Epitaphs and Inscriptions - Update

That was a surprise. There's been a   postscript to my postscript about Bill Lobban, who died in 1975, whilst trying to rescue another walker from drowning in  Loch Lomond . Go through to my first link to read a comment by a member of the family. What a small world - made even smaller by the wonders of modern communication. Definitely one of the more positive aspects of the internet, this one.  Memories, too of our walk along the same route nearly three years ago. Below are some shots from our travels that day, from Rowardennan to Ardlui along the Eastern shore of Loch Lomond.  Photos 9 and 15 show the cairn and inscription that commemorate the life of a true hero.

Travelling Light? The Saga continues

Gaze into the cavernous interior of Dark Vadar Mk II in wonder,  for it is He.  My order for DV Mk I was  cancelled, due to lack of stock. Trust me to plump on a model that seems to be rarer than hen's teeth! So, back to the drawing board...aka phone and laptop as I called up the firm who supplied me with the lamented but not yet late Amorphous Green Caterpillar.  In the end I plumped for a size down from my first choice, which is just as well, given that in the event of a repetition (please no!) of the Great Greenbelt Flood of 2012, I could probably have  housed half of the campsite in it. Customer service couldn't have been better. The chappie on the other end of the phone, shot downstairs to set aside one of the only 2 tents left, I did the needful and lo and behold, my new toy was with me so quickly I'd hardly time to say "Sewn-in groundsheet." Was I thrilled!

We'll draw a veil over my first attempt at pitching it in the back garden. Those who know me on the dreaded FB will have had more than enough of the gory details. Suffice it to say, I managed to extend the official pitching time of 7 minutes into 2 1/2 hours. Never mind, weather permitting, I'll be having a couple more practices before The Big Day. I've quite a record to beat.

Of course what pitching time doesn't include is all the arranging of gear, prettifying and prinking. Cue much weeping and wailing on my part. As I said, DV II is from the Goth school of tentery (is there such a word?) and I don't do Goth. So sorry DV, I'm not about to waste the pile of lovingly sewn  bunting and solar-powered fairy lights I've accumulated over the last few years, nor my favourite woolly caterpillar blanket. Tough. My  challenge is to transform the dark interior into something light and airy with the minimum amount of effort and expenditure. 

Mind you there was slight confusion in church this morning when somebody who'd   seen my  photos expressed surprise on seeing me there. They'd been under the impression that GB had already begun. This happens sometimes, as unlike many people, all my holiday posting on social media is always after the event. I don't have, nor do I intend to have a smartphone. No, as I blogged earlier, I have a brick. Turns out in my favour as it happens; I gather from the grapevine  that it's  possible that with limited mobile coverage on site, those   bog standard phones minus internet, bells and whistles may work more efficiently than their power greedy more sophisticated cousins. Isn't it  great to be at the cutting edge of technology  for a change? 

Personally, I think we'd  all  be far better off communicating like this.