What a miserable day up here, it’s rained all day. It’s very fine rain but I got soaked on the dog walk!

This next one sums up the day… autumn, nearly winter rain…. Rain… Rain…. Rain….

The dogs don’t care! They had lots of fun running around.

I actually stepped right in a big muddy bog half way round a field… 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😱🤣 the joys of dog walking….

I had to dry the dogs off when I got home and all of a sudden it’s 11.30… just like that!

I’ve been wrapping Christmas presents today. The pups have been all cosy and sleeping after their big walk.

I did go out for a bit today. I went out to meet my sister-in-law for a quick coffee at 1.30pm. We went to a Mocha Jaks in Beith at the end of the road.

I had a Christmas panini and we halved a ginger blondie between us! Was lovely to get a good catch up.

She brought me a lovely wee Christmas basket!

So Craig’s brother and sister just arrived for dinner in the pub and the dogs went nuts as they were so excited!

I’m having a quiet night in. What’s new eh?! I love it. Jammies, fire on, feet up and maybe more wrapping or some crochet.

This next one rings true for me, particularly for last weekend when I cried so much for no real reason.

Thankfully I don’t feel like that at all this weekend. Such a relief!

And this made me laugh….. 🤣😘

Have a lovely Saturday evening!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Yeah…. Check me… did I actually have a day that was good… and I was working… and nothing special happened but I feel like I achieved stuff…. Even though I spent all day doing something that didn’t work until smarty pants boss man sauntered over and showed me how it’s done. In seconds. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

I sooooo wanted it not to work 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣🤣but it did. So I have next week to get it all squared up and it feels good to have a mission.

I love a good mission.

So I’ve not much to report today. It’s the end of my working week and I’m looking forward to my weekend.

Today would have been my Nana’s birthday. She would have been 91 today as she was born in 1930. She died on 23rd May 2014.

She lost my Grandad on Christmas Day 1984 so Nana was on her own for a long time.

There’s not a week goes by that I don’t think about phoning Nana on my way home from work. I used to call her and say “is that ma Nana” and she would say “yes ma darling”… I used to moan about work and travelling and she would always sympathise.

This is a big photo that was kept above the fireplace in their house until after Grandad died. Isn’t she beautiful. ♥️

Here she is with Grandad. I’m very lucky to be able to remember them both but sad that Grandad wasn’t around for her.

I never really stopped to think about that when she was alive. Nana had 4 kids, one of them my dad, and 8 grandkids. She was kept pretty busy. Here we are on my 18th birthday and only the baby of the family, Fee, hadn’t been born yet.

I’ve always loved this photo.

Here are all the girls (with our mums) the night we finished clearing Nana’s house back in 2014.

It was such a bittersweet night as we all sorted through her things but didn’t have her there to tell us what they were.

The night she died I went to visit her with Auntie Jac and we had a lovely time with her. We had a good giggle together despite how rotten she was feeling. It was almost as if she rallied a bit. By early morning she was gone.

Lovely memories today. ♥️

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

It’s been so lovely today now that Storm Barra has passed over. No wind, a little rain and I actually think I saw a bit of blue sky at one point!

The house looked very festive in the rain at 5.30am!

There was a tree down at the Fit Body Farm this morning.

It didn’t get in the way of any crazy exercise though! We were inside for everything apart from the warm up run. We managed to do that in the rain and skipping over bits of tree.

So honestly there’s not much to say about about today. It was fine. No drama from me for a change. To be fair I did have my “I’m having a meltdown” Christmas jumper on so maybe everyone stayed out the way! 🤣🤣

There was a buzz about the workshop. We’re on the countdown to Christmas and there’s loads still be be done but it’s all happening!

I’ve had great chats on the phone since I left work… and all of a sudden it’s 6.15pm!

I’m off out to meet the Hookers tonight, maybe get some work done on my blanket or maybe just sit and chatting for the night!

