Firstly, let us wish you all a good new year, may it be a great one! In spite of all the dodgy politics. Now, what you have all been waiting for … the first scone of 2018!
It wasn’t the balmy -1°C temperature that drove us in here in search of woolly underpants. Rather that we were out and about on a beautiful sunny day enjoying the scenery and this is where we ended up … purely by accident. It was a bit nippy though! For those unfamiliar with Kilmahog (quite a few we suspect) it is just outside Callander at the junction of the Trossachs and Lochearnhead roads.
Queen Victoria
It’s a tiny hamlet of just a few houses yet manages to sport two woollen mills. The Trossachs Woollen Mill and the Kilmahog Woollen Mill as well as a pub (The Lade Inn) with its own microbrewery. At one time the Oban railway ran through here but it is now a cycle track and popular as part of the Rob Roy Way. Still standing at the road junction is the 19th-century toll-house where Queen Victoria once had to cough up some money in order to continue her journey.
Best of all though, on the small hill opposite Kilmahog there is a massive rock, known locally as Samson’s Putting Stone. Legend has it that, Samson, one of the Fingalian giants threw it three miles, from his home on Ben Ledi during a competition with rival giants. Some say he actually threw it from Ben Lawers … a phenomenal twenty three miles. Yet others say it is a glacial erratic left by a receding glacier. To us, this latter explanation seems slightly far fetched. One thing is clear, these giants did not tidy up after their games! The woollen mill itself is pretty big and, of course, stuffed full of everything tartan you could imagine. Yes, underpants! 
Too Scottish
The café part is quite big as well and obviously is set up to deal with bus parties in the summer. When it’s busy you probably would not notice the rather utilitarian nature of the place. However, when it’s quiet it becomes rather obvious. The service was what we would normally describe as ‘surly‘ and far too Scottish for our liking. With Brexit on the horizon we had better get used to it. No more of our eastern european friends eager to work and giving excellent happy service. What an idiotic world we live in! 
On the upside, our somewhat low scone expectations were confounded when it turned out to be surprisingly good. Fresh and slightly crunchy on the outside. They charged a fortune for the jam but the cream was plentiful and good. On its own, this could have maybe squeezed into the topscone category but the overall experience let it down badly … shame!
Expectations
Expectations were further confused by a warning sign in the toilets. It seemed to suggest that you would only get hot water if the wind was blowing from a certain direction, or the mo
on was aligned with Mars. Or, maybe it was simply down to Samson being in a good mood … who knows? It certainly heightened anticipation when using the cold tap. So our first scone adventure of the year at Kilmahog Woollen Mill had mixed outcomes. Good to be on the hunt once more on such a lovely day. However, a frustratingly disappointing scone experience over all. Things can only get better! Or maybe not?
Oprah for President
As Theresa May gets on with rearranging the deckchairs we hope that at least she, unlike the local giants, will at least tidy up after herself because it is bound to end up in a mess no matter how much she shuffles them. In the USA, Oprah Winfrey is thinking of running against Donald Trump. We have no wish to take anything away from Ms Winfrey but how on earth did it get to this?
FK17 8HD Tel: 01877 330268 Kilmahog Woollen Mill TA