LifeTides

I’m still here, feeling pretty good and still smiling. But, when I think back to January, when we received the news that I may only have weeks to months, it makes me appreciate what one’s body can handle and cope with. Of course, I can’t say I’m fit, but I can walk a couple of miles, not at my old pace, but it’s still miles.

There are off days when I am more tired than usual. Catching a cold didn’t help. Richard and our friends never had colds. It just seemed to be my own cold bubble. Reconfirming my immune system isn’t great. And I will pick up things very easily. I even broke out with cold sores, which I had not had for a long time. And they were sore and just not very pleasant. So I now have a strong course of tablets to try and get on top of them.

The doctors and district nurses still call to check how I am. And are delighted to hear me in good spirits.

We are still catching up with friends, especially one’s we’ve not seen for a while, and picking up where we had left off was lovely.

We popped along to Backhouse Rossie Estate for their Daffodils Fest. So if you’re local and haven’t been, it’s worth a visit. There’s a café and beautiful gardens and even a small putting green. And not to forget the bear walk.

Backhouse is going to host my celebration of life get-together. We’ve used Backhouse a lot over the years for our cycle stops and visiting the gardens.

I know when I need a blood top-up, as I tire quickly, and my heart races when I sit still. So I got a pint on the 13^th, it’s quite an instant fix, and my heart really does appreciate it. I am so grateful that people still give blood. I used to when I was in my twenties, then we moved, and regretfully I didn’t pick it back up.

Woohoo, we’re off on our wee break, back to Perthshire. Our first stop was The Hermitage for a walk and a top-up my love of waterfalls. Richard is struggling just now with his hips, but he did well, and we saw some excellent waterfalls.

Then on to the Inn on the Tay at Grandtully. It does sit right next to the Tay. There are rapids, and you can see folk kayaking. I want to do the white water rafting, but I am unsure if I have the strength to hold on. So it’s something I have to think about. It was lovely, with good food and by amazing coincidence, we met friends staying over to so lovely company.

And how close were we to the Highland Chocolatier shop its opposite the Inn on the Tay. It can’t be missed. On this trip, we visited the place three times and sat outside in the sun. It was just incredible.

We moved on to Pitlochry and Atholl Palace. And changed into our walking shoes and headed out through the grounds for a walk toward Moulin. It was pretty challenging, there was a hill, but we did pace ourselves. We took plenty of breaks. We were delighted to see the Moulin Hotel and stop there for lunch.

We walked down into Pitlochry, where I was desperate to find an ice cream shop that did a soft 99. And there it was, Scotch Corner. I was not disappointed. It was delicious.

The next day we visited Cluny House Gardens. What a lovely find with lots to see and a great show of Red Squirrels. The garden wasn’t flat, but Richard and I managed well. There were also lots of seating areas where we could take breaks. Well worth a visit.

Funny enough, it was only three miles from the Highland Chocolatier shop, too good an opportunity to miss. We had to do lunch.

We returned home on Saturday, not before stopping off at Dunkeld to see the Ospreys at Loch of the Lowes, Scottish Wildlife Trust. How exciting it was to see the Ospreys, the female on the nest and the male eating a fish in the old tree. Don’t worry, he always leaves enough to take across to the wife.

An end to a perfect time away, making more magical memories.

Of course, the girls didn’t take long to forgive us and were very happy to see us back. Lots of cuddles and headbutts to be had. And of course, we were very happy to be back walking in the field.

My thoughts are that there’s not that much to blog about just now. So I’m going to drop back into LifeTides Instagram and Facebook with short updates.

Take care

Carole x

This quote works for me “Our greatest freedom is the freedom to choose our attitude.”  ~ Viktor Frankl