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Slow Living Scotland

Your guide to embracing simplicity, seasonal living, and sustainability through events, escapes, and local stores in Scotland.

26/07/2026

Ellon Castle Gardens 🌿🌹

Did you know Ellon had a castle? I had no idea! This beautiful little castle ruin has parts dating back to 1450, alongside stunning gardens that date from the 18th century.

The gardens are full of lovely surprises, including ancient yew trees thought to be between 500 and 800 years old. On the upper level you’ll also find a beautiful rose garden, home to the Terrace Sundial, which dates back to 1717 and has quite a sad story behind it.

There are plenty of things for children to enjoy too, including an animal trail, lawn games and even a little weeding area where they can get hands on in the garden!

Located right in the heart of the town, Ellon Castle Gardens is cared for by a community trust and supported by donations, memberships and volunteers who help keep this special place thriving.

It really is a lovely place to spend an hour or two, whether you’re interested in history, gardens or simply fancy a peaceful wander. If you’re ever in the area, I’d definitely recommend paying it a visit 🌿

23/07/2026

Enjoyed a visit to Castle Fraser yesterday to visit their gardens and take our dogs a little walk around the estate.

Gardens were looking stunning as always. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the veggies growing and reignited my desire to grow my own one day - if I ever find the time! 😅

20/07/2026

Another day, another beautiful garden! I just love a wall flower!

Drum Castle Walled Garden, looking stunning on an afternoon in July 🌿🌸

05/07/2026

A day at Balmoral! 🌿✨

Finally getting round to posting some photos from a lovely day out with friends at Balmoral. As you can see from the photos, this was before all the lovely weather we’ve been having recently!

Our stop at Balmoral Castle was stunning as always. I still adore their Peach House and could quite happily have it in my garden!! 😂 even better now it is full of pears too! Yum!

We actually started the day with a little hike up to the Prince Albert cairn to enjoy the views - a first for me! And have promised to come back to see the rest before the year is out.

We also visited Tàrmachan for the first time too and it also didn’t disappoint - especially since we saved our lunch until we were down by the river. Bliss!

Always is awe at how stunning our country is wherever we go and grateful for the fact that sights like these are only a short drive away 🤍

Where should our next day out be? 🤔🌿✨

04/07/2026

A little bit of June! 🌸🌼🌿

🌻 Summer colours in Crathes
🌿 Wild Women North East | Wellness + Friendship walks and visit to TheLibertyKitchen
🍦 Forest Farm-The Organic Dairy for pizza and ice cream!
🦆 Ducks, kids and flowers at Johnston Gardens
🥒 Teeny tiny cucumbers
🏙️ The city looking pretty
🌸 Flowers and friends at Sillyflatt Fare, Fields & Gatherings
🪴 Garden tours with National Trust for Scotland
🏰 Crathes Castle day and night!

I wonder what July has in store! ✨

21/06/2026

Had the most loveliest day celebrating the Summer Solstice with friends! Thank you to Sillyflatt Fare, Fields & Gatherings for organising such a wonder event.

We started the day by picking the most stunning flowers and creating a natural mandala with the rest of the group. Then it was lunch from Stonehaven’s Seafood Bothy🦞🦀 who visited the farm for the day (crab and prawn roll was 👌🏼👌🏼). We then had a short foraging session with the Feral Forager before making our own flower crowns 🌼👑 After, that it was on to bushcraft with Stuart which was great fun too! All in all a fantastic day and a great way to celebrate the solstice! We got so lucky with the weather too! ☀️

Fingers crossed Ailsa organises lots more events like this in the future! 🤍🌿

11/04/2026

What’s in Season: April 🌷🌿

It’s April, and it finally feels like things are shifting here in Scotland. This month’s ‘What’s in Season’ guide is a little later than planned, but still in good time for the weeks ahead.

It’s been so lovely to see flowers starting to bloom and buds appearing on the trees. That little bit of colour and new life really does brighten everything — even on the rainy days!

There’s so much to plant this month. It’s one of the busiest times in the growing calendar, and with longer days and the soil beginning to warm, it’s the perfect time to get outside. Even if it’s just a quick tidy or scattering a few wildflower seeds, it all counts. I’m definitely a bit behind in the garden this year, but trying not to feel too guilty as life is busy. I do love seeing what everyone else has been getting up to though 🌱🌼

Wild food is really picking up now too. Wild garlic is everywhere at the moment, you’ve probably spotted it on your own walks. If you haven’t picked any yet, now’s the time! Leanne Leanne Townsend has created a lovely ebook full of wild garlic recipes (link in bio). Such a nice, simple way to get started with foraging, and a great activity to do with kids too 🧄🌿

Leanne has also very kindly helped me pull together this month’s list of what you can forage in Scotland. My favourites are dandelions and nettles which are easy to find just now and are packed with benefits. I’m hoping to share a few simple recipes later this month to help you get started.

As always, I hope these lists help inspire you to grow or forage your own food. I’d love to know what you’re spotting or planting this month 🌱 Tag me Rachael Hunter | Slow Living Scotland if you’re using these lists, I love seeing and sharing what you’ve been up to.

Wishing you a calm and colourful April 🌷🌿✨

08/04/2026

Happy (belated!) Easter everyone! 🐣💛✨

Hope you all had a lovely time and the holidays have been a chance to slow down a bit and enjoy the longer days 😊

I wanted to share a few photos from my time over Easter. We had a very full on week preparing for and working our 4 day Easter event at Crathes Castle. As one of our biggest events of the year, it’s always a huge amount of work but comes with a great sense of achievement once it’s over!

I am, however, looking forward to getting back to my normal duties next week and checking out the gardens again to see what’s popped up! 🌷

Some of you may also have noticed that I haven’t posted April’s “What’s in Season” post yet. I’m working away on this now and will get it posted later this week too. Definitely a little later than usual but still in good time for the month ahead! 🌷🪻🌿

How’s your April been so far? What exciting things are happening this month? Let us know in the comments below 👇🏼 we’d love to hear from you! 🌿✨

10/03/2026

Days two & three at 🌿✨

Day two of our Reconnect Retreat began with a gorgeous morning yoga session led by Nala from . It was such a lovely way to start the day and the stretches were needed more than I realised! Nala was incredible and so knowledgeable about our bodies and helping us get the most out of the sessions 🧘🏻‍♀️🤍

After yoga we headed out for our afternoon walk with , which I shared more about in my previous post! 🥾 Back at Ballintaggart we had a little time to relax in the farmhouse before the evening’s cocktail making masterclass with Amy.

Using seasonal ingredients like rhubarb, we learned how to make delicious cocktails before sitting down to an incredible five-course dinner celebrating local, seasonal produce🍹Safe to say we all slept very well afterwards that night!

Our final morning arrived far too quickly. After packing up, we enjoyed one last yoga session with Nala followed by a relaxed farewell brunch before heading home.

I wasn’t quite ready to leave Perthshire just yet, so I stopped at in Grandtully to pick up some treats for the kids (their chocolate is amazing!) before a peaceful wander around Loch of the Lowes near Dunkeld on the way back 🌿

The team at Ballintaggart really were exceptional, and I couldn’t have asked for a lovelier, more relaxing few days. If you’re considering their Reconnect Retreat in November, I couldn’t recommend it more 🌿✨

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