Letters Home - Scotland
by Leslie Shalduha
November 9, 2025 Life on a Little Farm
I write to you now from a country manor farm house in the Scottish countryside. Our job here is to care for the home and three hens while the family has a vacation in England. Ours hosts are 82 yr. old twin sisters, Sue and Vee and Sue’s husband, Tobin, who is 86. We had four days between our last sit and this one, so they invited us to come early. How glad are we that we did!! Sue and Tobin picked us up at the train station in Stirling, which was so nice.
They are lovely folks, who are so gracious and have the best stories. The house itself is quite large, really two homes in one. One half was built in the 1700's, one in the 1800's. Somewhere along the line it was split into two homes with a wall down the middle. At some point, Sue and Tobin were able to purchase the other half and rent it as a guest rental until Vee joined them. The sisters made a pact to live together when they turned 80 for safety. It is such a nice set-up, really. They all have their independence and own home, but gather for tea in the morning after breakfast then in the evening after dinner for the same.
Tobin was in the Scottish Highland guard for most of his life. Vee and Susan were raised in Kenya, attending boarding schools in the highlands and Nairobi, their parents having chosen to live in colonial Africa as administrators. When I asked Vee what she did for work in her lifetime, she said that wives of her age did not work. Her job was to be a diplomat's wife, to entertain, and to raise their twin daughters. Sue's answer was much the same, but her children grew up in boarding schools and she traveled with her husband for his career. Since their retirement, they have taken to editing and publishing books for family and friends. Vee even wrote one of her own, called "A Speck in The Ocean of Time," about the colonial administration in Africa.
The twins' aunt, Margaret Collyer, was quite the artist and adventurer. Vee and Sue edited and republished her book, A Vivid Canvas (original title Life of an Artist, 1935) a few years back, including many of her paintings that had not been included in the original. I read that book while we have been here. It is hard to believe the adventures Margaret had, between England and Africa. Spectacular! It was a book that had me exclaiming often. I cannot wait until they arrive back home so I can question them about some of the more exciting aspects! I bet if you look her up you might recognize some of her more famous paintings.
In those first few days, several friends came to visit our hosts and they encouraged us to visit with them, too. We met a lovely woman named Doreen, who suggested that Emma make a trip to the University of Stirling and have a conversation with someone there about options and offered to give her a ride, too, as it is a bit of a bus ride over.
Now, to the most important part. The Hens—Dollar, Dina and Daisy. Three sweet little hens who are spoiled silly as the folks here have plenty of time on their hands to do so. We check on them three times a day, feeding them a breakfast of porridge, freshly steamed corn (!!) and mozzarella cheese each day and gather eggs. In the afternoon we clean their little coop, freshen their water and seed box before throwing a handful of meal worms out to them. Then, at dark, we tuck them into their coop area and make sure the electric fence is on at all times…..otherwise the fox knows where to get a fresh chicken snack. The day before our hosts left, Dollar seemed to be under the weather. Vee & Sue decided they would need to chop off her head that night as they did not want to leave us with the responsibility should she get worse. Luckily, at the afternoon check-in Dollar seemed to have perked up a bit. Thank goodness. The next morning Dollar left me a ridiculous large poo and was in high spirits. Poor Dollar almost had her head chopped off for constipation! Whew, close call.
The home we are staying at is located on a large dairy farm. We are an oasis amidst acres and acres of cattle and sheep land and rolling vibrant green hills. Just below the house runs a stream, though here it is called a burn! One day while feeding the chickens, a big, beautiful Highland bull came up to investigate us. Totally fine, we were not scared at all. It is about a ten minute walk to the village of Thornhill. To get there we walk as the crow flies on a hawthorn tree-lined path, littered with fallen yellow and red leaves. Along the way we visit with sweet Highland ponies who only hope we have brought them a treat, which we do not as a partially eaten sign says not to feed them, darn it, and are stared at intensely by white-faced sheep.
In the cute village, there is a little store, a bus stop and a fabulous pub called The Lion and The Unicorn. It was built in 1635 originally!! With rooms to let above, it is a true inn of yore. The pub is made of stone with several fireplaces that they keep going with coal and wood. The food is yummy and they offer great selections for my dietary restrictions, too!!
The bus into Stirling is a little pricey so we have spent most of our time living the country life. I rise early for hot tea, reading and writing before hen duty. After Emma gets up, we often spend the day in front of a roaring fire, doing office hours, trying to figure out what in the world we are doing with our lives and researching for jobs and/or college opportunities. But we have also spent hours and hours reading. We have each read two or three books this week—wowza!! Emma is still the main cook and me the chief bottle washer.
