I had a wee lie in today. Didn’t get out of bed until 8.40am. Not the longest of long lies but if I go back to the gym tomorrow it’s a 3 hour and 40 minute lie in!

We’ve had a super productive day today and weeded the rockery which was completely overrun with weeds. It was shocking!!!

Craig pressure washed the grass. Wish I’d taken a before pic. It looks like a green carpet now.

Still got a bit of work to do to the old pond area in the foreground… it needs soil and another plant in it.

So it’s back to “auld claes and porridge” for me tomorrow….

I’ve only worked one day in the last 10 and it’s been glorious weather so it feels like a holiday. Back to my new normal. Fit Body Farm at 6am and a full working day at Tartan.

Might head to the coast tonight for sunset too. Will see. Been a good day getting things done that have needed doing for a long time…. And of course… chilling in the sun. Again.

This is your Sunday afternoon reminder that we can all handle everything this coming week throws at us. Remember it’s only they way we react that affects us.

Stay safe everyone 🌞🌞🌞

Clean bed last night with lightweight sheets…. And yet I didn’t sleep quite as well…. We’ve had the same heavy but soft flannelette duvet cover on since before Christmas. I’ve managed to wash it and change it same day every time since then. I felt the need for change 😆

I think the weight of the covers helps me sleep more soundly. I was up and down to the loo a few times last night.

Anyway poor Craigie is working today so I decided to take Calaidh down to the beach for a run this morning. She ran… I paddled. I couldn’t tell you the last time I paddled and it was bloody amazing.

I’m a member of the wild swimming group on FB and have never quite managed to do it. I always have some excuse…. I even bought a dryRobe but still never seem to actually do it. It must be very cold as I felt the pain with the water just above my knees!!!

Still can’t get over the excitement of fitting under the height barrier. Simple things in life eh?!

Now I did see one thing that made me really sad….. someone had placed some rocks on a huge jellyfish… obviously had the fear it would float in the sea and hurt someone but the poor thing was lying in the sun with 2 big rocks on it. I’m sure it was already dead as it had some holes where I think it had been burnt by the sun and dried out. I can’t believe that someone could be so cruel as to do that and not even give it a second thought. Heres a pic of a happier jellyfish…. 💜💜💜💜

So…. Sad stuff aside.

It was beautiful. Stunning. Out of this world.

I have actually had the loveliest day. I have not sat out in the sun all day which is very unlike me… I’ve actually enjoyed sitting inside in the shade too. It’s still scorching and I think it must be in the late 20’s C again.

I forgot to mention the other day that I’d left my bikini top hanging up drying and puppy number 1 seems to have chewed the strap…..

Today I decided to fix it…….. look what I managed to do.

I even checked to make sure I wasn’t sewing it on back to front and I imagined I would do that…. What a muppet. I only found out when I tried to put it on…….. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I sewed it on so well it took me ages to unpick it too. I did actually laugh out loud though.

I also put a new phone screen on and managed to get that right 3rd time. That old saying….. 😆

It’s been a lovely peaceful afternoon.

I have to say I am feeling really good just now. Calm, relaxed and chilled out…. Despite the intense heat! Life is good and long may it continue.

Stay safe everyone 🌞🌞🌞

Oh my word… it’s hot…..I feel I need to explain something to anyone reading that’s not based on the UK…. We never get this length of prolonged heat…. And most certainly not in Scotland. None of us have air conditioning (apart from The Windsor Waffle 😁), our houses are heavily insulated to keep heat in and our bodies are used to much lower temperatures.. We sit outside in the sun if it’s 14C!!!

We love it on holiday, in fact we expect it on holiday and are devastated if we don’t get it but it feels very different at home.

Craig and I were laughing at each other yesterday as it was far too hot to be sitting in the sun (26C here although it feels hotter). Yet we slogged it out. We could hardly breathe, it was like sitting in a sauna! Now we know the dangers to prolonged sun exposure but as I said yesterday, we just never know when we might see it again.

Yet we get up again today and here it is again…. Wow. Another day of glowing with perspiration 🥵😆

Claire and I headed down to the coast for sunset last night and had such a lovely time.

We heard a woman shout “oh there it is….” And we’re scanning the horizon for the “it”….. she just slowly crept down the side of Arran and it actually seemed like her engines were off at one point.

