Another week has flown by and this one has gone exceptionally quickly. 

I had a good start to the week except when I went to get my hair cut. That was a bit of a faff to be fair. I left in good time for the cut but the traffic was absolutely mental. I got there with absolutely no time to spare. Sam however was a star and squeezed me in and the cut was done in record time.

Thursday was a visit to the office in Swansea again. We had an extra amount of time for lunch and it was eventually decided that a KFC Boneless Banquet was the way to go. My syns for the day were taken up in that one meal. Thankfully, I had a number of Slimming World meals in the freezer and those were free.

Friday

This was the star of my next adventure to bonnie Scotland. A fairly late flight got me to Edinburgh and swiftly collected by Alex in her new car. I’d had a bit of left over lunch from Thursday so some home made meatballs and left over mashed spud. I had a meal deal in the Airport and Alex made some pulled pork wraps for a late evening meal. 

My little win for the weekend was that on both flights, there and back, I had no need to ask for a belt extender as I would normally have done. 

Saturday

Saturday was a bit dreech so it wasn’t an early start for us! We had a brunch which was square sausage, black pudding, some fantastic pork and leek sausage, a fried egg and some tattie scones, absolutley delicious. 

As the weather wasn’t great we decided to take a walk. Alex lives close to The Falkirk Wheel so we took a 3.5 mile wander along the Forth and Clyde canal to The Wheel’s visitor centre. 

A pint and a scone were well deserved as were a few more beers at The Wheatsheaf which is fast becoming my favourite pub in all of Scotland.

Sunday

We had decided a while ago that on my next visit we’d go away in Alex’s van. She’s slowly converting an old builders van into a camper. It’s rather good. Got a fridge, sink, running water, solar panels and a couple of sleeping areas.

The weather wasn’t great again but it was fairly dry. We had a good run from Falkirk out towards the west coast and Glencoe. Oh my god, the scenery is incredible and it puts North Wales to shame! 

The landscape really is fantastic and the clouds really added to the drama of the setting. Loads of American tourists there all exploring the old country. 

We headed for The Red Squirrel Campsite for an overnight stop. £15 per person per night was a bit of a bargain really. The rain stopped when we got to the site on the banks of the River Coe and it was so incredible to stand on the banks of such a beautiful stretch of water. 

We stopped in the van for a beer, then decided to wander over to the Clachaig Inn for a couple more beers and some food. I had the Haggis, Neeps and Tatties which was a bit nice! Alex had Game Casserole with a few chips. That was absolutely delicious. 

We wandered the 1km back to the site and sat in the van with a few more tinnies and Colin From Accounts on the tablet. We’d watched a few episodes of Series One the previous evening and we binged the last few episodes before heading to the land of nod.

Monday

So it was the last day of the trip and we had lots of time to drive around and have a better look at stuff in the area. After a hearty fried breakfast we set off. 

First stop was into Glencoe itself for a wander around a little loch. The Glencoe Lochan Trail was absolutely stunning. It was quite a small loch and the wander round didn’t take that long. What took the time was taking photographs of the place. It was utterly breathtaking. The sun was out and the loch was mirror still. An absolutely incredible vista and an incredible start to the day. 

Heading back towards Rannoch Moor, we stopped at The Glencoe Visitor Centre. Alex hadn’t stopped there before so we dropped in. A facinating little center where they’d recreates a Turf House, built from peat and thatched with heather. It was quite busy for a Monday. Lots more Americans shuffling around the place and generally just being Yanks. 

The next stop was the Glencoe Mountain Resort. Quite quiet and I suspect that it would be busier during the winter months. The literall highlight of the visit was a 2200ft chair lift up the side of Creag Dubh. There were some amazing views over Rannoch Moor, across the valley over to the Blackwater Reservoir. An experience that I’ll not forget!

Alex loves to swim in open water. As we were in the Highlands and there are lochs aplenty then it was only right that we stopped to allow her a dip in one! The A82 runs along the side of Loch Tulla so we stopped and she changed into her cossie to take what looked like a very chilly swim. 

We headed back towards Edinburgh Airport for the flight home. There was one last stop to be made for a fish ‘n chip supper at The Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum. A fabulous meal and a final stop before the delayed Easyjet home. 

Thank you Alex for putting up with me for the weekend. You have the patience of a saint and I can’t wait for my next visit.

The Tale of the Scale.

So given all that happened above, I was expecting a rather large gain on the scales at Slimming World.

Lots of alcohol, fried breakfasts, meals out and an amazing cherry bakewell cake I knew that it wouldn’t be a great result.

So, holding my breath I stood on the scales. Indeed they registered a gain. Thankfully, it was only half a pound on. 

That was a bit of a relief to be fair. It could have been so much worse. 

I did register well over 10k steps every day so I think that will have negated a certain amount of calories and helped to mitigate the damage!

I have 3.5lbs to lose to get to my three stone award. 

Next Time…

So this week is a bit quieter. I’ve not got much planned until the weekend where it’s Sara’s birthday party. She’s planned cocktails in The Bootlegger. I think that as I do need a good weekend and to save a little bit of cash then I will drive in to town to see her and will look to have Virgin Cuba Libre’s. Basically Diet Coke!

I also need a good week on the food and to continue with a walk or two. The weather looks good so I don’t think there’s much that can trip me up. 

Wish me luck.