Menooooooooooo....And Breathe

NB: Blogger continues to be very tardy with many of your posts... and then a whole bunch will turn up at one go, with anything from two to four of those missed posts. Beyond frustrating!!! Am I the only one experiencing this, or have any others of you had this happen? I think David mentioned it might be with him. Anyway, for those to whom I regularly comment, know that I have not abandoned you and will get there eventually! For those I only comment occasionally, know that I am still reading all your posts - just not as timely as they could be!!! (moves on with clenched jaw and gnashing of teeth...).

I mentioned last Thursday that Mac1 is over by the Clyde house-sitting and looking after Barney, the Himalayan Terrier. I took a turn at 'watch' last week, and there will be another brief visit this weekend. My sister's friend and her hubby are overseas and were happy for Mac1 to use their place as an artist's retreat... and she certainly spread herself around!

The table by the window, the main dining table, the kitchen table... and many, many bags and boxes between! Friend Annie is, herself, a creator, mainly with fabrics, but a little with paints and other media. Mac1 loves printing in different formats, using whatever she forages from the beaches and woods and streamsides... and streets... Magpies would have trouble keeping up with her! 

Anyway, other than her three-week retreat, the other focus is the pupster... and what can be seen from the wonderful back deck... I'm just going to leave the rest of this post to the photos (in no particular order)...

Menoooorrkk... Crummy Climate

I arrived back in Dunoon after deluges in Edinburgh and on the trip home via Lanark... and it continued... and continued...and...

I parked down at the West Bay end of town and watched the deluge blur the views out, and got on with some yarn work and listening to podcasts/audiobooks, binge-watching streamers, and generally wondering if I should be building an ark. Or at least some floaters for The Grey.

Mac1 arrived in Dunoon to house/dog sit for a pal, and for that first week, could hardly get Barney out of the house! 

I was supposed to go there to learn his routine so I could take over on a couple of the days when she has other commitments. By last Saturday, there were breaks between hosings... so Mac1 and Barney walked down to me and visited in the van...

Barney is a Himalayan Terrier and is a total mooch! He loves to snuggle on the couch, enjoys an ear tickle and an under-chin massage. He's a very good boy 87% of the time.

More on Barney and his home next week!

Menoddmessy; A Visitation

As touted in earlier posts, I had a visitor. Some of you will be familiar with Joni's name in relation to her providing some musical suggestions for the Wednesday posts here. A few of you will be even more familiar with her as a 'pen friend'. 

Joni does not blog herself, but was introduced to reading blogs when one lady and her Airedale's adventures were pointed out to her... then followed her nose from there. Mainly instigated by her love of dogs (and her own Airedales, Molly, then Amy), she found herself enjoying a variety of blogs and, from what I can gather, uses them in the same manner one might use magazines. 

Anyway, Joni decided to strike up email conversations with a few that she particularly enjoyed - and that included Gail, as well as me. 

Joni hails from Alberta in Canada and has always enjoyed travel. Indeed, it turns out she has been to Scotland more than once, so this was not entirely new territory for her. However, she was making an extra special effort to come all the way north from what was essentially a Paris/London trip in order to visit me, and things were not quite straightforward...

First, there was a terrible fire in a building adjacent to the Glasgow Central Rail Station, which resulted in the closure of the main part of the station. Thus, Joni had to follow guidance and made the trip via Edinburgh. She was to spend the 12th in Glasgow, and we had made plans for me to drive to Pollokshaws Park, where the Burrell Collection is housed, and then come back to The Hutch... without either of us fully registering other factors. Neither of us being at all superstitious, we might in future pay a great deal of attention to the presence of any Friday being the thirteenth...

First, I awoke that morning only to realise I was not feeling at all fit enough to drive the best part of two hours into what I knew would be crazy traffic due to the rail closures. As we exchanged morning greetings via text, Joni was not all that surprised and very supportive of my need to preserve energy, so we looked at how she was going to get here - the short end of that story being that the 901 Clyde Flyer bus was the only option. She managed to go and visit the Burrell in the morning, but not without having her own tribulations, as it seems the whole of Glasgow was in complete turmoil due to the station fire. The knock-on effect of no trains, road closures, bus re-routings... Bless her for determination! Once she let me know she was on the bus later in the day, I got myself together and took The Grey over on the ferry to Gourock to collect her. Absolute mayhem, even at this end. So manic was the traffic, in fact, there were two ferry boats running - pretty much unprecedented for this quiet wee corner of the Bonny Land!

