Cullen Skink

On Saturday morning James and I set off to Ullapool with Ally and Cat, as did Jamie and Kerry with Kevin in their hired car. Davie and Chanel will be joining us on Tuesday after their antenatal class. We met for a very nice lunch at the Route 7 cafe in Aviemore, and stocked up on beer at the Cairngorm brewery before arriving in Ullapool mid afternoon. A trip to the pub was followed by fish suppers and an evening of excellent chat. 

We woke to a beautiful sunny morning on Sunday and walked down to the village for coffee at Tea by the Sea and then lunch at the Seafood Shack. It was sunny and warm sitting outside and Kevin had his first ever Cullen Skink. The seafood there is so fresh and delicious; I had Cullen Skink too because I’m toying with the idea of becoming pescatarian to improve my vegetarian diet. We strolled home and had a relaxing afternoon at the cottage reading and chatting, before having haggis neeps and tatties for dinner. Then at Jamie and Kerry’s suggestion we watched an amazing documentary about an Australian cave diving doctor who was planning a big dive in New Zealand’s unfeasibly deep Pearse Resurgence. I would absolutely never want to do this but the documentary was fascinating. Their adventure was so extreme and technical but also based on trust and friendship. The doctor, Richard “Harry” Harris, is an anaesthetist and as a cave-diving anaesthetist was uniquely qualified to assist in the rescue of twelve schoolboys and their soccer coach when they got caught in flooded caves in Thailand in 2018. Harris anaesthetised the boys so that they wouldn’t panic during the rescue through water-fillled tunnels and they all survived. He’s a proper hero, as is his friend and diving partner Craig Challen who was also part of the Thailand rescue and also in the documentary. 

Inside outside barbecue

When we woke up this morning we were surprised to find that it was strangely dark outside! At least it seemed dark compared to our recent unremitting sunshine. There had been thunder, lightning and heavy rain during the night, and it was still very overcast. It was still very warm and humid though. We had a meeting in Glasgow in the morning and enjoyed a lovely coffee afterwards, sitting outside a wee Italian café. In the afternoon I prepared the salads for our evening barbecue. There were eleven of us in total, the core eight of our family (plus Chanel’s baby bump of course!) and Kevin, Heather and Ewan. Everyone gathered from different places; from Liverpool, London, Uddingston and Lenzie! I wouldn’t call it my finest culinary evening; the weather forecast was too rainy to count on having a full barbecue so I had cooked chicken and beef in the oven while Jamie barbecued sausages and mushrooms outside. We sat outside before dinner but came inside for the buffet style meal, during which time the rain started again. So I felt that the meal was an uneasy mix of indoors and outdoors, neither one thing nor the other. However there was plenty of food and everyone socialised and chatted. I realised that everyone who was there tonight will be at Jamie and Kerry’s wedding next January, and it was the first time that Heather and Ewan have met Kerry and Kevin, and the first time that Kevin has met Ally, Cat, Davie and Chanel. It was like a pre wedding meet up! 

Late night Ice Bath

Well who would have thought that today would be the warmest day yet! It was at least 29 degrees and the heat was fierce. We had every door and window in the house open to try to create a through draft. The cats were just sprawled on the tiled floor of the back room to try to keep cool. I did some prep for my first Children’s Hearing in July and some housework, but I spent a lot of time reading in my hammock and in my ice bath. I hadn’t switched on the cooling unit in the morning so the water was tepid rather than cold but it was still refreshing. I switched it on in the afternoon and by the evening the temperature had dropped to about 10 degrees which cooled me down nicely before bedtime. It was fun to be in my ice bath in the dark; unsurprisingly Tom and Flora came outside to keep me company - not in the water of course but sitting on the slabs nearby. 

Secret Victory

Another hot, sunny, beautiful summer day! In the morning I had coffee at Hilary’s; we sat outside in the shade in her lovely garden and had an excellent chat. And from there I went straight over to House for an Art Lover where I had lunch with Philippa. Although there are outside tables we actually chose to sit inside because it was cooler! We had a good catch up, it will be really nice when she and Steven move back permanently to Scotland. Back home I jumped into my ice bath to cool down; Tom did the most ridiculous double take when he came round the corner of the house and saw me in it! Flora and Tom are enjoying the warm weather and they love the French windows being open so that they can stroll in and out of the house without using the cat flap. They also love us spending so much time in the garden and keep us company. 

