DOWN A HAZY RIVER

One misty morning in May a fairly select group of dinosaurs gathered on the Links in Nairn to walk. Most of the rest of us who did not walk were to be desperately disappointed by going to Dingwall to watch the mighty Caley lose out on a place among Europe's elite next season.

Those who did turn up were treated to an impromptu pas-de-bas by Dave in the car park.

Red sails in the sunset it wasn't - misty masts in Nairn it was.

Allegedly this is Nairn beach. 

This is an unknown object on Nairn beach. You can tell that I wasn't here to take the photos, can't you?

This could be a return to The Road, but is a bit of  a romantic washed out picture of figures in a misty landscape. I might have taken that one myself.

Back to The Road and it looks like they are trudging through the bleak post-apocalyptic landscape.

Soon they stumble on a piece of open air sculpture.

In fact, it was a metaphysical .bridge into another universe

It was not easy to pass into this other world.

It took a long time.

It required poise and balance.

And not a little wisdom.

 Where was this new world. Well luckily, there was a sign to tell them and to let them know what it was all about.

However, they ignored all the noble sentiment of the land and were transported back to their childhood.

So much so, that even nursery rhymes came to life.

And they all travelled on to Merry Town.

 There was even a wicked wizard with poisoned apple. 

 There was a bit of horror with the headless man sneaking up on the unsuspecting maidens.

It was so horrific that Janet couldn't look.

 However, all good things come to an end and they had to cross the Firhall Bridge back to reality. 

Don't look back they were told, but some of them couldn't resist.

And so they were turned to stone! 

And time stood still.

In more ways than one.

 Finally, they met the old man of the beach, who might have been real or might not. 

What was indisputably real was the tea and cakes that they all tucked into at Oona Taylor's beachside cafe. Only Janet's hair was there along with the rest of them It had been scared off her scalp by the headless man.

It looks like they had a good time flitting in and out of reality. I don't know how they do that and stay sane.

NOTHING COULD MAR THIS WEEKEND AWAY

As is customary we went away for the weekend in April. This time we stayed at Mar Lodge, near Braemar on Royal Deeside as befits our station in life.

Our first walk was supposed to have been around the golf course, but that was abandoned due to a water-logged course. There had been plenty of water about as you can see from the photo below. 

So we split into two teams - male and female. I was going to say boys and girls, but we are all a bit too old to meet these definitions. We then had to follow clues and navigate around Braemar to find the murderer. It wasn't real, but it was a fun way to get to know the village. 

Here are the males going to church - not something you would see too often.

Here we are again, this time approaching the games field where the Braemar Gathering takes place. No royalty, but I think we were showing a bit of class.

One of the clues involved looking down drains where we discovered that one of the clues was one of the females. Can you guess who it is yet?

After all that fun and what can only be described by the males as a draw, we made our way to our digs for the weekend - pretty smart, I am sure you will agree.

 Of course, we didn't need all of the space. We had to make do with just the one wing and that is it below.

Here is our dining area. 

This was our games area. We eventually managed to get a game of snooker down to under 4 hours by the time we were ready to leave.

 This was the little private chapel. We didn't use that much use although there were plenty of prayers for divine intervention during the snooker. 

Whilst some of our number went for a stroll in the grounds, I found myself with 4 models in some of the more elegant parts of the house. If only I had found some elegant models as well.

 After a stunning meal provided by ourselves, as usual, along with a fairly early night, it was off for the first proper walk of the weekend - up to Derry lodge. This took us firstly through the tall pines - a bit like The Road, but I have been told to try and forget that episode.

We were soon out into the proper landscape.

I am not quite sure what Jimmy was doing in that proper landscape, though.

But there were some waterfalls about.

 Oh, look. A bridge photo.

Jimmy up a pole - don't ask.

Nearly lunchtime and Dave was distraught that we were stopping to eat before he had agreed it was time.

I don't know how this painting by L S Lowry got in.

One step at a time.

Now that Dave had been consulted, it was time for lunch, but first we had to agree where to sit down!

After this very nice dog had a go at my leg we decided to move elsewhere for a nice seat.

This was the splinter lunch group sitting on a tree. The sensible ones sat behind the lodge out of the wind.

Once we got back to the car park we took a short stroll to see the Linn of Dee - just because it was there.

Then it was back to our digs.

Some of us visited the Stag Ballroom. So called because there are thousands of stag heads adorning every square inch of the walls and ceiling.

Just the sort of place to lock your children in the dark and see if the trauma is sufficient for them to write a book like The Road when they are older. Or even this blog.

It wasn't all quite so weird, some of it was very grand.

We soon lowered the tone, however.

Some more than others it must be said!

After another great evening, we were up and into the rain for our next walk to Loch Callater.

A wee bit rain has never stopped us as those who were drenched at Loch Affric can testify.

A grouse. I didn't recognise it, so it couldn't have been the famous one.

Another bridge, another photo.

It wasn't always raining - honest.

We even ended up in the snow!

It was well worth the effort to get to the loch which was quite spectacular.

What about a paddle.

No chance.

Lunch.

Then the sleet arrived and it was time to leave.

Just when we thought it was safe, a helicopter appeared on the hill opposite. Happily, it wasn't for us.

Then we were back to the Lodge for another fine meal- this time cooked by someone else.

Here we all are - minus Mac  and Janet, who were in a home of their own.

Whilst Mac and Janet were missing from the photo above, Maureen and David were missing from the whole weekend. I would have to say it was definitely the poorer for their absence and I am sure we would all wish David the very best in fighting his illness.

We missed them both.

On a happier note, Robin and Susan became grandparents for the first time over breakfast on the last day, which was very good news.

Here is the little cherub - Megan Grace.

Congratulations to Susan and Robin and, perhaps more importantly, Michael and Nicola.