Skiing

Yesterday morning we got a surprise visit from our neighbour Epona. She was on her way up to Glenshee and wondered if I'd like to come along. Seeing as she'd caught me completely on the hop and, yes, to my shame, still in bed (late night previously) I had to hustle to get my gear together, but I was thrilled to be able to try out my new boots, skis and poles. Fisher declined to accompany us, as she had to get some work done, so it was just Epona and me who shuffled off in E's Drover.

Glenshee was astonishingly busy for a mid-week afternoon, but it turned out a lot of schools were having a break for somethingorother and so people had taken advantage of the perfect weather. And perfect it was: sky as blue as cornflowers, sun shining, mountains a perfect white picture postcard. We had a good couple of hours skiing, and with Epona's back-of-the-hand knowledge of the slopes I certainly got the best out of the resort. Unfortunately, I was also in considerable pain. My new boots made my feet cramp, get pins and needles and, eventually, go completely numb. It's hard to find boots that fit owing to my big calves, but, as Epona said, I'm not an "unusual shape" so it should be perfectly possible to adjust them suitably. Once that's done and I'm comfortable, there'll be no stopping me.

Despite having to ski through the pain, it was a grand couple of hours. I felt pretty ropy a lot of the time, partly from pain and partly because I hadn't eaten anything (too much of a rush to get ben the house), but nothing can detract from the sheer beauty and joy of skiing.

To repay Epona, I insisted she and Shah come to dinner. Round they came and I made chicken pie, which was almost entirely consumed - despite it being big enough for 6-8 people. We also did well with the wine, and finished it off with a wee dram o' Aberlour - which put me in a lazy, contented frame of mind and saw me in bed at the very reasonable hour of 1am.

I was woken at 9 this morning by my client cancelling her massage, owing to being snowbound - so I have a free day. Off to the cinema with Phid this eve, weather permitting - and back to Banks in Perth right about now, to see if they can help me with my boots.

A bientot.