When you live in Scotland, weather is a frequent topic of discussion. This year however, we've had more than our share of weird and wild weather to discuss. The last couple of weeks the weather has veered between beautiful blue skies and torrential raids, sometimes alternating several times per day. It's tested the integrity of Edinburgh's roofs, tormented the workmen fixing the roofs at the university and caused a landslide across the train tracks in Glasgow. And when it takes a break from actual rain, the thick haar moves in to dim and dampen the day.

Edinburgh Castle hiding in the haar

Summer started on Thursday, but you wouldn't know it from looking outside. Admittedly it's actually rather mild, but it seems like we're stuck in a eternal spring, never quite getting from April showers to May flowers.

The rains have cleared enough on occasion to appreciate the true length of a Scottish summer day. At 3:3o this morning, the morning sun had already made good headway into lightening the skies. We don't get 'white nights', but if it were clear, we'd probably not get true darkness either.

Mother Nature cooperated enough yesterday to allow for some good, albeit muddy fun at a friend's hen party. We spent the afternoon at Melville Castle, engaged in mini Highland Games. The mini games are a combination of cut down versions of real Highland Games events and some other tests of talent. I managed to win a bottle of whisky for being the most accurate in the haggis throwing competition. The contest involved hurling a haggis encased in a long sock, and my success should probably be chalked up to luck. My talents somewhat extended to welly tossing, but definitely not to throwing the weight over the bar or hammer hurling.

Hands down, the most challenging event of the day was caber throwing. In real Highland Games, caber throwing can be best described a hurling a telephone pole end over end. The goal is for it to land as straight as possible (i.e. 12 o'clock) in front of you. For our mini games, we had three cut down poles of varying weights and lengths. We all managed the first, most the second, but only one person was able to get the heaviest and longest pole to go end over end. It's not so much strength that counts, but technique.

Looking out on Loch Tay from Firbush

One of the things I'm going to miss most when I leave Scotland is the trips up to Firbush, the uni's outdoor center up near Killin. There's something so relaxing about the simplicity of life there. Everyone is housed in 2 to 4 person single-sex bunkrooms, hearty meals are served in a dining room with views over the loch and the only thing you have to worry about is which activity to choose. For a weekend, you can leave all the worries of life behind.

On this my third trip to Firbush, I finally hit the weather jackpot - no easy feat in Scotland. Saturday dawned foggy and absolutely still, but by mid-morning the sun shining with a fresh, if inconsistent wind. My arms now bear testament to the fact that Scottish sun can burn - if only on very rare occasion.

Eschewing the chance to kayak, canoe, windsurf, hill walk, bike, walk or orienteer, I opted to spend all weekend cruising the loch on Laser. The wind tended towards the light, but it was so magical being out on the loch that I didn't mind in the least. After more than a decade away from competitive sailing, it was nice to be able to have a completely relaxed setting to re-aquaint myself with dinghy sailing. No pressure, no stress - just me, a Laser and a whole loch to explore on my on terms. I was pleasantly surprised at how much muscle memory I still have - bring on the roll tacks!

The Scottish landscape is truly unique - and I couldn't imagine a better backdrop for a day's sail. Loch Tay is long, but quite wide so there's plenty of room for sailing, and - at least at this time of year - very few motorboats. Firbush is located on the wooded side of the loch (excepting the nasty 'gash' where the trees have been logged), but the far side is a patchwork of fields, speckled with sheep and the occasional house, reaching up to craggy peaks.

The sheep-clad hills seem almost like a scene from a scale railway model. It's all just too perfect - the bright green, closely cropped grass like an emerald carpet stretched across a rocky frame; the little tiny white sheep and deep red highland cows; the sparkling white houses; the red car tootling across the hill-hugging road. At one point during a calm, I was mesmerized by a herd of sheep moving across in one swirling mass from one field to another.

The only clue of reality are the 'sound effects'. Sound carries startling well across the loch and it's more than a little unnerving to be startled out of a reverie by a very distinct moooo! or baaaaah! When the red car went roaring along the road, I couldn't help but think of the excerpt from "Cars" that was the Pixar exhibition here in Edinbugh, in which one could hear the tell-tale vroooooom as the little car zig-zagged up the mountain far in the distance.

I've posted a selection of photos from my two recetn Firbush trips here - click on the tabs at the top to see the second album.


Closer to home, they've partially re-opened our road, so the kids across the way have lost their football pitch. Fortunately, I noticed the traffic before stepping out into the road.

Water, Water, no water...

Such were the trials and tribulations of the last 24 hours. It was probably inevitable that Scottish Water was going to cut our water off at some point during their replacement of the pipes under the street, but it would have nice for it to be pre-planned, rather than a 'leave you in the shower with soapy hair' dramatic cut-off. And let's just say that it's not fun to get the stomach flu when you have no running water...

All is right with the water now, but no guarantees we won't go through this again before all is said and done. Construction in Edinburgh tends to be either highly dramatic (collapsed building, massive tailbacks etc.) or nearly abandoned (as in, haven't seen a worker in days).

At least Mother Nature has chipped in with a consolation prize in the form of a beautiful evening. With any luck she'll feel benevolent enough to smile upon us tomorrow as well.

For my tip of the day, if it's playing at a theatre near you, check out the Oscar nominated Danish Film 'Efter Bryllupet' (After the Wedding). It's got a touching story and a handsome lead in Mads Mikkelsen (James Bond's latest nemsis). Head on over to Apple for a trailer: http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/afterthewedding/trailer/