Loch Muick.

This morning M and I got up and I made us some breakfast, before tackling the immense pile of clean washing (I hate washing, I hate hanging wet washing, I hate folding clean washing - not a good combination) and dirty dishes. When the flat was looking a little better, I packed us some lunch and M drove us out to Loch Muick, near Ballater, for a walk. The Loch Muick walk was one of mine and M's first dates, nearly 3 years ago, so the place is pretty special for me. We took the hard half first, and saw lots of deer, a red squirrel and a couple of black grouse fighting.

The sun was out all the way round, and when we got the the halfway point, a sandy beach looking along the length of the water, we sat down to eat our picnic. Halfway through, we realised snowflakes were falling around us, and over our shoulder a massive cloud of snow had crept up on us. It was incredible to watch the snow flurry through the opening from Loch Ngar to Loch Muick, and spread out over the hill behind us. We walked on a little further and took shelter in the forest (next to the Royal Bothy) until the sun came out again, with lots of little sparrows and chaffinches searching for seeds at our feet - they were totally unfazed by our presence. On our route back, we found a pool full of tadpoles (which I spent 5 minutes poking... I can't help myself) and watched as even more deer descended from the hills to the original group we saw. I got up to 81 before losing count.

As we walked back to the car park, M freed a tiny blue tit from it's bird-feeder prison (it must have got too excited and flown all the way in!) and I took some photos of the beautiful Bantam hens at the farm. We just had a wonderful time. On our way home we popped into A and S's house for tea and a catch up, and watched baby F's new trick (rolling over and giggling like mad) before heading home to bed. After lots of fresh air, we were more than ready for bed. Perfect weekend :)