Not so bad, thank you
We woke this morning and lifted the blind in our bedroom – yes, we have one of those. The window is right next to our heads (our being three of us: me, C and Cassie). I opened the window and, still lying down, we looked out over the Cromarty Firth, across to Invergordon. On the beach, less than five metres away, were more seabirds than you could count on all our hands and paws. The water was clam, OK, so there were no sun, but it wasn’t overly cold and we enjoyed a very slight breeze through the window. It was, pretty prefect.
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at the entrance to the Cromarty Firth; last night we stayed further down the coast
That’s what motorhoming can do. It can, very often, provide you with vistas that you cannot pay for. There is no hotel that I know of which gives you a bed right up against a window, right up against the shore. And it’s not an exaggeration to say that we have had similar views for the past 10 days.
After breakfast we popped into Dingwall (yes, it’s a place) so C could pick up some more books from a charity shop, and then we drove on a few miles to Srathpeffer, and parked up in the local forestry commission. We walked for about 3 miles with Cassie, and when we got back I ran the same route whilst C made us a sandwich, and then she did the same when I got back. I write this having had a shower in our ‘ensuite’ … with a cup of Redbush and a doughnut.
What’s my point?
We are luckiest people alive. And, whilst I’d recommend semi-retirement to anyone, I absolutely recommend motorhoming to anyone who loves the outdoors. Yes, the weather hasn’t been great, but every time we’ve been out we’ve missed the rain – and when it has fallen it hasn’t stopped us from doing what we want to do. Since my Dad’s death, and even with 6 weeks in SE Asia (which we took at a run), it has been pretty non-stop. Now, after almost two weeks in Doris, we are pretty horizontal. Fab.
For the record rewriting Unsuspecting Hero is pottering along nicely. It will be a better book when I’ve finished, for sure. My ambition is to have it out there before the end of October. And book sales are very good at the moment … I’d say an average of around two books a day. That may well drop off in the coming weeks, but I’ll take it for now.
And I’ve slowed my running down. I think my heart, which currently is behaving up to a point, has sent me a clear message. I’m now running for longer (about 30 minutes) at what I guess the experts call ‘steady state’, that is where I could hold a conversation if I wished. At some point my fitness will drop and steady state will become a harder run, but we’ll see.
Anyhow. As you can tell … all’s good here, even if the His Borisness has, let’s face it, made a complete cock of everything. I’m still convinced we won’t leave. And whilst I know that will upset a good number of people, I sincerely believe it’s better for the country – their country.
We’ll see.