However! Have no fear that we have given up on fun. We did go and find a little while here......
The city of Stirling is about a 25 minute bus ride and unfortunately costs $24 round trip for us. One day we walked the town (as we do!) to investigate what it was all about. We found the old City Jail, Stirling Castle, the Church of Holy Rude (which was on Emma's wish list but closed for the winter), the Cemetery of Holy Rude, lots of cafes and the like. We are trying to be responsible with our entertainment budget, so chose not to do all of those things in favor of a later castle.
The cemetery of Holy Rude was spectacular—graves going back to the 1500's and some stones were encased in iron, which we found fascinating. Here there is a large, glass-encased memorial with statues inside. It is to the memory of a young woman named Margaret and her sister who were drowned because of their Protestant faith in the 1800's.
Being at the farmhouse inspired me to want to make a pie. Despite my best efforts, I cannot find the ingredients I need to make my Cry Pie, which is dairy and gluten free, so that was sad. And more intriguing is the fact that rubbing alcohol is nearly impossible to find! After days of searching multiple stores, I finally discovered it at a hardware store yesterday. Why, you wonder, do I want rubbing alcohol? Well, hawthorn berries are everywhere here and I decided I wanted to test the pectin level in them; rubbing alcohol is the medium one uses to do that. So, one week and 10 stores later, I found it. $10 for a large bottle later, I have missed the window for berry harvest for my testing. Ah well, at least now I have rubbing alcohol. That I have to lug around in my suitcase? Maybe Vee and Sue will keep it. I know, real world problems.
The castle we saved our pennies to visit is in Doune, a town about four miles down the road. We boarded the bus in Thornhill to Smiddy (a fabulous local farm store and restaurant) before catching another bus to Doune. At Smiddy, we came across a fresh milk and milkshake vending machine! Of course, we certainly had to investigate that. Apparently it is filled with fresh milk every day. One can fill just a cup of milk or a bottle. Emma ordered a chocolate milk and she said it was quite good! I was so sad to be dairy free on this particular morning. Jealous!
We enjoyed breakfast at the Buttercup Cafe, recommended by Vee. It was a cute little place and the food was quite tasty. Then we walked to Doune Castle, which was Very Exciting. Both Outlander and Game of Thrones did quite a lot of filming here (Castle Leoch and Winterfell, for those in the know) so Emma and I were over the moon to visit here. After we paid the fee, we were able to wander freely. It really is just a shell of a castle but still magnificent. Standing in the kitchen, imagining what life was like back in the twelfth century of this stone fortress was incredible. Walking up the curved stone staircases, trailing our hands along the wall, wondering what delight we would find around the corner.........peeking out the windows, we appreciated the luscious green hills dotted with trees in full fall colors and the River Teith running just below, with the ruins of a big old stone mill alongside. It is a wonder I did not just lay down on the stone floors and refuse to leave. I could, you know, easily turn that into a comfortable home. Surely it would not take much?
A few days ago, Doreen came to pick us up and deliver us to the University of Stirling. Emma had an appointment with the recruitment officer for America and I found a nice seating area to wait and do office hours. She had a really nice meeting with the guy and it has inspired her to figure out this college scene again. Despite my own student loan trauma, we have decided that is indeed the only way this poor girl is going to be able to attend college so are now deep in the throes of what that looks like. The good news is that the University of Stirling offers a sizable grant automatically to US students. It is a beautiful campus and I sure hope we can figure these details out. The town next to the university is called Bridge of Allan and it is so sweet! We lunched at a place called Friend of Mine, that came recommended by both Doreen and university guy. Also, while walking into town and discussing Emma’s reluctant acceptance into student loan town, I found a beautiful gold ring on the ground and a silver coin, which we took as a sign that this is the right thing to do.
Tonight our hosts arrive home but our next thing is not until Tuesday, so they have offered to let us stay. Which we certainly will! They understand, I think, that they have two new members of their family. I imagine that we will come here again, to visit them specifically, rather than the hens. In fact, we have a hole in our schedule the first week of December and I believe we shall come back here, then, for more stories of their fascinating lives.
Tomorrow is a day of the mundane. Emma may need her wisdom teeth out and we go into Edinburgh to see a dentist for a consultation. Then, on Tuesday, we go on vacation! Yes, it is true. You see, back in the beginning of all this housesit planning, I panicked and booked an airbnb before we fully filled in our schedule. Then PROMPTLY forgot about it. A few days before it was due to begin, I received an email reminder. Unfortunately we had a house sit booked!! The airbnb let me reschedule so for four nights we are going to be footloose and fancy free with no animals to care for, nor homes to keep extra safe. Wish us well!