The Lion in Winter

So many points of discussion here: 

• Why is only one out of the four lions at the base of this Duthie Park monument wearing a scarf?
• Is a scarf sufficient to keep creature who evolved on the African savannah warm on a frosty Aberdeen morning? (He looks stone cold to me...)
• With such a magnificent natural mane, surely the neck is the one part of the lion that does not need extra insulation?
• I have a matching (and very smart) red sweater. Why did Gail forget to put it on me this morning?

Hmmm, I shall ponder these questions as I briskly complete my early morning circuit of the park.

A good decision. Or not?

So Gail has apparently been going round telling her friends how she made a bad decision staying in Torridon for one extra day, how we should have left before the bad weather set in, and how it was a scary drive across blizzard hit northern Scotland on Tuesday this week, with the car skidding all over the snowy roads while at the same time being buffeted by gale force winds.

To be honest, if Gail's fingers were gripping the steering wheel with more than the usual strength during the white knuckle drive back across the Highlands to Aberdeen, I hardly noticed as I was comfily curled up in the back of the car, daydreaming about the two lovely short walks we'd enjoyed the day before. (The day we would have missed if we'd come home earlier).

Friends, do look at the pictures below, and let me know if you think we should have gone back home early, rather than relish being out and about around Loch Torridon, soaking up an all too brief episode of winter sunshine.

Happy Nature Friday! And thanks to our LLB Gang friends for continuing to host the blog hop despite their 'blogging break'.

Not that fuzzy!

The upside of the new glass door to the Torridon cottage kitchen is that Gail can see when I want to come back inside into the warmth after my early morning 'comfort break'.

The downside is that she thinks it amusing to take a photo of me pawing at the door before letting me back in.

It's not even as if the picture is in focus...

I mean, I know I have a 'fuzzy face' but not THAT fuzzy!

Never write off a tough little terrier

Gail here:

So the year I didn't expect Bertie to see began with the two of us enjoying a brisk six mile walk in 'exhilarating' conditions along the southern shores of Loch Torridon. 

Not far shy of his twelfth birthday, deaf as a post, and a year and a half after he first showed signs of bladder cancer (for which he's still on palliative medication), you might imagine my dear little dog would have been happy to curl up in front of the log fire and doze contentedly listening to the stormy weather outside the Torridon cottage this weekend. 

Not a bit of it! I'm not going to deny that inside the house Bertie does spend most of his time at rest, preferably lying across my lap on the sofa. But when offered the opportunity for an outing in our glorious Highland landscape, he grabs it with both paws, undeterred by mud, rain and gale force winds.

I have no idea how long Bertie will retain his zest for life. I do know that, after a bad patch with 'bladder control issues' last August, I had a serious discussion with his vet about euthanasia. Then things settled down, and I learned better how to manage the problem. These past couple of months Bertie's condition has been stable and over Christmas we both had fun with our wee poodle guest Ella before she went home and we came across to Torridon for New Year. 

And I've given up making predictions about my tough little terrier!

PS Our New Year's Day walk was the 10 km 'Balgy Trail', the red line on the map below: