Nessie-spotting

We've been on holiday; for the first time ever Iain & I took all 4 kids away for the week.

To a cottage by Loch Ness.

Well, sort of.

We booked by email, explaining that we have no car so was it feasible to take 4 kids (2 of them toddlers) by public transport. Och aye, comes the reply. So we book a week in a cottage just outside Drumnadrochit. We get there only to discover that said cottage is a mile above Drumnadrochit & there are only 2 taxis. One of them is booked solid & the other is on holiday.

We did attempt to walk up with all our luggage, but it got dark. So Jo, Mhara, Rowan & I waited in the dark halfway up the hill while Iain & Abi struggled up with the case, getting lost & chapping on doors until some kind stranger traipsed out in her car to pick us all up, saving me from the trouble of a nervous breakdown.

This is the roof of our cottage here, just peeking out from the dell (just look for the red arrow)-



And this is Jo phoning a friend - the only place we could be sure to get a signal -




We had a great week wandering the hill -



Throwing rocks in the river (5 minutes after this was taken, Rowan lost his balance & tipped headfirst into the water - his dad managed to grab his feet as they came up & he was left doing a head-stand in the river) -



Looking for Nessie (Mhara & Rowan think this is the real deal) -



Conquering Urquhart Castle -



Waving to boats on the loch -



And generally having fun -



I took 2 WIPs, 4 extra balls of yarn, a hook & extra needles with me & came back with 7 (that's right, seven) FOs - just goes to show what I can do when I don't have the PC to distract me :0D There's a neckwarmer & 2 washcloths for Christmas pressies, 2 pairs of fingerless gloves for Mhara & Rowan (I had these done by Tuesday & they wore them the rest of the week) & 2 things that have to remain secret for now as they're (overdue) swap gifts.

Here's Mhara & Rowan showing off their gloves -



The cottage was gorgeous & we had a lovely time - we just had to make sure that we booked a taxi in the morning if we wanted to go down to the village or else we were looking at an hour & a half to walk home (I know this for a fact as we did it on the Sunday & once was definitely enough for me).