Bad Week

This is the view from my bedroom.

That's what I have been looking at since the Cub camp last weekend.
Technically, that's what I've been looking at for the past number of years, but I have only paid it any great attention in the past week.
After coming back from the Cub camp on Saturday, and catching 2 hours sleep on the sofa while I waited for Fiona to arrive, I managed to completely put my back out. It had been sore since Wednesday, but had eased off and was almost normal by Friday afternoon. Saturday evening consisted of moving from chair to chair with much grimacing and moaning.
But Sunday was a nightmare. Absolute agony trying to get out of bed. Each time I tried it was worse than before. Eventually had to call the out of hours doctor to come over for an NSAID injection and painkillers.
It was Wednesday afternoon before I was out of bed again, and Thursday before some semblance of normality returned. By now its still just sore and I'm not supposed to drive much.
Fortunately I can work from home and its a holiday weekend.
Luckily for me I had Fiona who was able to adjust her schedule to provide the nurse care I needed and Ciaran who was here from Monday afternoon.

"Pain is a sign, not an illness". Apparently, its a sign that you shouldn't sleep outside on the hard ground when you already have a sore back (although 'sleep' is a broad term since it wasn't 4 hours between their last noise and their first noise). Its also a sign that if its that sore, then don't stand up for the next 10 hours.

Every cloud and all that. Fiona managed to affirm that she made the right career choice in choosing to be an accountant and not a nurse.

Spooky forest creature

I was adding my latest photos to Picasa when it flagged a face I didn't recognise.
When I checked the photo, there was no one present - it was a shot out the window of a tea room in Aviemore where bird feeders were set up. Fiona and I spent some time there back in August.

Lower left hand corner, between the two trunks is a face. Just who is the mysterious person?

Its not a reflection on the glass.
Best suggestion is a Wallgeist, which is a German name for a woodland spirit. They would more commonly be known as a dryad, but dryads are normally exclusively female.
Its supposed to be good luck to spot one so I'm optimistic.
The 'glass is half empty' side says its just leaves and light which satisfied Picasa's face recognition algorithms, but which I can't now seem to stop seeing...

... go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

You need to be well up on your movie quotes to recognise that line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It's from the French soldiers guarding the castle. These scenes were filmed at Doune Castle in Stirlingshire. We decided we would head up to see if we could pick up the scent of hamsters and elderberries.
We had an uncharacteristicly organised morning, and were actually away in good time. Traffic was also good, so much so that Fiona had to comment on what good time we were making. Literally around the next bend the brake lights came on as we hit the back of a 3 mile tailback going through roadworks.
Changing our plans slightly, once we got through the roadworks we diverted into Dunblane to get sandwiches before resuming on to Doune.
It is a spectacular looking castle. Sadly there was a wedding reception just starting so there was no way to get anyway near the castle. The tiny car park was overflowing and cars were beginning to be abandoned on the narrow road. We just about managed to get back out before the whole area jammed solid. (Run away! Run away!) A quick consult of the Historic Scotland handbook showed that Inchmahome Priory was a suitable alternative visit.

This is a ruined 13th century priory located on an island in the middle of Lake Monteith. To get on, you turn a signal and a boat comes across from the island to collect you. Once you get to the island you either buy your admission with free boat back, or buy a boat ticket back with free entry - a perfect business model - free admission, pay to exit. Of course, the last boat focuses the mind so we didn't stay too long but once we started to criticise the "artists impression" on the information boards we knew it was time to go.