I am writing this up inside Wanda: It's not very nice out there; not very nice at all! The rain is thrashing down with the force of very strong winds indeed and I have taken shelter in a little wood, care of the Glenlivet Estate. You can hear the wind coming at you through the trees like an express train approaching the station at full speed! At least there is less wind here low down in the wood but there is the danger of falling branches. Maybe it has the blood-sucking bats held in reserve if the rain and winds don't get me?
Mains of Cromdale roadbridge
Today was another longish one; about 17 miles when you take into account my route over the Hills of Cromdale. They don't do ordinary paths around these parts, see, only LRT's for the shooters: I suppose not many people actually walk these hills, so those shown on the OS maps are purely an historical record. The weather was pretty hellish going up and over the Hills of Cromdale and the ground conditions were very tough - lots of sapping bog, tussock and deep soaking heather. I got down the other side mightily relieved that they were 'done'.
Anyway, the day's done and I bought a nice bottle of wine and a superb 1991 Double Matured Lagavulin for tomorrow night from the silver tongued whisky salesman in the Whisky Shop in Tomintoul. You could die a happy man in that shop!
The phone battery is now very low, so that's all tonight! I'll just take a sip or two of that Lagavulin before turning in....
hope the weather improves... raining in cambridge too :-(
ReplyDeleteIt may be wild and windy...but sure beats being back in the real world.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a perfect evening to me. No one to disturb the enjoyment of that Lagavulin.
ReplyDeleteHi Al,
ReplyDeleteI hope you got some sleep last night and the weather has picked up a bit?
Keep you pecker up - it sounds like perfect weather for the drip-drip game...
Take care, Richard
Hello Peeps!
ReplyDeleteYou are all of course correct! The Lagavulin is quite superb and as I type this on Sunday afternoon in the pub in Ballater with my second pint of Trade Winds and the sun has just come out for the first time seemingly in eternity, the world is a marvelous place once again!
The phone is charging and I am booked in for a meal tonight with Mr Ward ( who made me a wondrful coffe in the Glenuig bothy seemingly years ago!) and I have a sausage sandwich on the way.
Happiness!
Just catching up on my reading...
ReplyDeleteAh yes the little whisky shop in Tomintoul - is that the Whisky Castle perhaps or am I confusing it?
I was last in there probably twelve years ago. The owner was telling me how he'd sold a £600 bottle of something recently.
I was shocked, but he said the guy he sold it to was a Japanese bar owner and would almost certainly make a nice profit selling it per glass!
Ah Dave, Yes
ReplyDeleteThe very same emporium! (You have to remember that I was writing up the blog in Wanda with the rain thrashing down and slightly intoxicated with the Lagavulin fumes... just the fumes mind - it was so expensive that I could not have possibly drunk it...)
Still - I maintain that blogging is all about flavour, colour and texture and not about details and directions!
Looking back on this day's post, though - it does lack a bit of what happened in the day!
Ho hum!
You know what Alan - I think this does carry the flavour of the day far better than a route description.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great as it is ;)