Friday, August 8, 2014

Friends...Food and Lots of Fun...

Hi folks...there's nothing quite like spending time with mad crazy friends to put things into perspective and lighten the mood...Friends...Food and Lots of Fun is a tried and tested many times used recipe for a great day out...yes the Friday Girls' outings are back on the calendar again and we like nothing better than gallivanting around the countryside stopping off wherever the mood takes us to indulge in our favourite pastimes...eating and shopping. So the first stop yesterday was...Milton of Crathes for coffee and the first guilty pleasure of the day...a huge sultana scone with lashings of home made strawberry jam...
followed by a little stroll down to the river...The Dee meandering along on it's way to Aberdeen and out into the North Sea...there's something tranquil and mesmerizing about sitting by flowing water...

I could sit there all day but my "shop 'til you drop" companions were itching to head next door to Rustiques for some retail therapy...

but shopping is hungry work don't you know so we followed the river downstream for the ultimate of guilty pleasures...lunch at Ardoe House Hotel...our favourite "top of the culinary treat list" venue...
set in beautiful scenery with lovely friendly staff and yummy delicious grub...my favourite part of the day...relaxing with coffee and good friends in the beautiful drawing room...I feel so at home here...perhaps I was The Lady of The Manor in a previous life...
We were sorely tempted to go the whole hog and treat ourselves to the sumptious and decidedly decadent afternoon tea but the general consensus of opinion was that we'd spent enough for one day and the hire of a crane to remove us from the comfy sofas and booking a room for a "before we head home" afternoon nap was way out of our budgets so we reluctantly left and couldn't help but wonder...after a fun blue sky and lots of sunshine day out...if the man from the Met Office who by the way had forecast rain AGAIN is reading from the same page. 
I'll see you tomorrow to share a cheap as chips purchase that ended up as a big surprise.
Hugs Kath xxx