Anyway, Joni safely gathered up, we headed back in slightly less, but still surprisingly heavy traffic and even managed to bag a parking spot within a hundred yards of the flat. It turned out there was some dance competition going on at the Queens Hall - but we couldn't find any information about that at all. 

Once into the Hutch, deep breaths were taken, and a proper hello hug and cuppa tea helped to settle somewhat frayed edges of we two ladies of a certain age!

The weather was another factor. March is being very unkind. There had been a fall of snow on the hilltops and even at street level first thing on Friday, but that didn't lie. Sleet was the main issue, and a biting wind.

That said, when there was a break on Saturday, we grabbed the opportunity for a walk down to the promenade and up to the castle gardens. Joni's photo of me (tiny red bobble hat in the centre of the image) might mislead the unfamiliar eye! 

The cloud came and went, and there were a couple of spits, but we even managed a couple of sit-downs by the waterside and had lots of fun hellos with passing doggies and their peeps.

Can you believe I didn't photograph any of them?!! I was just concentrating on the conversation and enjoying the moment. (You'll see a photo of Joni on Saturday...)

We were out for a little over an hour and couldn't have timed it better, for just as we were taking off our coats back in the flat, back came the wind and rain. Although there were spells of sunshine during the rest of that afternoon, they were brief as the foul stuff came in like the waves on the shore. 

I had been planning to take Joni a ride over to Helensburgh on the Sunday, to visit The Hill House (Charles Rennie-Mckintosh design); however, all that worry about travel rearrangements had my visitor concerned - and me, if I'm honest. If she had stayed until Monday as originally planned, it would have been fine. However, a notice had been sent that the station would still not be open for their travel, so there was more mucking around to be done. I was not altogether surprised, then, when Joni said on Sunday morning that she might leave that afternoon instead. We both pored over the ferry/bus timetables to work out what would suit. Even that wasn't as straightforward as it usually is, because our foot ferry service is so shy of weather that is anything other than mirrors and spotlights. I made the decision to drive over in the same manner as I'd collected Joni. This proved fortuitous because the weather was absolutely foul by mid-arvo. Truly awful. 

Sigh... great big warm hugs at the bus stop, and then it was farewell! 

I cannot properly express my gratitude to Joni for making the endeavour of this trip. It didn't pan out as I had quite hoped in that so much came at us from all sides to cut down explorations. That said, we chattered away like old friends and were very comfortable together. Thus, while the physical part of this meet-up turned into something of a damp squib, the connection of two minds after so long over distance was truly wonderful.

But come on, spring, where the dickens are you????!!!!!

Menordulating; Staging Grief

There are many ways I could have chosen to drive north in this Bonny Land, but I did want to follow a known path. First, I was starting from the east side, out of Edinburgh. Second, it was the first time up this way since January, when I attended the memorial celebration for Gail. As I first drove into Fife and found myself lingering, I also had to acknowledge that there is still some raw feeling about heading past places we would have shared.

I know that many of you are just as sad about the gap that has been left in your comment sections, let alone the few of you who developed pen-friendships with Gail. I had those, but also the great privilege of getting to know her in person and becoming firm friends 'in the flesh'. Hardly a day goes by without my seeing or hearing something that I know she would have enjoyed discussing. 

That said, I was determined that by returning to Hazlehead Park, I would explore it as if she were walking with me. (For a brief moment, I considered Duthie Park, but wasn't quite ready to face that.)

I had the whole afternoon on Thursday, 5th, to explore as much as I could manage. The weather was kind and I did cover this whole entry area, through to the maze...

... which was, frankly, rather unexciting, though I did manage to get to the centre and back without any 'snags'. Then it was down to the two different rose gardens, both of which are memorials. The Queen Mother's Rose Garden and the Piper Alpha Memorial Garden.

