Waterfalls

We've had a great weekend, a bit on the wed and windy side but still good fun. On Friday night we went out for a meal with friends and just about managed not to get blown off the M1 motorway on the way home, it was certainly the worst wind I've ever driven in before.

On Saturday, with no desire to do anything at all, we just stayed indoors while the wind howled away outside. With the weather being a little better on Sunday, we ventured outside and went to get myself a new camera, the same as Debbie's new one, Konica Dimage Z2, because it's so easy to use, does great piccies and has 10 x optical zoom which is going to be ace at Knowsley Safari Park.

To test out the new cameras we took Lucy along to a new spot we've found, it's just off the A628 Woodhead road on the Longendale trail next to the houses near the reservoir. We parked up at the bottom and walked alongside streams running down from the hills, it's lovely down there with loads of waterfalls all the way along. I did quite well and only ended up on my backside three times after slipping on slippery stones.

Feeling peckish, we went over Holme Moss and dropped down into Holmfirth for fish and chips, we didn't go in Sid's Cafe but another one along the waterfront, they still had photos of Compo, Clegg and Nora Batty on the wall though ..lol..

Getting home we chilled out, watching the second instalment of Sea Of Souls which is a little bit like the early X-Files before it got stupid and was gripping right to the very end.

Paul

Blue sky, clouds and the beautiful Loch Ness.

Can you see Nessie behind the trees? 

The sun peeks through over Loch Ness. 

Looking For Nessie

Thank crunchie it's Friday today, these four day weeks sometimes seem to drag on longer than a normal week. Time now to go back and see what happened on the next day of our honeymoon in Scotland....

Wednesday 22nd December 2004

Having arranged a tour of a local distillery, we we're up nice and early to get there for the agreed time of 10am. The Tomatin distillery was easy to find, just off the A9, on arrival we left Lucy in the car watching a fork lift moving casks around. After being greeted by a lovely lady in the visitors centre we settled down to watch a video all about the distillery, showing how whisky was made and where the all important water comes from. Although production had been stopped for the Christmas break, we still had a tour, taking us through the malting, mashing, fermentation, distillation and maturing stages. They had some casks dated 1965 and they weren't sure if they would bottle these in 2005 as a 40 year old malt or leave them for another 10 years, whatever they do, we'd probably have to re-mortgage the house to buy a bottle!

The last stage of the tour was my favourite, the tasting! Debbie just had little sip being the designated driver, while I downed both drams! Next job was to empty the shelves in the shop, I think our guide for the day was amazed at the number of bottles we were putting on the counter!

So, having brought a few bottles home, I can tell you that the Tomatin malt is lovely and their deluxe blended whisky, Antiquary, is lovely and smooth. Talisman, which they also produce is also quite nice, although we drank most of that with coke. The last bottle we got, another blended one, Big T, wasn't a patch on the others and only really any good for mixers.

Leaving the distillery behind we headed off to Inverness, we were planning to a bit of shopping there but at the last minute decided to miss that out and carry on to Loch Ness. We took the main road from Inverness that goes right along the Western side of the loch, stopping at all the lay-by's on the way down. We've seen the loch on television before but you just have to be there to really appreciate just how huge it is. All the way down, we were in a race with a car full of Japanese tourists would were also stopping at every lay-by and clicking away ..lol..

We stopped at the South end of the loch in Fort Augustus and found a small cafe for some lunch. Next we headed back North on the minor road following the East shore of the loch, meaning to follow this all the way up but about 10 miles in we took a wrong turn, which in the end was for the best as this took us back to the A9 and it was getting late. Nessie never did make an appearance, except in the visitor centre, where there are hundreds of little Nessies to choose from ..lol..

Back at the cabin, we watched the news and the weather forecast, it wasn't looking very good for Friday (Christmas Eve) with strong winds and snow so we made the decision to set off home a day early on Thursday morning.

We had a clear run most of the way home, the Forth Bridge was a bit hairy though, with the wind blowing and closed to all but cars.

