My friend took me rock-climbing the other day.  Outdoors.  I’d had visions of hiking for hours in the pouring rain and then climbing a gruelling and terrifying multi-pitch route.

But in fact – contrary to the weather forecast – it didn’t rain.  Neilston quarry turned out to be the perfect height for scaredy-cats and there was no need for any multi-pitch stuff.    I had two moments where I was picturing my own death but I think that was more due to an overactive imagination than any actual danger.

And then, just when it was getting to the point where I was thinking it would be nice if quarries came equipped with coffee-shops, the guys next to us asked if we wanted a cup of tea!  Tea?  Out in a quarry?  Oh yes.  They had a little stove.  It was good, it was fast.  And they gave us sweet black tea and a slice of madeira cake.

Nice.

One thing I particularly appreciated about my snowboarding holiday was my snowboarding gear. I felt I could rely on it. The last thing you want on a holiday like that is to have sore feet or cold hands or to feel that your snowboard isn’t right for you.

Snowboarding is a mind game and if you don’t trust your equipment, you lose your mojo.

So a hymn of praise to the equipment:

Boots: Salomon (Fusion). Off-white. Kind of made me feel like a storm-trooper. Quite thin soles which mean good control, but in extreme cold not so good for keeping your feet warm. They have the lace toggle thingy which means you don’t need to tie your laces, you just pull the toggle. (Not entirely convinced of the benefit of the toggle thingy but my lace-tying friends thought it looked like a good idea.) On steep slopes my heels lifted a bit, so I think next time I may need thicker socks or some extra thingies toput inside the boots to stop my heel from lifting.

Jacket: Westbeach. 6000 mm waterproof, 6000mvt breathability. Integrated hand-warmers, powder skirt, detachable hood. The skirt is good for stopping snow getting inside when you do a face-plant, and better still you can take it off for normal around-town activity. I bought it last year and didn’t do any snowboarding last year so didn’t really bond with the new jacket and wasn’t sure I liked it. But now I’m sure. Its good, its warm and I like the design.

Base Layer: HH thermal leggings and a merino t-shirt. Merino is lovely and soft, and you can wear it forever without (hardly) washing it at all. All hail the base layer, for lo it was good.

Tops: a Ronhill v-neck T-shirt (made of polyamide, plus 8% lycra) and a fleece jumper. No cotton, no sirree. Once you’ve gone over to dry-flow stuff there’s no going back. A good number of layers that I could remove, but generally didn’t remove any layers and didn’t feel the need for any extra.

Trousers: Trespass. Waterproof, breathable, warm. Designed for age 13/14 but did me very well.

Goggles: Trespass. Anti-fog double lens UV400. I bought them in a hurry. They’re bright pink. The colour is a bit on the garish side but quite fun. And the anti-fog really truly works. My old goggles were really poor by comparison. These never misted at all.

Gloves: O’Neill. Inner fleece lining, outer is waterproof. A good size, reasonably easy to take on and off, and best of all, warm.

Winter buff: I used to think buffs were overpriced. I still think they’re over-priced, but they’re absolutely indispensable. I love mine. It keeps you warm and stops snow getting down your neck (and unlike a scarf, can’t blow away) and you can pull it up over your face and under your goggles, keeping your entire face covered. In the cold this makes a huge difference to your comfort, particularly if its windy or snowing.

Snowboard: I hired a snowboard when I got there. It was “Head” brand “Concept” board, 24.6 * 135. Seemed flexible to me in a good way, it didn’t get in a fluster when I pointed it into steep snowy ditches, it just flexed itself and came straight out again. No fuss. I’m just getting into doing small jumps and it was very co-operative there too.

In the spirit of continuing to take risks and try new things, I tried out an ice axe and crampons this weekend. I’ve always been wary of both items, first because they’re just an extra thing to carry and second, because if the mountain is really that dangerous then my inner parent generally doesn’t think I should be allowed out on it.

However, I had the chance to go for a hillwalk with a good friend and an experienced mountain leader and this chance coincided with the opportunity to borrow an ice axe and crampons.

We had a great day out, and stopped to play with the ice axe in a suitable icy patch which had soft snow and heather at the bottom of it. Lots of fun, and it did convince me that an ice axe could have uses other than accidentally impaling its owner.

And as for the crampons, well they are just an extra thing to carry and extra weight on your feet while you’re wearing them, but they gave me a magical superhuman ability to walk on ice without slipping. Apparently you can even walk UP sheer walls of ice, but that’s an adventure for another day.