It was a tad too early for the majority of the roses, but the Rhododendrons were still in their glory! Those roses that did show have been photographed and will be shared out over the coming weeks of Nature Friday Posts! I intend to return on my way south again - when I hope many more will be through to petal. As it was, there was already a good perfume in the air.

I was glad to see a good flourish of Ivy-leafed Toadflax... this was one of the little wild growers that Gail was rather fond of.

And how about some Bombus Muscorum? Not sure? That's the Moss Carder Bee to you then!

Once I'd spent a good while enjoying these two spaces, it was back toward the entry section and up the hill a wee bit to enter the Pets Corner mini-zoo. Now, I think you can guess that I went a tad overboard with the camera when in there! Shots from all the 'pets' will be shared over the next few Nature Friday posts. They will talk for themselves. As a review, though, let me say that the entry cost was very affordable (£2.60 as a senior), that one is actually able to pet the animals, if they come up to the fence to say hello, that there was a slightly run-down feel, but in no way did I feel the animals were affected by this, all looking in good condition and quite happy. I spent quite a bit of time with the goats and Peafowl, but particularly with the aquarium exhibits. As you will see in due course!

The next day, another long-term friend of Gail's, who had emailed me earlier in the week, agreed to meet me for lunch at the park cafe. It was cathartic for both of us, as we were able to share some reminiscences and download a little about the loss of our mutual friend. We agreed to meet again whenever I pass through. 

On that second day, I concentrated my focus on the monuments/art installations in the park, for which you must return next Thursday!

Menorganikul; Edinburgh Botanic Gardens

As mentioned in earlier posts, Aitch got on the train south of the border and came all the way up to Edinburgh for an afternoon shared at the EBG.

We got lucky... the summery weather that had brought the country close to announcing drought conditions had changed over the preceding weekend: indeed, on the Monday before this Tuesday visit, it had poured rain on the Scottish capital and turned really rather chilly once more. However, our day shone bright, very warm, and just perfect for a saunter around some of the park - no way to cover it all in one visit. There will be more trips!

I drove The Grey over from the usual southside park-up by Mac1's place to spend the night on Arboretum Place, by the gardens. It's free overnight, and—for the city—relatively inexpensive parking rates through the day. In the morning, I was able to take my time for ablutions, breakfast, puzzles, and blogs prior to walking around by Inverleith Terrace to the East Gate, where, within five minutes, the bus carrying Aitch arrived. First order of the late morning was a cuppa and a bit of cake! As we sat and enjoyed the sunshine and the very good tea and carrot cake, we assessed the route that would optimise the finding of caches. There is no way Aitch could travel without her GPS unit and cache plotter!!! It turned out there were five to find - but two were on one side of the quite large park and three on the other, so we opted for the three, leaving something for another visit.

The peachy-coloured line is the meander we followed. You can see we only covered about one-third of the garden area. We were in no hurry and took every opportunity to stop and appreciate the bits we did see.

First, we went up around the rockery garden, which is always one of my favourites. It was on this part of the park that we found the dedicated area to those who had experienced transplants. I took the opportunity to remember my late niece, "The Maestro", who underwent a kidney transplant among many other health invasions. I didn't have a stone, so used an ivy leaf. This little haven is where you see Aitch sitting in the first photo above.

From here we sauntered a little uphill to reach the hilltop waterfall - you will see that in action in tomorrow's post, but here is the still shot...

There were further waterways and lots of botanicals - but I am reserving most of those shots for other posts!

The first cache Aitch picked up was at Caledonian Hall. Then we traipsed down the hill to view the Himalayan Blue Poppies, which were in their prime.

Then it was back up the hill, past the azalea garden - sadly mostly past, clearly affected by the recent spell of exceptionally hot weather - up to the pond by Inverleith House for the second cache. By this time (about two-thirty p.m.), we were ready for a meal, so we dropped down the west side of the hill to the main restaurant at John Hope Gateway. I had a very delicious veggie mousaka with salad, followed by a Moroccan orange pistachio cake, while Aitch enjoyed a well-filled roast chicken foccacia, then Isle of Arran Ice Cream. 

