On Monday we set off for our looooong drive to Orkney early in the morning, passing Loch Lomond, Ben Nevis, Fort William (with a quick stop for lunch), Loch Ness (no Nessie in sight 🦕) and finally Scrabster, from where we took the evening ferry over to the island.

 

Orkney welcomed us with heavy rain and biting winds, but our hosts warm welcomes made up for it! 😍

 

The next day Robin showed us round the island and we got to visit Skara Brae and the ring of Brodgar, two stunning, ancient sights! Unexpectedly, the weather was absolutely glorious, basking sunshine all morning and not a cloud in sight.

After being treated to homemade lunch in Wendy’s seaside cottage we rehearsed and had a little stroll through town. We truly enjoyed our evening performance and played to such an enthusiastic and welcoming crowd! And then got to meet Silas the dog and relax at Simona and Piers house for dinner.

Huge thanks to Phyllis and Michael, Robin and Anne, Caroline and John, Wendy, Cynthia, Simona and Piers!

the next morning we had to be up and out the house by 5.30am! 😱 we caught the very first ferry and watched the sunrise 🌄 and then had time for some sightseeing and lovely seaside walks around Thurso and all the way up to John O’Groats (we completed Scotland! ✅)

We then made our way down to Cromarty and arrived in the late afternoon. Our venue was an old, converted stable at the top of a hill. We then were invited to Simon and Jill’s house for a pasta arrabiata dinner 🍝 as all the shops had closed by the time we finished.

Thanks so much for opening your home to us and for Nicki for all your organising!

Next stop: Inverurie 🥃

After some lovely early morning walks in Dumfries where some of us may or may not have trespassed onto a golf course 🫣 ⛳️, we set off and took the scenic route to Edinburgh.

We had such fun performing our “Travels with Burney” programme for the Georgian concert society and it was such a blast! Especially our final set of Scottish folk tunes went down really well. After a fabulously fun performance we were treated to an evening walk across town and whisked off to our very own after show dinner party – we’re truly being spoilt on this trip!

The next day we set off for Aberfoyle – the scenery started to change and we got a glimpse of some of the lochs and dark forests 🌳 🌲

Our next concert was at St Mary’s church followed by tea and cake with the audience who were all such lovely people and hugely enjoyed our Kitty Clive show. 🌟

Christopher from Music in Aberfoyle then took us out on a lovely woodland walk with his super cute dogs Mustard and Mogul.

We then had the most wonderful dinner cooked by his wife Elizabeth, who catered for our eclectic mix of diets and cooked up an absolute feast! Thanks so much ❤️

After a day of travelling across all of England we’ve made it to Scotland.

We set off on Thursday at lunchtime and picked up our hire car, already hitting our first bump with some issues with the hire company. 🙄 but all was well and sorted and we managed to load all of our many instruments, props and suitcases into a VW caddy and setting off. 🚗 We’ll be so good at the packing game by the end of this trip!

We then drove all the way up to the Lake District and stopped in Warrington for Ella’s birthday dinner (she turned 30!!! Hurray!) 🥳 🎂 🎉

After navigating some late night M6 closures we finally arrived in Milnthorpe where we stayed the night and embarked on some lovely morning strolls through the rolling hills, before indulding in a delicious homecooked full English breakfast. 🍳

After taking in the beautiful scenery of the Lakes we finally crossed the border and arrived in the quaint little town of Dumfries.

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We were warmly welcomed and had such a great time performing our show “A star is born” 🌟  for Music in Dumfries. After a successful performance and some singing with lots of happy (and talented!) audience members we headed to our hosts homes. Huge thanks to John, Andy & Liz and Jean for your kindness and hospitality and to Hilary for organising it all and making us feel so welcome. We can’t wait to be back in the future!