Blonde Bird On A Bike

It finally started snowing in Stirling yesterday – nice big fluffy snowflakes and it was settling – most of my colleagues were checking the skies and wondering what the roads would be like for driving home later that day – my more elderly patients were concerned about slips and trips,  which is understandable if your hips and / or knees are passed their best and reliant on walking sticks and zimmer frames – I on the other hand was not doing a very good job at trying to contain my excitement and was hopping about like a bunny rabbit on heat – I hope I never lose that buzz of excitement when the first snowflakes fall.   So a slightly more slippery bike ride home than usual,  followed by a great wee 3 mile run in the fresh snow – later on it was a wee 2 mile walk to the pub to meet up with friends from the climbing club where the chat,  amongst other things,  was on skis,  crampons and ice axes.

Bertie B has a good covering of snow on his seat

Today was meant to be long run day but the call of snowy hills was too much to resist so a wee bike ride to Logie Kirk where Bertie was abandoned,  then a run / walk (mostly walk) up and down Dumyat – only saw one other runner today and about 1/2 a dozen mountain bikers pushing their bikes to the top.   Great views all round and I was chuffed to see a wee Bullfinch when I was nearly back down at the bike – haven’t seen one of these for quite some time.

Still not enough snow for skiing but hopefully in a week or so.   Enjoy folks and get out and play!

Wow it’s the 8th of January already – how did that happen – well here’s a big Happy New Year to everyone and hope it is a fun filled and exciting year for you all.

I only had to work 2 days so I was able to get out and play most of the week.   Unfortunately NO snow so no skiing but fingers and toes crossed and a wee snow dance and hopefully we will have some soon.   No skiing but gone hill walking 3 times; running 3 times and a good bike ride today so no complaints.

The 1st and 2nd of January respectively saw me up Ben A’an and Ben Venue.  Ben A’an was wild,  windy and bitterly cold – Ben Venue wasn’t quite so wild and cold but we did have a few icy patches to avoid – we got super views from both hills.   

Loch Katrine from Ben A’an – guess the wind direction by my “moustache” and the bobble on my hat.

Lochs Achray and Venachar from Ben Venue

Views from Ben Venue

Great run on the 3rd of January – 11.5 miles – cheers to Katie B for the great chat and encouraging me up those hills.   A wee 3 miler the following morning and then another good 14 miles on the 6th – being incredibly mild I’d forgotten it had been so cold the previous day until I found myself slithering backwards on an unexpected stretch of ice.   

Ben Vane was positively mild for the time of year – misty at times and we saw fog bows and Brocken Spectres – unfortunately my photo of this didn’t turn out very well – thank you to Ian for helping (aka hoisting) me up the tiny but slippery scramble near the top.

Ben Vane

After Ben Vane it was back to the Climbing Club Cottage for an early Burn’s Supper and get together with friends old and new.   Tummies filled with lots of haggis,  neeps and tatties.   Ian did the honours and recited the Address To A Haggis while ceremoniously cutting said haggis with his ice axe. 

Photos nicked from Colin E

After all that food and drink Sunday morning saw me cycling back home from Crianlarich – a good 47 miles – no chaffing this time – not because I have got round to stitching the hole in my leggings (don’t be silly) but an appropriately placed large plaster seemed to do the trick – must fix those leggings though.

Fogbows – sometimes called white rainbows, cloudbows or ghost rainbows – are made much as rainbows are, from the same configuration of sunlight and moisture. Rainbows happen when the air is filled with raindrops, and you always see a rainbow in the direction opposite the sun. Fogbows are much the same, always opposite the sun, but fogbows are caused by the small droplets inside a fog or cloud rather than larger raindrops.

The Brocken Spectre is your own shadow, cast on mists below you, when you are mountain climbing. The shadow may appear enormous and has a ring around it.

A good 9 mile run to end the year on.   Windy but mostly dry until the last 1/2 mile home, when the heavens opened.   Showered,  scrubbed and ready to see what 2017 brings but think I might sleep through the bells.   See you next year.

Ps – a friend found this fab video online – awesome filming with playmobil characters – must take a lot of patience to do a shoot like this.

Although it’s been confirmed for sometime that I’ve been granted unpaid leave so that I can go to America next year – it is now in the actual work diary!   From the the 20th July to the 6th of October 2017 there are lots of sunshine’s (the works symbol indicating holidays) against my name!   Very exciting and a great way to the end the year.

How can someone manage to take a packet of cigarettes to their car,  light one and smoke it while driving but is completely incapable of extinguishing it and disposing of it properly??   Car overtakes me while cycling to work today;  pulls in just in front of me and driver throws still lit cigarette butt out of the window – cigarette comes bouncing towards me,  glowing in the dark – doesn’t come near me and isn’t going to do me any harm but still bloody annoying all the same – I don’t like litter bugs!

Rant over and a wee pic of the Monument at the top of Fyrish Hill (Cnoc Fhaoighris) taken on the 27th – a wee post Christmas walk with my sister Emma,  Matt and Ben.   Great wee hill and views to the Cromarty Firth below.   If you look carefully you can see snow on the higher tops in the background but what the picture doesn’t show is the wind chill factor – we only stopped long enough for a few photos and piece of shortbread before retreating.