TP 202: Series

For this week's Thematic Photographic, Carmi has chosen a different tack with 'Series', and has started us of with some fantastic shots of his own!

I have chosen this series of photos of me walking across Sandwood Bay in the far north west of Scotland, last week. I love how the footprints become more important than the person who made them... a reflection of life perhaps?

TGIF

I'm feeling emotionally knackered... thank goodness it's Friday night.

I miss Mr H like mad, yet like the peace of solitude.  He loves Scotland yet misses home.  People's immediate suggestion that I move up there really isn't thought through (at all).  But we chose this way, together, and things will work out ok. Just some days it's tougher than others.

In the meantime, here for your delectation are a couple of photos from the Highland Games we went to on Saturday.

Enjoy your weekend!

Travelling light

I'm off to Scotland tomorrow evening, just for a long weekend, accompanied by my best girlfriend.

I was thinking about what I needed to pack, and realised the answer is 'not a lot'!  Each time I go up there I seem to leave another item of clothing, so my bag gets smaller and smaller :-)

One thing I will definitely be packing is a book. I've just started reading The Life and Death of Myra Hindley, which seems to be written in a very balanced way - not biased in defence of, or against her.   It's an interesting insight into the lives of poorer families in inner Manchester in the 40s and 50s, before they got moved out of their close-knit community of houses into 'better' high-rise flats, which didn't prove to be better at all...

Have a good weekend.
Juniper

Peaceful interlude

What can I hear?

Django snoring,
The clock ticking
The tap of the laptop keyboard.
Birds trilling outside

Otherwise all is quiet.

Mr H has gone fly-fishing on the river, it's right outside the door so I will pop out and see him presently; maybe I will sneak up and take some photos before he sees me.

We've had a lovely few days - a long walk on the beach, a short but steep walk up to a local monument, and this morning a damp riverside walk.  My leg aches but it's worth it.

Tonight Mr H is playing a half-hour set at his local bar. It's threatened with closure and they have got 12 bands together to play a gig, it will be busy and full of chatter.

Tomorrow morning will be a walk by the river, cooked breakfast, then a drive to the station and tearful goodbyes.  By the time I get to Glasgow I will have recovered my composure and be looking forward to getting home... and hoping that there are no delays and missed connections as there were on the way up.

This week off work has seemed more like two, it will almost seem odd to be going to work on Monday morning...

Notes to self...

Well the exam's over .... for another year anyway!  (I'm assuming here that I have managed 40% and won't be re-sitting in October...).  It went ok, I could answer all the questions and I feel all right about it. Not 'that was easy' but not 'that was awful' either.  

I now have 3 1/2 months of summer holiday before my 3rd year starts at the beginning of October, which will be 'Welfare, Crime and Society'.

I have learned a few things this year about studying, when there's an exam at the end (we didn't have one in the first year):

1. write good, clear notes during the year, even though it makes the reading more time consuming. I did this and it was a godsend when it came to revision.

2. my revision schedule worked - a month of rotating subjects, but making sure I took really good breaks as well.

3. try not to stress - after all it's not a life and death situation, and stress hormones aren't productive.

3. at the exam - don't sit with stressed people while waiting to go in!   I and three of my friends were sitting together quite happily, talking about other things. Two of our tutor group turned up, both intelligent girls. One was totally stressed out, and they started talking about subjects and the other one even had her text book out!  It totally screwed with our minds, even with my fingers in my ears, and we ended up going out and standing in the corridor to escape them.  Interestingly, one of them finished half an hour early, and the other one muttered afterwards about having totally screwed it up. So I'm not sure what that tells me.

So, tomorrow I have an 8 1/2 hour train journey up to Scotland.  Mr H is currently at his parents in Wales and he and Django will be racing me north in the van!  I can't wait, I haven't been up there since February, can you believe it?

I feel a bit weird at the moment to be honest, not quite sure what to do with myself after 9 months of feeling as though I should be reading/writing study stuff.  Although I'm glad to relax, I expect by September I'll be pleased when the box of new text books arrives...

Synchronising calendars

Last night Mr H and I sorted out when he would be having Django and when I will. It made me think of the friends and family who have wall-charts showing when each parent is going to have the children.. except that our arrangements are undoubtedly less traumatic.

So, the young man will be going up to Scotland for the summer, from the end of May to the beginning of September. I suppose it's rather like him 'taking a cottage for the summer' like families did in the old days - does anyone do that now?   It means he will be up there when I fly up for my birthday weekend which will be good; and leaves the summer free for me to go to sailing events without having to worry about him.