Now last night was great in a good few ways…. First of all Claire agreed to come down for sunset in the first place…. Secondly I managed to fit Abbie the camper under the height restriction in Portencross car park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is huge. I’ve not been down since I had the van raised as I was scared I’d be too high. Claire jumped out to check (immediately after admitting she has no spacial awareness…. 😬) and I sailed on under…… and thirdly Claire turned the brightness up on a phone and gave my phone a whole new look!!! I’ve been on the dimmest of settings and all of a sudden my pics took on a whole new light. Wow. Every day is a school day!

The next photo is is at 11pm…… arriving back home. Unheard of these days… we went to McDonalds for a milkshake on the way home. The moon rise was just as attractive as the sunset last night. It was very large and pinky/orange. We had the giggles in this pic as I thought a streetlight was the moon as we tried to take the selfie….. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😁🤣

Quick dog walks today before it got too hot.

So I had the osteopath today and he said that my knee has a swollen goose foot….. (only me…..) and that’s the reason for my pain. It obviously has a much more sophisticated name but I can only remember the crazy one. He says I should put some ice on it after exercise I have all the tools to correct it but could do with some new trainers to help support my foot a bit more. Ok then…. I have to “keep doing the exercises” that I have not done enough of…. And stretch. I really must stretch.

Just before my appointment I bumped into Anne from my tapping group…. It’s maybe been about 3 years since I’ve seen her. It made my day to get a huge hug… even if we did only have 5 minutes if that!

I did a quick food shop after the Osteopath… came home and hung up the second last washing of the day and then tackled some of the meadow garden weeds.

Needless to say there is no after photo as it looks a mess and I have nettle stings under my right armpit and on my right wrist. I also got bit on the leg by and evil horsefly that drew actual blood. Booooooo to gardening!

Sitting back down and enjoying the sun. Hope you all have a a great weekend.

Stay safe everyone 🌞🌞🌞

I pinched the headline from my friend Tracey in Canada. She survived a much hotter heatwave than this but jeezo man this is scorching.

I have honestly been dripping with sweat for most of today. I cannot even imply the polite term of perspiring… I’ve been sweating like a beast.

Standing at the closed door of our portacabin felt like warming yourself against a radiator in winter. A door….. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

It feels way hotter than 25C.

Took a pic of the wee note I walked into this morning. It’s the wee touches that make Tartan special. ♥️ I was only in for a day then back off again…. One shift wonder!

Took this photo of Archie the Tartan Camper in the sunshine!

So we got to sleep all night last night! Puppy tummies are all better it seems.

So we’re sitting outside in the shade…. For anyone who knows me they almost won’t believe it… it’s THAT hot.

Forgot to say that I actually punched myself in the face on Friday when we arrived at the campsite in Glencoe. I was sitting in the drivers seat reaching for a bag to pull into the front of the van…. Mustn’t have had a hold of the bag. Full on whacked myself in the nose. Proper eye watering…. Though thankfully no nose bleed! Muppet!

Stay safe everyone 🌞🥵🌞

So yeah…. That happened today! 2nd vaccination for us in the scorching heat in Ardrossan.

As I did start this blog to record life in COVID times, I should stay here that the nurse was super attentive. Asked us both how we were feeling after the first jag, what our reactions were and how we were feeling about the second one. I did say I was a lot more apprehensive his time around as I’d felt so lightheaded after the first one. Don’t know if it was Craigs driving 😆 or me being a bad passenger but I felt pretty dizzy on the way over. He explained that our bodies generate a lot of adrenaline to help us get through the unknown. He said that the adrenaline floods away when the had is administered and the body realises it’s ok…. That’s what causes the lightheadedness. With that explanation I sailed through this jag… mentally talking to the adrenaline saying I didn’t need it before he gave me the jag. (Come one you know I’m a weirdo my now!!)

I told the nurse today if Craig got the chills with this vaccine, as he did the last time, I’d just shove him out in the sun. 😆

We were up 3 times through the night with Little Miss Freya last night. We had her in our room as we suspected she was the one who still had a dodgy tum…. We were right, 1.15am was the first baptism of fire as she started a wee jig at the bedroom door! I was in a VERY deep sleep and bolted upright wondering what the hell was going on. Craig got her out sometime early morning and me again about 6.30am…. Better that way than her thinking she can’t get out.

It was really dark at 1.15am which surprised me as the moon had been so bright at 10pm.

So cloudy again this morning, pretty high level but actually a wee bit of respite from yesterday’s heat.

