The Winner Takes It All and A Long and Winding Road

Hello my sweets,

I hope this Wintery evening finds you well and at the very least cosy.  I'm currently covered in pom poms after upcycling a jumper for Christmas so strong that it had the potential to bring on snow :)

This bad boy was made for Miniclickaganza a little get together with lovely peeps in Brighty

Let me begin by saying thank you soooo much for all your lovely comments on the wedded bliss post.  I was touched and so were all those that were mentioned.  As I said previously it was honour and privilege to be part of two wonderful women's next chapters :)

The winner of my giveaway is another gorgeous blonde :)

Without further do but with much serendipity  I can announce that the winner of the wedding related giveaway is none other than the fabulous Kathryn of Yes I Like That who has just announced her own engagement :)  I do believe there is a lot of good energy that travels through our community only the other day I was saying how appropriate it was that Zoe turned up in my life just as the sewing bug had bitten hard.  Congratulations Kathryn!  I can't wait to see what you whip up.

Well with the important announcement made I can lead nicely into the second half of the title of this post, which is what I got up to post the period I affectionately called Weddageddon ;-)

WARNING: This bit of the post is not sewing related so feel free to switch off.

As you may have gathered my darlings I'm not a gal who does things by halves.  A point that was noted some years a go by my dear friend Jo who when discussing my plan to walk across Spain as I needed time to think post university.  She said when I divulged my plan, "See that's the difference doll between me and you well you and pretty much everyone else.  If I need a think I walk round the park me.  You need a think well then you're staring down the barrel of 500 miles!"  Never a truer word spoken.

Well this time I didn't have that much thinking to do more a spot of decompressing so I traded 500 for just under 100 miles in the form of the West Highland Way.  My darling Grandad who relocated South was from Scotland and I'm ashamed to say I had never visited.  As is often the way when you're a writer you think could there be a story in this?  Well there is if you take a family rescue dog with you :)  The  pooch in question is our darling family pet, Macey.

Lovely Macey perched alongside our Pa

She's a beautiful girl who has been part of our lives for well over a decade.  We rescued her from the RSPCA when my sister and I went to look for a dog as a present to Papa Demeanour who'd been heartbroken since losing our German shepherd, Rumpole.  It was literally love at first sight.  Her big cow eyes said I will love you so much if you take a chance on me and she's never let us down :)  So much so the Demeanours Senior have gone on to rescue a further three pooches who have been wonderful hairy extensions to our family.

I contacted a few magazines and pitched my idea for a long distance dog walk/pet holiday and it proved a winner so plans were hatched over the summer with aim to leave just after the weddings.  I've also agreed to write a free piece for the RSPCA because they are charity very dear our families heart.

So at 5am on the 18th October this year Macey and I saddled up and headed to Glasgow albeit in the luxury of Virgin 1st Class.  We booked in advance, which made it really cheap and with tonnes of complimentary food for me and her it would be rude not too.

Macey always knew if she got the chance to travel by train it would be a 1st class experience ;-)

Five hours later we arrived in Glasgow and trekked out towards Milngavie and the start of our six day trek to Fort William.  We had no idea what to expect and if you told either of us we'd get to ride in a red vintage Ferrari, see a stag just a few feet away, feed deer and walk up through the clouds we would have respectively laughed and ruffed in your face :)

Here our a selection of pictures from our travels as I don't have the words to described how beautiful this part of the country is.

At the start best foot and paw forward

Come on Miss D stop snapping we've got miles to cover!

Day 2 and a swim in Loch Lomond for Macey

These cows gave me my first chance to have a go at wrangling.  I simply said Good Morning and excuse me and they parted. No need for any of that lasso malarkey.

Day 3 in Tyndrum and we stayed in lovely little dog friendly hiker's hut

Day 4 and Macey was so comfortable when the alarm went off and I got dressed she opted for another cheeky snooze ;-)

Day 4 also saw us come face to face with this big fella who took a dislike to both me and Macey, which meant instead of hiking we were jogging for a mile or so :s

The early starts were a bit of shocker but the views were so worth it.

Day 4 was a longest day walking with 19 miles to cover but when we finally made it over Rannoch Moor we were greeted by this dear deer :)

After a long day we made it to Kinghouse Hotel to be greeted by this sign. I knew immediately it was my sort of establishment.  No messing about with check-in it's straight to the cocktail lounge for a dirty martini

I can't recommend the hotel enough.  It was really cheap, staff were lovely and check out the view from our room.  If Carlsberg did hotel views....

There was also some ace inspiration for future outfits on the wall.  I think I could totes pull off to The Manor Born.

Day 5 saw us ascending the steepest part of the walk the Devil's Staircase.  Although it puffed us out it was magical to walk up through the cloudline. Macey's face was a picture as she popped up through them.

Our final home was the aptly named Hobbit House. This baby had a fridge, microwave, two beds, heating and a TV!  Macey and I were both glad to not miss GBBO.

Day 6 and a few miles to go Macey wanted to rock something a little special to go over the line.

Woohoo we made it!  Here we are next to the sore feet statute in Fort William. We celebrated with haggis and fish and chips respectively.

So long Scotland you've been anything but paw - boom tsh! :)

Well that's the story of our long and winding road.  We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and met some wonderful peeps and I think Macey is continuing to make the other family dogs jealous with her tails (sorry can't resist the dogs puns - last one I promise though).

Reliving the walk has left me pooped so I'm gonna go fix myself a mulled wine and put my feet up for half an hour.

Until next time my darlings always remember to put your best foot forward.

Love Miss D

xxx