Full weekend

Busy weekend chez Claonairigh with the deerstalkers ( not just any deerstalkers but John the first one to stay and bring us much business and of whom I am very fond) doing a two night stretch and some returnees Friday night. Saturday night saw a change in the double with a couple who legged it from Inveraray. Freya and I collected a takeaway for them to save them a walk back into town. We were on our way back from the athletics final in Oban ( my tenth year I think). She did gooooood winning the 4 lap, and then coming second in her age group. Proud mummy moment. Revision day today for Rosie and Toby. I am proud to say that I managed to explain integral differentiation to Toby. Well, I was the tool that pointed him in the right direction of U- Tube tutorials and you you can't say better than that.The photo is tea... Lovely scallops from Aray Fish.. Or our neighbors as we like to call them, flamed in dramduie. Yum!!

Wedding weekend

What a truly lovely thing a wedding is..a time to spend with a family under the best of conditions and in the happiest of circumstances. My niece and the gorgeous Dan tied the knot last weekend surrounded by friends and family. The girls were bridesmaids and looked so lovely though I say so myself. It did my soul good to be with my brother,sisters and mother....Not to mention the nieces and nephews. The drive south was long and dark on the way down, and long and frosty on the way back but uneventful and pain free... Apart from the creaky, cramped legs. The joy of iPads meant that Mr Depp in full pirate make-up kept me company on the way down but I was a good girl and " looked out of the windows" on the way home. Rain and winds have been lashing the west coast since we returned, how bizarre that only a few hundred miles away there is about to be an official drought declared. Guests are creeping back to Argyll bless them and we even have a full house on Friday, just in time to fund Toby's driving lessons. Things are a bit grim on the exercise front.. Grump grump as I have a touch of Achilles Tendinitis, a tight hamstring and sore joints but I like something to kick against ( obviously not too hard though... That would hurt.).l

Skiing days are back

After a very off and on snow season so far I finally managed to get up on the mighty hill that is Glencoe on Friday with Lizzie and Garret. The day was clear and not too cold and my ski partners were off for the top slopes virtually before I had reached the top of the first tow. The ski legs were slow to kick in after a time away but the place is so beautiful the experience is enough for any soul. The ski buddies swooped after a while and dragged me to a higher place. Softer deeper snow was the reward with consequently better sport. Bliss.

Lazy Sunday?

Not in this house! Having set the alarm on my trusty phone I woke at 8:30, half an hour late as I had switched off the sound. Playing catch up all the way I managed to get out of the door at 9:30 having consumed pre run breakfast. Only Rosie was up to see departure and to hear worries about clothing issues. All the preparation was for a run out with an ultra marathon running friend who is suffering low mojo the same as I am. We met at Kilmory, Lochgilphead for a sunny, rainy, hailey hill run and a damn good chat!! In fact such a good chat that we totally missed a turn on the way back and did a good two-three miles further than intended but in the language of teenagedom.... Whoop whoop eleven miles!! Been a while since I have done that distance. So a happy Fee! Was only twenty minutes late to collect Freya from her sleeps over..... Oops.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/65435930

Rainy Saturday

Well..... Not wishing to put off any potential tourists but today was a pretty rubbish day! Winds, hail and rain filled most of the day. The three minutes that I was at the bottle recycling bins was especially joyous.... And very wet. So what to do. Of all the things available I decided to make scallop ravioli. The scallops come from Fyne Fish and were very fyne indeed. It took most of the afternoon, I did enjoy the whole process... Very aka Masterchef. Toby had his first driving lesson today, the instructor is the father of a boy a year older than Toby. In a world a few years ago I met him and his boy at play group and knew one day I would be contacting him professionally. Circles within circles.

Three guests and a run....and a walk

Three guests today which is awfully good for the finances in the lean old month that is January. The very dear Howard and Myrna, horse riders extraordinaire and a chap doing something electronic to several Post Offices in the area. From Hamilton his English head office had bizarrely chosen Claonairigh for him to stay in despite it being at least an hours drive yesterday morning and again this morning...still the pound notes are better in my hot sticky little paw than in someone else's. A very typical January day, a wee bit of chill and mist and and on and off drizzle. Perfect for a run... I am having to try to get myself into gear as The Mighty Deerstalker beckons at the end of March. I have to be competent if not competitive at running up two blooming great hills, the second one a scree surface, run 1/2 a mile up a raging river ( very fast running wide stream but still...) and for light relief crawl through a few water filled tunnels. Last year the final few yards of the 10k (ish...nearer 10 miles) was covered by a cargo net which in my innocence I thought would be quite light. Had I had any breath left the Marshall who cheerfully urged me to " just crawl!" might have had a case for disqualification due to "marshal abuse". Back to this year...we shall just say that I am a work in progress. A pesky hamstring at the back of my weaker left leg is being troublesome but despite this I managed a cross country 8:08 miler today with Liz and Denise. The last mile was quite fast and I am loving my new trainers which have hooky things underneath especially for the downs. Home, a bath and huge amounts of food cos I deserved it and then the gradual dawning that I had a puppy that needed walking...different set of clothes and shorter route. Quite nice to get out walking (or falling into steams for both of us) through the rough bits of the woods instead of sticking to the tracks. Pizza Friday for four Corners this week as Freya is on an weekend sleepover. At present I am waiting for Rosie to appear for a movie after her revision ( so much nicer when the carrot is more acceptable than the stick.....) whilst Toby at long last appears to be mucking out his room prior to being bought his first driving lesson tomorrow.





Ps the photo is winter lichen.

Weather

The snow has arrived at Claonairigh after the worst storm for many years. No extensive damage here thankfully apart from to the new puppy's nerves. Since she arrived two weeks ago we have had torrential rain, blizzards, hurricane type winds and the odd stunningly beautiful spell as in the photos. The annual Inveraray jogscotland Jingle Bells run is this Sunday so away up the track Liz and I went to check out the ice situation. Four and a half or so miles later no ice but very wet feet so no change there for a run in the Argyll winter, at least they were not coated in mud too. My running mojo is still not back... Do I rest or keep plodding on? Five miles seems to be the limit for heavy tired legs.
Shades of years to come last night with the girls both on sleepovers and Toby taking an early night, we even got to choose what we watched on TV, my Mastermind choice did not go down well with Garret. He would rather the kids choice I think. Holly frolicked, bit, played and chewed (bone) her way through the evening at last collapsing exhausted.