Only those of us who live here know what this feels like to us. This kind of heat is truly unheard of. Us Scots talk about the weather ALL the time. We often moan about it. We frequently get 4 seasons in one day. This heat feels like we are all abroad on holiday at once. It’s very hot… very draining but so, so lovely. Its expecially welcome as we can’t get abroad for holidays just now due to COVID restrictions.

I did read one thing (which I can’t find now!) that said we crave the heat and 30c on holiday is out of this world but at home it feels like the devils armpit!!!

I think I’ve said before but most of us change our whole daily plan around when the sun shines. We wash clothes, bedding, blankets, towels like there is no tomorrow. We never know when winter might hit at the drop of a hat. It can take us a week to dry washing in winter so we over wash in the summer just because we can. We high five each other for the number of washings we can do and dry in a day!!

So Craig’s at a funeral this afternoon… our neighbours’ mum sadly passed away. A very sad day for them all but what a lovely send off in the sunshine. 🙏🏻 ☀️

This is our last day off work, we are both back in action tomorrow…. Only for one day for me mind you as I’m off on Friday. Hard life eh?!? Tempted to message the boss to ask if working from a swimming pool would be acceptable?!? 👙🏊🏼‍♀️

So in light of the recent holiday and dog-pooping-once-again debacle… we are going to have to rethink our main summer holiday this year. We were planning a CalMac Ferries island hopping tour at the start of September but don’t think the dogs could cope. We have to weigh up our options but I have this romantic idea that someone would love a 2 week holiday in a quaint Scottish village with the village pub next door…. Obviously with the prime objective for us that someone will be here to look after our dogs. They are so much happier when they are off lead and able to run about in the garden. We may decide to take one with us, we may look into kennels but we really would rather not. if the worst comes to the worst we may need to just have a home based holiday with day trips. The price to be paid of building a dog pack!!

I’m relaxing in the sun this afternoon, reading a Lynda la Plante trilogy now starting with the Cold Shoulder. My lovely friend Evelyn has been keeping me going in books for a good few months now. I should say here too that I have the lardy ass out in an actual bikini today. Unheard of in the back garden that can be like Grand Central Station with visitors popping in. I am ready to shove clothes over the top at a minutes notice…. I am hiding down behind our wee fence which is festooned with wet washing as I’ve run out of places to hang it. No one needs to see this but it feels like a real summer holiday. 👙☀️ and literally just like that the door opens and Craig shouts “are you decent?!?” Eh naw!!!! Gimme a minute!!!! 😆🤣

Looking forward to a cold shower before crochet in the beer garden tonight. Life is pretty good right now… pooping puppers aside obviously?!? Anyone fancy a holiday?!? 🤷🏻‍♀️😆🤣

Stay safe everyone 🌞🌞🌞

It is a scorcher today….. 28C we reckon… in Scotland…. In summer…. In July…. Almost unheard of. 😆 it’s certainly the hottest I remember Craig’s birthday being.

7am we were woken with a howl from the sunroom….. we were too late. Little puppers sore tums accident to clear up before I’d barely opened my eyes. The joys of pupperdom….. 🤦🏻‍♀️

We were awake.

Of course Craig was so excited about his pressies that he couldn’t sleep anyway. 🤣🤣🤣 so we got up and sat outside in the shade for coffee and pressies!

I should say here that Craig is the master of gift giving…. No birthday is too small to have a small fortune spent on it. So his birthdays are a source of stress for me as I can never match his generosity. I have tried in the past but always fail so I’ve decided to keep doing it my way. He still got a tonne of stuff!

We lazed about this morning… well I did while Craig fitted his new Front Runner awning to his roof rack. Not a birthday gift but I bought him the bottle opener, the under awning lights and the GoPro mount for the roof rack so his new overlanding car is taking shape.

We went to Auchengree Farm Shop for brunch.

It was too hot to eat outside today. For those of you who know me well you will see I’m a changed woman… I’d have been beside myself to get outside in the past! how times have changed. Maybe it’s because o don’t work 100 hours a week now (slight exaggeration!) and I know that if I miss nice weather I will catch it some other time?!

So for lunch Craig had a Club Sandwich and I had Chicken, Mango and Halloumi salad. I love love love halloumi!!

We bought some lovely BBQ meat for tonight. Now it’s not cheap… but it looks very good quality. Not a hint of fat to be found on the chicken skewers.

