The Big Fight

In this corner, wearing a mantle of white and packing an icy punch, is the Scottish Winter.  In the opposite corner, looking dapper in leafy green and mild of manner, is Spring.  

And in the midst of this titanic struggle we arrived in Scotland for a five-week stay--which includes a two-week tour down to Land’s End in Cornwall.

A Hieland Coo

Even though it is officially spring, the trees are still bare, 

the snow is heavy on the hills, and house chimneys belch peat smoke.  Although last spring we saw more snow on the mountains, this year the hills are bleaker and the snow is lower.  The golf courses are in better condition because the winter wasn’t so wet, but golfers are more bundled up against the frigid wind

--even I have had to put on a jumper (sweater).  The forecast is for the warmest day of the year on Monday--it might reach 60° F.

The lingering Winter hasn’t put a damper on either our touring or our golf.  We’ve played three times so far (five days into the trip).  

At our home course of St Fillans, about 17 miles from our B&B base Merlindale in Crieff (central Scotland), Spring was starting to fight against Winter.  Anne was tightly bundled against the cold, the sun did show its face a few times in the round, though it was hard to find much warmth in it.  

We saw more sun at Kirriemuir GC at the foot of Cairngorm National Park, but the 20 mile per hour wind with gusts to 30 blew away any heating.  Sun and warmth met us at Dragon’s Tooth GC in Ballachulish along Loch Linnhe.  

I even had my jumper off for a hole or so.  

Our touring has been enhanced by the slow move from Winter to Spring.  The one really rainy day led us to a large antique mall in Doune (location of Doune Castle used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail).  

Anne and I wandered among the various stalls picking out items we’d like to have at home.  In the end there was nothing that called to us strongly enough to plan room in our suitcases.  The Scottish scenery

The mountains of Glencoe

--snow capped mountains of Glencoe, 

Rannoch Moor

bleak Rannoch Moor, 

the river falls of Glen Etive, 

and the steep sides of Glen Clova--will all make it home through scores of photos stored on computer and camera memory cards.  

A visit to one of our favorite gardens, Branklyn Garden in Perth, showed us that Spring was on its way to winning this bout.  

The Himalayan Blue Poppies weren’t out yet, but there was plenty of color in the garden for 

Anne and I to spend an hour or more wandering and photographing.  

A Goshawk takes flight in the garden.

After the gardens we rested in a nearby pub, The Village Inn in Bridge of Earn, 

where we visited with a local Cameron Brown.  Listening to the local weather forecast it probably won’t be a knockout for Spring or even a TKO, but the next few weeks should let Spring beat Winter on points.  But we aren’t putting away our raincoats or jumpers yet.

Ancient standing stone

Next: We head down into England, Somerset, Devon, Cornwall, and the Cotswolds.  On the way we stop in Dumfries to play in a charity golf tournament.