Inchmahome Priory revisited

Missy has previously done Inchmahome Priory (back in 2017!), but we weren't going to turn down a puppy play date just because we've been before!

It was my brother and Maisie, my mother, Missy and myself. My brother kindly offered to pick me up from the house and we were soon on the road. He was looking forward to trying Maisie on a boat, as she hadn't been on one yet, and he was hoping she would prefer it to the steam train. 

I just laughed and told him that I would have thought for her first boat he would have done a proper big boat. 

I swear, if he could have stopped on the motorway he would have. I was drilled as to what kind of a boat it was and, thinking he was concerned about Maisie, tried to play it cool by describing it as a rowboat with a motor.

Would we be given life jackets? He asked with some alarm.

Life jackets? For the dogs? Then it clicked. My brother cant swim. 

Yep. Enjoy the irony - I, the scuba diver, has a dog who will actively avoid water whilst my hydrophobic brother has a dog that will find any excuse to leap into it. The more I think of it, the funnier it seems!

Well, I wouldn't be writing the blog if we never made it. So despite his panic, the boat did not sink and even though I insisted I wouldn't judge him, he declined the offer of the life jacket. Maisie enjoyed it more than he did.

We got onto the island with no fuss, got our tickets and stopped for our picnic. Now, like everyone else, I'm trying to reduce plastic and waste and picnics are one place I find myself still seeking some plastic sandwich bags - not anymore:

Tada! A sandwich wrap (more photos on my instagram @missdaisysewing) - just simply put the rolls in the middle and assemble the velcro the right way and voila! I made a few earlier in the week so was pleased to road test it. Missy and Maisie were keen to share the spoils as we all enjoyed the unexpected beautiful weather.

The priory is a complete ruin. The foundations are completely intact and some of the buildings have most of their walls, but there is only one roof and that's the chapter house (Missy went on point in the completely empty, dark and chilly room so we didn't linger, just in case she had spotted a ghost).

What does remain is beautiful. Stone arches and tall plinths which are perfect for having dogs pose on (Missy and Maisie would not cooperate together, I have lots of nice photos of them individually, but they wouldn't sit nicely together!

As with all sites across the central belt, there is a lot of fuss about Mary Queen of Scots (she seems to have visited just about every castle - I'm waiting for the day I find a privvy with a sign stating "Mary Queen of Scots had a wee here") and there is a boxwood bower it is said she planted. My brother isn't a fan of the priory's and abbeys, much preferring the castles, so his highlight was the grounds of the island and its abundant trees. Despite only being half a kilometre long, there is a sizeable portion of 'woodland' which both dogs enjoyed.

Missy made friends on the boat ride back and Maisie decided to nap, a far cry from her excited barking going to the island. I was sat in the back with both dogs (they were harnessed in, Missy normally has the boot to herself) and they both fell asleep on the ride home. Definitely a worthwhile day out.

A Busy Holiday

Well, we're all just back from a long dog walking holiday (I say just, we got back Friday, it's just taken me this long to find the time to sit down and recap the weeks adventures!).

Typically, we go to the Lakes each year, but this time we decided to check out our own home turf a bit more and do a staycation in Scotland, namely the Trossachs area. A quick internet search had showed us that, whist lacking in dog friendly museums like Keswick, there were a few dog friendly gems on offer to check out.

The Kings Knot

 Monday we stopped in Stirling for the day and basically walked the entire old town. Missy enjoyed hunting for ghosts in the beautiful graveyard by the castle and we found the Kings Knot, an odd little gem of a dog walk. The castle doesn't allow dogs, but we still managed a look around the grounds and got the first ice cream of the holiday there. Despite her best efforts, Missy got no ice cream although I did share the end of the cone with her!

We finished our drive up and through Killin, where we were based for the duration of the holiday. It's one of these lovely little villages were sadly everything closes at 4 - we managed to pop into the post office and get some leaflets for the local area and the owner of the place fell into the trap of Missy's flirtatious stare and gave her several of the free-to-try anchovies. She certainly seemed to enjoy them, although my suspicions that the dog thinks she's a cat have begun to creep in again!

The village was short on take out options but the Cowry was recommended to us and, discovering the pub part was dog friendly where we could shelter from the elements, we were not disappointed.

Tuesday was Loch Katrine. It was the only day of the holiday that really rained, and fortunately the hardest squall hit whilst we were safely inside the boat enjoying our island tour of the Loch. The steps leading to the top were far too steep to even think of taking Missy up, so we were enjoying a cup of hot tea as the rain struck and all the other passengers gave up and joined us. Whilst the hubby and I found it very interesting, I don't think Missy thought much of it seeing as she slept for the majority of the ride!

We then went on a four mile round trip to the Loch view point and back before heading back to Killin for a late lunch in the Capercaillie pub. My in-laws have stayed in Killin many times and, for the afternoon walk, we decided to follow the directions to the crannog that was supposedly in the area. I felt we did well following them, and we certainly all enjoyed the hours walk around Loch Tay, but we could not find that crannog for the life of us! We managed to find a patch of signal and called my FIL who informed us that the island I had previously admired was it, and did he mention to me about a castle in the area...

We gave up on the crannog and rescheduled it for another day. The weather had turned close and we were all being eaten alive by midges so decided on getting an early night for the next adventure.

Inchmahome Priory was the highlight of the week for me on the Wednesday. It's a Historic Scotland site where you have to take a boat out to a tiny island where a beautiful old ruin is located. Missy was a darling and shyly said hello to anyone who would pat her on the boat and then she made friends with a little toddler who, every time we passed them by, would shout "Doggie!" and demand his father take him over to see her again. It was a glorious day and we all enjoyed a picnic looking out onto the lake, although we were somewhat scuppered for a good stroll when we realised that the island was only half a kilometre across!

We stopped in Callander on the way back and took a quiet evening to ourselves. Missy spent the evening snoring on the sofa alongside hubby.

Missy awaits her fate on trial

Thursday was a last minute call. We had originally planned a day trip to Oban, but deemed it too far in the end. Inveraray Jail has long been on our to do list and, at an hour away, was a realistic option. We'd seen flyer for it before and the tagline of 'Fun for all the family - even the dog!' had sold it to us before we'd even looked into it properly.

An 18th century jail, it was a fun insight into the justice system of Scotland. Despite the somewhat grim subject matter at times, it was explained very well and the audio tour was both informative and interesting but not dry at all.

We finished the evening giving the crannog a second go (we did find it!) and also found the castle ruins before we had our last evening meal in the Cowry pub. Missy fell asleep in front of the fire where she chased rabbits in her dreams.

Awaiting her picnic

We had had grand plans for the trip back of stopping in Perth, but decided to just stop at Huntingtower Castle instead. Another Historic Scotland site, this one allowed dogs on the grounds but not within the castle itself. The hubby and I took turns going in and out of the castle whilst we filled in the quiz and then enjoyed our lunch in the sun on the grounds.

And then we were home and Missy insisted on peeing on every fence and lamp post as we trudged around her usual stomping ground - I like to joke to people that she's checking her face book feed!

Until next time,