It’s been the loveliest of lazy days. The dogs are so much more relaxed being home. It’s nice to see them back to their old selves but sad that being away seems to bother them so much. We have to think up some strategy as we can’t not ever go away again.

We’ve had lovely drinks with neighbours and it genuinely feels like we’re abroad on holiday. It’s still hot and it’s 7.30pm. Wonder how long it will be before we have aircon in our houses in Scotland?!?!

Stay safe everyone 🌞🌞🌞

We had a lovely sunset last night… made all the more special by the receding cloud.

It was calm and peaceful as there’s not a a breath of wind…. Barely a sound apart from the neighbours smooth rock which played from early afternoon to the back of 10pm. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🥴😬😆

The mountains are even more spectacular which you can appreciate their true height. This Camping and Caravanning Club campsite is surrounded by mountains like a giant walled garden. It’s breathtaking…. And today it is very, very hot!!

It just goes to show that the cloudier weather we have had is so much better for the dogs.

Thankfully we have a bush (stop it!) right at our pitch so they are able to shelter in the shade. They have a basin of water to drink or sit in!!

I scoffed at my poor sister in law once for buying a cooling mat for her dogs and yet here I am the proud owner of 3 of them. You may notice from the above pic that neither of the dogs chooses to lie on one of them. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😆 I… on the other hand have used them for my feet….. they are really cooling!!

This is my view just now. I’m crocheting and writing as the day goes on.

Sadly Bhruic has her usual camping affliction… the runs…. And this morning has been sick too. Craig was up 3 times in the night with her and Freya and I only heard her once. They are so used the run of a long garden that I wonder if it’s the being tethered on a campsite that stresses them out?

We took the dogs for a lovely walk up to another viewpoint this morning.

So it would appear our neighbours are listen to the radio station”Mellow Magic”… “timeless, relaxing classics” …. now there’s nothing offensive about it at all but we do not want to listen to it. I am on holiday and want to listen to a whole lot of nothing. It started at 12.10pm and if yesterday is anything to go by it’s gonna be on until after 10pm. I may have to go for another walk!!

So in the space of time between writing this above and now, we are now home. The dogs were very hot and miserable being tied up so we packed up in the heat of the day and headed down the road. Both drivers and passenger windows right down and the blower on full. Even then the van said 30C inside. Super toasty.

I have spent the last 3 days grumbling about it not being sunny…. Sun comes out and we have to go home. I’m not gonna lie, there was a spoiled child having a hissy fit tantrum inside of me as we packed up.

But…. (Never start a sentence with but…..) we have had a lovely time. It was lovely to catch up with Stuart and Lee, lovely to spend the day together in Glencoe and then have our BBQ. Things don’t always go as we plan but that doesn’t mean it’s all ruined. I’ve been cross with the dogs, why is life always so difficult because we have dogs I can’t change that so really there is no point being angry about it. They are much happier now that they are home.

My co-pilot took some pics on the drive home. Apart from the intense heat, it was a truly stunning drive, through Glencoe itself, across Rannoch Moor, down through Tyndrum to Crianlarich and down the side of Loch Lomond.

So all home and present and correct. Until the next time!

Stay safe everyone 🌞⛰🌞

I slept like a log last night…. Didn’t wake until 8am despite being aware of trampolining puppers are various times through the night, I was so tired.

It’s still cloudy, but dry and hot so another lovely bacon toastie with coffee outside.

I’ve done a wee bit of Campervan housework this morning, took the dishes down to the dishwashing room and got everything back in it’s place. My organised brain can relax.

We went along to the Glencoe Visitor’s Centre and left the dogs for a sleep. Had a wee wander round and saw the wee hoosie I stumbled on in the dog walk yesterday morning.

Of course then we had to have the obligatory coffee and large piece of caramel shortcake and it was bloody lovely 😊

As we wandered around we saw a young couple sitting at a picnic bench with the best view. They were both on their phones and not talking to each other or taking in the surroundings. It made me appreciate the beauty all the more.

This is how we roll this afternoon… crochet for me and a book about dog food for Craigie.

So tonight we are making pizza 🍕 for dinner over a fire… well over a BBQ.

Don’t say we’re not adventurous!! Pups have been fed but waiting to see what comes out! Gonna post this before eat.