Always feel like I rush a Wednesday blog! But needs must!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Wow what a day! The weather’s been atrocious. This was the forecast.

It never snowed though but the gusts of wind were crazy!

The forecast only got worse.

The wind seemed consistently bad all day… the wee portacabin took some battering! Everyone came in making that noise that you make when the weathers bad. A kind of “wooooooof” and relaxed into the warmth.

I had another new Christmas jumper on today so was super toasty….

Until I had to go to the loo…… it was baltic heading out into that to get into the workshop!

So we survived and weren’t blown away. Think so many other parts of the country have had Storm Barra a lot worse than we have. the A9 north was closed due to heavy snow!

I stopped at my friend Evelyn’s on the way home as she’s got a new puppy!

This is lovely wee Elsie!

Of all the photos I took this is the only one she didn’t move in. She is absolutely gorgeous. She’s only 8 weeks old and was one of a litter of 17 Gordon Setters…… SEVENTEEN!! I never knew that was even possible.

That was the second best photo I reckon. She was having a ball bounding about the living room!…. So much puppy love!

So in other news the voting has been released for the Fit Body Farm transformation of the year award…. Which basically means there are photos of me in my underwear being shared all over FB.

I honestly never realised that would happen. I thought it was just an FBF thing and I could cope with them seeing the photos. Now I really have nothing to hide. 😱😱My wobbly bits are right out there.

I’ve had some lovely messages of support.

A lot of people called me brave. Guess they think I meant to share those photos….. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😱

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Wow… busy day. It’s flown past! It’s been wet and windy all day too. Think this is the start of Storm Barra headed our way!

These are wheelbarrows… affectionately known as barras in some parts of Scotland. 🤣🤣

The people of the island of Barra are pretty chuffed at having a storm named after them… on one FB page someone said Storm Barra is ok as long as Joe Biden doesn’t say it… 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

So FBF was very hard work this morning…. It was a killer of a workout and I feel like I spent the whole workout getting up and going back down to ground. It was exhausting! It was pouring when I came out.

And PITCH BLACK… sooooo dark! The photo lightened it all up. Had the head torch to get back to the car!

Work was super busy but a good day. Check the Christmas tree the boss made for everyone! So cool!

I met some lovely customers who knew lots of people I used to work with so it was a wee trip down memory lane.

We they came back to get their van they brought me a 1.5l bottle of Prosecco and a HUGE tub of Quality Street!

This photo doesn’t do them justice, they are both massive. How lovely of them. They said we’d done a great job. It’s so nice to hear that!

I walked out to portacabin at one point and the sky was almost a mustard yellow.

After work today I went to a few shops to get some things for Christmas…. Things that I didn’t get this weekend and I enjoyed having a wee mooch about. Wait till you see the Christmas jumper I picked up…. It’s perfect!!

I mean….. was that not made for me!?!

So that’s all from today. No tears and no major meltdown other than the jumper. 🤣🤣

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

What a beautiful day. There’s not been a cloud in the sky all day.

I’ve had a good day because I chose to do what I wanted to do rather what I should do. I’m not feeling great but I’m not going to give it any power. There’s no reason to feel rotten just now. The sun shone, it’s nearly Christmas and Craig chose my least favourite tasks off the list!!

He did the food shopping while I walked the dogs this morning. I thought the fresh air would be good.

The dogs were great today. I was ready for ambush around every corner, every branch, every twig but thankfully we didn’t need it overthinking brain.

The colours were amazing today 💙 💚

Goat Fell looks spectacular covered in snow in the distance!

Heading back into the village.

What’s this Bhru says?!?

I love this wee cottage in the sun.

The sun at the bottom of the garden.

So I’ve done washing and hung it to dry and moved the sun room around so that I can crochet without the icy blast at the door in Gran’s chair. Such a random thing to do but it made a big difference! I know I could just shut the door but the dogs were running in and out.