Jamie arrived home from his conference and we met Davie and Chanel at the Rowantree Inn where we had pies and chips before the quiz. Lee wasn’t there so there was a substitute quizmaster who was nice but not as personable as Lee. There were some tricky questions but we still managed to come second equal. Or so we thought - when Chanel added up our answer sheet we actually had two more points than had been counted so we were the rightful winners! However we decided not to challenge the result because we didn’t want to make a fuss, so we enjoyed our victory privately! 

Hot Weather

I’m in my hammock and the temperature is a balmy 25 degrees. This does not compare to the 43 degrees that Jennifer has been experiencing in Lot et Garonne! I’m in the shade of a tree and there is the tiniest of breezes to stir the air; it’s just perfect. I’m reading the latest Dordogne mystery “Murder in Springtime” - not the most challenging read but very pleasant. Will Bruno the town policeman ever find the right woman? 
Jamie is at his Paediatric conference and Kerry is on the train to Liverpool to see her 94 year old Gran and her Dad Kevin who is also in the UK. Kevin visits his Mum every summer, and sadly one of his brothers died last week. 
Yesterday, when Jamie was at his conference, Kerry and I drove over to the Burrell Collection in the morning. We had a stroll around and looked at some of the art and miscellaneous artefacts and then had coffee and cheese scones in the cafe and chatted. Kerry liked the building and its leafy surroundings, and I was telling her about the controversy over cost when it was built over forty years ago. Then we continued into town where I discovered that Kerry is an expert shopper; she knew exactly which clothes shops she wanted to visit and made a few purchases. We had a light and tasty lunch in Brown’s in George Square, and when Jamie had finished his day at the conference I headed home and they stayed on in town for a drink. In the evening Marjory, Forrest and Jenny came round to see Kerry and Jamie; Davie and Chanel came to join us and we spent a very pleasant evening sitting outside on the patio and chatting. 
I must get back to my book and then I’m going to get into my ice bath to cool down! 

Ice bath and Barbecue

It was an absolutely glorious day today and we spent almost all of it outside. 
James plugged in my ice bath and I filled it using the garden hose; it was such a pleasure to sit up to my neck in cold water. It was about 15 degrees straight from the tap, but the refrigeration unit had lowered the temperature to about 5 degrees by the evening. The minimum is 3 deg C. It’s really great how effectively it cools you down, something that I find difficult to achieve in hot weather. As a result I felt nice and refreshed after my dip, and although I warmed up again I felt invigorated.
Jamie and Kerry shopped for and prepared a barbecue and Chris and Dave came round to join us. What pleasant and interesting young men they are; Chris was talking about his three wee children and life on the farm, and Dave was telling us about his life and plans. The barbecue was a great success with delicious salads to accompany the meat; Kerry’s potato salad is the best in the world. After dinner James and I excused ourselves so that the young folk could chat amongst themselves. 

The Kiwis have landed!

Kerry and Jamie have arrived on their visit from New Zealand and it is truly delightful to see them. We made them a nice dinner on Friday using Ullapool hot smoked salmon with hasselback potatoes and stir-fried mixed greens, and we sat and chatted all evening. It was so exciting to see them and yet in a way it felt as if we had seen them yesterday, probably because we are in close touch with them by phone and message. 

A few days ago I got a phone call from Lanarkshire vaccination Centre to invite James and myself for a Hep A booster. When we got our Hep A vaccinations last year I think that a booster was mentioned, but I had forgotten. The lady on the phone told me that if we got the booster we would be covered for the next 25 years. So I made an appointment and on Friday morning and after breakfast with Kerry and Jamie, who were going to spend a day in the west end, James and I set off to Muirhead health centre where we quickly got our (surprisingly painful) injections. 

It was a lovely morning so we then headed to nearby Drumpellier Park for a stroll around and a coffee in the little visitor centre. The weekly Park Run had just finished and there were lots of people walking around the park. On the water there were lots of ducks and ducklings and a few swans standing on the banks of the pond. As we walked past the swans, James suddenly stopped and turned round to have a stern word with one of them, who had just taken a sneaky peck at him, although it hadn’t made contact. The swan seemed a bit taken aback at the confrontation but showed no remorse. It reminded me of Tom, who occasionally likes to stick a clawed paw out when you walk past him, just to show that he could scratch you if he wanted to! 

In the evening Davie and Chanel came round with a curry and we sat indoors to eat it but with the French windows wide open. It was a convivial and very happy evening.