Some cheeky skitter has been bugging me to write some stuff here, but I am lazy. If you want to know what I did September then visit flickr. I’ve been busy.

3 today! Or tomorrow, sometimes it’s hard to remember!

So, August? August was a very mixed bag of happiness, stress, blues, laughter, etc. I can’t remember any other time recently where I have experienced so many emotions. I started the month with the blues because my holidays were over, then I stressed over making this dress for my Mum’s wedding only to find that it didn’t fit me, then I had happy times with family, then I had more stress and blues, then I had good times at the wedding, then I just plodded along, then I finished the month laughing, smiling and dancing at Electric Picnic. Belly laughing in the Silent Disco was just brilliant.

Hannah has captured the music aspect of Electric Picnic just perfectly so I don’t need to bother. I had a brilliant birthday (thank you to all those who sent greetings and presents) and spent the day on fairground rides (carooosel and chairaplanes), watching a Rachel Allen cookery demo (RA got HB drunk on cocktails), laughed watching the Revd.s dancing outside the Inflatable Church, watched the Breeders, and relaxed by a giant campfire drinking red wine from a plastic bottle.

Maya and Gracie are good friends now and they have new matching bone-shaped name tags; Gracie came to the pet shop to help me choose.

Gracie has just discovered lambdoodle’s squeak - it has terrified her!

Hello to the newest member of the family.

Day 2 – Eat smoked haddock for breakfast then climb Ben Nevis. Get drenched at top. Gracie barks loudly that she wants to go down again because she is cold. We attract the attention of a handsome Spanish man with very white teeth and travel back down the mountain with him. Back at the guest house we turn all the heaters on to dry our clothes and open the windows so we can breathe. Retire to bed with blocked sinuses.

Day 3 – Chase the Harry Potter train trying to get a decent photo. Take ferry over the sea to Skye. Arrive in Portree and purchase Tourist Hats from the Tibetan Fair Trade market so that locals know to treat us like idiots. Go for walk to the Old Man of Storr. Gracie thinks it is the best bit of the trip because the place is hootchin’ with rabbits. Eat in fish restaurant which is out of fish and chips. Very yummy mackerel instead.

Day 4 - Pissing with rain and wind howling. Put on Tourist Hats and drive around Trotternish peninsula in rain visiting many pleasant places. Arrive at campsite in lashing rain, drive around, eventually pick a spot. Man at campsite says that camping in this weather will be a true test of our relationship. Survive camping on the rainiest, windiest day of our holiday. Must be true love.

Day 5 – Plenty of opportunities to wear our Tourist Hats with visits to the wind-battered Neist Lighthouse and a dander from Glen Brittle. Tourist Hats had to be removed for a large section of the day in order to eat Magnums and bask in the sunshine.

Day 6 – Tourist Hats hardly on at all as sun blazing all day. Took a boat trip to Loch Coruisk, went for a walk, had a picnic. On return to campsite had showers as totally minging from days of camping. Put on skirt. Went out for very, very fancy dinner at The Three Chimneys. Gracie guarded the car while we ate.

Day 7 – Another Tourist Hat free day. Visited Coral Beaches but couldn’t get access to the turquoise water as it was surrounded by seaweed and shells. Paddled to cool our feet. Walked around the Quiraing on the Trotternish Peninsula. Gracie thought the Quiraing was great because it was hootchin’ with rabbits. She was disappointed not to be let off the lead, this was because she couldn’t be trusted after her visit to The Old Man of Storr.

Day 8 – Looked like another Tourist Hat free day, until we left the Isle of Skye and arrived by the not so bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. Pitched our tent in a campsite then changed our minds and erected it on a beach by the Loch at about 10 pm. Midges a real problem here and had to wear both Tourist Hat and Midge Net Hat. Slept in Tourist Hat.

Day 9 – Woken by Park Ranger telling us that we couldn’t camp where we were. Depressed by unwelcoming officials. Curse their midge-ridden-rotten Loch. Should have stayed in Skye! Get dressed and go for a walk along part of the West Highland Way. Then ferry back home.

I recall when I was wee, I got a pair of shoes that I loved so much I wanted to wear them to bed. I think I might sleep in my new boots tonight.

Then Gracie and I headed out for a walk. At Harryville bridge we ran into a fellow dog walker, though on this occasion he was without dog and had obviously spent some time in the pub. He kept us chatting awhile. We eventually made our excuses and trotted on down Railway Street, over Stick Bridge and down towards the river past the old squash courts. This is when it started raining. We walked on and did our usual walk, despite the lashing rain. At some point I regretted that I was wearing jeans and not waterproof trousers, at another point I realised that my walking boots were letting in water. I congratulated myself on choosing a marvellous raincoat as my top half was the only part of me that was dry when I got home. Gracie was so wet Dave thought she had been swimming.

But the leaking boots are a problem. Especially as I am heading off to Scotland next weekend for a week involving a lot of walking.

The programme arrived last week and I now have a very big head. Every time I looked at the programme I smiled.

It’s not the first time I have had pictures published in print, I have had a few dodgy experiences with finding that local groups have used my pictures without crediting me correctly, but it’s the first time that I have been asked, have given approval and have got to see the result.

So, if you are interested in the festival or the brochure you can order a copy of the programme at www.openhousefestival.com

Also on the menu is pizza, which I must now assemble.

Update:

Both pizza and cake were yummy.