Woodstock

This Christmas the Clan came home, and home for the week became a large Victorian mansion in the town of Birnam, across the River Tay from Dunkeld.  It's an area of Perthshire called Big Tree Country, and Birnam in particular is famous for the woods named by Shakespeare in his play Macbeth.  They think the big oak trees that still remain probably don't date to that time, but are certainly part of the original wood.

"Macbeth shall never vanquish'd be until
Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill
Shall come against him."
The witches' prophecy Act 4, Scene 1, Macbeth

The Birnam Oak itself has an impressive girth of 7m (24 feet) and the first 3m (10 feet) of the trunk are hollow. Ancient native trees like this one are a rich habitat for wildlife, and a mature oak is home to around 300 different insects and provides food and shelter for more living creatures than any other European tree.  And a happy playground for little boys.

AunTia claimed we toyed with the idea of some proper walks, but I have to say the thought never really crossed my mind!  And I'm not the heavily pregnant one.  Crossing the River to Dunkeld one evening with the Don was about as far as I went, and the rest of the time was spent reading, chatting, eating, reading some more, sleeping, and washing up.

Actually that's not quite true... I did fancy going across and checking out Dunkeld Cathedral - especially since it would have been free entry thanks to our Historic Scotland passes - but to be honest it got too cold, the books and chat were good, and then the snow came.  Ach there'll be another time I'm sure...

As for the kids, they played and played and played with cousins and with the Xbox (YES! Santa did get that letter!) that we borrowed as a treat for the week.  And no, I still don't want to have any sort of personal gaming device permanently in my house.  Oh, and some of them also spent hours helping Uncle Sim build Lego, work out how a rubiks cube works, and bake rolls.  After the Xbox he was pretty much the #1 Children's Entertainer for the week.  Thank you!

We've actually seen that rocket!