From here, we once more went uphill to the viewing point on the south side of Inverleith House. It has to be admitted that the line of sight over to the key spots in the city centre are a little obscured by the ever-growing trees, but we still managed to enjoy the line from St Mary's Cathredral in the west, travelling over to the castle, the camera obscura, the spires of St Giles' Cathedral, the drop of the Royal Mile as it heads down to meet The Crags and Arthur's Seat. Then there were all the bits between us and that... the 'new town', Dean Village, Stockbridge... it really is a little jewel of a city!

After taking that in, we were on our final stretch. A quick visit to the Aolian harp, then back down the slope following the Chinese Hillside Garden, zig-zagging past more of the aforementioned waterways, finally reaching the pond and pavilion - and the third cache. That's Aitch looking very satisfied in the third of the first lot of photos!

It only remained to find our way back to the West Gate and out to The Grey for a welcome cuppa, some fresh berries, a try-out of the summer jacket (as seen on recent stitches post), and before we knew it, time had come for Aitch to get back on the bus to the centre and to Waverley Station for her train back south.

It was an absolute delight to introduce my pal to these lovely spaces. I hadn't realised that she'd never visited there before, despite many trips to Edinburgh over the years. It may have been her first, but I am sure it won't be the last!

I spent another night on Arboretum, then took off north into Fife for a period of 'cocooning' ... I do love all my sisterly and old pal visits, but I do find more and more that I need lots of recoup/recharge time afterwards! Anyway, the weather really did turn nasty after this, dropping back into single-figure temps and blattering rains. Hey ho...

Menondallying; The Bit Between

Christmas at The Hutch was a very quiet, unceremonious affair. Having arrived back in Dunoon on Christmas Eve eve, to relatively mild temperatures but extreme overcast skies and thick haar (sea mist), I hunkered down with some binge-watching. It has been a while since I watched quite so many television shows/films in one hit. Several of the items were one-off Christmas specials of shows that I watch during the year: Great British Bakeoff, Sister Boniface, Dr Who, Beyond Paradise, Death In Paradise, Great Pottery Throwdown... one or two others, but the mind is going blank now. There were a couple of Hindi films and then one that surprised me how much I enjoyed it... Red One. Yes, the Dwayne Johnson action pic. And yes, it's nonsense, but a whole lot of fun! So much so that I watched it again a week later when Aitch came to stay.

Yes, my good pal arrived on New Year's Eve eve and stayed until last Saturday. Again, the weather kept us indoors until New Year's Day itself, when Aitch went on a solo walk to do some geocaching, and I caught up on puzzles and made soup for lunch.

On the second, the sun shone. There was a layer of snow up on the hilltops, hoar frost on rooves and cars, and the temperature never got above freezing the whole day. But I say again - the sun shone! Windows were opened, and we indulged in a binge-watch of the latest (and final) Vera double bill. On Friday, it was very cold and bright again, so we decided to take a walk around town. I fetched the Rolls-later from The Grey, and we wandered up the back street first - quickly realising that the walk would be treacherous due to ice. We both slipped a couple of times but managed to stay upright. Mostly, we walked on the roads where some gritting had taken place - although this was not necessarily entirely successful. Many folks called out to us to take care and share a giggle about the skating conditions. 

You can tell that it was taking all our concentration - I never thought to take any photographs whatsoever!

Aitch, whose father was a Scot, had never spent Hognamany in Scotland before. I made sure we had plenty of pick-and-nibble foods and a tipple (neither of us is really a drinker, but it's one time a year). I also made up a collection of Scottish music to listen to as we went through the evening until the BBC Alba Ceilidh started. We saw 2025 in and managed another half hour or so before calling it a night. We each picked five highlights of our 2024 and thought about one or two things we would each like to achieve in 2025. No resolutions. We don't need that kind of pressure!

Thus, the year is off and running. 

