Walking (and falling down) at Boat of Garten

We are having a lovely weekend at Alison and Hugh's cottage in Boat of Garten. We having been coming here for about five years and their gorgeous cottage is in a beautiful setting with lots of things to do and see nearby including many walking and cycling routes. We arrived last night in time for a delicious dinner cooked by Alison - smoked haddock pate, chicken with green pepper sauce, followed by white chocolate mousse - mmmm! Today James and Alison set off on their planned route - from the ski centre road to the Chalamain Gap, then up to the summit of the Laraig Gru and back to Loch Morlich via Rothiemurchus Lodge. Most of this is rough going for 18 km. It took them six hours and they very much enjoyed it despite being plagued by midges! Meanwhile Hugh and I decided to go on a low level walk from near the Rothiemurchus Visitor Centre round Loch an Eilean then west to the old logging road and back to Rothiemurchus. It was a very pleasant walk with lovely views of Cairngorm and other mountains and it took us three hours. There were quite a few other people walking or cycling, the weather was very warm. Hugh worked out the distance later and it was 13 km, which I was very pleased with! We went back to the cottage for lunch before picking up James and Alison at four o'clock, then we all went for coffee and scones to the visitor centre. I phoned home to check up on the boys and to remind them that they had been invited to Grandma's for tea. They were fine and told me that Grandma has invited Andrew too! Alison, Hugh, James and I walked the 3 km into Boat of Garten for dinner at Anderson's restaurant, a great treat which we usually visit each year. As usual the food was absolutely excellent, I had a very unusual terrine - duck, cherry and hazelnut - which was very good, then smoked haddock and pea risotto. We had a good chat and a laugh. When we came out of the restaurant it was raining and quite dark once we left Boat of Garten, although James and Hugh had torches which helped! As we approached the cottage there was a car coming, I stepped onto the verge and caught my foot in a wee ditch and took a tumble, I was rolling about the verge and the others told me that the car slowed almost to a halt, the driver must have wondered what on earth had happened! I found it very funny and although I was wet I was fine! The others pointed out that I was the one who fell even though I was the only one who wasn't drinking! (I stopped drinking alcohol in November 2010.) Back to the cottage for drinks and chat, an excellent day.