He'll be back down here from September to November - neatly coinciding with Mr H's trips south for hospital appointments and an Imelda May gig (ooh!).   Then back up north in November until Christmas.  

It makes the year seem very short, writing that.

Here is a picture of Django out on our walk this morning. No running around exploring for him when I stopped for a snack.. after he'd done some digging around in the bracken he took the opportunity for a kip!

Spontaneity and settling down

Well, that was a different weekend to what I had planned!   as you might have gathered from my previous post, at 4.30pm on Friday I got a text that Mr H was on his way home - and he had only decided to come two hours previous to that - a real spur of the moment visit.  

He says he drove the 450 miles to see me, but I know the truth - it was actually to see Django ;-)   Anyways it put all my plans of spending the weekend studying out of the window, but after the emergency washing up on Friday I did manage to get some reading done before he arrived.

We had a lovely homey weekend of dog-walking, veg patch digging, visiting parents and just chilling together.   It certainly got rid of the gloomy mood I'd fallen into - it was going to be 8 weeks between seeing each other and that was just proving too long. 

Four weeks is definitely the optimal gap.  Two weeks is too often because there is no settling down time.  More than 4 or 5 is too long and missing them desperately sets in.   Just the day and a half he was here this time was enough to top up the batteries.

After he'd gone I went to the garden centre to investigate vegetables as it's time to be planting seeds.  So now I have some sown outside, and some indoors. My kitchen table has been moved around to create an indoor greenhouse space.   The four 'sticks' are not vegetables, they are wiggly willow cuttings.

We do have a greenhouse, a very small one 6x4 - but it's full of stuff and in dire need of a sort out. A job for another fine weekend!

This evening I phoned my brother-in-law and his wife (what does that make her, a sister-in-law-in-law?) to tell them that I'm not going to The Family Wedding in two weeks time.  Oh, he says, haven't you heard the date has changed now?   What a shambles, first it's rushed through because of visas expiring and now it's been put off because of some other legal hiccup.  For heaven's sake - well whenever it is, I can't come.

Anyway I ended up having a long chat which was good, I'm looking forward to being able to drive 2 1/2 hours comfortably so I can go and visit them, and my sister too. 

On the Scottish front, I don't think I told you that after Mr H's interview he decided that the new job would be too big a step this soon, and that he didn't feel remotely ready. So he was pretty relieved when he didn't get it, and so was I because I'd been kind of thinking the same thing. Not that ambition to get on isn't good, but it isn't everything.  So all that has settled down and he can throw himself into his current job and get more experience until the right opportunity comes up.  

My boss asked me the other day whether I was thinking of moving to Scotland one day.  He's another Scotland lover but he said he knew exactly what I meant, and felt exactly the same, when I said 'Not at the moment, we both like it down here too much'.   

If anyone asked me, right now, that favourite interview question "Where do you see yourself in five years time?"  I really don't think I could give a definitive answer. 

Catching up and taking a breather

I'm taking a break from The Essay to say hello and catch you up with some stuff... not that anything hugely exciting has happened, everything seems to be a bit limbo-ish at the moment. The waiting sort, not the contorting under a horizontal pole sort.

I have recovered from the cold, which decided to go on for nearly a week in the end, so that got me down, especially as I was getting stressed about The Essay at the same time. Thankfully now the cold has cleared, my mind is working better and I'm actually making some progress. Hopefully after another stint tomorrow morning I might be able to give it a break and do some other reading, and come back to it later.

The way the course is structured sometimes seems a bit odd. To take these few weeks as an example:
Wk 1/2 read the two chapters concerned with the next essay, which will be a choice of two questions.
Wk 3 read another chapter not related AT ALL to either question.
Wk 4 you get a 'TMA  week' which is for working on your essay.
Wk 5 a chapter of the Methods book.
Wk 6 another totally unrelated chapter, at the end of which the essay is due, and you've totally forgotten about the two chapters that were relevant to it, because you read them 4 weeks previously. 

Hence, although this essay isn't due until March 16th, I will do it now otherwise it will get mixed up with all the other information I have to fill my head with over the next month.

****

Mr H has submitted his application for the new job, which would effectively be a promotion to the level of his current boss, but in a different district.  Through his mole, he has found out that the first sift will be done on the 22nd, and interviews on the 4th March.   Hmmm, he has a flight booked to fly home on the 3rd March! firstly to see me (of course), secondly to see KT Tunstall live, and thirdly to come with me to my next x-rays. We had already worked out that because of the usual time spans of these things, it was highly likely that interviews would interfere with that visit, but we were hoping anyway.

