Scotland pix #2: Dirleton Castle, Traprain Law, Glenkinchie and and Céilidh

 

A few more pictures from Scotland.  In the last post I showed some photos of our beach visit; prior to that Viki was kind enough to play tour guide with us, and took us to Dirleton Castle: here's Maggie in the beautifully maintained gardens. 

The castle itself was occupied by three successive families: De Vaux (12th century), Halyburton (14th and 15th cs.) and Ruthven (16th c.); each had a hand in constructing different parts of the castle.
Here's Maggie in the dovecote, used for keeping doves and pigeons as a source of meat, fertilizer and feathers for mattresses.

The next day we toured around with Rob, while Viki was involved in the Garvald Village show, having entered several floral arrangements and some photographs.  We went to the Glenkinchie distillery for a fascinating tour, degustation and a visit to their boutique to purchase some lovely single malts.

Then it was off to climb Traprain Law, which gave us a fabulous view of the East Lothian countryside... pictures don't really do it justice but we'll try.

Next we visited Hailes castle, and being a little fatigued from the climb of the Law, took a little rest on the green there before heading back home to see to the chickens, have some dinner and get ready for the Céilidh.  Viki had won several firsts and a couple of seconds for her flowers and they both won prizes for their photos, so all were in a celebratory mood for the dance.  Maggie and I had a great time doing country dances, much like we did at our wedding celebration twelve years ago... this time the kids were around to take part, and they had a great time too.