Introducing Madge the Majestic…

You have probably noticed that I have changed the name of our blog to include… ta…ta…da! – Madge, so named after her official make – Elddis Majestic (note the little crown)!  Poor Bessie had to be retired (and will, hopefully be giving a little pleasure to a new owner.  Unfortunately, she had no permanent beds and it was getting a trifle tiring making up the beds every night.  The extra length of Madge means we have two wonderful single beds that are dressed and ready to sleep!

Just in time for our first holiday in Scotland for two years.

As usual, we broke our long journey yesterday at Threlkeld Hall near Keswick.  The day began with cloud and a certain amount of rain although the skies had started to clear a bit by the time we reached the Lake District.  It was Alfie’s first long trip with us, although he had been to Norfolk a couple of times.  It was certainly Madge’s first trip!  She behaved well and was comfortable to travel in.  There were a few creaks but that is inevitable.

We reached Threlkeld Hall, near Keswick, where we had stayed two years ago.  They have expanded it since but it is still a beautiful place to lay our heads for just one night this time. A bit of a dodgy night’s sleep for me.  My shoulder was giving me a lot of pain and I kept nearly falling out of bed.  Peter told me in the morning we were on a bit of a slope – no wonder!

This morning broke with sunshine and blue skies – fabulous.  The scenery, which is always fabulous, looked even more stunning. Hover over each photo to change it.

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We headed down to Keswick to visit that Ice Cream Parlour par excellence – Luchini’s.  As is our wont we called in to purchase a couple of cones of home made ice cream and had a tub filled with gorgeousness  to keep in in fridge for later.

No time to drive around the lakes this time as we needed to reach Oban this afternoon.  The scenery continued to be breathtaking.

Check out that sheep!

Patches of gorse

We saw a sign for Loch Lomond and followed the narrow roadway down beside the loch – what a good decision!  We have not seen this side of the loch before and the photo opportunities were endless.  Just a few of them here…

Some mergansers swam past but they were some way out and therefore the photos were not the best.  The slideshow shows the female with the russet head and the male with the green head…

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After lunch (left-over) scones, jam & cream!) we drove along the side of the loch until we reached the main road again.

Oban at last!  Gorgeous sight in the sun…

Peter popped into CalMac to collect our tickets for the crossings we have planned and we turned around and headed for Benderloch where we will stay overnight.

The sun has started to go down and the water is pure silver…

`Our ferry is not until lunchtime tomorrow so no leaving at the crack of dawn this time thank goodness.  Hearing the weather forecast for tomorrow I think we may be in for some rough weather with lots of rain.  Oh well, maybe our luck is going to run out!