So now we have two good news/bad news scenarios:  if he doesn't get an interview (bad), he will be coming home that weekend (good); if he does get an interview (good), then he will have to get another flight home a different weekend (bad ££).  So, we are now just waiting to hear if he gets an interview, and obviously, that latter option is the better of the two.  So we are feeling pretty pragmatic about the fact that he might not be home as soon as we thought, there's really no point in being any other way, is there?

Gratuitous Scotland photo

****

Next Thursday we are holding a 'workshop' at work, for all the staff to get together and discuss - well lots of stuff basically. All the 'it' phrases like team building and empowering just don't seem to fit our little team but I guess that's some of what it's about.   We had originally planned it for last year, June 28th, but of course that got canned due to the car crash the night before (I will do anything to get out of having to possibly speak in front of people!),   Anyway, it's been rehashed slightly, I've even done a power point thingy whatsit for one part of it, but decided against irritating flying words, you'll be pleased to hear. It's the first time we've done anything like this so it will be interesting to see how it goes, and whether anyone is talking to anyone else by the end of it.  Oh and we get lunch at the Sailing Club ;-)

So that's about it really.

Oh, and Django says "Hi everyone! xxx"

A precis of events

Dear diary,

Thursday:
Waved goodbye to Django. Lift to the train to the airport. Awful flight up, 70mph winds in Glasgow necessitated aborted landing and diversion to Newcastle. Four hour coach trip back to Glasgow to be picked up by Mr H. at 10pm who had spent four hours window shopping. Nerves shattered. Considered that if it's still blowing dogs off chains on Monday I can catch the train home. Much needed cup of tea followed swiftly by bed.

Friday:
Windy again!  braved the seafront in Ayr for wind, spume and photo opportunities.  Selected cafe for lunch which served over-priced toasties which we ate while watching hoardes of school children file past... and back with Cokes and MacDonalds.  Drooled over books in Waterstones but escaped with only four.

Saturday:
A homebody day. Walked by the in-spate River Doon in misty drizzle, missed having a dog beside us.  Back to the flat for tea, home-baked biscuits, novel-absorbing and job-application-proof-reading. In the evening back into Ayr for a live-music gig at Mr H's local pub.

Sunday:
A day out to the North!   Drove past familiar yet normally distant regatta venues to catch the little red ferry to Dunoon.   A reccy for the potential job including checking out rental cottages and the potential of Dunoon as a place to live.  It got a positive score of supermarket, pharmacy and real shops.  I drove the 'new' van so that Mr H could do the Looking Out of the Window bit. Lunch and awe-inspired gasps next to Loch Eck, more photo opportunities.  Home on the 3.20 ferry and roast beef for dinner.

Monday:
Woke to windy weather, but forecast said calm by late afternoon.  Popped across the courtyard for a cuppa with Mr H's neighbour and half her family who were staying. A jovial gathering which mainly consisted of conversation about speed traps and driving.   After lunch and packing departed for Silverburn shopping centre for more window and real shopping before being dropped at the airport. Goodbye Scotland for another time.

Uneventful flight home on a half-empty plane, to be met by my colleague who imparted all the office gossip on the way home. 

Tuesday:
Picked up Django from his 'grandparents', who had throroughly enjoyed his company.  He is now snoring in his basket in the kitchen.

A Grand Weekend.

And now for a short break....

Hello, just to let you know not to worry about me if I'm not around for a few days. It's time for my visit to see Mr H, I'm flying up tomorrow and can't wait! 

Django is going to stay with my parents for the first time; hopefully not the last. I guess that will depend on how much he whines during the night, right below their bedroom....

The work 'crisis' is sorted.  Not in the way we expected, but at least I had time to get some work done today before going away.

So, bye for now. Backson.

'Owl looked at the notice again. To one of his education the reading of it was easy.
"Gon out, Backson. Bisy, Backson" -- just the sort of thing you'd expect to see on a notice.
"It is quite clear what has happened , my dear Rabbit," he said.
"Christopher Robin has gone out somehwere with Backson. He and Backson are busy together.
Have you seen a Backson anywhere about in the Forest lately."'
 
from here

Feelgood Friday - an attempt!

Well after yesterday's rant, and the fact that no-one told me they were re-booting the server at work this morning so it hung in the middle of my remote login, I am trying to shift myself from Grrr mode into zen Feelgood Friday mode...

