Today went out to lunch.
John had told us about a restaurant they’d been to. It was called The Heron and was between Strathaven and Darvel and since he said the food was good, we just had to try it out.
It was indeed in the badlands between Strathaven and Darvel, in the middle of nowhere, up a long hill on a single track road with passing places. It wasn’t a real ’Skye’ single track, just a narrow road. There were plenty of tables, although some of them were in the ‘Dog Friendly’ area. Since neither of us is dog friendly, we chose a different table in a different area. There wasn’t much variety in the menu, but that didn’t bother Scamp. She went straight for the Mac ’n’ Cheese. I was more adventurous with Steak with Chimichurri dressing in a Bagel from the specials. Not my usual lunch choice, but it looked like it was that or a sandwich. Food came fairly quickly and Scamp’s M&C looked really good served in an old style enamel Ashet dish. Mine looked good. A bagel with minute steak and some green dressing, presumably the Chimichurri. Unfortunately it was barely warm and the dressing had almost no taste. Scamp asked for peppermint tea, but unfortunately they didn’t have any, so she settled for her speciality ‘white tea’, ie hot water. They were obviously rationing the coffee too judging from the slightly brown water in my cup. It wasn’t expensive, but it wasn’t very good either. Still, it was doing a roaring trade with a constant stream of folk coming through the door. Maybe we were just unlucky, or maybe not!
We did go for a walk round the ‘shop’. It was overpriced. A 50g box of Assam tea was £5.50. My Assam from The Bean Shop in Perth costs £6.50 for 200g. Lot’s of interesting beers at reasonable prices, but the gin and vodka was just silly money. I described the place as ’Style over Substance’. I doubt if we’ll rush back.
With all that said, it had a lovely outlook over the hills and farmland and the weather couldn’t have been better.. We drove back down that narrow road and turned right to try to find Loudoun Hill which was my destination today for photos. It’s not hard to find. It’s a volcanic plug, apparently. It looks like a big lump of granite or some such mineral, dumped in a field. You just can’t miss it. I missed the turning for the car park, though. A mile or so down the road we found a place to turn and with Scamp giving directions, we found the path to the car park.
I’d brought my rucksack with both cameras in it, but forgot my walking boots. I had no intentions of climbing the hill anyway. I just wanted to make sure I got the image I had in my head for today and it was there in front of me. The Spirit of Scotland monument by artist Richard Price was erected in 2004. It stands on a pathway which runs through the Irvine Valley near Drumclog. The monument, made from steel stands over 5 metres tall. It’s one of the ugliest monuments I’ve seen, but one of the first I’d seen with the shape burned out of the steel slab. It commemorates the Battle of Loudoun Hill between Aymer de Valence and Robert the Bruce in 1307. It was a return grudge match which Bruce won, despite being vastly outnumbered. Loudoun Hill stands in the background. It might be ugly, but it gave a foreground for the scenery in the background. PoD captured.
Another short dance practise when we got home, because I don’t want another day like last Saturday. I want to be able to crack not just the Jet Lag Waltz, but also the New Foxtrot. I’m getting there, and there are a few more days to go to get it even better.
Tomorrow, Scamp is meeting June, Ian and Isobel for coffee in the morning.