Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again

Or rather, I dreamt that H and I were sailing around some unspecified Scottish islands in the most beautiful yacht - all teak decks, creamy sails, a gaff rig and a proper ships wheel to steer by. It was perfect - and I may be homesick for my holiday!



It seems scarcely believable that I've only been back at work a week; if you caught me in an unguarded moment I'd probably tell you I was shattered and I really needed a break!


Some of our clothes still have that faint whiff of a salty wind and there are still pebbles from the beach stuck in the grooves of our boots so it wasn't all a dream.

I am in very grave danger of turning into an advert for the Scottish Tourist board I know, but it is a really beautiful part of the world.



The rocks on the jetty had amazing colours of lichen depending on where they were on the tide line




you know that someone with a penchant for burnt orangy-red was going to love this colour - I'll have to take up yarn dying and make a colourway to match - "Jetty and Seaweed"!

Or a very pale blue and pinky-red - "Lonely Mussel"

The seaward end of Loch Etive is distinctly different to the mountains of our first trip out; the mountains falling from Glen Etive give way abruptly to rolling hills and scenery very reminiscent of the southern English coastline - at least, a southern English coastline with a mirror on the horizon.



We went out fishing twice while we were up north, sadly with a negative profit - we caught no fish whatsoever apart from the mackerel strips we were using as bait; and managed to snag and snap four sets of hooks and line, which I think is a family record. The hook lines used for deep fishing are a work of art in themselves - a mix of plastic beads and strips of shiny film tied together to look like a string of the most inviting, luscious prawns ever seen by a big fish at the bottom of the loch:


The trick is to gently tweak the line up and down to make the plastic prawns look like they're swimming - the lack of fish suppers suggests that (a) I hadn't quite got it and (b) the fish preferred the real prawns that day.



Sitting out in the boat, drifting with the breeze and the tide in that wonderful sea air and glorious sunshine - well it's amazing we came back at all.



Come back we did, and as you can see I have been knitting as usual, and finishing up what may well be one of my most favourite pairs of socks to date:


These are my completed Fireside socks and to be honest, I think they are simply wonderful.



The only change that I made to the written pattern was to go up to 2.5mm needles to make a bigger size, which means that when they are on my feet they don't loose the 3-D texture of flames licking up your feet.

They were easy to knit, they look fab, what's not to love?

So now that I've finished the fire element, should I go for Earth, Water or Wind next?

I'll leave you with the perfect sunset as I go back to dreaming of the distant north: