in had had a wonderful lunch.
After lunch we walked fifty meters to the stone bridge over the upper River Dee. It was a perfect end-of-summer day.
A perfect day for some fly fishing on the River Dee.
Aberdeenshire on the brink of Autumn.
We followed a nearby sign pointing to a "Forest Walk." We thought we were going to be walking in the wilderness, but instead the path followed the road, albeit a wooded road.
There were some very sweet cottages along the way.
I love these old walls being reclaimed by Nature. There is know way to know how old these walls are . . . perhaps from Medieval times.
One of the great things about forest walks in Europe is coming across a vestige of some older era . . . slowly dissolving back into the earth.
Although it was the fifth day of Autumn, there were still a few summer blooms hanging on.
The proverbial late bloomer!
Summer's end: time to disperse seeds.
There were some fine large mushrooms pushing their way up though the overgrown forest floor too.
These black mushrooms looked positively DANGEROUS! I was scared to get too close.
A forest is a living thing: it takes life from parts of itself when they die.
We saw these red "berries' everywhere, but knew, somehow, that you could not eat them. How do we know this?
Evidence of a job well done.
We left the beautiful Aberdeenshire forest rivulets, flowers, and treed behind . . . .
. . . and bid farewell to our little friend the inch worm (he better hurry: winter is coming!), and drove to Banchory.
We arrived in Banchory in late afternoon under greying skies.
It was a Saturday and lots of people seemed to have driven out from Aberdeen for the small town charm.
We did a little shopping ourselves in this butchery that seems little changed from its 1921 origins. We bought the perfect mint sauce for lamb.
One last look around town to discover this marvelous flower shop before driving home. We only put 30 miles on the odometer. There is so much to see that is near to Aberdeen. We are really loving exploring the city and the region. Fortunately we are having one of the driest and warmest summers anyone around her can remember. We plan on taking advantage of every minute of it.