I crocheted and listened to music. Added a whole new row onto the blanket. This one jumped up and wouldn’t let me get on with it!! I am under here.

And….. then I went to bed. Electric blanket on and slept for an hour and a half.

The list will have to wait. Once I allowed myself to realise that it was ok.

We watched the Holiday last night which is a lovely Christmas feel good movie and tonight we’re on Love the Coopers. I’m drinking Ikea’s alcohol free mulled wine. Claire got me a bottle the other week. Smells so good.

Cheers to a good week ahead!

Stay safe everyone ☀️❄️☀️

Wow… I had a rough morning fighting with my head. There were tears before 7am and tears again before 11am but I’ve done my best to work at it this morning and I think I’ve calmed my overthinking.

I’ve brought Abbie the campervan down to work as there’s a auto electrician in that can fix issues I have with the stereo and reverse camera. I feel like I have “worked” in my head all weekend as a result. This was my choice but I’ve spent the whole weekend thinking about things that need done at work blah blah blah…. and things I could have done differently or better.. beating myself up.

I’m worried about Christmas , I feel I “should” be enjoying the run up to Christmas more, soaking up the atmosphere, I’m worrying about what to get everyone but not enough to actually do anything about it. It’s just hanging over me. Christmas is a difficult time for so many people. People put so much expectation on the right gifts, the right meal, having a good time and how many of just don’t click with all that expectation?

So back to the morning, we got up and had coffee after I bent poor Craig’s ear when he say “talk to me about it”…. He should never have asked….. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

He went off to work and I took the dogs out to “get that over with”…. I actually had a really lovely walk and managed all 3 at once easily.

So I did a poo pick in the garden which is always lovely…… but it’s done and looks so much better. Non dog folks wince at this point!

I got the dogs settled and went through to the bedroom and did a 20 minute Mindfulness Meditation 🧘🏻‍♀️

Honestly when it started my head was absolutely jumping. If you can imagine a comic with a fight scene….

Not kidding that’s exactly what my head felt like. I could almost feel the punches and kicks being thrown. I reckon after the first 5 minutes of the meditation it finally subsided. Maybe I’ve just got very descriptive in my blog writing days… 🤣 but it really did feel like that.

I then did a Body Shop Vitamin C face mask and sat listening to music. Not just any music but music I used to sing when I was in the church choir as a kid. Faurés Requiem and Christmas carols with descants. I know… ok.. if anyone had seen me I was even more crazy than normal with a white sheet mask over my face and big headphones on “gie’in it laldy” as they say in Scotland.

The singing (with great gusto) caused more tears… stirring up memories of years long gone. Jeez would you listen to me. I sound like old mother time eh?!?

Anyway…. I am finally calm. I’m exhausted but calm.

And now Abbie has her stereo hanging out!!

So it turns out the stereo didn’t have an earth to the handbrake 😳 so I never got full functionality of it as it thought I was always driving… or something like that. 🤷🏻‍♀️

So all fixed and back up the road by 1.55pm just in time for Christmas lunch at the Gateside Inn… next door.

What an amazing meal. Craig’s had goats cheese tart to start and I had chicken liver pâté. Forgot to take photos…. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Main courses were Steak Pie with all the trimmings and Roast Gammon.

The sky was amazing again when we left. I spent about 15 minutes in the back garden taking photos.

So it’s 4.30pm and I’m in bed with the electric blanket on while Craig watches the football. Bliss.

I’m like a different person from this morning and the relief is immense. I plan to have a very lazy evening in front of the tree and the fire…. As soon as that football noise stops 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😳🤣

Stay safe everyone 🔥🔥🔥

Have to start with last nights trip to the theatre darlings…. 🎭 wow…. Les Misérables in Glasgow’s Theatre Royal was phenomenal. The music is still ringing in my ears.

What a stunning venue to start off with. Don’t think I’ve been there before… I would like to say that this is my photo but I didn’t make it on stage last night!

