Unstable tent and man-eating midges

As Joanne was unable to cope with the rooms, and after I told Joe that I refuse to also do that, he got another villager to help, and from then on I had much more time for myself, as this woman also did the bar when Liz and self were off, and also the diningroom on my days off.
Liz turned out to be a nice friend, and although in the beginning I had to almost pay her to go out into the wilds with me for a picnic, she was beginning to really enjoy it, that is of course with the understanding that I would have her back at five, as when the clock struck that hour, Lizzie opened her bottle of red. So I did not take her along every time I went out, for I loved it to sit in the wilds when dusk falls, as then the wild animals came out to dine, but on a few occasions she had taken her bottle with, and stayed with me to see what wildlife would show themselves.
Then after some heavy cajoling, Liz decided to go  with me and camp for the night at my river in Glen Lyon. So after Liz 's morning ritual that took almost two and a half hours, we packed her car, loaded the two dogs, Stouty and Benny, and off we went, leaving a lot of people thinking that we were stark raving mad, camping out definitely not one of the villagers's favourite passtimes.
It was a most unpleasant drive as Benny, the one dog, got very carsick, and he stood with his forepaws on the seat behind me, breathing out the most ghastly fumes in my neck that made me wanted to puke! He was quite old, and although Liz always cleaned his decaying teeth, the smell apparently did not respond.
As we started on the small winding road up to Ben Lawers and into the glen, things got too much for poor Benny, and he gave one gurgle, and puked all over the back seat, with poor Stout watching this disaster with big eyes. We had to stop and let Benny out, and the little thing looked so bedraggled, that I wanted to cry, but I was myself quite ratlled by first the smell of his breathe, and then the puking, that I went for a short walk with Stout following close on my heels, to give Liz time to clear up! I never had a strong tummy when it came to things like that.

But soon we were on our way again, and with me I think quite white around the gills, and poor Benny heaving and wretching, we at last reached the place where I marked my stopping spot by putting a lot of stones around the pole with the notice that it was actually a passing place. So if anyone ever go to Glen Lyon, stop when you see the stones, and enjoy a bit of the beauty that I so loved!
After the rain of the passed week, it was quite difficult climbing down to the river, the terrain very boggy, and every now and then one of us would fall into a muddy hole, and by the time we were down, we were covered in mud.
I had Liz promised to bring her bathing costume, as it was wonderful to just lie around in the pools, and indeed, as we just had to get rid of the mud, she disappeared around a big rock, and came out dressed in her swimsuit. But she at first only washed off the mud from her legs, refusing to get to deep into the water, but after her second glass of red, she was all game, and joined me where I was splashing around, the water not very deep.
We had such fun, but all too soon it was time to look for a dry enough, bogless spot where we could put up the tent. There was only a few small stretches of grass that would maybe do, and we picked the most likely spot where the tent would stay upright, and soon it was looking real cosy with the smoke from our fire rising slowly upwards, and our foodies all laid out. We had some lovely food, first the starter, that being prawns that I cooked on the barbeque, then we had minted chops and steaks, with potato wedges  from potatoes I had cooked at the hotel, fried tomatoes, and salad. It was yummy.  We were busy eating our pud, namely apple pie that was warmed on top of the barbeque, but not quite warm, and cream, when the bally midges woke up, and smelled our blood!