A while back, when sharing podcasts I enjoyed, I included a series from Australia called Stuff The British Stole. It has subsequently been made into a television series. One episode was particularly of interest to me. I provide the promo clip below. I heartily recommend the full half-hour episode if you can access it - the series was an international collaboration, and I know that CBC (Canada) should have it available, and ABC (Australia) too, so in the USA, it might be where you get your BBC programs? It's on U (used to be UKTV) here in the UK. 

Menongling; Meeting New Mates

After a few day's rest back at The Hutch - which was still standing and a tad forlorn for the lack of living and loving it had received over the past while but was still embracing and nurturing to me - it was back into The Grey, and on the road headed for Edinburgh. I made an overnight stop at Carnwarth for a battery charge and driving break, and then Friday saw me heading past the capital city to the East Lothian coastal town of North Berwick. 

I slept well with the sound of the waves lapping the shore, and Saturday dawned bright-ish and without rain. This was good news because I was going to meet some new pals.

To set the picture a bit... a few years back, there was a commenter on Bertie's blog who Gail and Bertie got to meet in the furs a few times because they lived near Auld Reekie (local name for Edinburgh). That lady, Amanda, used to blog as Climbing Mandy. Her WFT Horatio featured heavily, as did Harris the Viszla when he arrived.

Although that blog fell into the background, Amanda and Gail maintained contact - and she was, in fact, one of the possible choices for rehoming Nobby when the time came. By this time, though, Amanda had said farewell to Horatio and now has Hercule, another WFT, who is every bit - and possibly more - rambunctious than Nobby was at the same age. Also, Harris the first passed, and Harris the second is a young fellow (of the Wire-haired Viszla variety).  As we know, Nobby has gone elsewhere, and having now met the H-pack, it may be just as well!

They are gorgeous but lively, and knowing Nobby as I do, I know he would have had his innerspring self wound up to high tension. It would have been a case of two's busy, three is mania.

Amanda is a warm and delightful person with whom I had an easy and enjoyable visit. Thanks to Gail and her amazing connectedness, we agreed that we may have the basis for forming a new friendship. We walked the length of the beach first, and I interacted with the boys, throwing the ball, teasing with it, and hiding it. Having another connection to Gail, who also understood the blogging aspect of our friendship, was heartwarming. Back in the Grey, I had prepared a big pot of Leek and Potato soup and we ate that with crispbreads and cheese, just right for a winter's day. Moreover, Amanda (and her husband) "get" the van life thing, having been camping and caravan people themselves. It was an excellent meet-up, and there will be more in the future. I even got Amanda thinking about blogging again! Now, look at the camera boys!

After farewells, I shifted up to the city. Sunday evening was to be spent with a more festive focus. There is no denying I was struggling for the 'feels' this year. This delightful evening helped salve a little of that (I even got around to decorating the van with a few baubles and lights). The church was decked out beautifully - I was so deep in just being present there that I did not take any photos at all, so I have Mac1 to thank for at least the altar bouquet shot. 

That Monday, Mac1 and I had a 'fallow' day, sharing a little time together for morning tea and then supper, but mostly just resting. On Tuesday, I drove us down to an old family friend's place near Eyemouth. Tom's the Tractor Man. Now 92 and having recently had a stroke, he's gradually handing over the hobby business to his son, Tommy. I whipped up another pot of the Leek and Tattie soup to have with cheese and pickle sangers, and we enjoyed his cosy fireside for a couple of cheery hours on a very dreich day.

I drove Mac1 back to IKEA later in the day, where we enjoyed our evening meal (vege balls with quinoa salad and vege ragout - it was scrumptious!), then a cuppa before she got the bus home, and I parked there for the night. Then it was back towards The Hutch via Lanark, stopping there over the pre-Chrissy weekend due to another windy storm coming through and not wanting to drive in it. Back across the water on the eve of the Eve... 

Menongling; Mingling With Mates

First, if you recall, I had met up with vlogpals, Snow and Curt in Edinburgh at the back end of September... their video of our meeting (and other things) is now live. You can watch it from this link. If you wish only to see the section with me in it, skip to minute eight.

Back to my timeline now.

