Two days

Our little trip up north was a last-minute sort of thing and very short but so lovely!

On Hogmanay the snow was thawing - we had a beautiful walk down to the golf course, then back around the loch. And then Miss Mouse and her Granny and I had a game of golf in the garden - according to the rules of Miss Mouse! We just tried to keep up with what she was doing!


Then that night there was a torchlit procession, followed by fireworks at 'the bells'. I don't really like crowds and enforced jollity, and Mum said she didn't see anybody she knew (so probably a lot of visitors and holiday-home people) so we headed back to the house before midnight and watched the fireworks from the upstairs landing window. I'm astonished the kids didn't wake actually because it was a tremendous display!

On New Year's Day my Beloved and I left the kids with their grandparents and did the Wildcat Trail - a walk/hike/ramble around the village. It's a bit of a tradition that people walk it on New Year's Day and the Wildcat Centre provide mulled wine, shortbread and a certificate for those who complete it. Due to the melting snow there was a lot of floodwater on the lower half of the trail running below the village down by the river, so people were only doing the upper portion. Which was quite wet enough itself!


That watery bit there was the path. It got muddier and wetter further on too (especially the bit where we took a wrong turn in the wood and ended up in a boggy field). But it was tremendous fun!


The rain was intermittent hence the odd raindrops on some of the pictures but we were lucky that it was mostly dry when we were up on the moor.

Scampering around in the muck makes me feel like a kid again! And look at those beautiful colours..

My cheap snow boots from Lidl stood up to the walk very well - actually the worst bit was walking along the pavement back through the village. The boots are definitely at their best on a surface with a bit of give to it!

Apart from all the fresh air stuff I also got some peaceful knitting time and have nearly finished my brother's other fingerless mitt. I knew it'd be quick once I got some peace and with three other adults on hand to distract the kids it was a doddle! We had a farcical moment when I forgot whether it was the left or right mitt I'd already done so went out to the golf course (for mobile reception) to text my brother. He replied he couldn't remember and was on a train to Edinburgh so couldn't check. You'd think one of us would remember which one it was! Eventually, looking back through the pattern, I decided it was the left mitt I'd done as there were some faint pencil marks on the 'left' section. And thinking about it I'm pretty sure I usually do knit left mitts and left socks (not that there's a difference but I try them on as I go along and the first sock is 'left') before right. Odd.

So now it's January - my least favourite month. I don't hate winter at all, I just hate January. So I'm going to make a concerted effort to keep myself cheerful this January. I have some more felt so I might make something colourful with that, and once my brother's mitt is done I'll knit something Just For Me. Actually I did a bit on my Peerie Flooers hat while I was away so I'll probably finish that in the next week or two - yay!