Yesterday found us heading to Inverness, to the funeral of one of our community, Pauline.  She was a larger than life character whose laughter could be heard a long time before you actually saw her.  We were sad to say our goodbyes but it was a lovely service, with many memories of her laughter and kindness.  It often seems that cancer claims so many in our close knit community, but I suspect that it is just that one gets to hear about the causes of death of those who live in the area, whereas if we were in a souless area where you had no idea who your neighbour was, you simply wouldn't get to hear about it.

We woke  to dire warnings on the internet about the road conditions, but we decided to try to get to Inverness nonetheless.  And what a beautiful drive it was.  Snow really changes the landscape and offers the most spectacular, magical scenes.



 

Loch Glascarnoch, which is the highest point on our way to and from Inverness, was completely white.

 



But the sky, snow and water ware thrown into stunning contrast closer to the dam wall.  And yes, that is ice on the loch.



 

We've had some great weather related scenes on our daily dog walk too recently.  This was a cell of snow which missed Clachtoll but, as Stevan found out when he was doing a post office run this morning, landed on Lochinver instead.



 

I'm really busy in the dye shed now, getting ready for Edinburgh Yarn Festival which seems to be rushing up to meet me,  I am doing a few new shows this year, more of which I'll go into at a later date as more details about the events emerge, but one show which is new to me is Woollinn in Dublin, and this takes place in May.   This will be my first non-UK based show, so I'm filled with more than a little trepidation about it!  But I know it will be fun.  There are quite a few logistics which still need to be sorted out for this event, but with the recent passing of our friend, Pauline, at a very young age, I'm determined to seize any opportunity and adventure I can.  So, Dublin here we come!