Day 2: July 5th: Watton to Helmsdale.

Stopped at the 'Forse of Nature' cafe (about half a mile down a rutted drive - so thank goodness they were dog friendly AND willing to charge my battery). Veggie soup, apricot and elderflower tart, berry tea and doggie biscuits - which Mabs sniffed out on a shelf through the plastic, so excellent is her nose.  They had clear plastic bird feeders stuck to the window, so siskins kept diving in and out for seeds as I ate.
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​Today, i left behind my water bottle. It was a very nice water bottle. Nice present for the friendly and hospitable Gabs. Also - i stopped to knock on the door of a farm to let them know a cow had just given birth in a field back down the road - and on my way back to my bicycle, several things fell out the lower part of my rucksack where i'd failed to zip it up properly! Have i lost anything else? Don't know yet. 2 days in and i'm developing an interesting attitude to material things - as long as me and Mabs are safe, warm, fed and have somewhere dry to sleep...

Shortly after reporting the calving, Mabli declined to get back in the trailer - and danced out of reach (communicating her unwillingness to travel in such an alien and scary vehicle very clearly).  She disappeared into a garden next to a farm.  A lady emerged from the house - and offered me tea!  So I obliged and got given a home made flapjack to boot.  We had a lovely conversation about intransigent dogs (she has a rescue collie) for an hour in her cosy kitchen.  Sadly I had to move on, but Mabs had had a lovely romp with the lady's dog and was now willing to be transported again.  

Going past Camster (read - the middle of nowhere) I spot some interesting stone igloos.  I had to stop and investigate the 'Grey Cairns of Camster' - neanderthal feats of engineering!  Two skeletons were discovered inside one of them - at the entrance.  There was also a tale recorded on the info. board of a Victorian 'lady' who, having crawled in to one of the Cairns, couldn't crawl out again - so a ladder had to be fetched, to enable her exit through the hole in the roof!   I crawled in, and Mabli came too - and out, successfully.  

Later, I had another interesting conversation with a woman strimming the verges - who lived 3 miles from the A98 - she hadn't planned to live out her days in such a remote spot. But, 16yrs ago, after 3 yrs+ of looking down a shotgun barrel held by her then boyfriend, she took her three children and fled as far north as she could go - Caithness - from the outskirts of Manchester.