The Tigger Who Turns Up

Tuesday April 22nd I feel like I've been "turning up" quite a lot in the past few days - descending in to places and then setting off again on my merry way. It's an incredibly enjoyable way of doing things. There's something about an overnight stay with good friends or family that turns a visit into a very easy going occasion: catch up on arrival / talk into the evening / chat over breakfast and then depart. But as I sit here with the most wonderful cacophony of water falling over rocks as my soundscape, I am pondering how often others do this kind of dropping in. I certainly know it happens occasionally but I feel like I'm making a habit of it - mostly because these are people I would not normally get to see and yet, being "in the area" it seems only sensible to make the most of the proximity. And so I do.

Greatly assisted by motorised vehicle ownership, of course.

Virtually all of my trips with the Golden Chariot have been heading south from Lancashire and so a proper jaunt in Scottishland has been a real treat. Last night in particular (driving from Forfar to Pitlochry) took me through some gorgeous countryside, and with sunshine aplenty to accompany me it was a wonderful experience. Even this morning I've been enjoying fairly quiet roads as I potter around Perthshire and, despite it being immediately after a bank holiday weekend, I have found no congestion, no traffic jams - just sparsely populated roads and a sat nav to keep me on track. (Admittedly as I head further south and back on to dual carriageways and motorways I'm likely to get back into normal traffic levels, but having a break from them has been most enjoyable).

After such glorious sunshine for the past week or so the clouds have now joined the party and the contrast of a cooler, wetter day is presenting new challenges and opportunities. Somehow I don't particular feel like I'm in a sauna & steam kind of frame of mind but equally am not quite sure what else may take my fancy. But with trusty travel aids and books aplenty, methinks a cosy cafe may well be the sensible answer...