After finally finishing the washing up, we began plans to undo all our good work, as Adam declared he was going to make pizzas for lunch. He got to making the pizza dough, while I attended to trying to start a fire. Alas, the Scotsman finally met it’s Waterloo, as we needed fuel.
Pete stuck a quite ludicrously large log in the fireplace and we surrounded it with as much newspaper and smaller chunks of wood as we could, in an effort to get it burning. Thankfully, the additional accoutrements got the fire to start crackling away.
Adam finished his pizza dough and announced that it would need a while to rise before it could be cooked. The cottage was about halfway down a winding road into the wilderness. It was an area we had yet to explore, so it was decided that we’d go for a walk while the pizza dough settled.
We left the cottage and Pete stashed the spare key under the plant pot in readiness for the water man’s arrival. We set off downhill along the road and into a sort of quarry. Thankfully, there wasn’t much traffic to contend with. We passed some lumberjacks who were chopping down some of the trees. They weren’t your usual lumberjack types, eschewing plaid shirts and Yukon Caps for high vis jackets and hard hats. I wondered the reasons why they were chopping the trees down. Development? Furniture? Firewood?
We continued onward, over a small stream and into a sort of ravine past the quarry. There were hillsides and mountainous terrain in the nearby distance which we decided to head for. Luc and Pete set off ahead of us around about this time. I was struggling to keep pace in all honesty. I was still tired from the other day and was finding it hard to keep pace. I think partly it was a mental thing. My new walking boots, relatively comfortable the other day under two pairs of socks, were starting to rub against my heels and ankles. My jeans felt heavy and tight the more I walked.
Adam had decided to hang back with me, rather than leave me struggling at the rear again. I was frustrated, but I’ve never really been a fast walker. I love going for a nice walk, but I just can’t do it at pace. We passed another bridge and started making our way up the hillside. The slope had been turned into a makeshift road for heavy vehicles. Stones had be laid out in order to give the lorries and vans purchase when trying to get up the hill. Adam removed one of these stones and chortled to himself. I chastised Adam for this, perhaps through some cosmic idea of solidarity with the truck drivers. Until you’ve driven up a mountain, you just wouldn’t understand.
As we continued up the hill, I really started to tire. My feet were hurting, I was sweating profusely and my jeans were starting to chafe. Both the jeans and walking boots were all new, thus is the hazard of going for a walk in clothing you haven’t properly worn in, and they were conspiring to make the climb arduous. Finally, I decided that I’d taken all I couldst and I couldst takes no mores, and took a seat by the side of the road while Luc and Pete continued onward. Adam hung back with me and we waited for Pete and Luc to reach the top of the road and return.
I felt bad about not making it all the way up the hill, but I remembered the events of the previous day in an effort to console myself. Had I worn more appropriate clothing and not done all the rowing and climbing the previous day, I would have likely had a better stab at it. That being said, we’d walked for something like half an hour and it would be another half an hour back, so I’d at least had some exercise and got a chance to have a look at more scenery, so the walk wasn’t a total bust.
We made our way back to the cottage and I suffered an injury. It had nothing to do with the walking though. I was doing my Woody Allen impression and shrugged my shoulder so much that I felt a jolt in my neck. I nursed by aching injury for the remainder of the walk back. It just goes to show that you should always stretch thoroughly before doing an impression of a well-known Jewish comic actor/director. I’d make a note of it reader, this sort of information could save your life!
Pete and Luc started edging ahead again, but at a turn in the road, they suddenly stopped. I could see them in the not too far distance and thought a car or some such must be coming round the corner. I was in for a surprise. There was something coming around the corner alright, but it wasn’t a car. It was a flock of nearly 30 sheep careening around the bend, being chased by an eager sheep-dog and a shepherd bringing up the rear in a small tractor. Adam and I leapt to the left to dodge the sheep, but they dodged us at the same time and actually started clambering up the verge of the road.
The sheepdog desperately chased the sheep and managed to guide them all back onto the road and to safety. The farmer drove slowly past and thanked us for getting out of the way so promptly. Adam recorded the whole thing on his phone and was quite amused by it all. It was certainly something you didn’t see every day living in Stockport, although I have spent one or two occasions waiting patiently for a farmer to guide his cows across the road back when I used to work in Leek.
We got back to the cottage where Adam, satisfied with the dough, began to prepare the pizzas. I can’t quite remember if I assisted with this or did something else. That’s the price you pay for not keeping copious notes I suppose. The pizzas were eventually finished and they were delicious. Adam had made them more rectangular than circular and Luc whipped up a salad to go with them.
As we ate, the water man, whose name sadly escapes me, ventured in to tell us that he’d fixed the water issue as best he could and that there should hopefully be some hot water now. He told us to notify the cottage owner should the problem persist. He was going to have to do something about it anyway, and went off to call in for more hardware. We thanked him and finished up lunch.
After lunch, we had a look at the remaining supplies that we had and it didn’t make for pleasant viewing. We had run out of pretty much all the essentials and it looked like we were going to have to venture to the shops once again. Considering the nearest shop was, at least, a 40 minute drive, this was slightly more of an issue than it would normally be. This was when we remembered the small shop by the Road Closed sign. That wasn’t in Inverness itself, so wouldn’t take as far to get to.
Pete had had his fill of long drives at this point, and was itching to have another ride in the boat. It was decided that myself and Adam would drive to the shop and pick up some supplies, while Luc and Pete would set sail once again.
Plans were made, an address was acquired and we readied for our journey. We were in hope that it would take 15-20 minutes to get where we needed to go. We were about to be surprised…
No comments:
Post a Comment