Gleneagles B...

Up sharp this morning and in the pool by 8am.  

Felt lovely to be in the warm water overlooking the snow dusted garden.  Also felt good to notice how light it was at that time (lovely blue sky too)  Clocks will be going forward before we know it.

David and Lola had a lovely morning walk on the moor.  David likes it when there is light snow on the ground as Lola stays clean.  Just a quick wipe of her paws when she came back.

As the weather was so lovely we decided to go out for lunch.  David suggested going to The Woodhouse Coffee Shop near Kippen, as he hadn't been there before (I've been once a couple of years ago with Ele) so off we went into the sunshine.  

By the time we got the The Woodhouse the sun had disappeared (we could see blue sky back where we had come from so we should have travelled north rather than south!) but our delicious lunch more than made up for it.  Split pea and ham soup - the best I've tasted in a long time.  Just like my gran used to make :-))  And a tasty sandwich with chicken, avocado and chipotle mayo.

Discussion over lunch was holiday talk.  

We don't have a family summer holiday booked this year as we are thinking that Alan might like to go away for a week on his own with a couple of his PAs.  Gulp!  That's a big thing for me to take on board.  We have a destination in mind, not too far away so we are still within reasonable reach should we be needed, but far enough that there are in an area new to Alan with lots to do and see.  

A week away without us and a week at Kielder with us and pal Andrew (and his PAs) would be a good balance for him I think.  No massive long journeys involved and a sense of independence.

We also discussed what we might want to do to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary in August.  We would love to explore Lewis and Harris and Alan's PA Christine has a beautiful holiday house in Stornoway, which would be perfect, so going to chat to her about its availability in September.  Hopefully the dreaded midge might not be so bothersome at that time of year!

So, lots to look forward to, which is just what's needed in the middle of January :-)  


We passed  Stirling Castle on our way to the Woodhouse and I had planned to blip the beautiful Highland Cows that are usually in the field beneath the castle, but they weren't there!  I took a shot of the Castle instead (in extra) but decided to blip Glendevon with its dusting of snow and Gleneagles B, a Pictish standing stone, one of many in Perthshire, in the foreground.