Covid-19 Continues

So here we are on the last day of September. Yesterday I went for a walk with my friend Ally in Pollok Park and it was beautiful; the leaves were all the autumn colours and it was such a sunny and warm afternoon that I ended up taking off my fleece because it was too hot to wear more than a t-shirt. We sat on a bench in front of Pollok House and drank tea that Ally had brought in a flask and ate biscuits. 

Today however is rainy and grey, and James and I have been doing useful errands; the car has been serviced, Ikea has been visited (for lamps for the Ullapool cottage), various birthday presents have been purchased. 

Covid-19 continues to rumble on. I don’t suppose it will really be finished until there is a vaccine and although many vaccine trials are going on around the world, we are told that it will be many months before one is ready. As we go into autumn the infection rates of Covid are rising again. We have already had the “rule of six” for a few weeks (no more than six people from two households should meet up indoors). In the last week in Scotland we have now been instructed not to visit other people in their houses at all, although people from two households can still meet up at a restaurant. The pubs and restaurants have just had a 10 p.m. curfew introduced. The government had recently been encouraging people to return to their workplaces but they have now said that people should stay at home where possible. England and Wales have slightly different rules, and areas with particularly high infection rates (currently the north east of England) have stricter rules. These “local lockdowns” seem to be the current way forward, which I find slightly confusing. There have also been problems with students returning to universities over the last couple of weeks; they have been told to turn up to their halls of residence (even though they had no lectures) but then clusters of Covid sprang up and the students were told to lock down completely - this was especially hard for first year students, many of whom are now isolated far from home. 

Meanwhile, many people are still following all the rules but some are having house parties and thus increasing the spread of the virus. Everyone is fed up with the virus and the restrictions, but Covid-19 is not going away any time soon. 

A touch of hypothermia

I went swimming again on Sunday afternoon in the estuary. Becky also went for a swim and after she left I decided to stay in for a while. The water seemed colder than yesterday but I soon got used to it. I saw a big fish flip up and back into the water; I think it was a salmon. And I noticed that I was being observed from the bushes by a pretty wee cat who reminded me of Floof. The ferry went past and the ducks were paddling about near the pond. I did notice that although I no longer felt cold at all, my hands were very numb which made it difficult to swim. Then Becky appeared at the river bank. She had noticed that I hadn’t passed her house on my way home and had come to check on me. I looked at my watch and realised that I had been in the water for more than forty-five minutes! As soon as I came out I felt very shivery and could hardly put on my poncho with my numb hands. My legs and arms had developed strange hues of red and blue. Becky very kindly walked me home and told me to have a hot drink to heat myself from the inside. On the way up the path we spotted two little roe deer watching us from among the trees. After I had warmed up a bit I had a hot bath which felt great. I sent a message of thanks to Becky; I will be more careful about how long I spend in the water in future. 

Autumn cometh

What a difference a week makes. One afternoon last week I was lying in the shade in the garden because the sunshine was so warm, but now there is a distinct autumnal chill in the air. During the summer I always forget what properly cool weather feels like, and I now realise with foreboding that it’s going to get much colder as we move towards winter. We have spent the last week out and about, walking and cycling, for which activities the cooler weather has suited me well. 

We also went for a drive down to Gairloch, which was rather quiet due to Covid restrictions; the café we visited the last time we were there was “takeaway only” but luckily we got a pleasant welcome at the Myrtle Bank Hotel where we sat in the cosy conservatory for morning coffee and shortbread. We stopped at Inverewe Gardens on the way back. They have implemented a one way system in order to encourage social distancing and in addition to lots of interesting trees and plants, we saw a wee robin hopping about in the foliage and later a wee field mouse climbing on a plant. 

We have had a double dose of great news about Davie - he has passed his MSc with merit and has been offered a job in a lab for the next six months. He has done extremely well and we are very proud of him.

Update late afternoon: although Autumn is definitely on its way, this afternoon became warm enough that I went swimming in the estuary - the water was very calm, the ducks were swimming about, and the mountains looked beautiful.

