Blueberries on The Goet

James decided that today we should climb a Corbett and so we did. He chose The Goet in Glen Clova in Angus. I had my doubts about this because of the four hour round trip involved but on a sunny Sunday we had plenty of time so why not? We set off nice and early and had a great walk. There was a gently sloping walk in before it got a bit steeper, which was good for me to warm up my leg muscles. I did moan a bit when the going got tougher but I made it to the summit without any real problems, and James told me that I was ten minutes ahead of "book time." We enjoyed eating wild blueberries on the way up, and there were lots of big hares dashing about near the top. The views were amazing with Lochnagar and the Cairngorm plateau to the north, and the Firths of Tay and Forth to the south. To the east we could see the North Sea past Arbroath and to the west were the hills of Glenshee. 

We walked back to the car in a big circle around the crags above Loch Wharral, disturbing a few grouse who came flapping out of the heather as we made our way down the hill.

Cycling on the Speyside Way

After a delicious dinner at Anderson's and a great night's sleep we went for a cycle today. We went first to Nethybridge via the beautiful forest paths that Alison and Hugh know so well. Then we joined the Speyside Way which at that point is a disused railway line. The train tracks are long gone but the stones that they lay on are still there, partly covered by grass. It was very picturesque; we passed small lochs and fields of barley, and we saw the steam train passing by on the other side of the fields. We arrived at the old Spey Bridge which was very lovely; there was confetti on the bridge so it must be a favourite location for wedding photos with river and hills behind.

By this time I was flagging somewhat, so Alison suggested that we have a coffee in the attractive restaurant at the nearby Revack Estate. This was a great idea; coffee and a slice of Ecclefechan tart gave me a new lease of life. Also I suspect that the seemingly level path must slope very gently downhill from Spey Bridge to Nethybridge, because it definitely seemed an easier cycle on the way back. By the time we got back to the cottage we had cycled 30 km - about 18.5 miles! 

In the afternoon we bade farewell to our kind and generous hosts and set off home. The roads were busy with motor cycles (the Thunder in the Glens meet up was this weekend) and horse boxes (the International Horse Trials at Blair Atholl were also this weekend). However it was a sunny and pleasant drive and the combine harvesters were out working the fields in Perthshire, which added to the early Autumnal atmosphere.

Chalamain Gap

David has had a good week - he got two important letters. One was his official offer of a place to study Biomedical Science at University of the West of Scotland. The other was his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award badge with a letter congratulating him and informing him that he will be invited to next year's Gold Award Ceremony at Holyrood Palace.

We are at Boat of Garten visiting Alison and Hugh, and have just got back from a really good 18.3 km walk. We walked from Coylumbridge through lovely woodland and over the Cairngorm Club footbridge towards the Lairig Ghru. We turned sharply to climb upwards and through the Chalamain Gap. We had great views of all the mountains including Cairn Gorm and although we had one or two showers the weather was mostly dry and even sunny at times. Finally we followed the river into the very pretty Queen's Forest and down to the Glenmore Visitor Centre. We will deserve our dinner at Anderson's Restaurant this evening!

A weekend by myself

Jamie is in Edinburgh, Ally is in Oslo, and James and David are on a hill-walking weekend to Kinlochewe so I have been all by myself since Friday. A few weeks ago when I was ill this would have terrified me, so it's a good sign that I was able to face it. As I look back over the last few months I feel quite scared at how bad things got this time. I thought that maybe this time I wouldn't come back up again, but I am definitely on the mend.

Anyway here's what I did on my weekend of solitude as well as a few household chores; had a lovely curry, watched two French Art House films, had my hair cut, went shopping in Waitrose, had brunch in Charlie Rocks and read my book. Excellent. I admit that I did work rather late on Friday but I brought no work home with me, and it has been a very relaxing weekend. The only disappointment was that I went to Tollcross Baths on Saturday intending to swim, only to find that it does not reopen post Commonwealth Games until Tuesday. 

My boys will be home mid afternoon and then Grandma is coming for tea so my time alone is fast coming to a close. It will be nice to see them, but my quiet weekend has been really enjoyable.

