Ozone Rush

Hello! Been away to see the sea, these last few days, and had a grand time.
Hugh and I went off to the Kintyre peninsula in the west of Scotland, an area neither of us had visited. We stayed at Carradale in a great wee one-room cottage with a box bed in the corner but all mod cons. From there we could walk in every direction; to the woods, the seashore, the quayside and village (bakers, three hotels and a bank open for an hour on Thursdays) or to the next village. We managed to eat out in a pub, a tearoom jam-packed full of vintage kitchen and dining type stuff, a hotel conservatory, and a converted barge moored in Tarbert harbour which specialised in a curious combination of Thai, tapas and haggis.... We were out in rain and wind but mainly glorious sunshine, met lovely people, enjoyed some great scenery, encountered a few scary drivers on the single track sections of road and picked several pounds of brambles to bring home (as you do...). There were masses of waymarked trails through woods and along the shorelines and I was all excited to discover that we were staying adjacent to Carradale House which is where Naomi Mitchison lived (famous and prolific Scottish writer and feminist and a lot more besides). We didn't drive to the Mull of Kintyre but we did look at Campbeltown Loch (as in Campbeltown Loch, I wish you were whisky, I would drink you dry - good Scots song, honest!)

Been home 24 hours, collected dogs from kennels (heartless of us, wasn't it, but it made for a relaxing three days away), done a major amount of pruning in the garden and made jam tonight with the brambles and our own apples.

Woolgathering tomorrow - it will be grand to sit and knit/stitch/spin/sew and catch up with some friends for the day!