Has the summer arrived?

Horatio keeps asking what summer is. He has vague memories of last year as a young pup lounging in the sun shine. On his day bed in the garden. Warmth on his woolly coat. But he was very young, so it's all a bit misty for him. The last six weeks have seen us all wonder if the end is nye. Scott has even contacted someone regarding an ark. I mean a boat. We were therefore all rather taken aback when the sun made a long overdue appearance this week. Eyes a-blinking, we hot footed it to Gullane, three days in a row for walks and swims. There's nothing as rewarding as falling into bed at night, exhausted after a day of sandy fun. Swim-stuff swinging on the washing line in anticipation of more adventures tomorrow.

Where will we go today?

Weather forecast - fact or fiction?

I've long suspected you shouldn't live your life by the weather forecast.  This weekend was no exception.  I avidly follow the Met Office App to help determine whether I can cycle to work or not (for 'lady-like cycling' this is essentially).  By Friday afternoon the weekend appeared to be a write-off.  My sun burnt nose, forehead and shoulders this Monday morning tell a different story.  I forced myself out for a 'long' 13-mile run to Gullane on Saturday and committed the school-girl error of not being prepared for every weather eventuality in Scotland.  To help cope with my itchy sun burn, I also got myself a bee sting.  Ouch.

Admittedly it tipped it down Saturday night but Sunday then dawned .... dryish so we hopped in the car and headed to St Abbs for a cliff walk.  Scott's new camera (and subsequent new lense) are keeping him very amused and providing plenty of material for me.

Scotland really is a stunning country.

And Horatio really is very handsome.  If only he'd learn to pose properly.

Getting better Horatio, but might be better if you wiped your face first.

Typical weekend

Unfortunately you can't have an adventure every weekend. Sometimes they are just 'run of the mill' - house chores, lunch with a chum and hang out with the boys on the street on Saturday night.

The weather was so foul on Saturday that Horatio and I could hardly pull ourselves out of bed. With my hip injury persisting, there's no need to go running and with the rain humming off the road, we decided it was preferable to read Country Living and drink coffee in bed. I managed to make my physio appointment with Guy van Herp AKA the Belgian miracle worker at Meadowbank and was feeling so chipper after this I dragged Horatio up his first mountain - a mini-hillock by Arthur's Seat. He wasn't too impressed with the wet conditions but soon came round when he discovered the rabbit poo. How considerate of someone to scatter puppy-sized treats liberally around the park.

Mountain dog

Next we were off to meet Bong for lunch. He's injured too so not climbing and hadn't met H yet. Shame H was too sleepy to make much impact. Not to be putoff we scooted out to Gullane to meet our favourite dog-lover, Lucy and Kipper, the friendly spaniel. Our beach walk turned into a drench-fest leaving us with wrinkled finger tips and smelly dogs. There was only one thing for it. The central heating was turned up and the kettle went on.

Lucy is an excellent cook and hostess with the mostess. Scott soon turned up with vino followed by Lucy's friend Matt and Malin (mad giant spaniel - it must be crossed with a newfoundlander!). I'm a huge fan of Gullane, however, I must say, some of the residents leave a lot to be desired. Some mad man lives next door to Lucy who is driving an awful hate campaign against Kipper (and all other four legged friends). He was hosting a community meating (sic) to discuss the matter of dog fouling in the communal garden. I hasten to add this is after he's involved the dog warden and put down poison..... right weirdo. Anyway, his meating (sic) was canceled (sic) and this combined with his poor spelling resulted in much amusement for us.

Having consumed too much of the grape juice I'm afraid Scott, Horatio and I had no option but to jump on the night bus home... hardcore Saturday!

Yobs loitering by the bus stop

Fun on the night bus