A Winter’s Tale in July

What a quick turn around we have had. We set off home from Ullapool at about 6.45 on Tuesday; we had intended to leave at 6 p.m. but Flora was outdoors and didn’t come when called. The cats know the signs that we were about to set off because of the packing and housework that goes on before our departure. So we sat outside in the sunshine and eventually she came strolling up the path, miaowing at us enquiringly. Five minutes later we were all in the car (we knew that Tom was hiding behind the sofa in the living room) and made good speed; we arrived home before 11 p.m. 

Yesterday we unpacked our Ullapool stuff, packed for our Cotswolds holiday, did admin, laundry, James did gardening and I had lunch with Ally W and delivered the Ullapool information to Susan T. And this morning we set off at 9 a.m. to drive to Cirencester, via Stratford upon Avon. The journey went well with no hold ups and with listened to the “The Rest is History” podcast, continuing the series on Hannibal, enemy of Rome. It was very good. We also listened to music and chatted. After a couple of brief stops we arrived in Stratford by 3 p.m. and had a pleasant walk around the familiar town centre. The sky was grey but it was very warm and we had a cup of tea sitting outside a café opposite Shakespeare’s house. We had dinner at the lovely Rooftop Restaurant at the Swan Theatre. James’ glass of wine was delayed because they had run out of the one he had chosen; as a result they gave us all of our drinks for free! I was very impressed that the waitress gently reminded us that the play, A Winter’s Tale, was due to start at 7.15 p.m. - we had assumed that it would start at 7.30 so we hurried downstairs to the theatre just in time. 

I enjoyed the first half of the play much more than the second half. The first half was quite enthralling with tension building and lots of drama. There was of course Antigonus’ famous "Exit, pursued by a bear." However the second half lost its way a bit; Autolycus was so annoying, and then the reunions towards the end were summarised by one of the characters instead of being portrayed, perhaps to speed things up, but it made me feel as if I had missed a potentially good scene. And then the dragged out “statue” scene was just silly. I did enjoy myself though, and notably, I have now watched exactly eighteen of Shakespeare’s thirty-six plays, so I’m half way! 

We are now in a new (to us) tiny cottage in Cirencester, ready to go to RIAT tomorrow morning. 

Two wee boys

Carolyn and Euan and their two beautiful wee boys came to stay overnight with us last Sunday before their trip to the Western Isles, and then on their return from Saturday evening to this morning. It was great to see them and Harris and Arran are so very sweet. Harris was particularly interested in Tom, and spent a lot of time looking for him and talking about him! Harris has just turned four and has very cute Spider-Man shoes and is interested in everything! Arran will have his first birthday next week, and is a very observant, smiley boy, who loves to point at things. They are both just gorgeous. But my goodness it’s just as well that you have children when you’re young! James and I were tired out just watching Carolyn and Euan tend to their offspring! 

By the time Carolyn and Euan and their boys arrived back with us by ferry on Saturday evening, the weather had really heated up. After dinner, Carolyn and I went swimming in the estuary, it was a beautiful evening. The tide was very high at 5 metres and again the grass and see pinks were submerged and waving under the water. Back at the cottage we had drinks and chat with James and Euan. 

We all agreed that Sunday should be a beach day to make the most of the hot weather. We were having breakfast in the garden when I got a phone call from Helen to say that she had arrived in Ullapool on her boat and was I available for a quick coffee? I was delighted to hear from her and 10 minutes later she joined us for coffee and a croissant sitting outside the cottage in the warm sunshine. Helen and her family are in the middle of a month sailing around Scotland which sounds wonderful.

Then we packed up our beach paraphernalia and called in at Tesco for bits and pieces for a picnic before we headed north to Achnahaird, our nearest sandy beach. The small car park was quite busy, as was to be expected on a sunny Sunday during the school holidays, however it was still probably one of the quietest beaches in Scotland because it’s quite remote. We set up camp and I headed straight into the sea to cool off. It was absolute bliss. After lunch James made us coffees with his Primus stove and then we all went paddling and Harris had a great time kicking the waves. At one point he kicked a wave so enthusiastically that his wee croc shoe flew off. Harris found this absolutely hilarious and we laughed and laughed. Carolyn and Euan had sensibly brought the push chair down to the beach which meant that Arran could have a nap in the shade. He didn’t nap for very long though because he was enjoying the beach so much and pointing at the water, the sand, and the rocks. It was an idyllic afternoon although very hot, even the slight breeze felt about as hot as a hairdryer! James flew his kite and Harris played golf. He is very good both at golf and football. 

