Dandelion seeds

Here I am a week onward from our West Highland Way walk and I don’t know where the time has gone. I felt very moved that I got lovely congratulations messages from my three boys as well as lots of family and friends. 

The weather has gradually improved and these last few days have been positively hot! We have spent lots of time outside and I have been back in the outside pool at David Lloyd, in fact that’s where I am right now. I have been for my swim and now I’m relaxing on a sun lounger, it’s bliss. 

I saw my lovely friend Doreen last week for coffee in the garden, and we both remarked on our cultural compatibility! We have very similar tastes in books, theatre and films. Doreen walked the West Highland Way in the early 1980s when there was hardly anyone else there. And when she finished it, her friend hired a helicopter to transport them back to Glasgow - how stylish!

It was Christine’s birthday on Saturday and we were invited to Dunlop for a barbecue, expertly cooked by Gerry. We met Cat’s Uncle Dave who is a really nice gentleman, and enjoyed a warm afternoon in their garden. Cat had baked a delicious three tier lemon and blueberry birthday cake for her Mum, with lemon icing which was very thinly applied down the sides; this style is called “semi-naked” because you can see the layers of the cake through the icing but the cake is covered enough so as not to dry out. We also all went down to their field to plant a Victoria plum tree, which was one of Christine’s birthday presents from Gerry. There was much planning and digging and the tree was duly planted. Ally and Cat went straight from Dunlop to Fort William, where they were going to stay overnight before a day of hill-walking on Sunday.

The next day we had another barbecue with Heather and Ewan as our guests. It was so great to see them and we were discussing plans for a trip to the Western Isles in July. As we sat in the garden in the sunshine we became aware of a huge amount of dandelion seeds floating through the air in their wispy parachutes. The air was full of them, sailing gently across the garden from the east. I have never seen so many at once; it was almost like snow. 

And today (Monday) as well as my swimming, Marjory and Forrest came round in the early afternoon and we drank cool drinks in the garden and compared notes on - guess what? Yes, the West Highland Way! They have completed it several times, once with all three of their children, and it was very interesting to hear about their experiences.