Now this was a great day back at work and the gym but it wasn’t without its wee testing moments.… sent to try me and I laughed and didn’t let them!

This was the moon at 9pm ish last night just before we went to bed.

The dogs didn’t settle at all last night. Not sure if they were hearing noises outside or one of them wasn’t well but there were just random barks every now and then. Craig got up to let them out about midnight.

It’s almost like they knew we were getting up early and wants to make sure we wouldn’t miss the alarm.

This was the moon at 2.48am….. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🙈 my turn to let the out and it seems Calaidh isn’t well…. It must have been her that needed out.

It took me a while to fall back to sleep and Craigs alarm went off at 4.45am…. Minutes after I’d been out with the dogs… or so it felt.

I usually get an extra 15mins so stayed “asleep”…. Must have fallen back over as I woke at 5.12am with a start….. had 18 minutes to get out the door with clothes and food for work.

Made it just….. got to the top of the road and realised I wasn’t wearing my glasses 🤓…. I pulled over at the side of the road and Craig stopped too (separate cars so I can get to work…) and he offered to go home and get them! I of course then had to sit there looking through every bag I had….. and of course there were many…. To ensure I didn’t have my glasses. Could you imagine?!? “Oops sorry found them“ at 5.38am…. So thankfully Craig found them in the house and I genuinely had forgotten them.

From that moment on I couldn’t work my demister, main beam, I was all over the place. I hit the wipers instead of lights…. You name it. My drive to the Fit Body Farm was a real effort of poor coordination 🙊🙉🙈🤣🤣🤣

And then the fuel light came on….. at 5.43am…. I actually laughed and said out loud “that’s fine… these things happen” rather than let it get to me.

Thankfully we got there just in time!

During the warm up I felt really energised and thought wow, check me, I’ve got this!It felt great to be back.

The work out was really hard and I was knackered in the first 5 minutes. To be fair we’ve had almost 3 weeks off…. I’m feeling it now. 💪🏼💪🏼🏋🏻‍♀️

So into the shower and forgot half my stuff… had to make do. Least I had my clothes to change into!

So yeah work was great today. Felt great to be back, catch up and see where we’ve got to with builds. I felt really proud to be a part of it. Chuffed that they seemed genuinely pleased I was back. I am looking forward to going back tomorrow as I have loads more to do that I didn’t get done today.

But I have a list! A big list!

Check me eh?! Who ever said that after a fortnights holiday?!? Certainly NEVER me.

Lunch was a disaster. Everything was a bit past it’s sell by date… my raspberries were squished and leaked juice all over everything else. The celery was on the turn… a bit slimy…. The coconut bits were slimy… can you tell I raided the fridge and just picked a random handful of healthy things?!? I laughed and ate cake that one of the guys had brought in.

Dinner was a huge success. Pork Tacos 🌮

No maybe portion control needs work but I ate the lot 🤷🏻‍♀️ it doesn’t look great but that’s the refried beans. It was a Simply Cook pack of spices that you add the ingredients to. Lovely!

So yeah, all in all a really positive day for me.

I’m tired but that’s perfectly normal after little sleep.

I’m 991 days alcohol free since January 2019.

I’m 37 days anti-depressant free.

And I’m smiling 😊

Stay safe everyone 😊😊😊

Ooooh I’ve had a lovely wee day today. I’ve done nothing much but I’ve not stopped. I’m doing what I like when I want to do it and not doing all the stuff I felt I “should” do.

The disappointment of the morning was that all the “almost dry” stuff we left outside last night in our garden laundry… was SOAKED…. overnight in the rain. Hey ho…. It’s all wet again but it’ll dry… sometime!

A selfie with some cows before 9am this morning while we took the dogs from a walk. These guys were too cute.

I also spent some time on my positive mental attitude…. I’ve got loads to share in the blog today. Sunday mornings are good for some positive reflections.

