It seemed a great idea, back in August, to book a few days’ holiday in Ballater at the beginning of January. As the nights drew in and temperatures plummeted, we realised just what a challenge we’d set ourselves up for! Wearing pretty much everything we owned, we headed off into the crisp winter sunshine, on our beautiful trikes (designed and built from scratch by John).
It was bitterly cold, but there is one species that thrives on these kinds of temperatures: Velvet Shanks! There is a lot of gorse along the Deeside Way, so I was hungrily looking out for them. We found a wonderful, pristine patch of them and cooked them in our Ballater kitchen:
We’ve had a wonderful 4 days of triking in sub-zero temperatures. On Saturday we rode into Glen Muick, where many of the Million Tree Campaign trees will be and have been planted:
When the ground is frozen solid, it’s hard to imagine it all coming back to life in the Spring. But underneath the surface, a lot goes on. I like to visualize the fungal mycelium with all the little baby mushrooms cuddled up in hibernation. That’s not how it works, but the picture in my mind is delightful!
The healthy forager 