Tom and Floof in Ullapool

The cats have been spending their summer in Ullapool with us. They are hilarious. Tom was at my side in the bedroom one morning, brushing his tail against my leg, when suddenly I heard James speaking to him downstairs. How did he get there so quickly? He must have moved so fast! Flora is still skittish about going outside, but when I’m sitting outside on the bench having a cup of tea she loves to come and sit beside me. She likes to start her day under the bed, and then progresses to the top of the bed, and then downstairs for the afternoon. She likes to have a routine. I had stashed my soft red case under the bed after my trip to Glasgow, and Floof decided that it would make a good bed under-the-bed for her! One sunny morning James reached under the bed and pulled out the case with Floof still blinking on top of it, picked her up and carried her outside, telling her, “The weather is too lovely to stay indoors!” Far from being annoyed, Flora stayed outside all morning and ran about the garden happily. When James and I were walking down the path towards the village yesterday Tom trotted down the path behind us but he stayed at a distance and stopped well before the bridge. He knows the limits of his territory! 

A brief interlude in Cambuslang

I went down to Cambuslang for a couple of days this week, and in fact I’m blogging from the train on the way back to Inverness. From there I will jump on another train to Garve, where James will meet me at about half past two. I have had a pleasant time at home, although it was eerily quiet without James and the cats. I was supposed to go to the Degas exhibition at the Burrell with Christine but we had to postpone. I had a nice coffee and catch up with Alison T yesterday morning, and then last night I went to see The Fifth Step at the Pavilion with Ally W. We had a tasty pre-theatre meal at Roma before heading the short distance to the theatre. 

The play was about a new young member of Alcoholics Anonymous played by Jack Lowden, and his relationship with his mentor, played by Sean Gilder. I had wondered if the subject matter would result in the play being a bit grim, but this was not the case. It did tackle some very serious issues head on, but it was also very cleverly written and at times it was laugh out loud funny. Both actors were absolutely excellent. Jack Lowden is Jamie’s age and he is one of the leads in the series Slow Horses, which James and I both enjoy very much, and he married the fabulous actress Saoirse Ronan just a few weeks ago. I didn’t realise that he is Scottish until last night, because he uses an English accent in Slow Horses. Ally and I both loved the play and afterwards I took the train home to my quiet house. 

Update at 6.30 p.m. I had only ten minutes between trains at Inverness, but it's a small station so I wasn't worried. However the train from Glasgow was a bit late and arrived in Inverness only one minute before the 13.35 departure time of the Kyle of Lochalsh train! I got off the train as quickly as I could and heard a guard shouting "Anyone for the Kyle of Lochalsh train?" "Me!" I replied - I was the only one making the transfer from the Glasgow train - and he told me to run straight to Platform 4. So I ran along the platform waving at the other train guard who was standing beside the train, jumped on to the train and the doors closed behind me! Phew! The last lap of the journey went smoothly and the train was nice and quiet. James met me at Garve Station and we stopped for a quick coffee at Inverlael before continuing to the cottage. I was a lot more excited to see the cats than they were to see me! I'm now relaxing on the couch while James is making his signature asparagus risotto; the aromas that are wafting through from the kitchen are tantalising.

A good day with good news

It was a fine morning today so I accompanied James on his walk to Loch Achall which looked very pretty in the sunshine. There were sheep trotting about near the path to the loch and lots of wildflowers. We then walked into the village, had lunch at Tea by the Sea and got back to the cottage just before the rain started. Every day this summer seems to be sun, rain, sun, rain. 

In very exciting news Margaret has just bought a beautiful house in Crail, very central, with a lovely garden and with a view of the sea. I’m so pleased that she will be living back in Scotland soon! 

And in family news, from New Zealand, Jamie and Kerry have got a dog! He is gorgeous; an eleven week old Dalmatian puppy with brown spots. They have called him Whisky. 

As for my other dear sons and their partners; Ally and Cat are currently on holiday in the Balkans, visiting several new countries. Davie and Chanel were at Hampden this afternoon watching Rangers, tickets courtesy of Marjory and Forrest who are on holiday at Lake Garda in Italy. Rangers won 6 - 0 against Ross County. 

Early Start

We were up very early today because James was taking Kevin to Inverness train station for the 7.55 a.m. train, which meant that they had to set off at about twenty past six just to be on the safe side. After I said goodbye to them I dived back into bed for a couple of hours and it was tremendous! Meanwhile James and Kevin arrived at the station with a good fifteen minutes to spare, and James then drove another hour and a half to climb Corryhabbie Hill near Tomintoul while I processed washings and did a bit of housework back at the cottage. 