Back at the cottage we all had showers before a pizza tea. I love going to the beach but am always so sticky and sandy afterwards! It felt good to be clean again. It was still very hot in the evening but the midgies were out in force so we stayed indoors and drank cool drinks and chatted. 

Heatwave in Ullapool

The predicted heatwave has arrived at Ullapool. It is 27° but to me it feels much hotter, probably because there is no breeze. I walked in to the village to meet James for lunch on his return from Inverness and I was sweltering. I quaffed lots of water but I didn’t properly cool down until I had a shower back at the cottage. James arrived in Ullapool with a new tire on the car. Thank goodness that the garage were able to source one, it is not always easy to get car parts in the north of Scotland as we know from experience! 
The cats were very naughty last night; I foolishly let them out for what I thought would be a short foray at midnight, and they didn’t come back indoors until two in the morning. Then when they did come in, they were very excited and ran about the cottage, keeping me awake. We really need to get a catflap for them so that they can come and go as they please. 
A wee update about my sore foot. I ended up popping up back through to Inverness on Thursday to get my foot checked out at Raigmore Hospital. The nurse was annoyed with the x ray department because they x-rayed my ankle instead of my foot (as she had requested) but she didn’t get it redone and thinks that I have torn ligaments rather than broken bones, which is reassuring. Over the last few days it has continued to be painful and the bruising is spectacular on the side and the top of my foot. 

No Tern left Unstoned

James and I have been talking about going on a boat trip just the two of us, and yesterday we did so. We went on the two hour trip on the Shearwater, which we have done several times, but every time there is plenty to see.  The weather was warm and overcast, and unusually there weren’t very many people on the boat, which gave us room to spread out. We saw seals and gannets and cormorants and shags and terns. These last prompted the skipper to make a joke about marijuana washing up at a tern colony, hence the punchline “no tern left unstoned” based on the old music hall transpositional pun. Given the documentary we watched in BBC Alba recently where the skipper was mentioned, James and I exchanged a wry glance. However the highlight of the trip was seeing two large pods of dolphins. We are lucky to have seen dolphins many times before, and I am always struck by their seeming joy in life. They jumped right out of the water, singly and in groups, and I noticed that as they jump up in the air they twist round and re-enter the water on their sides. 
This morning James got up early to go hill-walking with Cornel, and I had a pleasant day both inside and outside the cottage. Inside I did some housework and outside I sat in the warm sunshine and read my book. I also watched some of the men’s Wimbledon semi-finals; I would love to go to Wimbledon one day. James messaged to tell me that he would be home by 7 p.m. and five minutes later he phoned me to let me know that he had accidentally driven into a pot hole and the Land Rover’s front left tire had burst. He phoned the AA and after much delay, it became clear that a tire cannot be sourced and replaced until at least tomorrow. Cornel very kindly gave him a lift into Inverness, where he got something to eat and checked into a hotel. Meanwhile, back in Ullapool, I noticed that high tide was going to be just before 8 pm, so I nipped down to the estuary and went in for a swim. On this warm evening, the water didn’t even feel cold; it felt cool and silky. Near the shore, the grass and sea pinks were underwater, and it was so peaceful. As I swam, I saw a couple of fish jumping right out of the water, presumably to catch insects, and when I got out of the water, I realised that the insects were midges so I beat a hasty retreat back to the cottage for supper. I spoke to James on the phone later; understandably he is a bit frustrated about being stuck in Inverness. Let’s hope that a suitable tire can be found and he will arrive back in Ullapool tomorrow morning. So tonight it’s just me and the cats at home! 