Rainy in Stockbridge

Today we visited Aisling and Jamie's new flat for the first time, and we took Grandma along for the trip as well as David. Jamie's bike was stolen last week from the close downstairs. This was even more annoying considering that he had just paid for £100 worth of repairs. He has another, older, bike which he had left at our house so the primary reason for our visit was to take it through to him. We had a scary moment on the motorway when the bike suddenly listed to one side on the car roof and we had to take the next exit to fix it on properly.
It rained all day, sometimes very heavily, but luckily we were able to park close to the flat. Aisling was at work so unfortunately we didn't see her but it was great to see Jamie, and he gave us a tour of his flat - it is lovely! Grandma really liked it and declared that she was going to move in with them! We drove along to the excellent Raeburn for lunch, which is actually only five minutes walk, but what with Grandma and the rain we thought it better to take the car. We were very impressed with the main street in Stockbridge, which has lots of nice wee shops, cafés and pubs, and all within ten minutes walk of Jamie's and Aisling's flat. It's also only fifteen minutes walk from Princes Street.
After lunch we popped in to Waitrose, which to my great excitement is diagonally across the road from the flat! James was not best pleased about this (he has a strange hatred for Waitrose) but with Grandma enthusiastic about it there was nothing he could do! Then it was back to Jamie's for a coffee before heading home. As rainy days go, this was a very pleasant one.

Farewells

Goodbye to the Commonwealth Games - they were great, much better than I expected! I'm pleased that Davie enjoyed being a Clydesider so much, it was a really good experience for him. It was a positive, happy time for the whole city and we rounded it off by attending the Closing Ceremony at Hampden. The occasion was suitably celebratory; Lulu set the tone with "Shout" and my favourite part of the evening had to be Deacon Blue singing "Dignity". We all sang along; the words of the song mean a lot to me. And while we sang a procession of council vans, school buses, fire engine, police cars drove round the track - it made me feel strangely proud as a council worker myself! The star of the evening was Kylie and she was brilliant, but if I was being picky I would have preferred her set to be a bit shorter so that we could have had more Scottish music. James however was very happy and would have liked even more Kylie! The evening ended with Dougie McLean singing Caledonia and then the crowd singing Auld Lang Syne. A fitting ending to the games.
Goodbye to the summer holidays - I may not officially start back until Monday but I have been working part of last week and all of this week. I applied for this job so I can't really complain. I can however reflect on my future plans.
And most importantly, goodbye to Ally. Tomorrow he is going to spend the night at Aisling and Jamie's flat in Edinburgh before flying to Oslo the next morning. It's a wonderful opportunity for him to spend a year studying abroad but I will miss him very much. It will not be the same in the house without his dry sense of humour and earnest political speeches! He's a good boy. However luckily we will see him in a few weeks, because we have booked 3 nights in Oslo at the September weekend.

The fastest man in the world

There have been many balmy evenings at Hampden during the Commonwealth Games but this wasn't one of them! Luckily it was only a ten minute walk for Jamie, Ally, Davie and me from Kings Park Station to the stadium so we didn't get too wet despite the heavy rain and streets that were rapidly turning into rivers. It rained on and off all evening. Our seats at the stadium were excellent, low down near the pitch opposite the main stand, so we were close to the action. As we sat down the song "Why does it always rain on me?" by Travis was played and the crowd all joined in! It was all finals this evening so it was very exciting. Also, there were lots of events going on e.g. javelin, running, pole vaulting and long jump all at the same time which meant that there was plenty to watch. I had thought there would be lots of boring gaps between events and had brought my Kindle to read, but there was no need.
There were lots of medal ceremonies too; each one was heralded by a piper. One of the better known medal presenters (to me anyway, because most were senior sports officials) was expectant father, Prince Albert of Monaco.
The last event was the one we were all waiting for; the men's 100m relay which had Usain Bolt running for Jamaica. After a rousing rendition of "I will walk 500 miles" the crowd fell silent and the race began. It really was amazing - so fast - and Bolt (and team) came up with the goods and won the Gold.  The Jamaicans came celebrating along past the crowd so we got a good view from our seats; Usain Bolt is very good looking.
So that's what it's like to watch athletics. It was a good evening and of course it was great to see the fastest man in the world running but that's probably enough athletics for me for a while.

Forest of Ae

It's the second last week of the holidays but I have been spending quite a lot of time at work preparing for the start of term, and next week will be much the same. However, because it's still the holidays I can come and go as I please, so it has been quite pleasant. I have also socialised a bit and done some walking and shopping.
On Friday I met up with the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Group because I was check pointing the first day of their Qualifying Expedition. We went down to the Forest of Ae in Dumfriesshire which was rather lovely. I saw lots of cyclists and dog walkers, and the Gold group navigated through the woods very well - woods can be tricky because you can't see any landmarks but they made good speed. When they had set up their tents in a very midgy clearing beside a river I set off back to civilisation, picking up fish suppers for tea on the way!
Today James and I took Ally into Tiso to get some winter boots that he will need in Oslo. Ally is the most ungreedy person I know and never asks us for anything if he can help it, so he was rather overwhelmed and thanked us in a gruff but heartfelt manner.
The rain is lashing on the roof of the extension just now; slightly worrying because we will be leaving shortly to watch the Commonwealth Games Athletics finals at Hampden!