1.  As I said yesterday, I am now cleared for driving short distances.  I can drive myself to work, to my parents', to the Forest to walk Django, to the train station, to the dog food store, to my friend's house 5 miles away. When I actually drove on the road yesterday, it was as if I had never stopped, it was all natural.  Well I suppose 27 years worth of experience means that it's fairly ingrained but still I was surprised that I didn't 'notice' it more.

My parents' reaction to me telling them was complete surprise and a warning Not to Do Too Much and a stern look. *sigh*.   Oh and apparently my mother is 'worried about the way I limp'.  What???  I limp (a bit) because I am not yet fully weight bearing, oh and because my leg hurts!  And when I'm tired or my leg is tired, then I limp more noticeably.  I can see that I am going to have to have a little chat on Sunday when I see them.

OK this zen thing seems to have slipped off the rails a bit...

2.  It's Friday so that means tomorrow is the weekend, hurrah!   I will spend most of tomorrow studying and preparing for my research experiment/report which makes up TMA (assignment) 03.  This week I will be running the experiment with 4 participants who will be friends or work colleagues.  But that is the easy bit, writing up the intro, design/method and results will be the time consuming bit but I can get all but the results done beforehand.   At the moment I am awaiting the result of TMA02 which I submitted ages ago, but the deadline was only the 12th Jan so I might get the results in the next 7 days or so. I've kind of forgotten about that one now.

3.  My hair is Red Passion again :-)  My best friend G and I had a hair dying session at her house last night - hers strawberry blonde and mine red.   The last time I coloured it I used a mid-brown to see what it would look like, but it didn't have much effect on the hair that was red from previously, and the roots looked liked roots.  So this time I went back to Schwartzkopf shade no.43 which is much more 'me'! 

4.  In three weeks time I will be in Scotland for a long weekend :-)  though I'm not currently sure which property we'll be living in!

5.  Spring is coming!   Bulbs are starting to show their heads in the garden and new shoots are appearing on shrubs and trees.  The blue tits have been sussing out the bird box.  And the days are getting longer, albeit almost imperceptibly.

Hmmm, well still not feeling completely zen.  I'm really in one of those moods where I just want to lock myself in and not talk to anyone. I will try harder....

Trusting in ... something?

I worked another morning in the office today, it's nice having fixed days so I know what I'm doing and when.  Up til now it has been a bit 'if and when' regarding leaving the (albeit chilly) cocoon of my sitting room and venturing to the office. 

This morning I firstly spent an hour with the boss going through some software questions and discussing some issues; I really enjoy that sort of thing, it often gives the brain a good mental workout!  Then we had an office meeting to explain the new software to everyone. I think it was a bit information overload for them, my job is now to translate the long-winded technical into everyday language and practical solutions for 'my' 3 staff members who will be using it.  And then trusting them, which anyone who has been a manager will know is not as easy as it sounds!

****

News on the house front. I didn't want to count chickens / tempt fate when I wrote the other day, but Mr H viewed a house yesterday and put down a deposit on it today.  It's the end of a row of three estate cottages and looks like it has character, and will be much more a 'home from home' as it's an older property. 

The rent is almost 20% cheaper a month, plus it has two open fireplaces, and a small garden to keep logs and canoes, and for a Django when he is there of course!   He should be taking possession on 1st Feb, which is 2 days before I next visit, so that will be pretty exciting.  I'm not sure I'll be able to help carry the fridge-freezer just yet though....  (Although judging by some of the probably-not-recommended things I've been doing recently I wouldn't put it past me. I'm not going to tell you about them because you'd probably give me a good scolding.)

What is the significance of the staircase, I hear you wonder?  well just that - it HAS one ie. it is a house not a flat/apartment.  That is definitely a plus point for me. Somehow it doesn't feel the same when you don't go upstairs to bed?

I haven't even got to the original reason for this post's title yet... what I wanted to say was that for the last few days I've been thinking that I mustn't tempt fate or be too optimistic, and what if that house is no good, or someone else gets it first. But actually I think back and everything so far has just fallen into place so I really shouldn't worry.  For instance Mr H getting the job he did; finding somewhere really nice to live initially even when living 450 miles away; even things relating to the crash (ignoring the fact that it happened at all).  For instance if it had been him with the broken leg we'd be in dire financial straits by now.  

I've always thought of myself as a bit of a pessimist, and still I do tend to think of all the things that could go wrong, especially if they involve my loved ones.

But the last few months I have come back much more often to thinking "It'll be ok". 

First day back at school!

That seemed like a long day.

