Ok so yesterday I had 3 caffeine coffees, 3 alcohol free beers and a 0% gin and slimline tonic…. And I slept like a LOG. Go figure?!?

I had the best sleep. I went to bed really early, about 9pm and read for a bit. Maybe that helped. Who knows?!?

So up and out early with the OG3 this morning. Still resting Khaleesi’s injuries after a couple of big walks earlier this week.

It’s still hot but no sun this morning. interesting cloud cover.

We met Lindsay and Euan at Kilbirnie Loch at 10am this morning. We are so lucky to have this within 10 minutes of the house. We are even more lucky that they have leant us their lovely big, red canoe.

They both had kayaks and Craig and I shared the canoe. 🛶

Now I’ll be honest and say I’ve enhanced this photo a bit but Kilbirnie Loch has blue/green algae at the moment. If it wasn’t so dangerous to dogs, it could be considered quite pretty!

Ready for the off!

I love the luminescence of the green against the water.

At precisely this point in time my Co-pilot (who am I kidding…. Pilot!) reminded me to put down my phone and start paddling 🛶

It was SOOOO calm. Just the most peaceful thing in the world. Out there on the water having laughs with Lindsay and Euan.

They are excellent kayakers.

We are so grateful that they have lent us their canoe 🛶 to try.

Seeing the loch from the water is really lovely. Opens up a whole new world. I have always wanted to kayak around Scotland and Craig is loving the canoe.

Too much chat, not enough paddle 😂

I think these look like a heart beat!

It was so calm, still and peaceful. Just the paddles splashing and the chat and laughter.

Next thing we know, we are heading in here!!

This was just so beautiful and so unusual for us, we’ve never done anything like this before. It was so much fun!

We all have to turn round as the river got shallower further up. I have to say that Craig did all the pilot work and just told me what to do and I actually listened. Check me!

It went surprisingly well considering we are novices.

A wee bit too much photography again 😂

The sky is really moody.

There is a heron flying through this shot but it’s too dark and moody to see properly… the sky that is, not the heron!!

Then we pulled into the waters edge and had tea, coffee and cake!! Lindsay was super organised with her Jetboil, even had a choice of teas!

It was so lovely to stop and look around for a bit (as if I hadn’t been doing that already!!)

Here comes the train!!

Lindsay and Euan swapped kayaks out in the middle of the water. Super impressive.

Euan then did some spinning!!

Craig and I just kept on paddling 😂🛶

Some more of the blue/green algae.

This old walkway has mostly disintegrated now, really sad it wasn’t looked after.

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And back to where we started.

Such a lovely morning and still had the whole afternoon to write this!!! That’s how long it takes sometimes when you have so many lovely photos 😂

Hope you’ve had a great weekend and all the best for another lovely week ahead!

Stay safe everyone 🛶☀️🛶