We’ve had the best holiday. It took a few nights to settle in but we did and feel refreshed and relaxed.

I’ve made a few calls today to catch up with people… I’ve blitzed the ground floor of Freya’s excess hair… oh my god it’s that season again, can hardly wait until Bhruic and Calaidh decide to join her. She’s moulting everywhere. It felt really good to hoover it all up… then she flounces through the room and it all fluffs everywhere again. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

And I have crocheted and crocheted and crocheted!! I can’t stop joining squares together and I love it. Wonder if I can do this all day at work tomorrow?!

I’m enjoying the completion of it rather than just crocheting squares . Seeing something coming together feels good.

So I’ve sat inside this afternoon as it’s not been as warm as was forecast. I’ve watched more Grace and Frankie as I’ve crocheted and I’ve enjoyed it. I feel so chilled I need a nap but I can’t stop crocheting 🧶 🤣🤣🤣

Thought we could all do with a wee Calaidh pic too. She’s been helping me crochet… getting stuck in the wool. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

My gym gear is ready.

My work clothes are ready…. (Jeans and T-shirt … 🤣🤣 hardly work clothes eh?!)

This is the first time I’ve gone back to work after a fortnights holiday in about hmmmm 4 years 🤣 Gotta be prepared.

But we had a blast!

This is your Sunday evening reminder that you can handle everything this week throws at you.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

What a lovely day compared to yesterday. It was warm when I got up and sat outside for coffee. The sun wasn’t out yet but it’s stopped raining which is something.

I had the best sleep… the kind I don’t ever want to wake up from but as soon as I opened my eyes I thought about the washing machine delivery so had to check my phone! Fatal… wide awake.

We were 8th for delivery so I spent the morning stalking the drivers on the AO tracking site. #stalker 🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

I’m so impressed with the service. Honestly… I bought the washing machine about 26 hours before it was installed. I think that’s pretty good.

Out with the 747 jumbo jet take off washing machine and in with the “barely makes a sound you have to keep checking it’s on” new one!

Now the installation wasn’t the easiest…. As father in law and Craig will agree having plumbed in the old one when we moved in….. lots of hmmmmmm-ing, huffing and puffing and exclamations that it wouldn’t fit as it must be bigger, has a bigger back on it, can’t push in further without compromising the pipes, doors won’t close over….should have a longer drain tube…. I sensed a lot of haste… trying to do it all too quickly to get to the next job… as he kept telling me. Lo and behold… a bit of perseverance and it fits exactly as the last one did… with a few small dents at the bottom where he was trying to push it in with his feet.

He then asks for a 5/5 when the text comes through for proof of completion as it will help guarantee him more work.

Of course I give him a 5/5… to be fair he did get it in where we needed it to be despite his own protests!

I wasn’t sure what to do with myself as I had no one to stalk once the delivery guys had gone but the good news was there was hundreds of washing to do!

I went out to put the pop top up in the van to dry and swept out the floor and carpet… washed the floor rugs.

Claire then asked me in for a cuppa so I popped into hers for an hour or so. Good catch up after holidays!

Back home and cleaned the pop up toilet tent, did more washing, weeded the garden, cut back some hostas…. Not a fan of a hosta at all. cut back with pleasure.

There are hundreds of flies and wasps about just now…. All landing on me… either that or I’m getting tickled by my long hair or wool….. I’m jumping about every few seconds!!

I am crocheting again. I’ve been inspired by the crochet ladies changing it up this week and starting a blanket…. so I decided to start joining some of my squares together. Became a bit of a woman possessed!!

Just picking them randomly and joining them together as I go. This is going to be mums blanket though god knows when it will ever be finished!

It all looks a bit wonky now but that’s just because it’s different thicknesses of wool all needing stretched to be the same size! All the balls of wool said double knitting but they were not all the same. Dammit.

I’ve been sitting out in the sun since about 3pm and it’s been hot. Lovely.

