Welcome Break :-)

Nothing to do with a dodgy roadside cafe, instead a VERY welcome few days off after 8 consecutive days of chaos at work!

Yes, the last few days or so have been wonderful. Emily came up from Birmingham for a long weekend and I managed to get (almost) all of that time off, giving us both a chance to explore the area in more detail.

Believe it or not, after 6 weeks, I'd still not had the time to venture into the forests that surround us at work. Em & I put this right on Sunday, albeit the easy way via car! The weather welcomed Em with the kind of freak conditions that now seem the norm to me - cold, warm, rain, hail, snow, sunshine taking it in turns throughout the day and leaving you wondering what season it is. Anyway, my first trip into the forest has certainly whetted my appetite and i'm determined to get out there more on my bike in the coming weeks because it looks stunning!

Em took my picture on a brief exit of the car... (PS-click on the pics for a bigger picture)


























Looks nice eh? Indeed it was, although about a minute after this had been taken the sun went behind a cloud, temperature plummeted and not long after we had a flurry of snow. Needing no more prompting, we headed back to the car and made our way to the remote Gordon Arms pub for Sunday lunch. Mmmmm.....Sunday lunch......

It had been 6 weeks since my last roast dinner so I can't tell you how good it was to taste roast beef, yorkshires, roast potatoes etc. Oh my! This was after we'd negotiated the vegetarian menu for Em, which confusingly included things like chicken curry!!

As we left the pub, I spotted another photo opportunity....



















Not a particularly great pic, but it gives you an idea of how random the weather is!

I should point out at this juncture that I've been warned at pain of death to be 'selective' with the pics I use involving Emily. Not that i'm a coward you understand, but in the interests of an easy life (and banking bribery options) i have, for now, agreed. (OK, I AM, a coward!)

Em's mission while she was here, was to help me turn my bedroom from a fairly unorganised bachelor pad into something a bit more homely. This involved far too many visits to IKEA than is healthy, but after 5 days of moving stuff around & spending lots of money, the result is definately worth it. Pictures won't really do it justice here, but it's now a home from home and finally feels like a place of my own. Mission accomplished flower ;-)

Next up, we hit Edinburgh. I'd only been once myself, on a trip to the cinema with Nic weeks ago, so it was a bit of an adventure for us both. Em & I had actually been a couple of days earlier, but the weather had been terrible so we did'nt stay for long. This time round though, we were blessed with much better conditions. I won't ramble on too much - the following pictures tell it better than I can....


























Gardens surrounding Edinburgh Castle

Yours truly in same gardens.

The Castle Walls

Em overlooking the town.

Tourist Pic!

You better believe it!! ;-)

I took a great pic of Em outside a bar called ' Dirty Dicks' just after this and had much fun dreaming up a caption. In fear of my life, it's been left out.....for now ;-)

Phew! For whatever reason, this post has taken me forever. As a result, the last few pics go without caption, but are all from a park overlooking Edinburgh.

It's kinda late now & i'm tired + have 7 days of work in front of me, so forgive me for signing off abruptly. My apologies to my familiy, Des + Julie, Jon + Heidi, Dave + Becky, Scott + Sally etc - all of whom i've been a bit slack in contacting of late. I'll try to catch up this week - honest!!

Finally to Emily. Thank you for being here this week. I've had the best time & feel so much better for it. Think I understand now. I'm always here for you, hope to see you soon & love you dearly :-)

XXX

Til next time folks....

;-)