Itsmosblog - an appetite for Lochaber

After a long, wet, warm summer in Lochaber and adjusting to having to grow up due to the loss of my mum in the spring (who was unwell for many years and was no spring chicken), it's time to kick start the winter with a new approach to the blog. There's a wee bit of the recluse within me, but thankfully Running Girl chooses to ignore that and refuses to allow me to wallow for too long. Many of us will suffer episodes where we experience noisy brains and a tendency to low mood and the noisier the brain the lower the mood. Challenging the mind and body can change the thought process from needless inner chatter to focussing on the predicament you've put yourself in. For example, RG announced that cold water was good for physical and mental health and that a Monday morning swim in the sea would set us up for an active and positive week. Now, I can put on the wet suit, waterproof socks (lol), bootees, neoprene gloves and double wetsuit hats - but that doesn't mean I'm going into the water. I've proven this on more than one occasion even in beautiful full summer conditions. But several Mondays on from RG's original announcement and I am already managing more than 5 minutes in the icy waters of Loch Linnhe! Does my noisy brain quieten? Most certainly. You can't make that much squealy noise in between sharp intakes of breathe and still mull over useless items of an unsolvable nature. So she has a point. "Wait until we're scraping the frost off the windscreen in the morning" she giggled, in an ever so slightly maniacal manner.

So far I haven't even got a salty face and have given up the goggles and the double wetsuit hats as I have not yet wet a cheek - not a facial one, anyway - nor got my hair wet. But apart from 2 weeks in sunny Spain, I'm still there on Mad Mondays.

I'm not thinking this is a very good idea.........

Apparently not - but I'm pretty sure THIS does.