Home again

We’re back! I’ve just got some sardines out of the freezer to thaw for dinner – the first meal I will be cooking since we got back on Saturday.

One of the first things that struck me on getting home was how the garden had changed. Now the lavender is all out. There’s some vivid orange lilies in one of the pots by the garage. Some pink astilbe has flowered in the midst of the blue-purple geraniums. The Canterbury bells & aquilegia have just about died out. The first clematis to flower this year is now into a second flowering. The world is looking transformed.

I’m still trying to make sense of our holiday. As with our coach trip to the Netherlands, it was a very tiring holiday. They try to pack so much into the day to give value to the holiday, whilst forgetting many disabled people live very quiet lives, making even a little tiring.

Our fellow travellers were a good bunch. We even had some from the United States. I’m particularly pleased they seemed to find satisfaction from the trip. They seemed nervous at first, unsure whether they would be accepted by the group. They were warmly welcomed. The hotel put on evening entertainment, so we had an evening of Scottish music which pleased them. It sounds different in Scotland apparently.

The food this time was good, with plenty of roasts. The cooked breakfasts were among the best I’ve had for many a long year.

Our niggles were more about the trips. Unfortunately the day we went up the funicular at Aviemore, in the Cairngorms, it turned damp. By the time we got up the mountain, all was shrouded in Scots mist. The view across the mountains had disappeared in the veil of dampness.

We seemed to end up doing far too much shopping. At so many places it seemed to be the main attraction. We went to the Loch Ness Centre. The actual exhibition was good, but it took about 15 minutes to see it all. We were there for a couple of hours. Even after finding us something to drink in the café that still left nothing else to do except look around the shops. Unfortunately the centre doesn’t face onto the loch. Otherwise we would have enjoyed the view, maybe have had a stroll along the lochside. I ended up feeling we would have done better to go on to Fort Augustus sooner & have more time there,  There were plenty of shops there to explore if you were an enthusiastic shopper, whilst there was something else there for those who weren’t. We happily looked at the impressive ladder of canal locks, as well as popped down to the shores of Loch Ness. We would have gone to look closer at the abbey if we’d had the time.

One definite conclusion we’ve come to, is that we are not prepared to go on a longer trip. The trip to Nairn took 8 hours, with stops on the way. By then we both had had enough. The vibrations had upset my knees with the result I was popping painkillers madly. If we decide to go on another coach trip & it is as far or further away, we will get there by train or air, & join the group at the hotel.

The other conclusion is that it is good to be home again, even if it does mean taking on the everyday chores & worries again. The old adage is right – there’s no place like home.