Back down south....

Hello everyone, I'm back! Sorry again to have abandoned my posting for much of the last week but our remote corner of the north west highlands of Scotland didn't have any sort of mobile signal - and so no Internet access. Anyway, I'm back now and have lots to report.

We had a really lovely week-long holiday. It wouldn't have suited everybody - but suited us down to the ground. We stayed in a converted traditional croft cottage on the outskirts of a tiny hamlet in a remote corner alongside Little Loch Broom. The nearest town of any size was Ullapool, about 35 miles away, but our nearby hamlet had a small shop for essentials. We spent the week, with our two cats (!), resting, reading and walking.

The omens at the start of the week were not good. The weather forecast couldn't have been much worse - rain was forecast for every day of or holiday and from Tuesday onwwards there was supposed to be particularly heavy rain. But this is one occasion when we are immensely grateful that the meterological forecasters got it hopelesly wrong!! Apart from a couple of hours of light drizzle on Sunday afternoon, we had NO rain at all! Every day was bright and mostly sunny - the result was that we were able to go out walking every day. I did a quick calculation towards the end of the week and found that my average daily number of steps for the preceding 7 days was 17,000!!! (that's equal to at least 1000 burned calories each day). This perhaps explains why I was able to eat so much while on holiday without gaining any weight!!

Most days I cooked - so although I ate larger portions than usual (my excuse was that there weren't any side plates - yes I know - lame eh?) I still managed to eat quite healthy food. We ate out twice, once in Ullapool and once at a hotel. In Ullapool I couldn't resist a favourite starter of mine - Cullen skink! For those who may not have come across this Scottish traditional dish, it's basically a fish soup, made with smoked haddock - and it's luverly. I can't remember what I ate for main course but I do remember not being able to even consider getting a dessert! At the hotel meal, I chose scallops for starter and a goat's cheese salad for main. Although the portions were moderate, I calculated the calorie content afterwards and found it to be quite low..... which is probably why I felt compelled to opt for a dessert on this occasion.... Yes, it was a particularly naughty dessert (raspberries, strawberries, meringue and loads of cream) - but I did share it with my better half (and it was quite small!). Anyway, as I told him, at least it contained some fresh fruit!!

Back home now I feel as rested after a holiday as I have done in ages - I usually feel completely knackered and need a couple of days rest before going back to work! In the coming days I'll tell you about our forays into the Torridon mountains and our climb up Beinn Ghobleach. Oh, and on a completely different tack I'll also tell you about the Healthier Weight support group meeting I went to today. Signing off now till tomorrow....