Yesterday, on a dull but mild day, Lorna and I took ourselves off to nearby Ballathie House Hotel for a spot of luncheon.

Their soup of the day was celeriac, served with homemade granary bread, and we both opted for that.

The soup was deliciously hot and creamy. The bread, too, was excellent, but quite substantial in portion size, so we wrapped up what we didn’t eat and took it home with us for later.

Lunching at Ballathie on a weekday means either sitting in the bar area, or the drawing room. The bar is cosy and pleasant, and yesterday there was a wonderful fire burning in the grate.

We generally prefer the drawing room, because the seating arrangements are easier for eating. We also like the airiness of the room and the magnificent views from the large windows. As has often been the case in the past, we had the entire room to ourselves, and the staff very helpfully brought a higher table for me to balance my soup on.

When we’d finished our soup, we plumped for a cream tea a-piece. At Ballathie, this consists of a hot beverage of your choice, served with a plain scone, cream and strawberry jam, and a homemade shortbread biscuit. The cream had two succulent blackberries nestling in it, which were a welcome addition to proceedings.

After a most relaxing and pleasant lunch, we drove slowly along Ballathie’s long driveway, which is something we always enjoy doing. Little white snowdrop rugs were to be seen between the large trees lining the drive.

On the way home, we paused at the edge of Kinclaven Bluebell Wood, so that Lorna could have a brief leg-stretch. I stayed in the warm car, snoozing peacefully.