For the last two years we’ve spent the weekend that spans Valentines Day at our family holiday home in Kenmore. I’ve spoken about Kenmore before, but in case you can’t be bothered to read any of my previous posts, it’s a village near Aberfeldy and at the opposite end of Loch Tay from Killin.
Each year we’ve had a meal at a local restaurant and exchanged cards, but that’s just about where the similarities end.
Last year we battled an unexpected snow storm and nearly died when we couldn’t tell whether we were on the motorway or not. Then we hit the side roads. We were running so late for the restaurant we’d booked, and there was no way we were driving once we reached our destination, that we had to cancel our reservation. They were unamused, and we were facing Valentines starvation. Luckily the restaurant closest to our holiday home were able to squeeze us in, and we didn’t go hungry or thirsty after all. We spent the rest of the weekend going on one or two snowy walks, staying in when the weather raged, eating tasty food, drinking delicious wine, and generally suiting ourselves. Perfect.
This year, the snow was only at the tops of the mountains and our journey north was without incident. We honoured our reservation and had an amazing meal at Three Lemons, a new restaurant in Aberfeldy. We went on walks, ate tasty food, drank delicious wine. But we went out while the weather raged, took extra snacks with us when we ate out, and carried a squeaky ball on all of our too-numerous-to-mention walks.
And apart from the weather, the differences were caused by one thing and one thing only: Kimber. A year ago, Valentines weekend was the weekend before we collected Kimber. And how little we realised back then. How unprepared we were for how much she would change our lives. How much we’d love her. How little we’d care that it was raining/snowing/blowing a gale, when she needs to go for a walk. How reluctant we’d be to leave her behind. We’re lucky that we holiday in a place where so many establishments welcome dogs, so we can take our furry baby with us whenever we eat out. Jess from Three Lemons commented when we were there for lunch the other day, that we really adore Kimber. Well observed, Jess: we most certainly do 🙂