Two walks

I met up with David in Dundee yesterday which was really lovely; we had lunch together and then went for a walk, chatting all the way. He is getting on very well at work and is very happy with his flat. He showed me lots of interesting buildings around the docks area and a really old frigate, and pointed out a plant from New Zealand that is growing out a crevice in the riverside wall; it’s amazing where things can grow. I listened to my audible book on the drive there and back and all went smoothly, except that the sat nav took me northwards a very strange way, perhaps because of hold ups on the A9. It directed me via Coupar Angus and Dunkeld. I found myself driving along narrow country roads in thick mist in the dark. Eventually after about an hour I emerged onto the A9 just north of Perth; to my despair I had lost at least half an hour. Luckily I felt alert and the rest of the drive was fine. 

This morning I held the ladder for James while he cleared out the gutters on the cottage. Leaves and bits of moss kept falling on my head. It was Remembrance Sunday so like many others in this Covid year we stood in our doorway for the two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. After lunch it rained for a while, so I went out for a walk when it dried up later in the afternoon, while listening to my audiobook - it’s “Troubled Blood,” the latest Cormoran Strike book by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling) and it’s excellent so far. The golf course was deserted so I decided to just have a walk around it, and then I noticed the coastal path that heads towards the lighthouse. James has walked there with Russell and with Heather and Ewan, and so have David and Chanel, but I haven’t, so I decided to give it a go. It was a bit stoney underfoot but I enjoyed the loch views and saw the ferry going past all lit up in the twilight. The light became dimmer and dimmer, and I found myself climbing over big rocks and fences, and at one point wading through a stream. I had several scary slips and slides on the wet rocks, but worst of all, by about quarter to six it was completely dark and I couldn’t see the way ahead at all. There is a torch on my phone but my phone was nearly out of battery and anyway the torch couldn’t show me the route further ahead, it actually made the night seem darker outside the immediate area. I phoned James who was back at the cottage, and we both looked at OS maps on our phones. I was already at Rhue, not far from the lighthouse, and I was in fact not far below the road. James (my hero!) drove along to collect me while I literally crawled (and I do mean literally!) up the steep slope to the road and used my remaining torch battery to signal where I was to James. Phew. I was so glad to climb into the car and we immediately went to pick up a curry. I was so happy to take off my wet trail shoes and enjoy my curry in the warm cottage.