five k challenge day one

A little challenge flung down by a fellow inveraray jogscotland member to show support for a friend of hers undertaking to do 7 ultra marathons in seven days commencing with the ice marathon yesterday which...he won!! To coin a phrase far too young for me but so fitting...Awesome! So we in our modest way are going to do 5k a day for 7 days starting today...and mine is done despite one runaway dog, several massive puddles and a man apparently photographing his own feet in the woods...off for lunch now!




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Rites of Passage

The milestone markers are whizzing past now with Toby achieving his long awaited ambition of being able to legally buy alcohol...never mind that nonsense about being able to vote etc...We are settling into winter life here with less B and Bers and more time but somehow the latter still streams away from me in an orderly but accelerating fashion. Garret is working in Aberdeen at present which is odd after being together most of the time for that last twenty or so years but the thought of some money coming in does help to level the balance of negative versus positive...Another weekend at Centre parcs in Cumbria has helped to create some more good memories of badminton, the dreaded flumes, squash and Kir Royales. Back home the battle of the broadband is still on with a switch to BT making no difference whatsoever and an inability to access anything on the old system is my addresses as I was too stupid to realise that the two accounts wouldn't overlap. Time out yesterday from all things electronic to ride the beloved Lewis along a beautiful Loch Fyne..good for the sole and the back muscles.

Life and sweet sixteen.

Busy times recently despite the slow grinding to a halt of the B and B season. Life reinserts itself into the gap left by the lack of bed making and bacon cooking. Rosie has reached her landmark of sixteen with many cakes, many designs and much love. Bonfires and cakes... Traditional way to celebrate a rite of passage. This was all done during the small slice of time allowed away from applying her nose to the grindstone of Higher Course work.
I am gradually getting used to being a university mum. This seems to consist of constantly being on the alert at the end of a texting device through long periods of inactivity just in case and then adjusting to the return of the prodigal for the weekend occasionally to rest his liver. The quietness erupts and the dynamics rock at his return in a typical family teenage way. There are nuggets of delight and, lets be honest, slight conflict as siblings readjust. Memories will be treasured of a country walk with Toby on Sunday. He, Holly and I and the great Argyll countryside... Until we got stuck mid- tree fall. Holly and I went round ( most of) it.

Portavadie cycle

I love my B and Bs, I really do but in compensation days like this are fabulous. A loose Facebook plan hatched by a fellow Mid Argyll Triathlon club member last night looked grim this morning at 7:30am as I hauled two bikes from the hut in torrential rain, the resulting foot soaking stayed with me all day, and racked them on the car. A hasty breakfast for Freya and I,then more bike hauling when the skies cleared and Mr Fair-weather cycle decided to come along. Down to Lochgilphead and then Tarbert to meet with friends and catch the ferry to Portavadie for a 20 mile cycle through lovely scenery peppered with convenient coffee shops. Happy day!

Triathlon time ( again)

Five Corners, five bikes, two colds, a toothache and several sore joints headed down to Lochgilphead on Sunday for the annual triathlon. Wonderfully this year all five of us took part, despite fears that cellulitis in his knee would halt Toby, and more crucially all finished safe and sound. Everyone did themselves proud and we bought home five prizes.. 1st MJ and fastest T2 ( Toby), 1st FJ ( Freya) 2nd FJ ( Rosie) 3rd FV ( Fee). The thrill of competing together was addictive and I hope there are more moments like this to come. No rest or time for celebration at home though as University Mum had to deliver Son back to his other home... A looooonnnnggg drive home alone.

Autumn times

In the full throes of the heaviest cold I have suffered for a while...the joys of having chills when suffering simultaneously from hot flushes is not to be missed...if you are masochistic in any way (I am not). So, the exercise has tapered but that was the plan anyway with the annual triathlon at the weekend. Son and heir is surviving in Glasgow, still intending to come and compete on Sunday en famille so no dropping out because of a snivelly nose for me....not that the idea had entered my head. Swimming is a bit painful right now so it is to be hoped that the small irritating creature inhabiting my head and banging around sinuses and ear canals has succumbed to Lem-Sip, Sinu Tab and whisky by Sunday.
Argyll at its mellow best at present...dropping night-time temperatures and red raw rowan berries amongst the yellowing, fading leaves.hedgerow blackberries for the taking. The roads are quietening and the evenings darkening..I love the autumn! Took the Leicann walk with my pal Lyndsay and her two Labs today...soggy underfoot but beautiful and cleansing for the mind, soul and body.

Red Hot Swimming Hats.... Or something

A whirlwind of a weekend after a week trying to get Toby into gear for Strathclyde university life. Duly delivered on Saturday and no communications since so I am assuming he is still alive. There is a strange Toby sized hole now so what to do? We filled it with guests and more guests, the Best of the West festival at the Castle featuring the best Stovies ( google it) ever and the Red Hot Chilli Pipers ( likewise). They did a set with the Inveraray and District pipe band ( Also worth a small wander of the google-ing finger) which was amazing, all very energy fueled and NOISY!! Sadly due to an impending chemistry test tomorrow Rosie and I had to bid farewell and head home to wrestle with some complicated stuff that frankly I have never heard of nor will ever have to. Six pm and I am
wading out to knee depth in Loch Fyne complete with wet suit, wet boots ( fill with water and weigh me down and then for suction reasons are IMPOSSIBLE to remove) and a wet hat Circa 1750....I am getting better, I must be but it was chilly!! Awesome... There was a cheeky, nosy wee seal tracking along besides us as the weather segued from torrential rain to rainbows as I reached the boat buoy marking the turning point. Still with the rain ripples marking the water the sun was bright behind my sighting point for the return making it hard to fix. I chose to sight on Richard who is determined to make me an open water swimmer somehow and followed him along the shore. I think I was steadier than last time counting strokes to ten before sighting... At one point fingertips brushed a starfish larger, much larger than my hand. The chill was manageable but I left Richard to swim
on and headed for coffee and a battle with the afore mentioned wet boots.Now sipping a little glass of Scotland's best to dilute the effects of swallowing some of Loch Fyne and a suspiciously sore throat.