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A Highland Blend

| Promoting Caithness

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Scotland

A change of scene during COVID-19 | A week in Abzshire (Aberdeenshire)

August 27, 2020 by Susan Barrie 1 Comment

Abzshire Prince Albert Cairn

It feels a little bit strange to be talking about holidays during a global pandemic, but we managed to get a change of scene over the summer once lockdown restrictions were lifted in Scotland. Part of our intended summer holiday plans were to visit friends in England, but as we felt it was a bit…

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Filed Under: Scotland Tagged With: Aberdeenshire, abzshire, balmoral, bootleggers bothy, cabin, cairns, castle, coastal walk, COVID19, dunnottar, Footdee, gourdon, inverbervie, Moray, rural, Scotland, stonehaven, travel

Perthshire Walks | An autumnal wonderland

December 14, 2019 by Susan Barrie Leave a Comment

Way back in November, we had a week in Perthshire. We were #hashtagblessed with the kind of dry and crisp autumnal weather which enabled us to spend a lot of our ways walking and enjoying the scenery of Crieff, Aberfeldy, Dunkeld and Strathyre!

Filed Under: Scotland Tagged With: Aberfeldy, autumn, Crieff, Dunkeld and Birnam, Highlands, Perthshire. Strathyre, Robert Burns, Scotland, The Hermitage, Woodland walks

Bowhouse Food Weekend – A taste of Fife!

October 11, 2018 by Susan Barrie Leave a Comment

Last month I attended Bowhouse Food Weekend  (which I had first heard of through Sarah’s blog).  The previous day I had distilled my own gin at Darnley’s Distillery and staff there had also recommended popping along there. So before we headed out to a wedding at the beautiful Cambo estate, we made tracks over to…

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Filed Under: foodie, Scotland Tagged With: bowhouse, Fife, food weekend, foodie, Scotland, St Monans

Portskerra Harbour – off the beaten track

September 6, 2018 by Susan Leave a Comment

We took another trip off the beaten track recently, one on of those days where the weather was unexpectedly better than forecast. After a trip round the county showing family well known spots like Castle Sinclair Girnigoe and Dunnet Beach, we headed west into Sutherland, and ended up at Portskerra Harbour!

Filed Under: NC500 Tagged With: harbour, melvich hotel, nc500, north coast, pizza, portskerra, Scotland, sutherland

The return of Bon Accord Soft Drinks

August 31, 2018 by Susan 1 Comment

When I’m out and about for meals/drinks, I often like to alternate my tipple of choice (if you didn’t know it was gin) with soft drinks (hello responsible drinker over here!) or to find something other than the usual tonic water or soda mixer. However standard pub offerings are fairly disappointing with the usual Coke or…

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Filed Under: Scotland Tagged With: Bon Accprd, drink, ginger ale, grapefruit soda, mixer, rhubarb soda, Scotland, soft drinks, sparkling, tonic water

What can you expect at a Scottish Highland Games?

August 16, 2018 by Susan Leave a Comment

Highland Games are a huge part of national culture all over Scotland, and while centuries ago these events would have been a display of clan rivalry for the biggest and bravest soldiers to compete, these are a much more friendly affair nowadays!

Filed Under: Scotland Tagged With: caber toss, dog show, Highland Cure, highland dancing, Highland Games, HRH Duke of Rothesay, Mey, pipe band, Scotland, tug o war

Tarbat Peninsula – A visitors guide (NC500 East Coast)

July 1, 2018 by Susan 6 Comments

To conclude my mini-series of posts on the Tarbat Peninsula, (see my reviews of Bistro by the Sea & Seaweed n Stuff) I thought i’d write up a little visitors guide of things that you might want to see, eat, do and buy in this area! WHAT TO SEE/DO ON THE TARBAT PENINSULA: Mermaid of…

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Filed Under: NC500 Tagged With: ANTA, balintore, balmuchy farm, beach, bistro by the sea, carnegie cafe, coastal path, discovery centre, easter ross, Egg box, fearn, history, lighthouse, mermaid of the north, nc500, oystercatcher, peninsula, pictish, picts, portmahmack, rockfield, Scotland, seaweed n stuff, tarbat, tarbat ness, vending machine, visitor guide

East Coast Borders – Summer Holiday Postcard

August 7, 2017 by Susan Barrie Leave a Comment

For the last couple of years, we have taken our summer holiday at the end of June, but this year we waited until July and headed off for two weeks around different areas of the UK.  Our first week was spent with friends on the east coast borders and was a thoroughly chilled out affair in this…

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Filed Under: Scotland Tagged With: Alnwick, borders, coldingham, east coast, england, eyemouth, Lindisfarne, northumberland, Rialto, Scotland

An autumnal visit to Brodie Castle

October 25, 2016 by Susan Leave a Comment

National Trust properties in the north of Scotland are fewer than in the rest of the country, but when National Trust Scotland asked if I’d like to explore a couple of NTS properties close to home, I gladly accepted the invitation and chose to head east to Brodie Castle!

Filed Under: Day Trip, Scotland Tagged With: brodie castle, national trust scotland, Scotland

A day trip along Scotland’s NC500 (Durness and Helmsdale)

September 6, 2016 by Susan Leave a Comment

Another day trip along part of the NC500 took place a few weeks back. Every time we do a road trip around these remote northern Highlands, we are reminded on how blessed we are to be living in such a stunning part of the world. This was by far the furthest north we had come,…

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Filed Under: Day Trip, NC500, Scotland Tagged With: balnakeil, durness, helmsdale, la mirage, nc500, road trip, Scotland, sutherland

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I’m Susan and welcome to A Highland Blend – a website primarily promoting the people, products and places of Caithness. I offer digital media and VA support services for businesses in the north Highlands of Scotland and beyond. To find out more, please check out my About Me or Available Services pages.

I also love to help locals and tourists alike discover the best of Caithness and the rest of the Scottish Highlands, so you’ll also find blog posts that will help plan your itinerary, whether it’s places to visit, or places to eat and drink.

If you’d like to get in touch, please contact me by email or by any of the social media links below.

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A Highland Blend’s reflection on 2020 – a year like no other

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