Weather report!

We've been staying down in Shipley near Saltaire in Yorkshire with family. Our return back to Scotland was delayed due to problems with the car. The car is now fixed and we've been home for just a week and each day I've meant to post on here to let family and friends know we didn't get stuck in snowdrifts, or worse, on the drive home.
Yorkshire was filling up with snow as we left, and once in Scotland, the A9 south of Inverness was closed due to the  bad weather. We persevered and did a detour over to the west coast where there wasn't any snow, only gale force winds. We've been hugely lucky here. No snow or overcast days, just very cold but dry, and periods of sunshine and bright blue skies. Some parts of the Highlands have been so dry they are dealing with wildfires. The weather does seem very strange of late!

Chox Away!

One of the presents Niels received for his birthday last year was a flight in a light aircraft where, he could, after instruction, take partial control of the plane.  After months of deliberation he finally took to the air in a tiny little plane and entrusted his life to a school boy, who, we were told was the pilot. I wondered if he'd taken the day off school?  It was a blustery cold day over on the east coast, Niels flew, with instruction from the school boy pilot along the coast and back again, bumping along in the strong breeze, taking in the view and learning, he later told me, that planes take longer to turn than a car, and go up and down and side to side quite a lot.  He thoroughly enjoyed himself and said (finances permitting) he could happily learn to fly and take to the skies. A big Thank You to the lovely  friends who gave him the opportunity to glimpse into that world that for the most part seems so far removed from our reality.

Contrasts

For the most part the recent weather here has been amazing even my rhubarb has plucked up courage and put in an appearance - just. But not all days are blue sky and sunshine. Last week we walked to Vaich Dam on the Strathvaich Estate. Winter still holds on in places. Highland Cattle are generally quite timid and shy - but their large size and horns make us quite wary when we walk by. I had a similar hair style to this once. Just washed it and shook my head about until dry. The end result looked very much like this - though without the horns!

The Lovely Lochside

The lovely haphazard tumbling down lochside. The weather has surpassed itself. Icy cold brilliantly sunny mornings. At the edge of the loch seaweed encased in a thin almost transparent coating of ice. As the sun gains a hold the ice retreats with a slow drip dripping. Watching ice melt can perhaps be compared to watching paint dry! But it was magical and silent, even the drips were quiet. To my right a tree had lost the battle to hold onto the bank and slipped down towards the loch edge. It might have lost the battle to stay upright but it carried on sprouting  the first buds and leaves of spring. It is a very special place and as is so often the beauty is right down at my feet.

Home

It's lovely to be home. Here you can really be away from the hustle and bustle

We passed here while out walking the day before yesterday

I imagine living here. Miles from the nearest road, and nothing or no one around for miles.I wonder how it would be? The house belongs to the local estate and is closed up for the winter

Eating a satsuma and wondering where his chair has gone!

My feet enjoyed their recent holiday flip flopping about in sandals

but here at home with tracks like this 

it's back to walking boots and gaiters. I think my feet quite enjoy this too! 

They say home is where the heart is, and my heart felt happy to be out in these great big open empty spaces again.