Today I had the day off . We ran to Gairlochy and then along the canal . The weather wasn't good - bitterly cold, high winds and showers of driving snow. Running into the head wind was tough and so we popped in to the Moorings Hotel at Banavie for a warming bowl of soup. Above is a quick sketch of the view from their window . The hills disappeared behind a snow shower when we arrived but reappeared shortly afterwards.The lamp post looks incongruous but it was there so I included it. Running home through the forest was far more comfortable with the wind behind us.
 Back to work tomorrow.

Sketch form the Pine Martin Cafe at the Nevis Range ten days ago - lots of snow but the cable car was not running due to the high winds- hence the man snowboarding at the bottom of the mountain bike trail. We ran through the forest and warmed up with an excellent Americano coffee topped with cream in the cafe.

View near Arisaig 22/1/15

We have been having some wintry weather over the last few weeks.As is normal in this part of the world no two days are the same. One day of high winds and driving cold rain will be followed by clear frosty weather or snow. Last week I had  my hardest run to work yet . A terrific headwind at times brought me to a standstill , the rain was unrelenting and ferocious. I was in serious danger of hypothermia but knew that there was a hot shower and coffee waiting for me at work. In contrast the next few days were dry underfoot but very cold. The slope up to the Nevis range access road was thick with ice on Friday and despite taking great care I slipped onto my bum and slivered half way down the slope ! Today it was back to rain and wind.