Went hillwalking on Saturday. Planned this walk about 3 weeks ago. And the weather recently has been horrendous. I spent the days leading up to the hillwalk sitting in the office looking out at the pouring rain, wishing I hadn’t agreed to go walking at this time of year.

And then the day came, and it was beautiful. The mountain (An Caisteal) was covered in snow, various different sorts of snow – by turns powdery, fluffy, icy and sparkly. The sky was blue, the sun was bright and there was barely any wind at all.

Couldn’t have asked for better!

Went to Durham with J to visit F. And it was glorious autumn weather. Bright sunshine, clear skies. On Friday night we just chilled out and chatted. On Saturday (after a leisurely start) we went for a walk through a forest of beech trees. We stopped for a delicious lunch, then did some shopping. Its always fun to shop with friends, makes you consider buying things you’d normally walk straight past!

That evening we watched the rubgy (England against South Africa, world cup final). I don’t think I’ve ever watched a full game of rugby from start to finish before, and I have to admit, I haven’t been converted (ee is there a wordplay in there somewhere?!). But apparently it was a dull game, they were playing it safe, so maybe one day I will discover the true beauty of watching sport. In the meantime, I think playing sports is better than watching sports.

And on Sunday we went to F’s new church and it was lovely. Friendly people, simple and practical sermon, and lots of life about the place.

Durham itself is gorgeous – it has a river (always a good start) – which when we passed was populated with teams of rowers, it has deciduous woods, it has a castle and a cathedral on a hill. It has a manageable number of shops (i.e. not too many) and some great coffee shops. And based on a sample of 2 days, it is the land of constant sunshine.

Went climbing, then had some spare time.

Went to Largs.  Saw the sea (ok technically still the Clyde, but looked  and smelled like the sea), and saw one of the most amazing sunsets ever.

And all on a Friday night when I wasn’t expecting to leave the city limits of Glasgow.

Nice.

Months ago I got an invitation to go sea kayaking.  With only a very vague understanding of what that would involve, I said I’d like to go.  Its funny how easy it is to sign up for things ages in advance, kind of thinking that it’ll never actually happen.  And then it did happen.

And in the week leading up to it I was quite nervous.  I was going with one stranger, 2 guys I know fairly well and one girl I knew a bit but haven’t seen for months.  And I had no idea how difficult kayaking would be, or whether the group would wait for me if I got left behind.  And no idea what to pack.  And a vague idea that I should have been doing upper-body exercises to prepare, but due to some sort of tennis elbow thing, I’d not done any trapeze or climbing for AGES.

But it was GOOD and a very refreshing break from office life.  Good things that happened:

- glorious sunshine

- wonderful food in the red hotel in Lochmaddy, North Uist

- Gorgeous evening sunlight (still light around 11pm)

- The group worked really well together

- we ate well

- one person was WAY better than the rest of us, but everybody coped with the physical demands of it and there was nobody left struggling at the back of the group

- our guide was great, really easy-going and very knowledgeable.  He fixed it so that mostly the tide and the wind worked with us instead of against us.

Did a practise capsize on the Thursday night.  Prepared the kayaks on the friday morning.  Paddled all Friday afternoon.  Friday night camped on a tiny island (you could walk across it in less than 3 minutes!) and cooked the wonderful stew that S had made in advance. Saturday kayaked all day, and camped near the beach on Berneray.  Sunday kayaked back again, and had time to shower in the hostel and eat lunch.  We had kept some sausages in their fridge and that was one of the most amazing meals ever.  Sat outside eating sausages and enjoying the sunshine, with that nice group feeling that everyone has done their bit and nobody was under any pressure to be anything they’re not.

And it was a long journey back, but nice chat too.  Very glad I went.

Friday: cinema (mediocre film, fab company, nice walk home.  I love being within walking distance of the cinema)

Saturday: shopping and make-up lesson with a good friend, party with a mixture of good friends, acquaintances and new people (all female).

Sunday: Cycled 8 miles after church, ate lunch outdoors, cycled back by the scenic route. Had an hour on my own, then a wander round the park and a relaxing coffee, then the evening service. That is just what Sundays should be like. 

It was a gloriously sunny day last week. I’d been sitting in the office all day, and didn’t fancy taking the underground home. Somehow it seems wrong to be underground when the sun is shining!

So I walked home. The route home is through a park, and I kept noticing the most amazing birdsong. It was beautiful. Simple, but very melodic. I wondered what exotic kind of bird it could possibly be? And guess what? It was a blackbird. Simple unpreposessing bird, simple and beautiful song. Mmm.

Went for a run after the morning service today. Glorious spring morning, its great having parks nearby.

And saw snowdrops!!