Monday Walks

6 walks already! who would have believed it? Certainly not me. I was convinced that my walking days were going to decrease or involve more painkillers. Instead, the knee brace seems to have given me confidence and support to get out and walk, when once I might have found an excuse not to. For our 6th Monday walk we waited until Wednesday and took two of our grandsons to Tain. The purpose was to see the Red Arrows, who were in Lossiemouth and practising over Tain bombing range. However, fast they might be, the Red Arrows cannot really compare with the mastery of the air shown by seagulls. Just spend some time watching them, or any big bird, and you can see just how at ease they are in the air. This Herring Gull, however, wasn't flying for the moment. Rather than sit in the car or stand in the car park to watch the Red Arrows, we went for a walk along Tain Links, towards the bombing range, hoping that this would afford a better view of the planes when they arrived. The boys, found so...

  This week's Monday walk took place on a Monday. This is not an immutable law, but we had rearranged our routine to make Monday the day we would have a day out as well as a walk. However, being retired means we are pretty much able to do what we like. The golden rule is that you have to take advantage of serendipity. The sun was shining, so off we went to Daviot woods. This might not have been such an exotic destination, but there was space for a blind dog to run around, so that's where we went. First things first, persuade Blue to jump out of the car, which he did, but how scary must that be if you don't know what you're jumping into? A bit like committing to Knee Kick Starters and a Brace! A leap of faith. The woods lie just to the south of Inverness and they have become very popular with dog walkers, families and runners using the 5 kilometre circular walk in the trees. We have often walked here and knew there was a bit of space for Blue to run without crashing into...

Another Monday walk postponed until Wednesday. This was because we were driving back from Forgandenny. Not only were we driving, but it might just have been the wettest day we have ever seen and the prospect of a nice, enjoyable walk was too horrible to contemplate. We had to go into town to do a few things, so our walk was around the River Ness. First we had to cross the river and we did this using the Greig Street Bridge, often called the bouncy bridge, because, well, it bounces and sways a little when people walk across.  The bridge was built in 1881, over 140 years ago and the ironwork was cast by The Rose Street Foundry which was in Rose Street. The building that most people think of as the Rose Street Foundry is actually the headquarter offices of the company. This iconic building is newly opened as a pub/restaurant that we have yet to visit, but, be assured, we will. It was a fabulous day as you can see from the photo taken on the bridge, looking back to the Free North, Free...