I did get this…

Thats the most people I’ve seen all in one place for a very long time.

There was a huge queue when we arrived but it actually went down pretty quickly. The first check was the COVID passport to prove we were double vaccinated. The second check was for booze in your bag… and then finally the tickets check.

We got seated with about two minutes to spare.

The show was honestly out of this world. It was exceptional. It’s 4.20pm and I can still hear it all swirling round in my head. I managed to hold it together until almost the last act… 😭

One thing that struck me was I haven’t clapped like that in a very long time either. They got a standing ovation.

The theatre emptied pretty quickly and we got back to the car. It took us an extra half hour to get home as all the slip roads onto the M8 were closed! We were stuck in a queue of folk following each other, hoping that the next slip might be open!!

11.56pm I got into my bed.

4.45am and it was time to wake up for the Fit Body Farm………. Less than 5 hours sleep! I am shattered today. Just about to go for a nap as I can hardly keep my eyes open. We did run loads at the farm too which is always extra knackering!

Craig’s been off today too so we’ve done loads of housework and went to the Gateside Plant Centre to pick our Christmas tree. 🎄

Now I should say that we can see the Plant Centre from our living room window and one year we did actually carry our tree home. We regretted it!! This time we took the car with the roof rack!

Ta dah…… 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

The poor pups have to pose in front of it every year…. 🤣

I noticed the sky outside as we were putting some lights out. It was so red!

And these are our outdoor lights.

I’ve got the electric blanket on now and I’m gonna to get some sleep. It’s a bit late but hey…. Thought I’d show you the headboard as I just wrapped lights around that too!!

So in other news it’s been a costly day for us. Abbie the camper van was in the garage again but that was only £50 to fill some leaks on the exhaust.

We had a toilet engineer… not a plumber… out this morning to fix our Saniflow bathroom which was backing up and water wasn’t flowing away. We have a second bathroom right beside the main bathroom. So random. The folks before us put it in so their old dad could have a shower without climbing into the bath.

We been having waterworks issues for a long time in that bathroom. We turned a blind eye until I realised the shower cubicle had an inch of water in the bottom of it, one day last week. Finally it’s all fixed and we are £194.19 lighter….

Happy weekend!

Stay safe everyone 🎄🎄🎄

For the first time in how many years?!?! I have lost count. I’m off to the theatre tonight to see Les Miserables.

I went into work for 7 so I could leave at 3pm and I’m still rushing. Even leaving early I felt like I was rushing and I’ve not thrown the feeling yet.

Maybe that’s because I preempted that I would have no clue how to get ready or what to wear!!! I’ve had about 4 outfits on and have settled for the best of a causal bunch and I have 15 minutes until we leave!

So I am ready to go and really looking forward to seeing the show. I’ve seen it before but I can’t wait to see it again. I’ve honestly not been out out in years!

I have my covid passport ready to prove that I’m double jabbed before we get in.

Have a great evening everyone and pics tomorrow!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Awwww what a lovely day today. She who chattered in my head all day yesterday was silent ALL day today. Not a peep! Isn’t it amazing how it can be so different one day to the next.

If I’m honest I’ve felt shattered since last night. I slept really well but felt groggy when I woke up. I have that lovely silence after the frenetic ramblings of yesterday. It’s no wonder I’m exhausted. I did all Decembers thinking in one day 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

The Fit Body Farm was great again this morning. I did up my weights on the last exercise and I feels really good when I’m able to do that.

It was super dark when I came out and yet the photo I took looks way lighter.

I’ve been focussed at work and got loads done again but this time without the incessant chatter and put-me-downs. I really am my own worst enemy!!

I’m off to meet the hookers tonight at 7pm. I really need to get the finger out and try and finish my blanket.

So I thought I’d look for some more photos tonight as I’m enjoying that and remember just how many places I’ve been and seen. what to pick tonight?!

Ahhh loved a wee trip down memory lane.

Off to meet the hookers!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️