We swam in Clunie Water in Braemar yesterday in the same spot we swam over the summer last year. It was a lot colder this year. Absolutely freezing in fact so we used our wetsuits. It was still lovely and clear and we could see fish in it which is always reassuring. The colder temperatures will make the fish happy as salmon in particular suffer when the temperature rises. This is the Clunie Water as it passes through the centre of Braemar. I never tire of this view. It’s just so beautiful. We saw lots of ducks and this sign. Next to the games park they’ve put in a little putting green with ..read more

Last night before I had a chance to put the wildlife camera out the hedgehogs had already left their houses to forage for food. We saw Horace in the undergrowth hopefully consuming some of the many slugs and snails that live in our garden. It really is a paradise for hedgehogs as we have very little grass and lots of overgrown shrubs and trees so there’s plenty of space for hedgehogs to hide. Perhaps that’s why this morning they weren’t in their houses. They chose somewhere else to sleep during the day. They may have left our garden overnight and that would be fine although I’d feel a bit sad ..read more

My work has released a happy holidays video where those of us who want to participate, hold up a sign of something that has brought us joy over the past 12 months. Lots of things have brought me joy this year and aside from the obvious one of my family, the one that comes top in my mind is wild swimming. All the swimming we did in Scottish rivers over the summer brought me huge amounts of joy. I loved the beautiful landscapes and crystal clear and clean rivers, seeing the trout and salmon, and feeling invigorated and refreshed afterward. Here’s my 5-second contribution. Choreographed by me wit ..read more

Today started at around 2am with the cat meowing at me. She wanted to go outside but we don’t let her out at night and usually she’s very happy with that. I think her bowel movements must have got out of sync and she was desperate to go and crap in the neighbour’s garden. Eventually I caved into her demands and unlocked the cat flap before falling back asleep. I awoke again when she climbed back onto the bed and briefly glanced up to make sure there were no nocturnal mammals in her jaws. Thankfully I think her midnight adventure was just a number 2. For breakfast I made myself vegan scrambled ..read more

There was more wild swimming for us today. This time we swam in the Linn of Dee and the Linn of Quoich. Linn means a “pool below a waterfall”. The Linn of Dee is a well-known tourist attraction about 6.5 miles from Braemar. It was a favourite spot of Queen Victoria’s and is a gorge with a 19th century gothic-looking bridge. I have never swum here before as it can be quite treacherous, especially near the bridge. However, the water levels are very low right now and we were able to swim up the gorge, right through the narrowest section where you can touch both sides of the river at the same tim ..read more

Yesterday was another warm day and we swam in the Clunie River in Braemar. It was refreshing, crystal clear, and home to lots of juvenile trout. The trout ranged in size from tiny to an adult that was at least half a metre long. They can live for 10 to 20 years apparently and are quite territorial. I got a photo of one of the smaller ones from above the water surface. It’s in the very centre of this next photo – you may need to zoom in a bit. Braemar is looking splendid and also very busy. More people are holidaying locally because of covid and beauty spots around the country are full of Brit ..read more

I managed to tick swimming in An Lochan Uaine (green loch) off my bucket list today. It’s an emerald-coloured lochan with a sandy beach about 5 miles from Aviemore. It’s so inviting that even Daniel and Ben ventured into the water, despite the frigid temperature. I’m not sure what the temperature was exactly but it was definitely much colder than the River Dee. Ben said it nearly froze his balls off. We had a splendid picnic by the loch after our swim. We got some wraps from M&S in Aviemore and Ben and I got vegan hoisin duck wraps while Daniel and Elizabeth chose meat wraps. Daniel’s wrap ..read more

I’ve been a bit grumpy this past week because sometimes it feels like the world is conspiring against me. Earlier in the year I planted lots of sweet pea seeds. Only one of them germinated and when it had grown to about 10cm tall I planted it at the base of the tree on the footpath outside our house. A week later my neighbour thought it was a weed and pulled it out. He was very apologetic about it. So then I gave up on the sweet peas and planted lots of other things at the base of the tree. A few weeks later someone parked their car on the pavement and on top of the flower bed, squashing the p ..read more

We went to St Cyrus beach for a swim today. My sister-in-law is visiting and she has a penchant for icy showers and swims in freezing lakes in Switzerland. The photos make it look like a warm summer’s day but it’s actually winter here and the water temperature was 7°C. I’m preparing myself psychologically before venturing in.   The swim was invigorating. It’s almost unbearable as you walk into the sea and can feel your feet going numb but once you’ve submerged yourself it feels terrific. It’s like a pulse of caffeine is pumped through every vein and artery and you suddenly feel warm a ..read more