Picture
My mini-break in Perthshire began with a visit to some great old friends in Perthh - Laura (above), Rob and their children Emily and Finlay. Laura was studying medicine at Aberdeen University when I was doing my Phd so we've known each other for a few years now though sometimes struggle to find opportunities to meet up. When we came back to Scotland in 2007 they very kindly lent us their van, a Ford Freda coincidentally, with which we travelled round the north of Scotland. Laura and Rob also love the outdoors and take part in a number of sporting events. Rob's currently training for a 70-mile closed road cycle race in May. Good luck Rob!

 
Picture
Despite the thaw, which has improved road conditions throughout much of the rest of the country, the road/track down to Craiglea (situated at 170m on the Black Isle) is still in pretty bad shape. It's been impassable to normal cars for weeks now (which means we collect our mail from the local post office) and even with a 4WD the trip out to the main road can be pretty dicey. In fact, it's worse than ever as the compacted snow turns to water-covered ice. It's not much better to run on either. After a mornining spent clearing horse muck from the field Lesley and I took the opportunity for some exercise, running back to the house while Annie and the girls drove. It turned out to be twice as long as expected, though this is nothing new when going out with Lesley, who tempts her running partners with "fancy a short jog?" The snack bars and torch should be a give-away by now. We had to take a round-about route as the direct way through the forest was closed due to forestry operations. This last 3/4-mile stretch on snow and ice was much more fun than the preceding 4 miles on tarmac. When the going gets tough...