Rule No. 1:- Listen to your Daughter

The conversation went something like this:-
Ellie: Dad can we go skiing this afternoon?
Dad: No, we went skiing yesterday.
Ellie: Oh please dad.
Dad: No, it will be all icy like yesterday.
Ellie: But it will be all melted by next week.
Dad:Oh all right then.

The end result?  I'll let you judge!

So the moral of this story is always listen to your daughter...........lest you miss out on an excellent afternoon's skiing up at the Lecht.  Mind you, she got to sleep in the back all the way home!

And whilst Dad and Ellie were out skiing.......how about this for a cake worth coming home to?  Grandmas recipe for chocolate cake with orange cream icing.  That will do nicely thank you Isobel

Yet More Lecht! But Maybe The End.

Had Saturday morning up at the Lecht with Ellie.  Although there is good snow cover on all the runs the warm temperatures have made it pretty icy.  Eagle 2 was OK and then Ellie skied the Buzzard for the first time however it was distinctly tricky, one minute you were on pisted granular snow, the next ICE! 

In the end we found the best snow on the ptarmigan next to the grouse tow.  and Ellie even managed the steep section on the left hand fork next to the Grouse tow.  The snow certainly could do with topping up with a few inches of fresh stuff, it is getting pretty icy in places, whilst the depth of snow is still good, the quality leaves a lot to be desired!

Isobel was keeping goal for the Gordons S2 second team in a  4-2 win against Madras School fom Edinburgh.

And its not just cupcakes for eating that Ellie specialises in............how about this for a set of nails?  I hate to think what time she was up till doing them  : )

Had a lovely walk along the road to Donview with Isobel in the afternoon.  The river looked seriously cold.  Lots of snowdrops coming out.  Quite a few trees down in the forest so has certainly been windy over the last few weeks.

More Lecht!

It just gets better and better.  2013 is certainly proving to be a good year for snow.  Ellie had a fantastic four days at Glenshee with the school.  Her new skis were the business!  She was particularly pleased at being put into the top group and skiing with some of the racers.  They had a great 4 days, Tuesday was spent on the hill with good pisted snow.  Wednesday the ski center was stormbound so they spent the morning having snowball fights and then went to the Burn o vat near Aboyne in the afternoon before going for a tour round the Braemar Mountain Rescue Team's Rescue Centre.

Thursday and Friday were superb days at Glenshee with a foot of new snow.

Saturday was at last Dad's day to go and have a play so whilst the girls were playing hockey (Isobel's team beat local rivals St Margarets 7/0) I sneaked up to the Lecht (minus chair lift!) and had a great morning skiing on the Buzzard with no queues and virtually nobody else on the piste.

Skiing at The Lecht

Had a great morning up at the Lecht this morning.  Went up with Ellie and met up with her friend Eilidh and dad Neil.  Really good snow, 2-3 inches of fresh light snow on top of a really good pisted base.  Had some good runs on the Eagle then Ellie and Eilidh found a small jump at the top of the Eagle 2...........I decided to avoid it!

The light was a little flat, especially as the morning wore on but had a good 4 hours skiing from 8.30 to 12.30, fueled of course by hot chocolate and chocolate brownie!

And finally a pic of our Ellie, trying to look angelic!

More Winter Sports

After further good snowfalls during the week, last weekend saw some excellent snowsports.  Isobel and I went sledging on Saturday afternoon.  Isobel equipped in her father's best North Face climbing suit!!  Conditions in the field at the end of the Lords Throat road were much improved with good cover and a nice icy crust to speed things up a little.

And a few piccies of Isobel modelling my climbing suit! Lucky I don't use it any more! Have a sneaking feeling that that is the last I have seen of it!

Winter Wonderland

Have finally had a serious dump of snow so looking good for some winter sports. About 12 inches in the garden.  Sledging piste should be a lot less bumpy and painful this weekend. Just have to hope the roads are open!

Winter Sports

Some snow at last, a good weekend for the winter sports, Saturday saw some somewhat bumpy sledging (the piste was a little thin and the moles have definitely been on steroids!).  Ellie created a very rustic snnowman at the bottom of the piste who was our sole spectator!  All fuelled with hot chocolate and Xmas cake......what more could you ask for.

 Ellie has also learnt that it is not a particularly good idea to wear mascara when out sledging on a damp January afternoon!  (Only a particularly cruel father would highlight this fact on a blog!)

Sunday saw us skiing up at the Alford ski slope as all roads to the Lecht were closed, never the less good fun as plenty of snow on the dry ski slope, Ellie becoming a good little downhill skier.  Hopefully we will get some proper skiing next weekend.

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Had a great Christmas Eve (Once I had finished work!)  Escorted three very elegant young ladies to Alford Bistro where we had a superb meal.  Two of the young ladies even went to bed and sleep at a reasonable hour meaning their parents didn't have to stay up till all hours ensuring Santa had delivered.

Well we have now completed what can only be described as an orgy of present opening as evidenced by the pictures below. 

For the first time in a long time we actually got a bit of a lie in on Christmas day, woken up at 08.30 by the sound of Ellie laughing her socks off at a Top Gear special on iPlayer.  

So the highlights?  Ellie has a new camera and a GPS to go geocaching with, Isobel has a new bike , new bouyancy aid and new sailing holdall, Julie has lots of new warm clothes, and me?  Well what more could a dad ask for than a DSC Handheld VHF radio and a bottle of Jura whisky, oh and not forgetting several cycling books!

Its' Official, Christmas Has Started

Its official, Christmas has started as the Greens Christmas tree is up and decorated ( by Isobel).  She has gone for a more subtle look this year!  Did have one slight problem, got the tree, then remembered that the tree stand and decorations are all in Oban.........oops!  Nothing that a trip to Tesco's and Homebase couldn't sort out though.  If anyone is short on tree decorations this year, do let us know, we rather over bought!