After Killin, I mosied over to Froickheim for a night, then up to St Cyrus for a power charge and another night, then on to Aberdeen to be with Gail and Nobby. I wanted to keep my visit as light as possible, just to be moral support and slightly different company. I did a few light tasks, such as preparing food and a couple of shorter walks with Nobby.

We managed one longer walk together down at Duthie Park, one of Nobby's favourite spots, where he gets to meet many other pupsters and sniff all the peemail to keep up with the local woofs. We availed ourselves of the plentiful seating at strategic points along the way.

The only other adventurous thing we did was pile into The Grey and drive up to Inverurie (about 40 minutes). That was my last full day with them (for this trip). It was a Sunday outing with a difference. Readers of Nobby's Blog will recall that he went to professional groomers! Let me give you a closer look at him in the before state...

Bouffant, you might say. We dropped him off with Emma at eleven in the morning, and he would be with her for three hours! Gail and I spent that time driving a little to the other side of the town to one of her friend's homes and had a pleasant couple of hours with them. Then, as we drove back to collect Nobby, I parked in a relatively scenic spot (albeit by a busy road) and prepared a snack lunch. When Gail came out of the 'salon' with Nobby, I had to double-check that she hadn't been given a different dog!!!

Pawsitiffly spiffy...dogright dapper!!! Definitely sleek. It was a big day out, and we were blessed, once again, with bright and mild weather. Once home, Nobby needed a bit of energy run-off, so he and I went into the garden, where I found him a fabulous stick to have an argument with...

On one of our local walks, Nobby found a little toy that he carried for a short distance then returned to the pavement. When we came back from the walk, it had been moved again, up near to G&N's house. Later in the evening, when I went to organise tea, I found it had been moved further...

That's a cute sign-off for this post! I spent a week with G&N, then headed back to the Hutch - but not in a hurry. There were some enjoyable stops on the way back. One will be shared tomorrow.

Menongling; Mingling Moments

As mentioned last week, the reason for the trip to Edinburgh at the end of September was to have a meet-up—actually, two. (Well, three, if you count Mac1...) 

First, I spent an afternoon in Princes Street Gardens with Aitch and her friend Cee. I met Cee several years ago when visiting Aitch in Suffolk, so she is not a stranger to me. The main purpose of their getting on the train from Northumberland up to Auld Reekie was to gather some geocaches and connect with a bunch of other geocachers for a geek gathering in the early evening. I got the bus down from where The Grey was parked, and we connected a little bit before lunch. We wandered along the top level of the gardens from east to west, stopping briefly for a drink at a kiosk.

I always enjoy joining in on the geocaching - not just the detective work involved in the finds themselves, but quite often the views and history/information gathered along the way. I particularly like this memorial to the life of Wojtek the Soldier Bear, who became a corporal in the Polish army.

Another lovely bronze sculpture on the lower level is this elephant. It is in memory of all the children who suffered from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and to encourage donating to research on the disorder.

At the west end of the gardens stands the Ross Fountain, though sadly, the water was not flowing on the day of our visit. We sat and had lunch from the cafe kiosk there - but I must admit it was far from fantastic, given the prices. Still, it kept us from fading away. 

Anyway, we worked our way back to the east end, and I parted company with my pals at the National Gallery, where I caught a bus back to the van. It was a lovely outing, just meandering in the autumnal light.

The next day, I drove The Grey across the city (yay for having an EV and not needing to worry about low-emission zoning!) to park in Fettes Row. This is one of the prestigious streets in the 'new town', the extension of the city to the north of the castle mound. Parking costs are reasonable, and it is one of the places within the city that officially permits motorhomes and campervans to park overnight... if not stealthing, like I do. Why did I go there?

