Finish with a Grand Finale!

 06-15-2022

Oh no!  It's our last day of fun and adventure before the big silver bird flies off tomorrow morning!~

Marilyn got in touch with the clydesdale farm and they have a one hour walking tour at 11:00!!  We won't have breakfast for twenty pounds (!) at the castle and, instead, will head for the Blackstone Clydesdale Farm in Comnuck, about a thirty or forty minute drive south of Glasgow. We take a walk around the grounds of the castle for some photo ops and set off, and Ginger has gone back inside to get us the story of the castle.  We'll try to find time to read it later.

We enjoyed "tea and crumpets" before leaving our room.  We had invited the girls
to join us, butt they declined.

The view from the garden is lovely.

The is about all the garden!

Looks imposing, doesn't it!

Gwyneth finds our way and we arrive with plenty of time to spare.  We're greeted by a couple of peacocks and a rooster and marvel at the clever flower boxes created out of horseshoes before we check in.  The farm is owned by John and Magi and we have the best time petting the gigantic creatures and learning all their backstories.  There are about thirty horses on the farm and four foals will be along soon.  We also meet a ten-day old "airy coo" who is being bottle fed because her mom can't produce milk.  After she's had her bottle she is allowed to rejoin mom and she tries valiantly to nurse.  John says that her efforts might bring in her mother's milk!  Wouldn't that be amazing!  There is another female, too, who is getting special treatment because after trying for four years to have a calf, her baby died and she is quite depressed. 

Such beautiful countryside;  but we're sure not in the Highlands any more!

Ah! There's our turn!

They have about half a dozen, just for fun!  We learn that they love
to have their bellies scratched!

They love attention!  And we love that! Everyone wears a vest
so they can keep track of us!

Well, maybe not everyone loves visitors!

Maddi began our tour.

And she turned us over to John.  He had just returned from leading a ride at the beach!

The precious ten-day old Airy Coo calf!

John chose this multi-purpose vehicle over a special trailer just to transport the horses.

Each horse has their own tack.

They are all so beautiful!

We all get to spend as much time as we like petting the babies and listening to John explain how the farm operates (mostly with volunteers) and learning how much hay it takes to not only feed but bed such huge animals. 

I didn't even have to bend to walk under his neck!
Isn't he magnificent!  (Lots more photos later!)

There is a young man who is a farrier working on the horses' hooves and we get to watch for while.  He and John banter about how expensive he is!

It's obvious that he loves his work and the horses.

We were only supposed to have an hour tour;  but it winds up being an hour and a half!  And we do some shopping there, too, to support the farm.  We also ask for a recommendation for lunch, since breakfast didn't happen and from here we're going to another tasting!  John recommends the 1906 at the Royal Hotel and Gwyneth finds it, or at least gets us into the vicinity!

MASSIVE horse shoes!!

Who is talking about whom?

The whole farm is a labor of love, and John's son isn't really interested in taking it over.

Marilyn barely needs to duck!

This is where people climb on those huge backs!

Fun facts about Clydesdales that I, for one, never knew!

Giggle!

And I didn't even cry, like I do during the Budweiser commercials!

I don't even come up to his back!

And they change colors!

The pate

Bang Bang Cauliflower

Steak pie with puff pastry crust

The salmon

And the cajun-spiced chicken breast

The food is utterly amazing!  The best mushroom soup ever and bang bang cauliflower in sweet chili sauce and herb crusted salmon with cranberry hollandaise sauce and steak pie with puff pastry crust and cajun-spiced chicken breast. (No!  I didn't have all of that!!)

We give one more shot to finding the hat Marilyn is searching for, but the place is padlocked! So it's on to our chocolate and whisky tasting at the Clydeside Distillery.  We're early enough that Ginger and I go outside to photograph some murals we've spotted.  A young man stops to tell us that they were just painted last week!! We scurry back inside just in time for our 4:20 tour to begin. There is a short movie about the history of whisky making and the city of Glasgow.  It all began in the old pump house, which is now part of the distillery.  Our guide, Ronny Grant, tells us just how important the production and export of whisky is to the nation's economy!

We each got aa gift bag from Blackstone! Whisky candy, a lovely business card, and a pen!

There are two rooms with self-guided tours before Ronny gathers us up again and explains the process of whisky making.  (You'd think as often as we've heard this, it would all be boring;  but somehow there is always more to learn!) 

The Morrison family actually built Sherbrooke Castle, where we spent last night!!!

Finally we get down to the reason we're here!  We're escorted to the tasting room where each place is set with five tasting glasses and five amazing pieces of chocolate.  Ronny explains all about each whisky and how it interacts with the chocolate with which it is paired.  The chocolates are made by Sugar Snap and we really need to go on line and see if they are available at home!

It's time to head to Edinburgh and the Hilton at the airport. We make sure we're in the right place and borrow a trolley so we can unload the car.  We get everything upstairs into our two rooms and then Marilyn and I take the car back to Hertz.  Gwyneth leads us a bit astray and we wind up at a gate for which we have no card!  Luckily there are two guys there working on a second gate and when Marilyn explains that our GPS brought us there, one says, "Everyone's GPS brings them here!"  He tells us where we really belong and we park the car, take pictures of all four sides, and drop off the keys.  

Always good to have a reminder!

It's just a few minutes' walk back to the hotel and we all gather in one room to plan the rest of the evening.  We'll work for a while on our suitcases, then go downstairs for a bite.  At nine we descend to find that we can order sticky toffee pudding!  And it comes with coffee ice cream.  And they offer lattes!

Back upstairs we gather once more and open the four little Scotch bottles that Richard gave us.  He really favors heavily peated whisky. We don't and none of the little bottles gets finished!  But it was lovely of him to think of us!

It's getting late and Connie and I have successfully stuffed everything we own into our suitcases and carry ons.  My only concern is the weight of mine;  but there's nothing to do about it now!!  Tomorrow will tell the tale!