There were loads of sightings of the Aurora Borealis last night so I downloaded an app as they said it was going to be a great few days even down in Ayrshire. The app is called the Glendale App and is found online rather than any App Store.

This was the detail from this morning and sadly tonight it’s back to level 0 meaning we spent see anything. Too much cloud cover.

Some of the photos from last night were stunning… greens, purples, pinks. Would be fascinating to see. it’s on my bucket list!

So our last night of holiday with a lie in the next day so we popped into the village pub for a couple of drinks. I had Tanquery 0% Gin with Schweppes Pink Soda. A nice wee change.

Oh and a lovely lady who was leaving the pub stopped to chat and asked if I was the Rambling Sloth….. it took me by surprise…. Quite embarrassed but a wee bit proud to say that I am. 🦥

Anyway crashing back to reality we came home for dinner and wait for this… we didn’t order takeaway but made Beetroot Pesto pasta…. It looks a bit unusual (pink!) but tasted so good.

It’s been a really long day but in a good way. I feel like I’ve achieved loads. Great when my head is in a better place.

Long may it continue.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

It’s not stopped raining all day. Kinda glad we came home yesterday so we could watch it all from the heat of the house!

I’ve been in a funny mood today. Irritable I think. Maybe end of holiday blues? Maybe having to buy a new washing machine… and still having water back up issues…. In the house…. Not me personally 🤣🤣🤣

I think from the peace of living in a woodland for a week to home with responsibilities, dramas, things happening that you can’t control it was all just a bit much for positivity.

So we were awake sharp again this morning. Up, coffee and pottering about tidying up the camping stuff. It was one of those mornings where I found a clothes peg…. Went and put it away….. then found another clothes peg… put it away…… then found another clothes peg……. Must have done this about 5 or 6 times…. Good for the step count but not so much for productivity?!?

Ordered the new washing machine through AO… the same as the one we have obviously just a newer version. They will deliver it tomorrow….. I’m truly blown away by that… And they will disconnect the old one, reconnect the new one and take the old one away! All within 24 hours of ordering it…. There was also a code that popped up saying “do you want another £25 off?”…. If so copy this code…. Eh ok….. done.

We also went to our local butchers to buy some meat for our new found interest in cooking. I need it to last this time. I need to take control of my health and nutrition. I’ve been talking about it for long enough.

We have chicken for Tandoori Chicken Masala and Chicken Makhani and Pork fillet for pork Tacos.

We’ve written a list of all the things we need to do to the house to bring it back up to speed. I felt a bit overwhelmed by it all.

And then I went to bed. I actually watched tv in bed which is something I never do. A couple of episodes of Grace and Frankie which always makes me relax and laugh. Then the best nap ever.

I woke up at 5pm and Craig has tidied out the kitchen cupboards and the fridge and prepped everything for dinner. Mega brownie points Mr A!

I was going to say…. So a bit of a nothing day…. Now that I write this I realise we have done enough. I am enough. I need to help create peace rather than soak up drama. All while concentrating on health and nutrition. Easy. Boom.

A couple of holiday pics to end.

And relax….

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Hi honey…. I’m home!! Ok yeah so he came too so that’s pointless 🤣 he’s home too.

Knackered but home….. 5 and a half hours drive.

We could have stopped off somewhere but 5 nights off grid with no showers and toilets mean that today would have been all about the shower. What’s the point in paying for a campsite so you can get all cleaned up just to come home. May as well just come straight home dirty!

Mr A got first shower as he emptied Abbie the camper van while I went up to collect Bhruic and Freya.

They’ve been good girls and Lesley and John from Kookie Kennels said they were doing some singing (howling!) at a Tibetan Terrier next door 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣

I’ve hear that wolf howl before…. That’s exactly what it sounds like…..when I don’t take them all out for a walk at once. It’s as if they are trying to tell us where they are so we don’t forget them…. As if…. here they are in case you were worried about them 😍 (‘scuse the mess in the background!)

