What a beautiful morning......

...which turned into a most enjoyable day!

{Frosty morning at Crathie}

Louise arrived about 10 am (exactly as planned) and it didn't take us long to drink coffee, put on our walking boots and set off for a short walk to explore the cairns on the Balmoral Estate. The sky was completely cloudless and the air crisp - a perfect day for a wander.

{Louise with a lovely smile..}

Everything which wasn't in the sun was white with frost as we crossed the old bridge - very carefully - it looked and was a bit slippy! I was out of breath very soon - perhaps as much from too much talking as the slight climb on the path.

Frozen mud greeted us on the walk up through the woods but we soon found some cairns to investigate. Louise will probably post some photos for you to see on her blog - mine are no good I'm afraid. The final cairn brought us to the top where we could look down on the castle. 

{Balmoral Castle in the sun}

The path down took us past the handsome statue of John Brown. If I'd been paying attention at the junction we would have gone to look out over the moorland in Glen Gelder for the rutting stags but we took the left-hand path instead and had to creep past the windows of Craigowan Lodge.

It didn't take long for us to get back to the house and while we chatted about our routes for the Challenge I managed to make some lunch. Best eaten wearing a blindfold - it certainly wouldn't have won any prizes for presentation.......