Making the most of it...

May is when Scotland normally shines. But this year its shiny periods haven’t lasted that long….we’ve had some great days but then the rain has quickly followed again. The garden’s loving all this heat and wet, but unfortunately that brings plenty of weeds and not the right weather to get out and deal with them. So I’m just trying hard to ignore it. And what better distraction than a van trip away to celebrate the (alleged) arrival of summer. 

Off to Falkland in Fife we pootled. Night one was cancelled due to torrential downpours, but we headed east on day two instead and spent a wonderful day looking round the Falkland Estate and Palace before heading to the Pillars of Hercules for some back to basics campervanning. It’s a lovely wee site, rustic and simple, yet with the most amazing organic shop and café. And all set in lovely surroundings. So we played frisbee in the fields and had adventures in the woods. Toasted marshmallows on the fire and ate far too much cake. And then off we finally went to bed, full of all that’s good about being outdoors.

The next morning I woke to a message from my friend Colin. “Could I tempt you to join me in Gair Loch tomorrow to celebrate Dez’s 50th on the beach? Will be driving up tomorrow morning, back Sunday lunchtime.” Now Gair Loch is in the far north of Scotland, about 4.5 hours from Falkland. There were many boring practical reasons why I should have said no – no tent, no clean clothes, too far etc etc but I felt the urge to say yes. So after a bit of debate and an agreement for him to pick me up and swap his car for our van, my mind was made up. Carpe diem and off we went. Bless Tanya and the kids, we didn’t have anything planned but they went back to Kirky without me in Colin’s car. All very spur of the moment but it was a great trip. The weather was stunning and standing on the beach looking over Skye and Harris with Torridon round the corner I knew I’d made the right call. It got dark at midnight and I stumbled to bed a little after that – full of merriment, great chat and more than a little beer. Long drive back the next day but that’s the price you sometimes pay to make the most of it.

Lady Emily of Falkland

Lady Emily with suitor Tan

Lady Nigella

The campervan life at the Pillers of Hercules

Famous Four go adventuring

DDU found love at Gair Loch

The Beach Boys

Good night to Harris on the horizon

Sunshine and Smiles…

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you." (Walt Whitman)

It’s so nice to have a bit of sun. We seem to have somewhat leapfrogged Spring a little this year with a prolonged spell of wet, windy and cold weather. But as the sun emerges all that is quickly forgotten as you start to navigate through a landscape of lush green with the sun on your face.

I feel far behind where I should be in the gardening calendar and the mild winter means that the plants are ahead of themselves. But it's good for the soul to get out there and feel the earth in your hands. We’ve a new potting shed and patio area to focus my attention, and hopefully a good spell of weather will mean we are firmly back into the garden. The battle of the weeds has commenced and the first edible offerings are starting to emerge. Fingers crossed for a good growing season as we’ve much to look forward to.

Emily is in mid-flow for her Wizard of Oz rehearsals and Niomi now has weekend swimming lessons, so our normal hectic weekends away in May and June are somewhat curtailed this year. But that means we are open for visits and we’ve just spend a lovely weekend with Tanya’s parents – enjoying sunshine and dining al fresco. Saturday was a trip to relatively unexplored parts of Mugdock Park in amongst bluebells in their prime, followed by a Sunday at a Medieval Festival at Duncarron Hill Fort. And on both days we were blessed with lovely weather, so we filled our boots with it and with fine experiences. Picnics were the order of the day, as well as evening dining outside courtesy of Nana and Baba, and then Ly and her friend Le (pronounced Lay). And if all that wasn’t enough it was topped off by the Aurora Borealis in all its glory, a touch of Eurovision, and an almighty thunderstorm for some added excitement. It truly was sunshine and smiles all the way…

Al fresco is the way to go

Growing up fast

Mugdock madness

Famous for 60 seconds

The Jester

Ye Olde Knights of Yore

Falcon stroking

Arise Lady Catherine

Nana battling our new 5* bird feeding station

The Aurora Borealis