Frost

It was after 8am when the burning orange sun sneaked over the Cairngorms heralding a frosty frozen morning. The garden was glistening with overnight frost, and fresh snow had fallen on the mountains transforming their white caps of yesterday into shawls today.

It was so cold on the bike run into the village to collect the papers that it was difficult to breathe and each intake of cold air could be felt all the way down into our lungs.
The roads were slippery at the sides and the small lochan near the village had a layer of ice covering part of it.

It was cold enough for his Lordship and I to wait a bit in the warmth of the house before we ventured out again on a cycle run to Aviemore on the back road through Street of Kincardine , Auchgourish and Coylum Bridge.

It was a slow run as we had to stop every now and then to take photos of the view.
The little Loch at Pitycoulish was sparkling blue in the sun with the reeds and rushes standing golden out of the water, and the honking geese circling and wheeling above. The mountains in the background had shed their veils of cloud and were silhouetted clear against the pale blue of the sky.

We both agreed that it couldn't get any better than this and there can be few places in the world with such views and colours and only two hours away from a busy industrial belt.

We awarded ourselves a fat cake and hot chocolate at the Mountain cafe, looking out towards the chair lift on Cairngorm itself and wondering how many skiers were up there today, before we cycled home along the main road with a tailie* to help us along.

It's G&T time again........ Life with a bus pass isn't so bad after all.

* A tail wind