Memories

Two old pals made their way to the Bridge this summer:

First, Jessica - a high school friend who was heading north on a family holiday and kindly took the time to stop for lunch at Clives and a few tasters at the BofA Brewery (MD and J have a code name for the brewery for when they are "educating" the kids: "the Library").








Next, Leah – partner in crime since we were wee. Leah ventured north during a visit with her brother and family in London. Leah and I reminisced about the old hood, our B2 paper route, sports teams, families, and various misdemeanors we may or may not have committed.








Thanks for the visits guys!

The Bridge of Allan Ball II

The second kind-of-annual Bridge of Allan Ball took place last week. There were no international guests on this occasion, nor any post celebration regurgitation in the bathroom sink. It was a more civilised affair involving the Marshalls, Herman’s, the Settle Inn and two babysitters. We are looking to develop the prestigious event for next year, and welcome requests for invitation from worthy candidates.

Megavalanche

Megavalanche was named after the world famous MegaDumyat. A mass start downhill bike race from the top of Pic Blanc (3330m) above the ski town of Alpe d'Huez down to our tent (almost) in Allemont (730m). I arrived a few days early to train on the course with Iain (poor Tomas who was due to join us broke his ankle a week before he was due to come out).

MegaDob and MegaMacKenna above Alpe d'Huez.

The qualifier was a shorter race to decide where you would start in the main event. I was in the first round so had to be on top of the mountain for 9am which meant a 6am start. Getting 100s of riders to the top of a mountain can take some time, so you have to make sure you get up there. Both Iain and I were happy with our qualifying runs until that evening when I noticed something odd about my forks. :-(

No time to fix or replace so I had to sit out the actual race and cheer on the others. However I did get to meet the world famous MegaCow, my first experience of the Mega. I've been a fan ever since and it was an honour to meet him in person.

Oops, fell off a challet.

Ever since the Scottish government made nutella an illegal substance, going on holiday to the continent is a whole different experience.

Here's the feature film.

Probably the best week of mountain biking I've ever had.

MegaDob is Home!

I survived my 8 days of solo parenting. Not just looking after Savvy, but her triplets too. We missed you Dob, welcome home!

Inchailloch

Above - William and Savvy ready to paddle us to our island, Inchailloch, on Loch Lomond.

We had the island to ourselves for a couple of nights - a fantastic weekend camping with team marshall. A few highlights:

- island exploring a la canoe

- the campfires and tiny marshmallows

- G's homemade cookies and J's secret chocolate stash

- an amazing ground sheet that kept us dry during an epic storm

- "the Phoenix" - a truly lovely odourless composting outhouse - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composting_toilet#Public_use

- yoga on the jetty

- "Baby" on the potty at the bow

- W and S throwing stones from the rocky shore

In other news:
- 101 creepy spiders in and all over the tent
- Obituary: after a happy life, W's Thomas now sleeps with the fishes

Sleepy Savage never napped like her more sensible colleague. Hence the collapse into snoring while standing in the canoe. The wee thing has slumped down into her jacket for an emergency snooze on the paddle home.

Savvy mange tout les mangetouts

Mother nature and I were about to fall out, but she has gone from helping me nurture a slug farm to producing the real goods. We are back on speaking terms.

Garden patch 1 is doing ok in some areas, with a few tricky strips which are refusing to grow anything at all. I persist.

Garden patch 2 is growing like mad, including a mystery veg. The suspense is killing me.

Sav's been eating peas like no tomorrow - probably the first green thing she's eaten since she stole a green jujube from my auntie sha sha stash last year. She also survived her first bee sting. A real soldier about it too.

Naps on the lawn and swimming in the sun with Mhari - a blissful afternoon after a great weekend of camping (Inchailloch blog to follow).