Three trees, a castle and a croissant...

I want to write so much more than I'm about to but tiredness has overtaken me.

The morning started with a Birthday Croissant for P the morning after her birthday.  This is a new tradition we started in lieu of me thinking I had bought a birthday cake, but it turned out I'd only bought the candles!!  

First stop today was the Birnam Oak and Sycamore tree.  My main blip is the Oak (the sycamore is in extras as well as the Fortingall Yew)

*"The Birnam Oak is an iconic tree on the outskirts of the Perthshire village and celebrated in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

The Birnam Oak and its neighbour the Birnam Sycamore are thought to be the sole surviving trees of the great forest that once straddled the banks and hillsides of the River Tay. This forest is celebrated in Shakespeare's Macbeth as the famous Birnam Wood.

The prophecy of Shakespeare's three witches did come true, with the branches of trees from great Birnam Wood, nearly 1,000 years ago, camouflaging the advancing army against Macbeth. It is believed that Shakespeare got inspiration for this section of `The Scottish Play` during a visit to Perth, Birnam and Aberdeen in 1599 as one of a troupe of comedians. The visit was arranged after King James VI sent a request for entertainers to Elizabeth 1.

Both trees look medieval. The lower branches of the gnarled and ancient Birnam Oak rest on crutches and the first three metres (10ft) of the trunk are hollow. The Birnam Sycamore, alongside, is thought to date back around 300 years old and has particularly impressive buttress roots. Both trees appear in the list of the one hundred Scottish Heritage Trees."

 From there we went to Birnam Arts Centre to have lunch. We had been there before with Patrica in 2022 after our visit to the adjacent Beatrix Potter garden and our lunch was just as lovely today.

Then it was on to Dunkeld Cathedral, which has a tenuous link to Macbeth through the character Duncan, King of Scotland in the Play (there's a theme emerging in our daily adventures :-) The surroundings of the Cathedral were so beautiful in the sunshine with the River Tay meandering past and lots of dappled light from the trees.  Parts of the Cathedral are closed due to issues with safely but the parts we did see were beautiful.  The interior cool and peaceful after the heat outside.  

From there we went to Castle Menzies to pick up the key to the Old Kirk of Weem, now the Menzies Mausoleum.  I stayed in the car for this part as the Kirk is inaccessible for wheelchairs, but D got some pics that are also in extras.

After returning the key we had a wonderful drive home via Aberfeldy and the Sma' Glen.  The scenery was stunning.  

Tomorrow we are heading back up the A9 to Blair Castle.  It's many years since we've been there.  Looking forward to it.  

Pics in extras starting top left...
The effigy on the tomb of the Wolf of Badenoch
The ancient sycamore in Birnam Wood
Dunkeld Cathedral grounds and the River Tay
The Fortingall Yew (estimated to be between 5000 and 9000 years old)
Castle Menzies
The Old Kirk of Weem
P and her birthday croissant :-)
Inside of Dunkeld cathedral
Dunkeld Cathedral exterior
Inside the Old Kirk of Weem
*Info courtesy of Visit Scotland