Inverness Trip

Having done our homework for the film 28 Years Later (see my previous post) we decided to book it for early this evening in Inverness. We were already going through to Inverness to meet Alison and Hugh for lunch so it tied in nicely. We met up with Alison and Hugh at Simpsons Garden Centre and had a great time catching up with them, and they very kindly gave us a bag of tasty produce from their garden; French beans and beetroot. After lunch James and I decided to go for a walk by the River Ness, which went well until I stepped into a hole in the pavement and fell right down. A pain shot through my foot and I felt really sick and faint, so I lay where I was until I felt a bit better. A lovely Austrian paramedic saw me fall and had a look at my foot, by which time it was feeling a bit better so James helped me up and I limped back to the car. I reckon that it’s just sprained. James very helpfully nipped into Boots at the retail park and got me ibuprofen, an ankle / foot support and a cooling patch. Fortified by these we went into the cinema to watch our much anticipated film. Well it was a very strange zombie film! It had all the usual gory bits but there was a philosophical interlude in the middle where Ralph Fiennes appeared all painted with iodine, I’m not sure what his character was trying to achieve and it was a bit weird. Not as weird however as the Jimmy Savile references at the end! How bizarre! Despite all this it was quite enthralling and I read later that Danny Boyle is planning two more sequels. 
On our way back to Ullapool we found that the road was closed overnight (8 p.m. until 6 a.m.) in both directions for surface maintenance near Garve. When this happens there are planned hourly “amnesty periods” when work is paused and vehicles are escorted through in a convoy. We were lucky to arrive just fifteen minutes before  the 9 p.m. amnesty so we didn’t have to wait long, and we were soon home to see Tom and Flora. 

Jurassic Park Rebirth

The rain has arrived at last in Ullapool, although it’s still warm. We needed to go through to Inverness yesterday for James to get his second rabies jag, so given the dreich weather, we decided to go to the cinema. The jag was to be administered in Superdrug, which happens to be in the same retail park as the Vue cinema and the Tesco superstore. The film that I wanted to see was 28 Years Later. This Danny Boyle directed film is the third in a series which started in 2003, featuring a very young Cillian Murphy. We watched the first two films on television this week in preparation. However, as it turned out, 28 Years Later is only being shown in the evenings in Inverness. Nothing daunted, we had a look at what was available in the afternoon. The best choice was the latest (seventh!) in the Jurassic Park franchise which started in 1993; Jurassic Park Rebirth, so I booked that. 

James duly got his jag, and after a bite to eat we went to the cinema. I absolutely loved it. It was completely predictable but very enjoyable and the action scenes were truly gripping. It also starred Jonathan Bailey of Bridgerton fame, whom James and I recently saw as Richard II at the Bridge Theatre in London! But it was the music that got me. When the theme tune started building up as the intrepid scientists saw a herd of herbivore dinosaurs in all of their majesty, it took me right back to watching the early Jurassic Park films with my boys when they were younger. * It was wonderful to see how fascinated they were by the dinosaurs, just as fascinated as Sam Neill and Laura Dern and the children were in that first and best film. When we went on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios in Florida at Easter 2000, the theme music played as the ride started and the two great gates swung open. I felt so moved and excited to be there with Jamie, Ally and Davie, and the music still has that effect on me. 

* The boys were fairly young when they watched the early films, first when they appeared on television and later at the cinema. They never seemed all that scared, they were more delighted by the action sequences and knew it wasn’t real. They used to agree that their favourite scene was when a man got grabbed by the head by a T Rex while sitting on a toilet! 

Picnic on Mellon Udrigle Beach

The weather was much better today; sunny as well as warm. We decided to go to Mellon Udrigle which has a beautiful sandy beach. We took a picnic with us, and James brought his camping stove to make coffee. The beach was as idyllic as we remembered, turquoise in the shallows deepening to navy blue further out. Across the water were the blue and grey outlines of the mountains of Assynt. We set up the camping chairs and James soon had the kettle on the boil. After lunch James went for a 10 km walk while I read my book and also wandered up and down the shore, paddling in the water. It was a gorgeous afternoon. 
We impulsively popped into the new pizza restaurant on Argyle Street to try it out, and were very glad that we did. The decor is very simple and the pizzas were made to order and were absolutely delicious. From the back of the restaurant there is a splendid elevated view over the harbour and we watched cars driving into the Loch Seaforth which then gently detached from the harbour and turned towards the estuary and Western Isles. 
The cats were delighted to see us when we got home. We had left them outside for the day, but with the porch door open so that they could go in there for a feed or a snooze. After their dinner (they made it clear that fresh food was in order!) they joined us in the garden where we sat on the benches in the evening sunshine. The birds were singing and there was not a cloud in the sky.