Blethering Blonde

It's been four months since I've been back at work and it's time for a holiday.  We struggled to find somewhere that met all the requirements - somewhere new, pub nearby nice cottage with a wood burning stove.  We found a couple of places that came close that will have to be re-looked at when the local hostelries are open.  You gotta love when Scotland closes for winter. Well destination is Moidart.  Not totally new to us but we have never stayed there and looking at the maps we can't wait to explore the hills, bays, bothies and beaches that are going to be on the doorstep.  Just what I need to re-charge the batteries.

Strange stuff going on in deepest darkest Ayrshire. We are planning a weekend in the hills.  It has been way too long since our last proper foray into them there hills so I'm just a wee bittie excited about it. It's also south of the border.  A friend has sorted out accommodation in a bunkhouse at Greenside so we'll be part way up the hill for our start in the morning. Suspect this will be a more gentle affair compaired to the conquering of a new Munro back in November. That was jus a bit too ambitious and caused problems for a fair few weeks. So here's to gentle wanders.

2011 turned out to be not what I expected at all. Months of very slow rehab from the microfracture surgery had totally changed my everyday existence. I had to face the reality that my days on the ward floor were over and I was at the mercy of redeployment. I am thankful I am still in employment and even more thankful that I am fortunate to have been temporarily redeployed into the health improvement team, an area I have always wanted to work in. Every cloud and all that......  It's still unclear what the prognosis for the knee is as it takes about 18 months to know whether the microfracturing has fully worked or not. Next review is the end of February, who knows what will happen then. The advice given the last time was to keep trying to increase activity but not hammer it. Following doctors orders included the dreaded gym, lots of cycling and gentle re-introduction to the pointy things. The cycling has been great for introducing me to places I may well have never gon...

Much has been made of this "staycation" phrase. Some of us have been doing it for years. We're just back from yet another amazing week in Ullapool, details to follow. Suffice to say we all had a great time even though the weather wasn't what we ordered. It's all about what you make of it. 

This article in the Guardian Bike Blog certainly rang true with a few things that have been happening to me recently out on my rehab cycles. I've been riding a bike for over 30 years. During that time I have used it as my main method of getting to work which I've always referred to as "playing with traffic". In all that time I've been lucky and only had three accidents, two of which were due to motorists. The third was me being too aggressive going round a roundabout which was at the bottom of a hill - not big or clever and certainly wised me up to slowing for such things.   What I have noticed over the years is that there is an ever increasing attitude from some motorists to cyclists. There is also the minority of numpty cyclists out there who pay no regard to the rules of the road that get me just as irked as the motorists who refuse to give us the respect we deserve. So many times I have heard the argument "why should cyclists be allowed on the road coz...

Been helping out Jennifer get her stuff together for her Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition. It's been entertaining as well as frustrating. They've got a great route through the Cairngorms starting with the Larig Ghru. It's even got a camp spot at 670m.   The frustrating bit wasn't so much about kit choice, she's borrowing our stuff, it was the food. I suppose feeding teenagers even in normal living conditions can be challenging but this takes it to another level. At least she's not  heading into the wilds with Pot Noodles but she's got a combination of pasta packets, cereal bars a selection of sweeties. I did manage to persuade her that pitta bread and Primula is actually quite good for hill food. Ah well so long as they enjoy themselves

Was a very strange day yesterday. Bit reminiscent of Groundhog Day . I had my 6 month post op review by my orthopaedic consultant. Went pretty much the same as the 3 month one. See you again in 3 months. If only bodyparts were as easily replaced as worn out gear.

Felt like one of those storm chaser bods and the photos don't really do it justice. Sometimes you just have to go out there and feel the power of nature.

The lack of posts isn't due to general tardyness. I'm in the middle of sorting out a huge mess of kit and other such stuff. That's what comes from moving house!!! I don't think I can hide my gear problem any more. I'm not sure when it happened. I remember my first proper outdoor kit which amounted to a pair of Zamberland all leather boots worn all year, a Low Alpine triplepoint jacket in orange, Craghopper baselayer and trousers along with a high street shop orange fleece to complete the ensemble. My rucsac was used for everything, not just hill trips. Oh how things have changed. Getting ready for an outing to the hills was certainly a lot simpler back then. It does beg the question, do we have just too much choice of kit now? I admit I love having shiny new stuff which plays a large part in the gear mountain in what was the dining room but I'm finding it very difficult determining what must stay and what can be re-distributed.  In the meantime I'll just m...

A Tweet came through from Andy Kirkpatrick's Twitter feed that made me want to follow the link A Blog inspired by a one legged man going into a brothel So I followed the link to read this post . So many things in this post got me thinking about the assumptions that we place on all aspects of our life. Good luck Andy for getting some sponsorship for Karen and for the rest of the disabled sports people out there

Looks like someone is on my wavelength. I'd thought about having a cafe.......................

