Best Of

Well done @DEBSC recycling discarded fruit! Hope you and your granddaughter each end up with a plentiful crop.

Good to read that your trip was a success @Wherenext and that all seems well with MIL and her carers.

We have had a sunny day with a cool breeze which clouded up during the afternoon and is now definitely chilly in comparison to previous days. We did our usual walk from the site, but in the reverse direction for a change. Had an interesting chat with one of the Woodland Trust volunteers who look after the town's woods about the area and it's bird life. We might do a walk he suggested tomorrow. The town of Carrbridge has a Wood Carving festival in August and there are many examples of the craft scattered around the place particularly in the woods. This is a good example of the type of sculpture that are created.

That was well spotted TDA & @RedKite, I waited ages for that shot!! :)) However it really just chance that it was there. It is good to hear that you, and @Freddy55 too, are having fine weather, even if you have had some rain.

Glad that you had an easy journey over to the East @Wherenext. Please pass on our greetings to Mr Ogg, and enjoy the cake in the cafe!

It has been the hottest day of our trip so far. We had a walk from the site up the part of the Fionn Ghleann, where we got a good view of th Aonach Eagach ridge.

I called into the NTS Centre to have a look at the turf house before another walk most of the way up to the WiFi master, but wasn't wearing the proper footage for the final stretch. However I got a good view, away to the north, of the Pap of Glencoe with the granite peak of Stob Ban in the far distance.

We moved all of 23mls up the road today with the caravan, and thankfully found a good lay-by in which to stop for our lunch. We are now at the Glen Coe C&CC site, which used to be the old Forestry Commission site, and it shares the grounds with the Scottish National Trust centre, and the site is full tonight.

A couple of photos from our afternoon walk.

Looking up towards Glen Coe with Bidean nan Bian on the right & Stob Coire nan Lochan straight ahead.

Looking across to The Pap of Glencoe and, to the right, Sgorr-nam Fiannaidh the last peak on the Aonach Eaach Ridge.

A gloriously sunny day spent in the Lakes. A last minute decision late last night to do a walk with the family. I first climbed Great Gable in 1984 and indeed it was my first ever Wainwright. In those days it was always easy, everywhere was three hours up, two hours down, Today was four and a half hour up which I suppose wasn't too bad, then Green Gable and back. The 'sherpas' went onto to do a few more summits but we came down from there and met them back at Honister slate mine. Another fantastic day.

Moses Trod, we didn't go up to Windy Gap but went up from the right.

The summit with Wastwater behind

Great Gable from Green Gable.

We had a fine sunny start to the day although it clouded in later, in the afternoon. We drove to Eriska peninsula for a walk in Shian Wildlife Nature Reserve, past Barcaldine Castle.

Then onto Dunstaggnage Marina for a 6kg propane refill, at £28 cheaper than we paid back home, before stopping at Dunstaffnage Castle for our picnic lunch then into tge Castle and a walk around the headland.

The view across the Bay to the Marina with Ben Cruachan in the background.

Views of the castle and the inner courtyard, well and Gatehouse.

We’re back home after a couple of nights in a posh hotel, meeting up with some of the “girls” I first met nearly 58 years ago. The 12 of us (plus partners) try to get together at least once a year. In 1967 we all left home to begin teacher training and bonded together. Sadly we lost one of our group last year and illness sometimes gets in the way, but we have a wonderful time. I’m the odd one out. My teaching career didn’t last long and I ended up in other jobs. As well as farming. All but me are retired now.

But now it’s back to reality- 4:58 alarms and no one but me to cook and serve meals. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Another sunny but cool day, which has clouded up this evening. This morning we visited Cambuskenneth Abbey, where the Bell Tower still stands, and there is the tomb of King James III of Scotland. followed by a riverside walk past the Stirling Rowing clubhouse, where there were a few oarsmen/oarswomen out on the water practicing. After lunch and a visit to Tesco we took another walk by the river from The Old Bridge.

The Bell Tower and King James III Tomb

View of the Wallace Monument and Abbey Crags across the R.Forth.

Stirling Castle from the Riverside Walk

The 15th C Old Bridge across the R.Forth

We’ve had VOIP for nearly 8 years now. With Vonage. There will be more choices now, but it works well so I’m not changing! We hardly use the landline, but it’s the registered number for various official sites. We’re very “tech minded” here. With a high powered desktop, laptop (which I hate and never should have bought), iPads, mobile phones and a Kindle. Not to mention the dairy computer running the milking parlour and tracking systems for the cows’ health etc. And a Grandson at university doing a degree in “Cyber Security”. Maybe M&S would like to borrow him.

And in other news - the bluebells are at their peak.

The photo was meant to be medium.