Tom was a bit traumatised this morning because he had stayed out all night! We don’t have a cat flap at Ullapool so we let them in and out on demand, and they can shelter in the porch if it rains. They usually go out for a last excursion about an hour before we go to bed. Flora is always ready to come back inside when we call but Tom can be more elusive and quite often I have to pop back downstairs a couple of times after we are in bed to see if he’s ready to come back in. Last night he didn’t come back and I finally went to bed after midnight, in the knowledge that he would have the shelter of the porch and that we would be getting up very early anyway. Well when we came downstairs in the morning there was Tom standing on his hind legs in the porch battering at the glass of the door with his front paws! He rushed inside when we opened it and ate mightily before retiring to the bed for a very long snooze! He didn’t come downstairs until two in the afternoon!

In the evening James and I followed a recommendation of Kevin’s and watched the first couple of episodes of Vikings, which started on the History Channel about ten years ago, however it has become even more popular since its release on Netflix. So far so good; it’s a bit reminiscent of our recent favourite The Last Kingdom. And there are 89 episodes so it should keep us going for a while! 

A Visitor from New Zealand

We have had a visitor for the past few days; it’s Kerry’s Dad Kevin. He is a very easy and relaxing visitor and joins in good-naturedly with our plans. He has a sore back just now, which hopefully is temporary, but he is determined to keep moving so we have walked into the village with him a couple of times when it’s sunny, to have coffee. We also went to the harbour, the bookshops and the outdoor shop and today we visited the new Handknitted Pottery shop on West Terrace. Kevin is a potter so he was very interested in the set up and chatted about techniques with the owner. We have been lucky to get some dry and sunny walks because the weather has been very fickle; heavy rain one minute and warm sunshine the next. 

Yesterday the weather forecast was truly dreadful so we decided to go for a run in the car to Inverewe Gardens. The rain wasn’t too heavy so we got good coastal views on the way there. On our arrival the young parking attendant told us that part of the gardens were shut “because of the hurricane!” Well it wasn’t a proper hurricane of course; what he meant was that it was the remnants of Hurricane Ernesto, which originated in the Caribbean and has brought us heavy wind and rain! Undeterred, and fortified by cake and coffee from the tea shop, the three of us set off into open part of the gardens and walked along to Inverewe House, pausing to look at the plants on the way. The house is quite impressive; James thinks that it’s his first visit, however I have been there several times while he has been hill-walking. It was raining even harder as we made our way back to the car via the NTS shop, so we drove the short journey to Gairloch and had a tasty lunch of soup and toasties at the Gale Centre. The wind was howling around the outside but we had a tasty lunch indoors, of soup and toasties. 

This evening Kevin very kindly treated us to dinner at the Ceilidh Place and I’m glad to say that the menu is back on form. The restaurant was busy but the service was still good, and we had a very pleasant time. Back at the cottage there was time for a nightcap before we got an early night because tomorrow we have an early start. 

The beach at Nairn

We have had a splendid weekend. Cornel arrived on Friday evening and we had a very pleasant evening with him. He had asked earlier this week if he could stay with us because he was going to climb a couple of the western Fannichs. We explained that we already had plans to go to Nairn on Saturday, but that he was very welcome to stay in the cottage anyway. 

On Saturday Cornel was already up and away climbing his hills by the time we set off to Nairn to see Alison and Hugh. After a cup of tea we went for a lovely walk along the broad, sandy beach in the afternoon, and then Alison made us a delicious dinner and we had a convivial evening chatting and laughing.

We had a leisurely Sunday morning and then headed back to Ullapool to see the kitties; Cornel had fed them before he set off home, and he messaged James that they had given him lots of attention! Luckily he is a cat person. 

Meeting Margaret in Perth

We went on a road trip to Perth today to meet up with Margaret who is house-hunting in Scotland just now. Such are the vagaries of our social life that this was our only opportunity to see her before she goes back to the USA. Margaret is staying in Broughty Ferry so she also had a journey to meet us in the Fair City. All went smoothly, although the journey was enlivened by a scam phone call which luckily we realised was not legitimate.* We listened to several episodes of The Rest is History in the car as well as some music, and we met Margaret in the centre of Perth. 

Perth is a city that I don’t know well, my visits there have always been fleeting so I don’t really have a feel for it. We headed for the recently re-developed museum and had lunch in a café close by. It was great to see Margaret and we had a good catch up before heading into the museum. It was interesting and Margaret and I were both impressed by a Celtic cross that was lit up in different moving colours which emphasised the depth of its patterns. There were lots of artefacts and information from the history of Perthshire going back thousands of years, the highlight of which was the Stone of Destiny. James and I have actually seen it before, when it was in Edinburgh Castle, but its new home seems like a worthy setting. It is displayed in its own room where a short film about its story is projected around the wall to give a sort of immersive experience. 

