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

Bat crazy...

It’s not every day a bat appears at your back door. But that’s who made an unannounced visit whilst we were having dinner recently. Just around 6.30pm Niomi calmly announces “there’s a bat” (like it happens everyday), to which the rest of us rapidly turn and express far more shock.

Seems the poor little mite couldn’t fly. It was just sitting there trembling and occasionally stretching a wing. Is it dying? Is it stunned or sick? All questions without answers. Quick consultation with www.bats.org.uk gave us a helpline number which was shut for the evening. Try a vet was the advice. It was nearly 7pm by now and our local vets were all closed. We found a 24hr vet hospital in Glasgow and called there.

Some discussion on the call – not a baby bat as it had fur and they’re normally seen in June, July and August. You should bring it in, but before handling it into a suitable container (plastic box with holes in lid) you’ll need to don PPE. So Daddy was just getting himself mentally prepared for his bat handling challenge, when it seems the little furry mouse with wings took the air. It flew round the garden, a bit unsteady for about 5 mins, then seemed to recover properly and was away.

We regularly see bats flying about in the evening, but never sitting on our back porch for half an hour. It all added an interesting change to the evening routine. Bat crazy indeed.

Videoclip: Bat Crazy

Or you can watch the video here

Escape to Northumberland...

And off we went for a Easter escapade in Northumberland. Sadly Ly was left at home as she was on a course but the four of us set off with high expectations of sun, fun and adventure. Well we got two out of three as the weather did try unsuccessfully to dampen our spirits.

We were staying in a lovely little cottage near Craster, right near the coast. The fields roundabout were full of newborn lambs and daffodils abounded. It was all set for a glorious spring break but alas at times it did feel more like mid-winter with rain aplenty and wind and cold to match. Still none of this dampened our spirits and we made the most of Northumberland's offerings. There were castles at Dunstanburgh and Alnwick, gardens at Alnwick as well, and stately home and gardens at Howick Hall and Cragside. We maxed out on our big building/garden combo. And when the weather got bad we headed indoors to Barter Books and the Baliffgate Museum. The kids also loved the play offerings at Lilidorei.

I really enjoyed Alnwick. It was really different to what I expected and not the Potteresque experience I was thinking it would be. Fascinating history and our knowledge of the gruesome middle ages grew. Food was great, with plenty of local smoked kippers and cod to tantilise us, and Owl Cottage really became a home from home.  Oh and Cragside is really worth a visit if you're ever in the area.

Not quite the sun-kissed holiday we hoped for, but our escape to Northumberland provided lots of fun and adventure nonetheless. I love holidays, and after two in quite quick succession, it really was hard going back to work this week.

The lambs were adorable

Sisters 1

Sisters 2

Trouble now spring is here

The sunny beach day

But the water was bracing

'Sunbathing'

Dunstanburgh Castle

They killed me slowly

The magical Lilidorei

And the macabre Poison Garden

Enjoying blossom and daffodils

And fun in the water garden

Videoclip: Watertrap

Or you can watch the video here

Alnwick Castle

In trouble again

Falconry at Alnwick Castle

Rare sighting of all four Rookes

Skipping in the sun

The ironbridge at Cragside

The Crazies

Videoclip: The Weather Report

Or you can watch the video here

Northumberlands beautiful coast

Leaving only footprints

Taking only memories

Winter's tonic...

With winter still lingering like an unwanted guest, the perfect tonic is definitely skiing. Blue skies, sunshine, great company, french cuisine, exercise, fresh air, apres ski (and no kids!), what more does one need to blast those winter blues away. 

Morzine was the destination although the snow was rapidly melting so we skied all the time just up the road in Avoriaz. The last few weeks had been full on so it was really nice to get away on the ultimate of mindful holidays. When you're skiing you're just focused on the ground in front, when you're on lifts you're just peacefully admiring the view and the rest of the time you're just either eating or partying or exhausted and asleep. Pure escapism.

Thanks to Colin and Gordon for an awesome time! And thanks to my lovely family for letting me escape!

Mutzig!

And relax!

Videoclip: Morzine 2024

(Film courtesy of Gordy 👍)

Or you can watch the videoclip here

And then it was back to full on work for 4 days along with dance shows and parents evenings. Phew I need another break. And luckily I have one as we're off to Northumberland for an Easter break. Woohoo! Watch this space.

 

Bridging the gap…

March roars in like a lion and goes out like a lamb, or so the saying goes. And I am most definitely ready for some prolonged warmer weather. We’ve had some lovely brief glimpses recently - Tanya and I escaping for a wonderful night in Newport-on-Tay at the amazing Newport Hotel, followed by South Queensferry and an overnight in North Berwick for her birthday; and then a weekend away for us all with the hillwalkers in Pitlochry. Lovely catching up with each other and with folk we’ve not seen in a year. And lovely to see the sun.

We've also had some birthdays with Tanya turning 21 and Ly turning 17 - celebrating with her first ever birthday presents. And I also popped down to see my Dad and the High Wycombe crew. Dad's still here - and seems much more content, but spends most of his day bridging the gap between sleepiness and sleep. And Emily is also bridging a gap between childhood and adolescence, she's growing up fast. She's also got sleep issues too; being half asleep in the morning when we want her awake, and then wide awake at night when we'd like her to go to sleep. It's a throwback to when she was a baby, only this time she has no excuse!

March feels like a season of change, the bulbs and buds appearing bringing some colour to the garden, brighter evenings and mornings (my cycle commute now firmly in daylight), and sunshine with warmth reigniting my soul after winter. I find myself making changes, re-evaluating things, making plans. It’s a great time to feel alive again after winter. So the coming weeks are a whirlpool of activity – a ski holiday and then a week in Northumberland for Easter. I can’t wait. March bridges the gap between winter and spring, and I smell change in the air. Exciting times ahead.

Smoked Haddock Ravioli - one of 9 courses on the tasting menu at the Newport Hotel

The view from the hotel

The Tay Railway Bridge

The Forth Bridges

The Forth Railway Bridge

The early morning birthday crew

Loving being 17

A snowy Ben Vrackie