Back home, we were relived to find everything as we left it and had a quick brew before going off to pick up the Three Amigos. The lady at the cattery was sad to see them go, Misty and Toddy had been so lovable all week and Eric had been having everyone in stitches with his antics! Back home with the zoo, it was time to put the feet up, have some tea, a stiff drink and chill while trying not to think about a mad shopping day on Christmas Eve.

Paul

Paul braving the elements at the top of Cairngorm Mountain. 

Scottish Air

Here comes the next honeymoon instalment, Tuesday 21st December 2004.

We awoke the next morning feeling better with most of the place warming up but there's nothing like an icy cold bathroom to brush the cobwebs away! After some breakfast, local bacon and some huge sausages, we went out for a little walk, just around the surrounding forest. There were some people staying in a cabin about a hundred yards away from us but apart from that, we were totally on our own in the middle of nowhere.

Jumping in the car, we headed off to Cairngorm Mountain, there was still plenty of snow about but the forecast was for the weather turning milder so we wanted to get up there straight away. The views along the way were fantastic and we just had to stop and take some photos of the mountains in the distance. We arrived at the car park which was still covered in snow and we tried not to get blown over went we got outside! Lucy came with us for a little walk around. The shop and cafe there were undergoing refurbishment, the date for completion on the sign in the window was 18 December 2004, our wedding day ..lol.. The shop was open but there was still a lot of work going on in the cafe and there was no-one around.

We hadn't planned on taking a ride on the funicular railway but the temptation was too great so we popped Lucy back in the car and headed off up the mountain. The ride up the mountain was amazing, we sat at the back of the train so we could take photos as we climbed higher and higher. Reaching the top, we left the funicular and walked into the visitor area which has an abundance of useful information about the mountain. Making our way through the shop and cafe, we found the viewing platform and stepped outside to admire the view.

The scenery viewed from the mountain is fantastic and easily justified parting with sixteen pounds to get up there, it was however, fer, fer, fer, flipping freezing! I had my gloves off to take pictures but they were back on in minutes ..lol.. Apparently, this was the first day of skiing this season, how lucky was that! Not that we were going to be doing any skiing but it was nice to watch a few people whizzing down the mountain, we ought to have taken a couple of reindeer bells with us, then it would have been just like Ski Sunday.

We walked round to the other side of the viewing platform and were almost bowled over by the wind and snow blowing into our face. After we had taken a picture of every square inch of the landscape we headed back inside for a drink in the cafe. Debbie had a nice hot cup of coffee while I had hot chocolate with marsh mallows and cream, naughty but very nice!

The journey back down was just as amazing as the journey up but by that time we were getting anxious about Lucy alone in the car. We found her fast asleep and were relived to find that it was still quite warm in the car. Leaving the mountain behind, we headed off to Aviemore for a spot off shopping and ended up in Tescos ..lol.. Feeling a bit peckish, we popped into a fish and chip shop, haggis was on the menu but we chickened out and just went with the fish.

Back at the cabin, thoroughly exhausted, we managed a couple of glasses of wine before having another very early night, it must have been the Scottish air!

Paul

The Journey To Scotland

After a late shopping trip last night, we're both shattered this morning and quite looking forward to doing nothing at all tonight! Anyway, as promised, let's go back in time to the day after our wedding.......

We awoke . . . . eventually . . . I can't remember what time but it wasn't early! We did a little bit of shopping first, just picking up a few bits that we needed for our trip to Scotland, then, after chilling out in the afternoon, it was early to bed for an early start in the morning.

I was up first at about 3am, counting the seconds to the alarm going of at 5am.... I think we ended up getting up at 4.30am and it's a good job we did because despite planning to get up at 5am and setting off at 6am, by the time we had packed the car and everything, we ended up setting off just before 7am. The traffic was kind to us though, sailing along the M1 onto the A1 and headed North. Debbie drove all the way to Newcastle where we took a break, then I drove us up to the Scottish border. We stopped there to take a few snaps before I drove us a little further, handing over to Debbie just before we got to Edinburgh so I could check the map every 10 seconds.