This morning I had my first walk down the High Street for 6 months! I enjoyed looking in the shop windows and seeing some photos of the town in the snow; then went to see my doctor for a chat about various things like medication, driving etc.  Nothing new to report on that front.

I was officially back at work today, so while Mr H finished packing I got on with reading e-mails until he was ready to leave at midday.  It was sad to wave him away, as it always is, but now I find that after about an hour I start to switch back to my 'other' routine. I actually feel more miserable the night before he goes.  Still I have Django here to keep me company; I think the flat in Scotland may be cold and empty without him. 

I have heard that Mr H arrived back ok after a good drive. Despite plans to go back in the Golf, he has taken the Transporter van as he is hoping to move house soon.  He got back to find his shower room in disarray as there had been a burst pipe (an ongoing affair since before Christmas); seems like the landlord isn't the sharpest knife in the box about pipework.  Anyway regarding moving, we're keeping our fingers crossed that he can get something soon that is a) cheaper rent and b) with an open fire or woodburner, as his current flat costs a fortune to heat.

This afternoon I worked on a data list which I have to do every year at the end of December/beginning of January. Because of the seasonal nature of our work, we start every year with a new computer program which needs testing, there are annual changes which need explaining to the staff and going through, and then the renewal forms start piling through the door (or rather into the e-mail).   So going back after Christmas isn't just a case of carrying on with what we were doing before, everything is different. 

Because of this I really don't like the first couple of weeks back at work, before things settle down again. It really feels like going back to school! Anyway, as I had so many interruptions today, I ended up working on the list much later than I should have done but never mind.

I have agreement from the boss and my doctor that I will be going into the office on Mon, Wed and Thurs mornings. That sounds much more manageable so we'll see how it goes, starting tomorrow.

Time for bed for me now, my brain hurts from looking at numbers!

Spot's Spot: My last night?

Well I have been watching Dad pile up stuff that looks suspiciously like he's going somewhere... I know the signs!   I'll do my miserable 'oh I suppose you're leaving' look until he picks up something of mine and puts it on the pile, and then I'll bounce manically around in excitement ooooohhh!

It's been b.... jolly freezing up here recently, though we haven't had as much snow as everyone else, apparently.    Still we haven't been out on the hills quite as much because he can't get his sticks in the ground, or see the planting mounds, so I've spent some time in the office.   Here are some pics of me at home (by the bed) and at work this week:

Still my bits have been freezing and sometimes I have to put my coat on, good thing Mum sent it up.  This is me in the works van, don't I look important!?

 

So anyway, I overheard Dad and Mum talking last night and I think we are going home tomorrow - or maybe to Uncle P's for the night which will be cooooool!  He loves me and always ruffles me up so that dog hair goes everywhere.   

I'm a little confused though because Dad has been packing some of his climbing gear and stuff that we wouldn't normally need to drive home.  Big thick clothes and boots and stuff, and lots of food.   I wonder if it's anything to do with the snowy stuff?

TP 125: Sepia

I'm not sure whether this is true sepia, but it's as close as I can get!  for Thematic Photographic.

November canoeing on Loch Ard, the Trossachs, Scotland

Not so Feelgood Friday

So, I open my Yahoo mail page this morning and the first news headline is "Jet skids on icy runway at Newcastle". 

And this comes amongst the dire news that Britain is gripped in yet another record snow/ice weather thing. I can't remember what the record is now, the earliest sight of a gritting lorry for 17 years perhaps, or the first time the breakdown services have had more than xx number of callouts a day in November. Every year it has to be a record for something and I'm not quite sure of the point of that, except to throw everyone into a panic about how it's SO much worse than it's been for - ooohhh, a long time.

Anyway... as previously mentioned, I am not a confident flyer, and I am due to fly home Glasgow-Southampton tomorrow afternoon; so that is not a good headline to read and I chose not to read the whole article.  I will bolster myself with thoughts like "It's ok I'm not going to Newcastle", "I expect it was some wierd cheap airline from some random country", "Oh it was a holiday flight, that's ok I'm not going on holiday".

Whenever I think "Oh no, there is a smattering of snow and it's below freezing", I remind myself that planes fly in and out of skiing resorts (ie. snowy, doh) all the time in the winter.  Yet somehow that's different; we in the south of England are notoriously rubbish at coping with even a small amount of snow/ice/weather - it's not Glasgow airport I'm worried about, it's Southampton.

And my Dad (in his 70s) is driving to pick me up, so I will be worrying about that as well.