September Swimming

Jennifer and I went swimming in the sea at Achmelvich Beach a few days ago and it was great. As usual it was cold when we were getting in but well worth it to swim around in the turquoise waters. This experience was surpassed however, by our swim in the Ullapool River Estuary this morning. James and the young folk (who have arrived to meet up with Jenn and Russ before they go home) went to climb nearby Beinn Gobhlach which we can see across the water from the cottage. Russ went golfing, and Jenn and I headed to the mouth of the river. It was only an hour after high tide, which is particularly high this week. The estuary looked stunning in the sunshine and a large portion of the grass at the edge of the river was completely submerged. The duck pond had merged with the estuary and a flotilla of ducks came paddling up the river towards us. 

In we went bravely, and once we were swimming it was fine - noticeably less cold than the sea a few days ago. As we were swimming about, who did we see but Russell, waving round us from the golf course. A couple of the other Estuary swimmers turned up; the weather and the swimming was absolutely splendid. We felt perfectly warm as we made our way, swathed in towels, back to the cottage, but we realised that actually we were quite chilled, so I jumped into a warm shower and Jenn had a bath. 

After lunch, Jenn, Russ and I went for a very pleasant stroll around the village where Russ treated us to ice lollies, and now we are reclining in the garden in the warm sunshine. It’s our Mum’s birthday today; she would have been 89 and she has been in our thoughts. 

Suilven and Canisp

Jennifer and I climbed Stac Pollaidh today. We deliberately took our time, stopping to rest whenever we felt like it, and as a result we got to the summit in excellent spirits. We chatted to several friendly people on the way. The views were tremendous even though it was a grey day. The last wee scramble up to the cairn was rather exposed but it was worth it and we felt a real sense of achievement. We decided to descend by circumnavigating the hill, and as we carefully picked our way down the very steep first part of the path I was quite scared of falling, so sat down on rocks several times on my way down to keep myself steady. As a result the seat of my trousers became a bit muddy and damp. Soon the path became more defined and we were able to stride along. I bent over, displaying my backside to my dear sister, and said to Jennifer, “Just how bad is my arse?” (referring to my muddy trousers). Jennifer replied in the same ladylike fashion, “You look as if you’ve cacked yourself!” Just then, something made us turn our heads to the left and we saw two of the friendly people that we had met earlier sitting just above the path eating their sandwiches. They had heard every word! Well, the four of us just laughed and laughed, it was hilarious! 

Meanwhile James and Russ were climbing Canisp, a few miles north of us. They had a good climb although the last 200 metres were encased in cloud. We all felt that we deserved our massive dinner later, which consisted of Lochinver pies and mash followed by Jennifer’s famous and delicious bread and butter pudding. 

Golf by the sea

The rain stopped just in time for Jennifer and Russell’s arrival yesterday, I’m glad to say. It has been lovely to show them the cottage and around Ullapool. Jennifer and I visited this area as children, and so did Russell on a tour of Scotland with his brothers and parents, but it’s the first time that either of them have been here for a long time. I shamelessly copied Cat’s recent fajitas menu for our first dinner but although it was delicious I made far too much food so today we had lots of leftovers to consume. Jennifer is an excellent cook and really knows her way around Mexican food. We prepared the meal together and she gave me some top tips such as heating the tortillas in a dry frying pan to make them taste perfect, and an amazing way of keeping guacamole completely fresh until the next day. 

Russell has brought his golf clubs and played his first round this morning. The golf club is very near the cottage and is in a beautiful setting beside the sea loch, surrounded by mountains. He enjoyed himself and took a great photo of one of the golf tees with the Calmac ferry going past in the background. In the afternoon Jenn and Russ went for an impressively long cycle along the length of Loch Achall and beyond. Another hearty dinner and convivial evening ensued. 

Brambles and Forest Bathing

It has been another rainy day in Ullapool so we decided to go for a walk in Lael Forest, reasoning that the trees would protect us from the wind and the rain. As it turned out, through good luck rather than good judgement, we managed to choose the driest couple of hours of the day for our walk. I quickly became overheated and soon divested myself of my waterproof trousers and jacket and stuffed them into my backpack. We climbed a short but steep set of steps to the forestry commission road, and before turning down to the forest paths, James suggested a short diversion to explore a higher area. Experience should have made me wiser, but I followed him like a little lamb and soon found myself edging along a path above a steep precipice, wading through bracken that was up to my waist, and creeping warily beneath a fallen tree that was only being held up by another tree, against which it was making alarming creaking sounds. However there were compensations. James picked lots of brambles for me, and they were absolutely delicious - a blend of tart and sweet. We ate handfuls of them as we made our way back down to the paths which wind through the forest. Lovely.

