Small world

Quite a few folk opted for hill walking today - the type of hill walking that requires ice axes and crampons. D and I decided on a low level walk, just the track down to Killin but where he'd previously seen red squirrels. On our way back we'd just passed the last house in the village and I exclaimed "Come on, red squirrels, where are you?" when we both realised that there was one on a branch above our heads looking at us. It scampered away to quickly for us to photograph* it laughing at us. We spent a long time gazing into various bushes where little birds were flitting about; one of them a goldcrest possibly, but he was even quicker than the squirrel!

The weather got better and better as the day went on. I was fascinated by this stand of gnarled little trees and bushes, so covered in lichen that they almost appear to be in blossom. They're maybe hawthorns underneath it all, hard to tell. That's a glimpse of Loch Tay on the right, with Ben Lawers beyond.

Later we enjoyed a splendid Burns supper and ceilidh. The haggis was piped in with full ceremony. Halfway through the evening the (Flemish) bagpiper told me that he had seen me sing at a concert in the British Embassy in Kathmandu in 1985. Small world indeed.

* Edit: not too quick for the lightning reactions of Mr H, it turns out!