We headed off to the beach at St Cyrus, the most unspoilt beach I know (and the spot where D proposed to me - but that's for another post!) I paused to smell the wonderful coconuty scent of the yellow flowers on the broom. It holds a special significance to me now after reading about the life of a travelling girl, Betsy Whyte who used to spend her winters in a small house in Brechin where I grew up.
"The townspeople call them tinkers, the tinkers call them scaldies in return, that's just an equally insulting term. They call themselves travelling people. First they help farmers planting, then they go to the River Tay to look for shellfish, and if they're lucky they find a few pearls, take them to the jewellers in Perth and make a little money that way. And when the raspberries and strawberries are ripe they all go to Blairgowrie - that's the heart of the fruit-growing area in Scotland. It's a big festival time for them all."
Betsy and her family can't wait to get back on the road in springtime and when those first sweet smelling yellow flowers appear, they know that it's time.
I think I have a bit of that wanderlust in me too. Although I am obsessed with the interior of my house I probably wouldn't mind if it were on 2 wheels, with a gas stove and tiny little curtains at the windows (vintage floral of course!). In fact, I'd imagine it would look something like this (cue dreamy sound effect)..
I WANT ONE!!! No disrespect to real travelling people past and present who of course would journey in something much more practical. Anyway, as I pinch myself back to reality, the only wanderlusting I did today was of course to my all time favourite beach at St Cyrus which is just so WILD at this time of year with trees washed up vertically on the shore (that one puzzled me). It all looked quite strange though..
Despite the menacing grey cloud looming overhead, the wee wanderer was happy to be picking up and throwing and drawing pictures in the sand.
A happy child makes a happy mummy. Hope you all had a lovely weekend. xx
