Braemar...and bye to my favourite beanie

Headed back up to Braemar with Jo, Steve & Helen for the weekend. We tried to go up Lochnagar from the Loch Muick side on Saturday, but the weather was so wild we had to abort on the saddle. We went up Meikle Pap, kicking steps in the snow and battling to stay upright, but realised it would be pretty stupid to attempt the summit as we were being blown all over the place by crazy weather. My favourite blue hat got snatched off my head, and Helen had her gloves stolen by the wild wind.












Had a really nice diverted loop round by Loch Buidhe and Dubh Loch - we even tried skating on the frozen top! Back by Loch Muick and then home to make pizzas and enjoy the cosy fire. Sunday was a much lazier day, walked around the village, along the river and up to the duck pond...I got some new hiking boots in the mountain shop, and a top & compass too :)

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Burns Supper!

Had a Burns Supper at my flat - a typically Scottish affair, there were 3 Australians, 3 South Africans, 2 New Zealanders and 2 Scots. It was a brilliant evening (even if I do say so myself) - Steve & Jo brought homemade cock-a-leekie soup for starters which was delicious, followed by Haggis, Neeps & Tatties (addressed by Gavin) and then some Scottish oatcakes and cheese. We cleared the floor, found some Scottish music and had a bit of a ceilidh - what a great laugh!





Headed into Finnegans later on and had a fun night dancing and generally being silly.

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Braemar

A delayed start to the journey - hadn't used my car in a while but left a light on inside so the battery was totally flat. whoops. Still, once we got up to Braemar (Rod, Kristy, Steve & I...Jo was on a yoga course) mum & dad had cooked us a legendary meal and we had a nice relaxed evening. Steve & I went on a mission the next day, hoping to climb Bhein a Bhuird, but the weather was pretty miserable. We biked up the Slugain, hid the bikes and started to slog up the mountain, but we were getting deeper in snow and already above cloud level so decided to go round a loop track instead. The wind was wild, and the rain was driving in our face, so definitely made the right decision! Still, a really fun day (in a masochistic kind of way).







Mum & dad took Rod & Kristy to Balmoral and did the Cairns walk, which they really enjoyed, and then they headed back down the road. We had a nice evening playing games and drinking G&Ts :) Sunday we went to the Linn of Dee and the Quoich and had a couple of walks before cleaning up and heading back. R & K were dressing up for a work night out, Rod is loving the kilt!!

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AK's B'day

 Had a fun time at Auntie Katie's birthday bash on the 6th... especially the piano playing and musical whistles that went on, it was a really good laugh! Thanks AK!

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New Year 07!

Well, the festive period began on a reasonable note when I got back from Braemar - had a fun night out with Gav, Jen, Ross, and various others before they left for Ireland...of course it had to be Finnegans. Great night - danced till my feet were hurting :) Sadly, it went downhill from there. Hogmanay was a real disappointment, as the Edinburgh street party was even cancelled due to bad weather - it was blowing a gale and pegging down with rain...the highlight was watching some huge rubbish bins careering down the street against the traffic - how sad! I had a few people round at the flat, and then we headed into town anyway but it really wasn't that great. boo :(








I went for a long walk along the canal path on New Year's Day, was really nice just listening to music and thinking about some holiday plans for 2007. Tory gave me a brilliant book for Christmas called "Unforgettable Journeys Before You Die" so I thought I'd better get going, cuz you never know what might happen :) Auntie Katie came over on the 2nd to shorten my curtains, and I spent the day cleaning up and doing odd jobs...we had a G&T before heading into town for dinner and more drinks, and put the world to rights. We came to the conclusion that 2006 has been a pretty "shitty" year and 2007 "will" be better! Had a really good time being big kids at the fair on Princes St - went on the carousel, the flying chairs, and failed brilliantly while having a go at the side stalls...all good fun :)

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