We had coffee in the museum coffee shop (very nice) and more chat, until it was time for us to head north again. We bade Margaret a fond farewell; hopefully it won’t be too long until we see her again. We got back to Ullapool at exactly 8 p.m. and had supper with the kitties. 

* A scammer phoned me pretending to be my bank’s fraud department and asked me about my recent transactions. There was something a bit off about him; he told me that someone has been trying to take money out of my account but then asked how many accounts I had and how much money was in each of them, and said that he would help me to “secure” the money in my account. At this point we got cut off because there was no signal, so at James’ suggestion we pulled into a lay-by and phoned the fraud department. Sure enough they had not contacted us. I hadn’t given the man much information but I had given details of some of my recent transactions, so my card has been stopped and I will have to await a new one. There seem to be a lot of scams going about. 

Sunny at the lighthouse

What a difference a day makes! We went to bed last night with the rain battering against the windows and woke to glorious sunshine. I decided to walk to the lighthouse, while James headed up to Loch Achall. My walk was only 5.7 km but it was rough going! The grassy paths and pebbly beaches were fine, but there were lots of rocks to climb over. It was also increasingly hot; luckily I had taken plenty of water. The views over the loch and towards the summer isles were stunning. There were lots of sea birds flying about, and little fishing boats and a couple of yachts out on the water. 

I messaged James and he kindly offered to pick me up from the lighthouse by car. By the time I arrived there I was rather hot and bothered but James had a lovely surprise for me - he had brought a picnic lunch with him and two deckchairs! So we sat beside the lighthouse (on the shady side for my sake!) and had avocado toast, coffee and bananas. I felt quite restored after that, and we sat and chatted while enjoying the view. 

Aurora and Changeable Weather

James and I noticed that there was a lot of solar activity on the app Aurorawatch all day yesterday, and when it eventually got dark we kept an eye on it. At about 11.30 p.m. the activity ramped up again so we nipped round to West Terrace to get views to the north and west. At first I didn’t think that we were going to see anything but then we noticed what looked like stripes in the sky which glowed a faint purple. They became stronger and we realised that it was definitely the Aurora Borealis! When we took photos with our phones the exposure took longer (about three seconds) because it was dark, and as a result the colours were even brighter in the photos. It was not the strongest display of the Aurora, but we were very excited that we have at last properly seen it. 

The weather in the north-west of Scotland is notorious for being erratic, but today really has confirmed that reputation! Today in Ullapool we have had hot sunshine, during which I was sitting outside on the bench reading my book, to torrential rain, back to hot sunshine and then in the evening back to heavy rain and winds. Unbelievable. And when I say hot, it really was proper balmy summer weather. 

The cats are as confused as we are, and when it was raining I found Tom sitting on the window ledge staring out disconsolately. I have finished The Sheltering Sky (wow, I did not expect that ending!) and I have started reading La Beauté du Ciel by Sarah Biasini. She is the daughter of Romy Schneider.

Hill-walking, Scourie and Au Revoir to the Olympic Games

The weather was forecast to be dry and sunny today and James was keen to climb Foinaven so we set off bright and early for the hour and a half drive to his drop off point near Kinlochbervie. Unfortunately when we got there the weather was not as we had expected; it was rainy and windy, and even with an improving forecast it was not suitable weather for James’ planned eight hour hill walk. So we drove to Achfary (near Laxford Bridge) instead and James climbed Meall Horn instead, which was a shorter climb. The weather improved although when James reached the summit it was raining! He got good views on the way down.
Meanwhile I went to sunny Scourie which was only half an hour’s drive away from Achfary. It really was warm and sunny in contrast to the nearby hills, and I had a very pleasant walk along the sandy beach and around the headland beyond. And then I repeated the walk at speed because I thought that I had dropped the case for my air pods, which would have been expensive to replace. There was no sign of them and I subsequently found them under the car seat! Still, it meant that I got an extra two kilometres of walking. I’m very fond of Scourie; we camped there when the boys were wee and had all sorts of fun adventures. Back at Achfary I went for another walk but I was being eaten alive by midges so I spent the last hour waiting for James in the car listening to my book. James arrived not long after 4 p.m. very midgy and sweaty, and we drove back to Ullapool where he dived into the shower. 

After a very pleasant video call with Ally and Cat, we watched the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It was a long drawn out affair, as is usual, with some highlights including Tom Cruise jumping nonchalantly off the roof of the Stade de France and then riding a motorcycle out of the stadium adorned with the Olympic flag, as part of the handover to LA 2028. I think that the closing ceremony is really for the athletes, who were singing and dancing enthusiastically throughout. 