Ohhhh why can't I be one of those positive-never-worry-about-anything people??

Time and Music

Just a couple of days left til I leave to go home, it feels as though I've been here for weeks!   Although the weather has turned colder, sadly I don't think I'm going to be snowed in.  It feels odd thinking that I won't be up here again until 2011.

Last night we went into Ayr to a bar where Mr H has started playing their 'Open Mic' night on Wednesdays.  The bar has been closed for a while and just reopened under new management about three weeks ago, and are trying to encourage musicians who are just starting out; Mr H discovered it on one of his exploratory trips around Ayr. 

Last Wednesday he played for 15 minutes but had to leave to pick me up from the airport, so last night was his first proper visit as we were there all evening.  We met a few locals but it was very quiet as the bar is just getting going again.  They have asked Mr H to play a set on Saturday night so he will be stressing about that for the next two days!  He only plays songs he has written himself, and they seem to love it, so hopefully this will prove a good outlet for his music; he has always struggled down south as people only want to hear things they already know.

Spot's Spot: Holiday

Well, tell you I was mighty surprised to see Mum walk in the door on Wednesday night!!!   I gave her my biggest grin as I ran down the door to meet her.  Coooool, I wonder how long she is staying?

Dad didn't go to work for the last few days, instead the three of us went out in the van exploring and looking at stuff, here are some pics of me:

Me looking handsome (of course)

Checking out the view from Doon Castle

Are you coming, or what?

Whooaaa, vertical ladders into the dock are scary!!

Waves breaking over seaweed are also scary!!!

Today I didn't go to work, I've been in the flat with Mum.   I thought I heard Dad earlier on and had to go and check out all the rooms to see if he was hiding somewhere, but he wasn't.  Mum and I went for a walk round the field by the river this morning, she walks much slower than Dad. It gave me time for more sniffing though.

Islands, roads and work

Today we went down to Girvan which is a little way down the coast.   It is a grey looking town with a seafront and beach very like Ayr, except that unlike Ayr it didn't look as though it would ever be particularly buzzing with people.  I found the town fairly uninspiring but has the attraction of having Ailsa Craig just off the coast; the island is uninhabited and a bird sanctuary, and one of its claims to fame is that Ailsa Craig granite is used to make curling stones.   It is impossible not to stare at the island when you see it, it has a magnetic attraction to the eye.

I don't know whether it was the culmination of having spent more time in a car in the last 4 days than I have in the last 5 months, combined with being driven on winding, unfamiliar roads and Mr H's habit of driving closer to the white line than I do (and he's always hated the fact that I drive too close to the verge!), but for the first time since I've been here I was feeling really nervous and a bit scared on the roads. I felt as though I had suffered a relapse in my recovery to 'normality' since the crash and felt quite upset about that.

 

I've never been a very good passenger, especially if I think the driver isn't concentrating or anticipating, I've always preferred to be the one behind the wheel.   Mr H asked today whether I thought I'd become a better or worse passenger after the crash; whether being forced to be a passenger would make it easier for me.  I don't really know the answer yet.

Today was the last day of my 'holiday', Mr H and I both go back to work tomorrow though I will be doing mine from his flat for the rest of this week, so it's kind of halfway house. It will feel a bit weird and I am very conscious of not getting in the way of his routine, especially in the morning; not that it will be much of a problem as he leaves the house at 7.30am so I'll still be snuggled up in bed!



A day of rest, and off-roading

As you probably gathered, yesterday involved quite a bit of walking... and then one of Mr H's Scots lassie friends from his previous District came over for the evening to sample his fantastic cooking, and stayed the night.  I discovered that white wine + DHC seems to have more of an adverse affect than red wine + DHC and took myself off to bed at 9.30, leaving them up chatting for another two hours.

Today was decreed a Day Off.  This morning was a slow start, the Scots lassie left about 11.30 after breakfast, and the rest of the day consisted of a lovely hot bath (which subsequently set off the smoke/heat alarm in the flat), lunch and an off-road dog walk along the river outside the back door - an hour's round trip back through the village to post some post-cards (tourist!) and check the bus timetables into Ayr. 

I say off-road because parts of the path by the river were muddy and a bit tricky, but I'm getting good on these crutches now.   It just shows how our limitations are self-selected by our own, and others', expectations.... up until now walking up the road to the postbox was an achievement; but since I've been here I've walked on beaches, seaweed covered rocky bits, muddy paths and distances that I never thought I'd manage.

Sometimes it takes a break in routine, and the necessity for making the most of a situation, to show ourselves what we can do.