The body really is quite a remarkable thing. Mine however has a tendency to surprise me and not always in a positive way. It's now 5 months since my op and unfortunately for me, my knee is still not playing the game the way it's meant to. All involved are trying to remain positive as after all it is still early days.  The annoying thing is that any activity more than what most of us active peeps would regards as a taster is still causing such acute inflammation in the joint that the ice pack is my permanent companion. Not really an ideal situation. The walking is totally frustrating as even a wander round the shops still seems like a major expedition.  Being able to go for a wee pootle on the bike so long as it's flat as a flat thing and I take my time is at least keeping me sane - ish. It really is quite fortunate that there is a few sections of nice flat National Cycle Network nearby and some glorious coastal views that are never the same to keep me from wearying. So ...

There is a topic that appears to be in the news practically every day at the moment, some of that possibly due to the fact that there just happens to be an election coming up. Oh am I sounding cynical............................ The topic is renewable energy though in Scotland's case that might as well just be labelled as wind power.  I'm not professing to be an expert on this or anything but. i just want others to have a wee think about it and what it means for the whole of the UK. What pricked my attention was Alan Sloman's post on his blog about a proposed windfarm. I thought about my surrounding area and what impact the windfarms around me have had. I'm in the central belt and you can't drive too far without coming across one in this populated corridor. The biggest is Whitelee on Eaglesham Moor with 140 turbines. I can see it all the way from the windfarm at Ardrossan on a clear day. OK some of these are in areas that spoil the view but I take the attitude...

I thought it was slightly amusing when I saw this the first time. But now as this now almost daily event continues I am starting to wonder what this gull is getting out of knocking the hell out the patio window. Poor Jimmy the gnome is puzzled too....................

If only......... Cloud is being a total spoilsport here. Not even getting a peak of it. Ach well, can't have everything. The link below is very informative though about the whole supermoon thing. Thanks Prof Brian Cox for directing me towards it Kryptonite for the supermoon

I've been getting used to looking over to Arran but today was a wow moment as the hills were free of cloud and they had their winter hat on still. Well worth sitting back and soaking up the view.

If you believe some of the press you'd think that the world is about to end this weekend. OK there are some pretty catastrophic events happening at the moment but blaming the moon is just a bit much. So it's time to hope that the lovely UK weather behaves itself and we can get a chance to get a close up view. And for those who are lucky enough to be out in the wilds enjoying it, I'm not jealous.......................... much Moon shot taken on 16th March 2011 1722

There was a new website launched the other day UK Hillwalking . It's sister site is UK Climbing . It's early days for it so I'm not going to pass any comment other than their front pages are very similar. Years ago we didn't have these online resources. We relied on guide books, magazines and clubs to get our outdoor knowledge and meet people to get out on the hills with. Oh how things have changed. I look back at how I got my introduction to the hills. My first exposure was through school but it wasn't until I was invited to join the work hillwalking crew that I got properly into it first time round. The advice they gave me was based on their experience and the knowledge that they had amassed from the clubs they had been in, people they had walked with as well as from books and magazines they had read.  Go forward a few years after a long break from all things hills and I wanted to get back into it. I started looking for info. It was 2003, we had the internet. My ...

A survey from Trek on my views about "women's specific" things initially had my hackles up but I decided the only way things might change is to complete the survey. I've had a bee in my bonnet about the whole women's specific issue for a good while now though mostly about the tokenism attached to it. However it does have a few strands. To begin with I know I am far from what could be considered as standard sized for a female but its a bit much when every female you know has a gripe about the fit of outdoor gear. With the press now reporting that the average size is 14 in the UK now, it's somewhat disconcerting that this equates to a size large for most manufacturers and that's before you take into consideration the cut of the gear.  More annoyingly, is when you do find a manufacturer who's cut fits your sizing and you like their kit, you buy it and when it wears out you go back to get a replacement to find they have totally changed their cut. Aaaaaar...

I've never been a very good patient (typical nurse) but had been quite proud of the fact that I had remained calm and followed the plan for the longer than initially anticipated recovery from them poking about with my knee, that is until now. Once I had got over the shock of being severely limited with all activities for 3 months, I figured that once that time was up I should be back on the hills a couple of months later. Best laid plans and all that........................ I saw the Consultant a couple of weeks before the end of the 3 month minimal load bearing D-date who gave the go ahead for  physio and for starting  some low impact stuff like an exercise bike and slowly to increase my walking. I was so excited. The physio and I had a long chat at that first assessment where I did admit to her I had a tendency to try and run before I could walk - if only!! It looked like my range of movement was still OK but what I needed to start working on was some muscle strengthening a...