It’s turning into a lovely evening! Finally getting some sun tomorrow I think. Can’t complain, had a lovely chilled out afternoon. There’s not a breathe of air, or rain, so it’s campers paradise…. Minus the sun 🌞 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🥴🌞

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

It’s still not that sunny. I go through phases of being so p’d off that we’re sitting under cloud and everyone else has scorching sunshine…. And then being truly grateful for where we are and how relaxing it is.

I say that and I didn’t get the best sleep last night but that was mostly dog related. We put the dogs in the awning and like miss inquisitive Bhruic realises she can get out of one of the doors and I hear her trying to get in the van at 4.30am! From then on we were the proverbial pupper trampoline!

We got up before 8 and I took the dogs a big walk up around the Glencoe Visitor Centre.

So I forgot to say but by shear fluke Craigs brother and his wife are at the same campsite!! They didn’t know we had booked and so arrived last night.

This morning we all went for a walk into Glencoe. We had a quick drink once they got settled. Alcohol free Erdinger for me. Still one of my favs.

We passed the site of the Glencoe Massacre.

Craig and I had been coming to Glencoe for years and only found the Lochan on one of our last visits. It’s a lovely place to go and you can walk right round it easily. There are loads of other walks around the area too.

We wandered back into Glencoe in search of coffee!!

We stopped for a coffee and a cake but seemed to chose THE most expensive place in Glencoe.

Two cappuccino, two scones with cream and jam, 2 portions of chips and two beers… £34.40!!!!!!!!! The scones were a fiver each and in all honesty the staff seemed mildly irritated by our order.

We wanted to sit outside as we have five dogs. They said we’d have to have the takeaway menu outside…. Which is fine… but the takeaway menu was nothing like the menu they were offering for takeaway once you went in to order. It felt like no one had any idea what was going on and we were just being a pest!!

Many gates to follow!!

We had a lazy afternoon sitting outside so I still have shorts and flip flops on but the sun isn’t breaking through much. Didn’t get my nap but did finish my book! Just couldn’t put it down.

We went to Stuart and Lee’s van for a BBQ tonight. Sat outside until about 10pm so it shows how warm it is even if there’s no sun. I will get over that…. I promise to try!!

The blog’s not uploading tonight so I’m going have to go to bed without posting it. Sure it will post sometime…. Update it’s all good this morning. Happy Sunday folks xx

Stay safe everyone 🏔🏔🏔

Wide awake at 5.40am this morning. Did not go to the Fit Body Farm but my body obviously thought I should have… 🤦🏻‍♀️ I have heard it was a killer.

So I want to start off with a bit for the ladies…… I always promised to be pretty straight talking here. So being of the possibly-maybe-nearly peri menopausal age, I’m not that concerned when the time of the month passed me by as it has for the last ooooh at least 2 or 3 months. No great shakes.

This holiday has been booked since we knew we could get back out and about post covid. Why does my body choose last night to start up normal monthly cycles again. I mean…. COME ON…. Seriously?!?! The night before I go away for a holiday?!? Surely that’s not a coincidence?? It’s not been on my radar at all so it’s not like I manifested it at all…. Isn’t nature weird and wonderful. And infuriating…. 🤬

So what that means for men is that I am super cranky. All the work I have done to calm the anxiety down and in one night I have become Mrs Narky McNarkerson. Honestly I am so irritated by absolutely everything…. poor Craigie boy has his work cut out for him and Tartan should be glad to see the back of me 😆🤦🏻‍♀️😬 I am saying ALL the wrong words…… it’s actually quite hysterical. I called my camping chair a CAR instead of a CHAIR…. You get the drift.

So we left at 9.58am and did not have to return home for any forgotten items thankfully.

We drove down into Glencoe village as we were a bit early for the campsite.

We’ve bought stuff here in the past and it’s just the loveliest wee shop. It has a wee restaurant/coffee shop…. Might have to walk there again sometime.

We spent the afternoon getting set up, exploring the campsite and about 4.30 someone other than me announced that they might have a lie down. Just had a wee read of my book and a nap and it was soooo good. My first of the week.

Now we’re sitting outside having dinner.

We are a teensy hit miffed that the weather isn’t the best but I say that and we’re outside in shorts so really we shouldn’t complain! It’s glorious at home though!

At least here we are surrounded by mountains.

I just spilled some dinner on my sweatshirt. Bugger… I am my father’s daughter. 😆🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😬

Happy Glasgow Fair Friday!

Stay safe everyone 🏔🏔🏔