My hair’s actually held up really well surprisingly. It’s not a “going out for the night in Glasgow” kinda hair do but it’s also not the worst either! It’s funny how I wouldn’t dream of leaving it for that long normally yet it is actually fine.

Actually after that photo maybe I need to wash my face 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤣

So I have to admit it was a wonderful shower. I was in there for ages!! My hair was super tuggy…. Maybe those dreadlocks I’ve been growing are not for me?!?

We’ve unpacked, put a washing on then soaked the kitchen floor as our washing machine poured the water right back out at us! We’ve definitely got a blockage somewhere in our water works… it’s causing water to back up so we need to get that sorted. At least we both got showers…. Can you imagine?!?

We’ve popped into the village pub to catch up on the news and now the fire’s on, the heating’s on and we’re home and cosy and the pups are all happy to be home.

Stay safe everyone 🐶🐶🐶

What a stunning sky last night. We lost the sun at 5pm but the light show on the hills behind us was beautiful.

Dinner was amazing. Chicken Tikka kebabs with peppers and onions.

With a campfire to follow.

We sat out until 10pm last night. It was peaceful and calm.

We woke up to this….

Breakfast consisted of Welsh Dragon sausages… pork, leak and chilli 🌶…. With Welsh bacon 🥓 and brioche toast all cooked on Doug’s Bush Pig which is a great Braai or BBQ.

After breakfast we decided to take Calaidh out for a walk and explore some more in the sunshine. It’s a beautiful day and I know we are lucky as I don’t think the rest of the country has this weather today. It makes foe some stunning photos!

We found a wee pond that says it’s a home for Otters… none of them came anywhere near Calaidh!

We walked the red line.

There’s a few single trees left which look really lonely!

Took this panorama…. If you click into you can see the full pic.

The walk then turned from forestry commission roads to a small woodland track. There’s no filter on my phone. These are all natural colours.

Now heading down to the side of the estuary but it’s only 11.30am and the tide is still out so it looks completely different from yesterday.

Yesterday we saw there were loads of geese nesting at the side of the estuary…. Every now and then they decide to fly and I got a picture of them today!

There’s another 6 photos of geese but to be fair none of them are very good!

Ok so you get the gist. The estuary is picturesque but it’s the weather that really makes it. It’s hot. We’re all in shorts and T-shirt. It’s the 15th September and that’s not bad going.

We went back to Calaidh’s pond on the way back to camp.

We came back up to the campsite… Calaidh found a high cliff…..

We headed past the main farm building.

So back home and made coffee and had some Galaxy choc chip cookies 🍪

Calaidh is having a proper nap now! Tiredy pupper.

I am… of course…. Lying here on a blanket next to her. The forecast says 16C but honestly it feels way hotter than that. We are so lucky to get some sun.

He plan is to relax for the rest of the day before rump steak 🥩 for dinner and another campfire. 🔥 This is our last night away. 😱

I’m honestly blown away by the scenery here. Every time I look up I see something different. I love to appreciate nature and I could quite get used to this simple living.

Travelling back to Scotland tomorrow… hoping this weather keeps up for the rest of the week!

Stay safe everyone ☀️☀️☀️

Another great nights sleep last night. It rained again but didn’t start until about 9.30pm as we went to bed.

Dinner was an amazing spiced Lamb hotpot.

So dinner took 7 hours to cook yesterday but that’s the fun watching it’s progress. I read and crocheted throughout the day. Hard life eh?!

We spent the evening by the fire… as you do!

All packed up this morning and ready to go.

My first overlanding in the van to get out the field. To be fair…. It was nothing…. It was like driving out of a supermarket car park… I’m glad I woke up at 5am and worried about being able to get out of the field given the rain…. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

So this morning had coffee but skipped breakfast and headed down into Presteigne to go to the local butcher. The woman who runs it is Argentinian and she lived in Sourh Africa for years so Warren and Doug go their to pick up their meet for their Potjie (poy-kee) and Braai (our BBQ!) Warren is from South Africa 🇿🇦 and Doug from Zimbabwe 🇿🇼.

