Helpful sharing!

This little gadget is the answer to a teetery maiden's prayer in this weather: rubber oversoles with spikes, which you pull on over your boots/wellies/shoes/trainers. I wore them yesterday to push AJ along the icy West Bay prom to the playpark, and was able to march briskly without a hint of sliding.

I bought them in Tiso's in Glasgow for £25, and my only regret is that we only bought one pair - we thought we'd try them out first. Unless Mr B and I take a foot each, we're kinda limited right now - but this is the official Blethers recommended product for the winter.

Boot camp

I made an alarming discovery today. I think there is only one make of walking boot in the western world which fits me. Living in the boondocks as I do, and having a tendency to walk in all weather and preferably off-road, I wear my walking boots probably every day – unless, as today, I go to Glasgow and spend money. And part of the expenditure – the biggest single item – was a pair of Brasher Hillmaster boots. Ladies’ boots. I bought the same model of boot four years ago, and they have now turned up their toes, so so speak, and died. The soles are thin and the tread worn, but worse than that is the fact that the uppers are cracked across the middle, so that if it rains (I know this doesn’t happen often here – huh) I have wet feet without walking through a burn or sinking into mud.

Anyway, off I went to Tiso’s in Glasgow. The shop was quiet and the young man who served me attentive, so I tried on several other boots which he thought might meet my needs. All the same size (a whole size bigger than normal) and supposedly the same spec. And they were all excruciating – too tight, too stiff – you name it. I felt like Goldilocks. And so it was that I bought the same boot as last time. Only this time it’s got a Goretex lining, so presumably will be even better.

But right now, I’m going to mourn the old ones. RIP.