We did really well, getting round the city, over the Fourth Bridge and onto the motorway. When we hit the A9, the snow started to appear, it must have fallen overnight and earlier in the morning, the further North we went, the more snow there was and the mountains got bigger and bigger. We would have got to our destination much earlier if we hadn't stopped at every other lay-by to take photos! One thing we noticed in Scotland is that everywhere is very well signposted, even the tiniest villages (two houses on the side of the road) and we got to our cabin in Nethy Bridge without getting lost once.

Lucy had been a star all the way up to Scotland, she is very prone travel sickness but she just slept the whole way there, just hoping out of the car when we stopped, standing on three legs with the ground being frozen, she looked like a four legged flamingo ...lol..

We arrived before it got dark and we were greeted by the owner and shown around our home for the week, quite small, compact, basic and bloody freezing! We had to pay for the electric so it was no surprise that heating was supplied by three electric heaters, which were on full for most of our stay. Even though the cabin was a little bit of a disappointment, the view outside wasn't, we were in the middle of a pine forest, beautifully decorated with freshly fallen snow. It felt like being in the film, The Great Outdoors and we were watching through the window waiting for a bear with bald arse to emerge from the trees!

After unpacking a few things we drove into the village which was just under a mile away and bought some provisions including bacon and sausages from the famous butchers there. Back at the cabin, we had some dinner with a couple of glasses of wine before retiring to bed early wondering what the morning would bring.

Paul

Thanks For Linking!

A big thank you to Warm Puppies for linking to us

Catch Up Time

Over the next few days, I'll try and get us up to date with the last couple of weeks. Firstly lets whizz back to Saturday 18th December 2004, our wedding day!

The day started early with Debbie driving over to Manchester to pick up the bridesmaids, her Sister and her daughter. While over there, they all had their hair done so that when they got back over here, they just had to get changed fight over the contents of the make up box. In the mean time, I popped down the road to pick up the button holes which was followed by much pacing up and down, wearing out the laminate floor.

When the girls arrived, we managed to have a sit down and have some lunch before the mayhem began. I had to pop up to the hall with tea and coffee which we had forgotten to take the night before. Then I got back and got changed with half an hour to spare leaving just enough time for a few snaps. We had Lucy locked in the kitchen which could only be open from the kitchen side so I had to keep running round the outside of the house to pass things through.

The wedding car picked me up with 35 minutes to go before the wedding and I was glad to get out of the nutty house, with neither Debbie, her Sister or Niece even nearly ready. Arriving at the pub, a we dram was just what the doctor ordered while we got the button holes sorted out before making our way across the road to the church. Myself and my Best Man (my Brother) posed outside the church for the photographer before going inside to check the register.

We just had time to have a chat with some of our family before we had to sit down for the arrival of my Bride, I couldn't believe she was early, given the commotion I'd left behind! We were waiting for the music to start, then chief bridesmaid was by my side, wanting the cheque for the car driver! We got that sorted out and the music started, thank goodness it was only a small church and Debbie was by my side in no time at all. We got to the alter and Debbie was shaking like a leaf as I held her hand firmly.

The ceremony went smoothly and after the second carol, we both began to relax a little. Then, after signing the register, we posed for photos followed by a lap of the church to give everyone a chance to take a picture. We stopped behind while everyone else went next door to the reception so we could have more pictures taken in the church. Finally we made our way out, only to be bombarded by confetti on the church steps. We had more pictures taken as we walked round from the church and we're greeted by yet more confetti as we entered the reception hall.

We went straight into a smaller room, for yet more photos and a stiff drink! The photographer was brilliant, getting us all sorted out while cries for food came from the main hall. When we had finished with the photos, we took our place at the top table and I declared the buffet open and we still think ourselves lucky not to have been crushed in the stampede!

After the food came the speeches, first mine, then my Brothers and both went very well. The next few hours seemed to go in minutes, with us both mingling with the crowd while the music played. The DJ wasn't up to much but it didn't affect the night too much, still, we'll be expecting a full refund on that one any time now. Everything else was perfect, although at one point my Wife had to whizz off in the car with her Brother to find her Sister's husband who had got lost!

At the end of the night we were both dancing with My Dad, Brothers and a few close friends before the music stopped and the chap appeared to close up for the night. We got our taxi back home and sat there on the sofa with Lucy, exhausted and relieved everything had to gone so well.

Paul