Blackhope Scar

We had a lovely evening at Heather and Ewan's on Saturday. Heather's gardening skills were in evidence; their garden looked particularly lush and green in the early summer evening. We also admired their famous new shed which nestles in the corner of the garden. Great news about Andrew - he has passed all of his exams with flying colours and is now officially a lawyer. I am most indebted to Ewan, who has agreed to go to see AC/DC with James in a couple of weeks, thus sparing me the experience.

On Sunday I went hillwalking near Penicuik with James, Jamie and Davie. We had a splendid day. I chose to fall behind the others after a while, and happily walked on my own. I inadvertently surprised a grouse which had laid its eggs in a little hollow near the path, I walked on quickly so that it could return to its eggs quickly. I also saw a large mountain hare lolloping across the heather. Finally I reached the trig point at Blackhope Scar, a rather sinister name for a hill I thought, then I circled round  towards a wind farm, before making my way back down the valley. The hill was rather steep at this point and I lost the path. Inevitably I slipped and fell in an undignified but mercifully unwitnessed manner, after which I deliberately slid down part of the hill on my bottom to avoid further tumbles. 

Once I was back down in the valley, I walked along a beautiful grassy path along a winding burn and through farmland back to the car, the walk was about 12 km in total. James, Jamie and Davie had arrived half an hour ahead of me; they must have beasted along their much longer route. I had the car keys so they were locked out of the car, but it was warm and sunny so they weren't too disgruntled as they waited beside the reservoir for my return.

Ally and Cat were back at the house; they had decided on a relaxing day after Ally arrived back from Norway on Satrurday night. We all walked down to Wetherspoons with Grandma for a slap up (and very reasonably priced!) meal. A pleasant ending to a good weekend.