Busy August

Loch Lomond and Luss Hills

It's been a busy two weeks with family and friends visiting for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Cycling World Championships and the Edinburgh Festival. I've provided 17 bed nights for family and spent 9 days out and about with visitors over the past fortnight. It was good to have company and to be involved in jaunts to different places, although I had to forego my morning exercise most days. The summer weather has not been kind but there have been only a few times that I have been caught out in the frequent August showers. I cannot recollect a full-on sunny day since June and this was the very conversation raised by my friend whom I met on the summit of Lime Craig yesterday morning. 

After the cycling events, it was an opportunity to explore some local attractions with family and grandchildren. Although I have lived in the area for 35 years and visited most places on numerous occasions, I had never been to the Loch Lomond island of Inchcailloch which is a mere 4 minutes by ferry from Balmaha. Balmaha is always buzzing with the West Highland Way walkers and the Oak Tree Inn adjacent to the public car park has become a busy and well-run restaurant that has introduced all the latest technology as it feeds the multitudes who are passing through. After lunch, we sauntered along to the nearby jetty and caught the oldfangled wooden boat to the nearby Inchcailloch island, one of Loch Lomond's 22 islands. It was the usual mixture of Europeans, British Asians and British retired couples. The Scottish children were already back at school and families from other parts of the UK seem to have forsaken staycationing this year. We walked across the island to the beach, climbed the hill and visited the graveyard on a windy afternoon before returning to Gregor's new house for an evening meal.

The next day the family left and I had a long-standing lunch with old work colleagues in Glasgow and then returned home and put my feet up as I watched the World Athletic Championships from Budapest. It felt like a transition point. I needed to be more focused on making a new life for myself. My initial efforts over three days have been varied; three early morning runs, making another batch of blackcurrant jam, buying grout to repair the rear patio, writing emails to old colleagues and friends and beginning to write up the story of Aileen's illness that started exactly a year ago today when I called for an ambulance. I have not so far had the mental fortitude to start making sense of what has been the most traumatic period of my life. Let's see how this goes.

Inchcailloch ferry, Loch Lomond

Inchcailloch - Port Bawn beach

Inchcailloch summit - 85 metres

Inchcailloch

Conic Hill from Inchcailloch

Feet up time