To meet two vloggers in the flesh that I've been following for nearly five years now. I introduced you to them four years ago, when they were still in the South America part of their grand world tour. Snow and Curt (aka Chilldaze) have been in Europe for a year now and finally made it to Scotland! Like me, their vlogs are about a month behind real-time, so if you click that link, you will find that the most recent videos are from Ireland. Anyway, when I knew that they were going to be arriving here, I reached out to them via DM on the instything, offering them the chance to meet if they felt they wanted to. I didn't want to press the matter - they have a HUGE following and are rightly careful for safety's sake. However, I was over the moon when Snow wrote back that they were keen to meet me, too. Their time for this first visit to the Bonny Land was very limited, and they were fitting me in with the scheduled arrival of friends from the USA who were hiring a camper to spend a week with S&C. It transpired that those friends were delayed by a day due to hurricane Helene, so what was to be little more than an hour together, we ended up having quite a bit of the day. I first visited their van and met the cats, G Money and Vanna, and we got all our introductory talk out of the way. Then we let the cats rest, and S&C came into The Grey for a cuppa and a sandwich. Curt had to attend some other business for an hour or so early arvo, which left Snow and myself to have a properly good gals yarnfest!!! She is doing remarkably well after having had both knee surgery (in Colombia) and major heart surgery (in Argentina). One of the reasons they were pressed for time on this visit was that she had to back way down by London to get her six-monthly check up.

I treasure the memory of that time shared with two of my favourite online pals, to have found them as genuine and down to earth as they come across in their videos, and to have had two wonderful, deep, warm hugs with a farewell, not a goodbye! I was so excited, and in the moment, there was only one photograph to share from the meeting. Slacko, Yamini!

That was that. They promised to be back later in their trip, and we'll meet again. I am so in awe of this couple and what they have achieved thus far in their van.

This was a little out of order, for the day after this, Mac1 and I took the trip to Penicuik that I shared with you last week. After that, I turned Grey's wheels back towards Dunoon. The intention had been to spend at least a week at The Hutch, but I never made it up the stairs. News of Nobby's Gail landing in the hospital caused me to turn northwest once more. I didn't rush it, though - and tomorrow, you will see a little bit of that outward trip.

Menolloping; Less Agility, More Indignity

I may overstate it... then again...

Having departed Lanark and taken a couple of days to saunter westward, I reached the town of Ayr. That third weekend of September was dedicated to being with blogpals, and the focus was Nobby performing at the final agility show of the season. But I'll get to that.

Gail had alerted me to the event quite a few weeks earlier, and the timing was perfect. Then, a little later, during the week I was in Lanark, I heard from Tigger's Mum, F, that she and Mr B would be in Scotland by the weekend. The flow of things enabled them to join in at the event, so one of my longest and dearest pals met through blogging would meet some of the newest (and as dear!). I was confident they would hit it off, having many common interests. As there was time to spend before Nobby's afternoon slots, we first took a turn around the grounds of the Rozelle Estate, spotting lots of intriguing brush sculptures, some more recognisable than others.

Then, it was lunch and toilet breaks. Nobby had two events, back-to-back on both days. On the Saturday when we were all together, the weather was not the best: fierce and biting wind and lots of sharp showers. The voices of many of the handlers got lost in the air, and a lot of the dogs had trouble completing their rounds successfully. 

Nobby was not for having anything to do with it! Once he did get started on one round, he managed about a third of the course before defaulting...

On Saturday evening, Gail and F joined me in The Grey to eat our evening meals... each got what they fancied. Unfortunately, that meant that Mr B went for garlic pizza (not sure there was anything else on it). When he opened their van door the odour had me reeling (I'm allergic to garlic, and it makes me quite nauseous even by its smell), which meant he was eating solo! I felt bad about that, but even F agreed it was well-pungent. Her pizza caused no disturbance, and Gail's fish supper looked scrummy - I had made myself a pasta dish.

Then came the time for goodbyes. I was sad, for I will not see F again for quite some time. Those who read her blog will know she is repatriating to New Zealand. It was with some degree of dismay that I realised I had been so focused on drinking every moment with her and Mr B that I entirely forgot to get any photos of them! Naughty Yamini.

On Sunday, Gail and Nobby once again reported for participation at the agility. The day was brighter and drier, though the winds still cut slices. Things looked promising for a while...

It was still mid-afternoon by the time he'd done, so Gail and I took him over to The Burns Museum, which has some lovely grounds... but more on that tomorrow!

Let me leave you with two rather fine "pawtraits"... the first taken looking into the van, and the second taken looking out...