Twisters

 It was so rainy on Friday that we went through to Inverness for lunch and the cinema. We wanted to see the film Twisters, a standalone sequel to the 1996 film Twister, which Heather and Ewan had told us has a country music soundtrack. And indeed I enjoyed the music very much, and the enthusiastic young cast acted their hearts out. However there were so many tornado scenes! I know, I know, that’s the whole point of the film! But no matter how impressive the special effects were, they did go on a bit. All in all it was an enjoyable way to spend a rainy afternoon. 
We were much luckier with the weather today. It was warm and sunny in the morning with big white clouds. James went for a big walk up to and along Loch Achall, and I walked down to the village to pick up a prescription. I got a coffee from Tea by the Sea and drank it sitting outdoors at the harbour, looking at the boats. James arrived back at the cottage just before me and it started raining - we were so glad that we had spent the morning out of doors. We did housework and admin in the afternoon and read our books. I have two books on the go at the moment, which is unusual for me. One is Pretty Young Rebel by Flora Fraser, about Flora MacDonald who helped to transport Bonnie Prince Charlie from North Uist to Skye in 1746. I’m reading it because Alison and I are going to see Flora Fraser at the Nairn Book Festival in September. The other is The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles, a novel about an American couple travelling in North Africa in the 1940s after the 2nd World War. This was recommended to me by Ally after his holiday to Morocco, he likes to read books set in the destinations to which he travels. As a result he has recommended some very interesting books to me, of which my favourite so far has been the wonderful The Day Lasts more than a Hundred Years by Chinghiz Aitmatov. 

Mellon Udrigle

Today James and I went for a run in the car to check out a beach that James had heard of at Mellon Udrigle. It did not disappoint - what a pretty sandy beach, with rocks further along, a promontory at the end, and rocky islets just offshore. We walked along it and looked at the small colourful shells at the shoreline. Then we went for a tasty lunch to the Gale Centre at Gairloch before heading back to Ullapool. 

I decided to make some butter chicken curry to eat and also to freeze for entertaining. It involved marinading the chicken (and paneer for me) in spices and yoghurt yesterday. Then when we got back to the cottage this afternoon I made the sauce for the curry, pan fried the chicken and paneer, and finally simmered it all together. I have made this before at home, but I have many more pots and pans there. In Ullapool I had to wash the same couple of pots again and again, and decant the sauce into a Tupperware dish so that I could free up a pot. It was like juggling! Finally it was all made, and we had some of it for dinner. James declared it to be very tasty. 

More Olympics

I decided to walk to the lighthouse yesterday morning, before the forecast rain later. However the tide was right in which meant quite a lot of climbing over rocky outcrops instead of walking along the shore. Some of these were very slippery and I fell and slid down one of them in a very undignified manner; luckily I wasn’t hurt and there was nobody around to see me! I decided to turn back after about three kilometres, and when I messaged him James kindly walked to meet me with a flask of coffee. The rain had started by this time so we drank it under the shelter of a rock before making our way back to the cottage! 

The Olympics have continued for the past couple of weeks. It’s quite interesting although I tend just to watch the highlights in the evenings. After competing in his last Wimbledon last month, Andy Murray finally retired from competitive tennis after losing in the Olympic tennis doubles quarter finals on 2nd August. He has worked hard for many years and had a good run, and there have been lots of tributes to him. 

August in Ullapool

And we’re back in Ullapool! In fact we’re planning be here for the whole of August and the first week of September, with one or two overnight trips to Nairn and Perth, and a brief sojourn home (just me - to go to the theatre.) We are looking forward to five weeks in the north-west. 

We rounded up the cats without too much trouble and made good speed on our journey; 4 hours 10 minutes including a short stop at Ralia. We arrived in warm sunshine and as soon as we got unpacked we sat outside on the bench to have a cup of tea. Both cats joined us and reacquainted themselves with the garden. In the evening we watched a film Mrs Harris goes to Paris starring the excellent Lesley Manville, who we will be seeing in Oedipus in London in December. It was a feel good wee film. 

Welcome to Skye and Arran

On Wednesday James and I went over to Uddingston to Davie and Chanel’s to meet a lovely little feline - our “grand-cat” Skye. She is a one year old rescue cat and she is small and very pretty. She is quite shy but I have a feeling that this is only temporary as she gets used to her new surroundings. She is a lucky little cat to have a loving home where Davie and Chanel have a room all set up for her. She let me pick her up for a short while and Davie messaged me later to say that she was playing with the toy we gave her. 

Then today I went over to Jackton to meet gorgeous baby Arran, Carolyn and Euan’s new wee son, brother to Harris. Oh it was so great to hold such a beautiful baby, he has very alert and expressive eyes and is extremely cute. Harris was very sweet with him and was running around playing in the garden while Carolyn and I had a coffee. 

Later we got packed for Ullapool and James chose a film for us to watch called Wicked Little Letters starring Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley. It was very good; based on true events and well performed by the main actors and a cast of well known supporting luvvies!