There is something magic about the M9 and its effect 0n the West Indies cricket team. Twice in the past our journey north has coincided with a test match against the former world champions. Twice the very act of turning on the car radio resulted in West Indian wickets falling like nine pins. To day I took two wickets in ten minutes but then made the mistake of stopping for a horrendously expensive cup of tea and scones at an antiques road house. When we turned on the radio again Lara and Sarwan were well set and even turning the wireless on and off every few minutes had no effect-another factor was that we had long left the M9-The A84 has no terrors for the men from the Carribean. The Antiques Road House was a treasure trove of things we did not need and could not afford. THe restaurant was different in that it was full of scones and tea we needed and had to afford. But £5-20 for a pot for 2 and two scones shared was even more expensive than some of the antiques but at least fresh. The service was appallingly slow. There are moments when it is an enormous gut wrenching pleasure not to tip and this was one pof them.
Killin is not like Hutton. Surrounded by very high mountains including three Munro's (look up)and full of continental tourists determined not to antagonise the natives and thus avoiding eye contact at all costs. Saying Hullo in Swedish does not seem to help.(actually it might in Hutton as there is a very small Swedish community) Hutton has harvest flies and Killin has midges.Neither avoid eye contact and my magic potion for keeping away African Mossies seems to attract Scottish insects. Tomorrow I am determined to get some kind of response, friendly or otherwise, from a passer by. I'll let you know how I get on.
