102.
This just about sums up how I feel today. It's already the end of the month, and I haven't sent out my invoices, I still haven't finished the short article I was asked to write and I forgot to get my road tax. Days like these I think I would lose my head if it wasn't screwed on to my shoulders. To top it all, it was very, very humid today, and I didn't go out of the house until 9pm, when Liam and I went castle hunting. This time our explorations took us over barbed wire fences and through lanes with (illegally) erected 'Private: keep out' signs. It is a real pet hate of mine - seeing these signs - more often than not they are put up by people who fail to realise that Scots Law is different from English law, and that up here there is a much greater right to roam through fields and estates. Basically, you can go just about anywhere you want, so long as you act responsibly and respect both the property and privacy of the landowner. Landowners are not allowed to block access without very good reason, and the local authorities have the power to demand that landowners remove intimidatory signs and obstructions (such as barbed wire fences). Whenever I see a 'Strictly Private' sign now, I take that as an invitation to explore (and I always carry a copy of the new Scottish Outdoors Access Code with me, just in case I come across some recalcitrant landowners). Anyway, today we struggled across two barbed wire fences to get views of Powrie Castle, and up a long unlit driveway to Ballumbie Castle - so I hope you appreciate them. We had another four castles on the list, but the light began to fail. Another day.