The weather continues to be cold and sunny, we want to spend time outside and so a walk is planned for the morning. I use the same website to investigate some options and we decide on a loop from Comrie (see Wikiloc trail here). It’s a nice drive by car, the last kilometers are through rolling hills that have nothing to adorn them except dry grass and lots of sheep. We leave the car in the centre of the charming village and set off on foot to the north. As usual I have my camera bag (24 mm and 200 mm lenses), while my husband carries a light pack with the rain jackets, a bottle of water and a few snacks. We walk through the woods, roughly following a fast river towards its source. We spot a grey squirrel and a rabbit very briefly and then not too much further a red squirrel, more rare in this area, climbing all over a tree not far from the path, posing prettily for pictures and binoculars.
climbing up 
and down again 
up another tree 
caught jumping
We admire the Wee Cauldron and De’il’s Cauldron, two places where the river rushes down in a waterfall and has created an indentation at the bottom, looking indeed a bit like a cauldron. My fit companions take the steep hike up to the Melville’s Monument, while I enjoy the sunshine near the river with the company of Wikipedia. I learn that Comrie is the place with most earthquakes in the UK because it lays directly on a geological fault line. This line is also the division between the Highlands and Lowlands (we had been wondering about that) and also the cause for the waterfalls we’re encountering on this hike across the fault.
We turn back south after crossing the river, across the meadows we have a great view of the rugged highland hills. In the mean time it’s getting pretty late for lunch, some people are getting hangry so we don’t dawdle on the way back down to Comrie, where we buy a varied lunch and have a picnic on the green. On the way back to Stirling we do a short stop by the Highland wildlife park, it turns out to be a small zoo and we take the opportunity (without even entering the zoo) to take a good look at the Highland cattle we’ve read about. They’re extremely hairy and kind of cute, it must be cool to encounter them in the wild.
A nice dinner out, a few perfunctory moves to start packing, no time left for board games tonight.
Febe writes 