Liz's mum and dad were eager to come and see the house, so we planned a visit over Easter.
Initially we were all going to go up in one car, but with the amount of stuff we'd bought for this visit it became quickly apparent that we needed to travel separately: a whole load of kitchen crockery, bins and AGA cleaning kit, 2 chairs, a roll of carpet, a million lengths of pipe insulation and a whole set of duvets, pillows and bedding for the second bedroom (had to make sure the oldies were warm and cosy!) Mum and Dad took all the light, bulky items in their boot for us.
We drove up straight after work, arriving late at night, just in time for a cup of tea with mum and dad who had arrived earlier.
The next morning we unloaded the car and started to organise what order we would tackle the jobs in, and decided to start with putting two more chairs together so we could at least all sit down for lunch!
Easter, early April, brought some fine and dry weather, although a little on the chilly side overnight so the fun times we had with mum and dad took in some outdoor stuff that we had researched around Dunoon, Loch Fyne and Loch Awe...more on these later.
A text from Heather, our great social organiser, told us there was a small fundraising event for the local kids play area just down the road at Kilmodan, and a shinty game on the local pitch. Shinty is a traditional game similar to hockey and lacrosse and unique to Scotland - fiercely competed between many village teams. We enjoyed a game between Col-Glen (Colintraive and Glendaruel) vs Inverary.
We also took the walk out to the lovely beach at Kilbride bay and, as you can see, the day was beautiful. We caught the return walk timing lucky because the bothy cafe had opened and as we headed in for a drink they told us that they were just pulling some hot scones out of the oven. So, four incredible, warm cream teas later, we were back in the car taking the scenic journey home round the headland.
We also called in at Kilmodan church, a tiny Church of Scotland church to show mum and dad the historical stones in the church yard. The church itself has been unlocked both times we have called in. Unfortunately, although there were services advertised when we first bought the house (one a month) there has been no update to the notice board since January.
In a tiny building in the churchyard are the beautiful Kilmodan Sculptured Stones. They comprise nine late-medieval West Highland grave slabs and one post-Reformation grave slab from 1636. An 11th stone was believed to be the head of the medieval Cross of Garvie, but is now thought to be a stone pillar worn to its present shape by its use as a tethering post. The stones all come from a graveyard surrounding St Modan’s Church in the village of Clachan of Glendaruel.
And so back to the house for some food and DIY....
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