The Enchanted Forest ~ A Retrospective

Back in May the Enchanted Forest team made the difficult decision to cancel the event due to the pandemic. It’s a shame as we were so looking forward to taking our daughter to see it for the first time but we’ve already booked our tickets and lodgings for next year as the team are optimistic that it will go ahead in 2021. However, as I’ve been visiting the Enchanted Forest for almost a decade, I thought I’d share a little retrospective of highlights from previous years.

My first visit to the Enchanted Forest was in 2010, after I saw it advertised on the Glasgow subway. The first year I went with a friend (though every year after with my husband, and we got engaged during our visit to the Enchanted Forest in 2013), and I loved it so much that I’ve faithfully returned to Pitlochry every October since.

The Enchanted Forest roughly follows the same figure of eight path around Loch Dunmore and Faskally Woods but the design team choose a different theme every year and always make the most of the natural and permanent features such as the towering fir trees, the Loch and the bridge, as well as building temporary viewing platforms for projections and synchronised light displays around the forest.

It’s an incredibly creative and innovative light and sound show, and given that it runs for the full month of October in all but the very worst Scottish weather, and attracts 80,000 visitors, I’m always impressed by how smoothly the event runs.

I’ve shared posts from our visits in 2017, 2018 and 2019, but enjoyed this little trip down memory lane, seeing how the Enchanted Forest has grown and developed – though my photos don’t do it justice at all. It’s one of my favourite events, it’s been the setting of some wonderful memories and I’m very much looking forward to returning when we’re able to. Take care, and have a lovely week. X

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Despite being an avid fantasy reader, I’ve probably only read about fifteen of the 41 Discworld novels, but The Wee Free Men is the first book in the Tiffany Aching series and works well as a standalone novel (though the beloved witches Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax make an appearance in this).

The plot is a familiar one of a girl, Tiffany, having to rescue her baby brother when he’s stolen by an evil Fairy Queen. Tiffany grew up on a farm, herding sheep and making cheese, yet she aspires to become a witch, and resolves to steal her annoying, little brother back with the help of the Nac Mac Feegle – an endearing clan of small, blue warriors with Scottish accents.

Tiffany is such an appealing protagonist, with a strong moral compass, courage, common sense and determination, and this is such a refreshing fantasy tale full of autonomous, empowered women from Tiffany and her late grandmother to the Kelda who rules the fearsome Nac Mac Feegle, and even the evil Fairy Queen.

The Wee Free Men is a fun little story that plays around with fairytale tropes, and it’s a great witchy read for October. Take care, and have a lovely week. X

Happy Fifth Anniversary to Mara!

My little muse and constant companion

Just tapping out a quick post at the end of an unexpectedly hectic weekend to note that it was five years ago today that we adopted our cat, Mara. It feels like we’ve been through quite a lot together in a relatively short length of time from moving out of the little, rented flat we lived in when we adopted her to our own house, nursing her back to health after cancer and having her tail amputated – and again last month when she suddenly became unwell, to the arrival of our daughter earlier this year. Throughout everything, Mara has shown such resilience and courage, and her trust in us has never wavered. Mara really is a very special cat, and I’m so grateful to be able to spoil her a little bit more than normal today.

Unfortunately, Mara is still a bit unsure and scared about the battery-powered, revolving butterfly toy we bought her (she seems to prefer her feathery wand toys) but she was much more enthusiastic about the roast chicken we gave her as a special treat.

We’ve spent most of the weekend isolating at home after our 8-month-old daughter came down with what we suspected was just the common cold but as she had a cough we thought we’d better get tested, and her two bottom teeth decided to make their appearence this weekend as well. No sooner had we received the negative test result than my husband took himself off to bed to nurse his own cold. I’ve had my hands full this weekend, but nevertheless, very grateful to celebrate Mara’s fifth anniversary with us. Take care, and have a lovely week. X

Chasing Waterfalls at Finlaystone Country Estate

We’ve been under partial lockdown since the start of September, with restrictions around socialising indoors, but thankfully we’re still allowed to meet other households outside and to travel for leisure. We’re still enjoying getting out for our daily walks, more often than not just around the neighbourhood or to a local park, but we did venture a bit further afield recently when my husband suggested a day trip to Finlaystone Country Estate, which he used to pass on his commute to his previous job but never visited.

It costs £5 per adult to enter the gardens and grounds, and seems popular with families as there are swings, slides, a full scale wooden fort and pirate ship for children to play on. There’s also a cafe on site, though we took our own picnic of homemade quiche and a flask of coffee.

There are a few different walks around the grounds, but we followed the Burnside Path to see the waterfalls, giving me the chance to play with the aperture setting on my camera. It was a sunny day when we visited but had rained a few days before so the waterfalls were flowing.

We also stopped for a look around Hootenanny Owls, a volunteer-run social enterprise with a selection of birds of prey including a few rescue birds, which is based in the grounds. The staff were very enthusiastic and gave us a guided tour showing us the birds and telling us a bit about each of them, and I’d love to go back to handle them.

Finlaystone Country Estate was a lovely place to wander with plenty to see and do, and we all enjoyed exploring somewhere new. In contrast, we’ve spent this weekend cosy at home, lighting the fire for the first time since last winter, catching up and quizzing with family and friends over Zoom while the rain fell outside. Take care, and have a lovely week. X