A hedgehog, midwives up a mountain, and a cookie shaped like a cow.

This post is a bit of a mishmash but sometimes that's what our weekends are like. On Saturday evening we found this lovely little lady in our garden - it's only the second hedgehog that I've seen in the wild. We've visited the hedgehog rescue centre of Tiggywinkle's outside London and loved seeing the little beasties wandering around the garden. I guess this is another benefit of the very long days in the highlands, we get to see animals that are nocturnal - I took this photo after 10pm with no need for a flash.

On Sunday we drove down to Fort William (the reason will follow in a moment). Fort William is where the West Highland Way finishes. This is a walk that has been on my bucket list for way too long and I suspect it will stay there for a long time in the future. It's Scotland's most popular long distance walk which is 96 miles/154 Kilometres long. Since we last visited the town they've changed the end point and made it much more of a feature - there are seats for the walkers and a statue of a walker resting his feet.

A really interesting feature in the town is the Recycle route which includes 13 painted bikes at various points around the town with interesting facts about recycling. I think anything that makes us think about what we're doing to the planet is a good thing.

Interesting pattern on the steps with a welcome message carved in English and Gaelic.

Now for the reason we were in Fort William. Ken's sister Jean and many of her midwife colleagues decided to walk to the top of Ben Nevis for charity. Ben Nevis is the tallest mountain in the UK and is 4,411ft 2in or 1,345m tall. These remarkable women (or crazy) went up the mountain in aid of two cancer charities, one of them being Maggie's Highlands which is where I work. They all inspire me greatly but especially Jean - she's like the energiser bunny, never stopping. This picture (courtesy of Jean's phone) is of the ladies at the summit of the mountain - Jean is on the right.

Jean just after she came down the mountain with her very well deserved bottle of prosecco - she wasn't actually drinking it but I think she was tempted.

Ken and his wee sister Jean - we're so glad we could be there to share that momentous achievement with the ladies.

On our way home we stopped at the Commando's memorial which was unveiled in 1952. 1,700 commandos died in the second world war and 8 commandos were awarded the Victoria Cross.

Since we last stopped at the memorial (quite a number of years ago) an area of remembrance has been created where the ashes of commandos from world war two have been placed along with memorial plaques to men and women who have died in more recent conflicts such as the Falklands, Iraq, and Afghanistan. It's a very poignant area as so many of the plaques are to very young people.

This is a view of the Nevis range from the memorial - Ben Nevis is somewhere in the clouds.

To finish here is a picture of my highland cow cookie that my beloved bought me - I'd given him the challenge of finding me a cookie shaped like an animal and not from a supermarket. I think he excelled himself.

Until next time be good, stay safe, and maybe challenge yourself to do something new this week.

Pamela & Ken
xxxxxxxxxxxx