I read somewhere recently that walking through a forest, spending calm and quiet time under the canopy of trees, is a form of nature therapy known as “forest bathing.” It apparently originated in Japan in the 1980s and is called shinrin yoku. However I would contend (and my sister Jennifer will concur) that my Mum and Dad actually invented it in the 1970s when we used to wander through the forest in the Trossachs, often completely lost! 

Wind and rain in the north west

We have been back in Ullapool since yesterday, and as I write, the wind is howling around the cottage, and rain is battering against the windows. It has been wild weather all day although we managed to go for a walk around the village during a rare dry spell. We have taken the opportunity to do some useful tasks around the cottage; James has put some of our photos up on the walls, and we slightly trimmed the ordnance survey map that David gave us so that it fit the pinboard perfectly - it looks fantastic. 

In the evening we started watching the second series of Succession - despite pressing on with the second series I’m still not quite sure of how much I like it. Brian Cox is the best actor in it; no wonder that he has had such a long and successful career. He was the Rector of Dundee University from 2010 to 2016 when Jamie and Davie studied there and he attended every graduation (although he had finished his 2nd term by the end of David’s first year and the subsequent Rector was cyclist Mark Beaumont, who I once met when he visited the school where I was teaching.) 

Fajita Time

Christine and Gerry came round on Monday evening and Cat made tea for us all. She made a delicious meal of fajitas with lots of fillings including chicken, roast peppers and onions, guacamole, grated cheese and soured cream. We assembled our fajitas while catching up on news and chatting. Flora was heard shouting during the meal and then startled us by emerging from the sideboard cupboard, into which she had sneaked earlier when I was getting a tablecloth! Then Cat and Ally showed us their recent climbing photos which looked fantastic on the television screen. Scotland really is beautiful.

This evening I went to the bathroom after tea and just as I sat down Flora came jumping out of the laundry basket with a loud cry; I was so surprised nearly fell off the toilet! Cat and I had a girls’ night and watched several episodes of “The Bold Type” which I am now completely hooked on; I like the fashion, the stories and the language of these young New York people. 

Unfortunate lawnmower incident

It has been a pleasant and sociable few days. We had a convivial lunch in Wetherspoons with Hilary and Steven on Thursday, then popped over to Milngavie for a coffee with Gordon and Sue on Friday. Last night Forrest, Marjory and Neil came round to ours for a Chinese meal. It was great to see them, however for some reason the meal did not agree with me and my tummy has been unhappy all day today. 

Yesterday James went across to cut Grandma’s grass and when he came home he couldn’t find his glasses. After searching for them all round the house, he remembered that at one point while he was cutting the grass he had been hit in the face by a tree branch. He didn’t remember his glasses falling off, but we both went across the road to check. We searched under the tree and sure enough there were a few small pieces of glass on the grass beneath it, and, the conclusive evidence, a piece of one of the legs of James’ glasses! So when the branch had hit his face, his glasses had fallen off and then James had mowed over them with the lawnmower. Oh dear. 

Heather and Ewan came round for a coffee this afternoon and it was warm enough that we could sit outside in the garden. It was lovely to see them. Later Ally and Cat arrived home from their weekend in Fort William where they had climbed five Munros over the two days. 

Flora attempts a girls’ night

The weather has been very strange today; one minute it is warm with an almost completely blue sky, the next it is lashing with heavy rain! This has been going on all day. As well as reconnecting with the cats, we have been busy clearing out Grandma’s house which is a necessary but sad task. We have also been catching up with a few people whom we have not seen since before lockdown, in fact since before going to New Zealand, so that’s nearly seven months. On Tuesday evening I found out that Cat has never seen “Mamma Mia, Here we go again” - the second Mamma Mia film - so we all watched it and we thoroughly enjoyed it, although James fell asleep towards the end. Cat and I were in tears during the christening scene. I had forgotten what a good film it is; possibly better than the original. And then last night I persuaded Ally and Cat to play Bohnanza with me so that was great fun. Tonight we played Linkee and then Cat and I watched an episode of “The Bold Type” together; it’s a series about young women working in a magazine and I thought it was very interesting as well as entertaining, showing their experiences in today’s world. Since it had turned into a girls’ evening, Flora came through to join Cat and me and sat on the back of the couch. However she didn’t quite get it right because she faced away from the television!