White water, Barcaldine Forest

My friend Elspeth C came over from Perthshire to see me for 24 hours. We were at school together 'on the east side' of Scotland, and have met there since, or in Stroud, so it was lovely to meet in the west highlands, where I grew up, and where Elspeth's family were tenant farmers during the first few years of her life.

Starting at my sister Kate's house in Appin, we drove to Sutherland's Grove, part of Barcaldine Forest, where there are marked trails for walking. As it was raining hard, we though we might get some shelter under the tree canopy.

As children, we played in the working part of the forest, where there were forestry roads, landrovers, stands of conifers, a Bailey bridge over the burn, and a huge sawdust bing (tip). Now most of that is gone, but Sutherland's grove offers mixed plantations, rushing burns, and much dramatic scenery. We took the longest trail, with Kate's dog Harris, and enjoyed a mildly strenuous, extremely wet workout! This bridge is the most dramatic part, but there's never any danger for seasoned walkers.

From Barcaldine, we drove 'over the top' via Glen Salach, to our house on Loch Etive side, to show Elspeth around. (My sister Mouse is working on it to get it ready for a tenant). We popped up to Achnaba kirkyard, next to the house, to look for my grandmother's grave. At this point we realised that Elspeth had distant family members buried there, and we managed to locate their graves, as well as the marker for my almost-cousin Terry, who died very suddenly in June, at the age of 58.

Thus sobered, we drove on to Benderloch, where we dropped in at Mouse's. She and her family weren't there, but Tanya, her daughter and boyfriend were. We had some tea, ratatouille, and Empire biscuits for lunch. Elspeth then drove me and the dog back to Appin, where Kate wasn't in either. I thought I'd enjoy half an hour of drying my feet and drinking green tea, but Tanya arrived and picked me up within about five minutes! (Elspeth, meanwhile, had set off for home in the East, via Glencoe).

Then some of us had tea again at our mother's house in Duror, before Tanya drove some people back to Benderloch. I helped my mother's husband retune his digital internet radio and store the presets. He rewarded me with a gin and tonic. I helped my mother cook the supper, and helped myself to lots of the wine I'd bought earlier in the week and had been carrying around from one sister's house to another. Apparently, no one here drinks white wine apart from my mother's husband. All the more for us!