Walking with the Quines

Haddo House

Quine is the Doric word for girl. The Quines (or Super Quines as we have become recently) are a group of women that met on Twitter. I can’t recall the exact ways in which we all first started chatting, though these has been much hilarity from the start. I follow many local people as well as those who share various interests, and there’s a mix of that among The Quines. Last year some of us met up in person, out in the wider world, and we hope to meet our more distant living Quine one day too.

There’s been tea. There’s been talk. And walks, lots and lots of walks.

snowy beach

The most recent walk was on a snowy beach. Beaches feature quite a bit. Back in the summer we walked barefoot along golden sands and through a river to see a shipwreck:

sands

St Combs

Other coastal Quine walks have already been documented: Crovie (where we got lost in a pea field) and another day when we searched for Lord Pitsligo’s Cave.

Summer continued with Huntly Castle and a much thistled stroll along the River Deveron:

Huntly Castle

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A tall tower and a stone circle (Drinnie’s Wood Observatory and Louden Wood Circle):

tower

sun and stone

Autumn returned us to the Deveron. Alvah Bridge and the Earl’s Love Nest within (more on that here):

The Bridge of Alvah

Gothic window

The Lake at Pitfour Estate was nice and mellow, the old Temple of Theseus thankfully no longer housing crocodiles!

Pitfour

Sometimes social media isn’t all that social; it can be taken over by constant ads and spam and passive aggressive Facebook memes. But good things happen too. I deeply appreciate the caring and non-demanding friendship of The Quines. I value many others I’ve got to know along the Twitter path too.

So take a minute. Listen. Laugh. Tap those screens and sit and chat.

bench

The first picture in this post was of Haddo House; the one above was taken in the country park there too.

41 Replies to “Walking with the Quines”

  1. No place compares with Scotland in terms of walking/hiking. I wish I could visit every single year. Wish I lived there!

  2. Remember saying to you long time ago, your better than any tourist information, still true. Temple of Theseus is still a potential ” Cake by the Lake”.

  3. Heartwarming, Ailish. It’s exactly the kind of connection social media promised – and you’re living it. And the light of the sun is shining brightly in (almost) every one of your lovely photos.
    Thank you for that
    Elaine

  4. Your photos are wonderful, magical.

    A Twitter friend of mine (from Scotland!) taught me the word “quine” just the other day. Of course I’m going to share this with her. Thank you.

  5. As always, a delight. Your photos transport me to another place and your words soothe and tickle as if we were truly on an adventurous stroll. Beautiful. So happy to have made your social media acquaintance, dear one!

  6. Absolutely love this, and I’ve discovered so much about my local area I didn’t know existed social media can be a curse or it can be a wonderful place to connect, I’ve “met” some fantastic people through blogging & made friendships that I treasure (even if probably won’t get over to Belgium to meet one of the dearest of people).

  7. Such beautiful photos. I’ve lived in Aberdeenshire for 30 years and I’m still stunned by the amount of atmospheric places i’ve not yet been to.

  8. Love your photos. You certainly have some beautiful scenery to stroll in. I can’t complain though, since I look out my window and see the beautiful Oquirrh Mountains which are covered in snow today. I live in Utah, but love to travel and Scotland is on my short list.

  9. Local places seen through different eyes. Accompanied by lovely photos. I’m prompted to get out there again.

  10. I laughed when I saw “Quine” in the title! That word gave me a headache!
    Yes, Twitter is where I first discovered your writing. I no longer am on that social platform as I found it not to my taste. But occasionally social media does good things. Its nice you met people with similar interests. For me your book is one of my new favorites. I enjoy your other writings. I love your photos. Todays being no exception. And I’ve learned a few things from what you have written.
    Maybe someday I’ll be back to Scotland and we could have a cup and and a chat.

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