River Etive, Scotland

A few more photos...

Water water everywhere and not a 'yak to sink

We're not in Cambridge anymore (well we weren't a month ago when we took this photo). We're up in Scotland, walking along the banks of a class 5 river looking at the waterfalls and I'm thinking that my kayak is something like 5,000 miles away in a basement in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Back in Cambridge, the river Cam is a little flatter, a little more sedate, and you don't need hiking boots to hike along the bank.

(I used to do a lot of hillwalking on the west coast of Scotland. The River Etive is near Glencoe a little south of Fort William.)

Holy Trinity, Dunoon

After a couple of days in Glasgow visiting Anne and wandering old favorites, we set off for an afternoon ferry to Dunoon, on the north side of the River Clyde, to visit a friend with new digs: church, cemetery and rectory all on a promontory looking out onto the river with a reservoir and forest behind her. Pretty special spot.

Our visit was short, an overnight with dinner at Loch Fyne Oyster Bar in Cairndow about a 35 minutes drive from Dunoon. Loch Fyne is where my mail order fish comes from. So, that coupled with the fantastic location should make for a glorious evening, but after a meal there, I felt let down. The food just doesn't hold its own and I suspect it's because the chef isn't cooking his or her choices but a prescribed menu. Ho hum, at least the company was good.

After a good night sleep in the rectory, we awoke to sunshine and good coffee. (It helps to have an American making it!) The sunshine and views drove me to wander to each window. Each holding its own special gift, but one stood out from the rest where a deer with the start of its fuzzy antlers was having breakfast. It looked at me and unimpressed went back to eating. Of course, that reduced me to five-year-old antics, running to get Alastair and camera. Citified, for certain. Didn't manage the camera, but it was a good preface to heading further north.

Trailer: Spring... coming soon.

We all know that when we wash our cars or have our windows cleaned, it will rain the next day. Well, apparently, we should know that when one installs a clothes line, it will undoubtedly storm.

Fifteen minutes after I put out the inaugural load of towels, our warm weather headed south literally, as winds from Greenland swept down bringing hail and snow. I haven't used the clothes line since; Alastair has, but I think it was under protest. Our glimpse of Spring is gone, instead Winter is back. Yesterday, I spent my time at the gym staring out at blizzard conditions, white out and horizontal snow. In an hour we had a good blanket of the stuff. It didn't last, never seems to here. The sun shines through the storms pretty regularly. This morning, there's a crust of frost on everything. Hopefully, all that green showing last week got the message and hunkered down before it's too late.



So, here I am left with little evidence outside of the 70s I relished last week. Instead, I'm finding comfort and color in a few branches of cherry blossoms I brought inside. These should carry me through until the time changes Sunday and it warms up again.

The flower shop across the street from Kember & Jones.
(That's the postman on the right.)

Breakfast in the West End

Not a stone's throw from where Alastair and I lived on Highburgh Road, there's a new cafe/restaurant/deli called Kember & Jones. I'd read about it as a brunch spot in a weekend newspaper and put it on the list of things to check out. The review said to expect queues, which is a promising sign for breakfast... I mean, the fact that a group of Scots would actually get out of bed for breakfast is breaking news.

Alastair and I walked over from our B&B next to the River Kelvin. It was cool, crisp and clear and there was much to note on our walk, but I'll share that later. By the time we reached K&J, I was starving... and guess what?! Not a queue in sight. We grabbed a table near to the window, sitting next to a German couple. The first sign that we might be a little early, don't you think?

The menu had all the expected items from muesli to traditional breakfast, and --- waffles with fresh strawberries and blueberries. Do you need to ask what we had??? They were wonderful, albeit small and more like dessert than breakfast, but enjoyable nonetheless. The coffee was good as was the fresh squeezed orange juice. Geez, one might think I was back home.

About twenty minutes after we arrived, we witnessed the queue of people, it was around 11am and within ten minutes there were more than twenty people waiting for about 10 tables. The paper called that one, alright.

We slipped out, noting the deli foods we'd be back for the next day to picnic with in our travels.

Generosity.

At the grocery store, a dialogue something like this transpired:

- That's £44.26. Do you collect school vouchers?

- Yes

- Do you have a Nectar card?

- Yes. [And, I reach back to the woman behind me and hand the clerk hers. ]

- Those aren't her points.

- No, but I would like to give her my points.

- That's naughty. [Swiping the card]

-No, it's generous. [Smile]

- Well, then... [he tears away too many school vouchers, smiling] These are vouchers that weren't taken today.

-Thank you.

I must remember humans have amazing capacity.

Alas, Spring!

All seems right in the world today with the exception that I haven't been able to post photos on the blog lately. I'm not sure why and am frankly not bothered at the mo'. Today is a day to be OUTSIDE in the lovely 70 degree weather. BBC Weather claims that Cambridge is a mere 55 degrees Fahrenheit with poor visibility, I think they must be in shock and won't accept that we're having a spring day that gives Barcelona a run for its money.

Primeval

Foothills of Ben Nevis, Scotland

Sunny day, warm enough not to be cold, not a soul around. We hiked through a series of mountain biking trails and managed forest before we wandered off the beaten path.