Sunday @ Forvie Sands and The Store

It was a pretty decent day in Aberdeen (no rain, and a bit of blue skies), so G-man and I decided to go out for a short walk around Forvie Sands Nature Reserve and then visit a nearby farm shop, The Store. We only planned to walk around for about an hour or so and then go have our afternoon tea. We decided to take the route to visit the nearby estuary, but due to heavy rains, part of the path was closed because of flooding. 

We did the best we could to follow the signs, but unfortunately, it lead us to deep puddles of water (we probably misread it). 

What looked like a pretty solid rock underneath a few inches of water, swallowed my right foot, and the walk was over. I stepped into the puddle as if I was going to use the rock as leverage to get over the puddle, but instead ended up with muddy shoes and a wet sock!  Like I said, we were only planning to walk about an hour, so didn't feel the need to put on our hiking boots. 

We were about 40 minutes into the walk when this happened. After taking the shortcut back to the car park, we actually ended up walking the planned hour, yay! My shoe was disgusting, and what was even more disgusting is that I had to wear it without any socks, since my socks were soaked. I won't elaborate on that! 

On the way to The Store, we passed by the Udny Arms Hotel, which is supposedly the birthplace of Sticky Toffee Pudding! Without even asking me if I wanted STP, Gerald pulled into the parking lot and told me to see if they were open; they were not (mental note, must come back for this) =(  So off to The Store we went to have our afternoon tea. I gave up coffee for lent, but after the day I had, I really wanted some, so I ordered it; plus it was Sunday so technically it doesn't count.  However, when it came, I felt guilty for giving up so easily. So, I asked Gerald if I could trade him for his hot chocolate, and he said aye =) I love that The Store is only about 20 minutes from us and offers fresh food and groceries. We bought some meat and veggies from there for the week and I'm hoping we can make this a regular thing. I love supporting local businesses. Happy Sunday!