So Doug has agreed to join us for the next few days of our trip. We are headed to Cefn Coed in Dolgellau. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (I’m getting the use out of all my flag emojis today!)

It was a beautiful drive over. The sun is desperately trying to come out and when it does it’s very hot!

We stopped at Caffi Jo-Jo for breakfast about an hour and 15 into our journey.

They had a streamer but cute wee mini village in their front garden….

The roads are mostly double carriageway with single track in places more due to the high hedges but they were very up hill and down valley…. Lovely scenery though!

So the boys did prep for dinner while I went off in search of the sun….. out of the shade….to write the blog!

Tonight we are having chicken tikka, pepper and onion kebabs. I know I’ve said this before but the food has been a game changer for us as it’s encouraged us to look for different things to prep and make that a part of the holiday…. She says as she sits out in a field doing none of it 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

We decided to go for a quick explore as we are close to the Mawddach Estuary.

So good news to report is Calaidh hasn’t had a dodgy tum so we’ve been getting to sleep through the night. The sun is shining and is forecast for tomorrow too. Chicken Tikka is marinating so I’m looking forward to that.

Most of all I have been very calm. I’m doing all of the driving and it’s helping to build my confidence. I still have my moments (climbing a 20% incline today while Craig was asking me a question….. 😳😬🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😱)

I’m still thinking about work. I don’t have my work phone but still see chat on messenger and social media. It’s on my mind a fair bit and I guess that’s gonna take some work to stop thinking about it. I’m not worried about it which I guess is the main thing.

Sitting here in the sun right now I suddenly remind myself that I am almost exactly 31 days without anti depressants for the first time in almost as many years. I’ve driven from Ayrshire to Islay and back and down to Wales and will drive back.

I am pretty damn proud of everything I’m achieving.

And the sun’s finally gone behind the trees… enough rambling. Heading back into camp to see what’s for eating 🥘🔥😉🤣

Stay safe everyone 🔥🔥🔥

This is wild camping.

All I can hear is birds tweeting…. Goats bleeting 🐐…. Owls 🦉 doing whatever owls do, an occasional cow mooing 🐮 and of course the river flowing.

It’s so peaceful.

Now this is not for everyone. It’s basically a woodland that cows wander around… but other than our mate Warren there is no one else around. Doug and Steve are arriving this afternoon. sorry I forgot of course Calaidh is here… barking at sticks occasionally 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

Warren took as for a drive round Nash Oakland in his truck as it’s 4X4. It’s a huge expanse where people can camp for a tenner a night and not see another soul the whole time. First we had to get through the river.

I said to Warren that I’d take loads of photos of him driving through…. He already has loads! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣

Then we went for a drive into Presteigne for supplies.

This is a lovely wee village and the guy in the shop was super friendly asking us where we were from and how long we were here.

Back at camp to chill and relax.

Doug and Steve arrived early to mid afternoon and started cooking dinner.

Doug and I went for a paddle in the river…. Oh my actual god. It is freeeeeezing and so painful but very, very refreshing!

So the guys are used to meeting up together and make poetjie (poy-kee) for dinner which is a like a stew which loads of ingredients and spices.

Tonight’s was Chicken Masala. Here is the prep!

Steve stirring the onions, garlic 🧄 and butter.

Almost ready to eat. We had it with naan bread and it was amazing!

So yeah no signal again…. So can’t post this….. It’s lovely to not be checking your phone every 5 minutes.

Stay safe everyone 🐐🦉🐮

I went to bed before 10 last night and left the guys round the fire. It was raining quite heavily last night from about 6.30pm but we retreated under our respective canopies with the campfire still burning in the middle! 🏕 🔥

So we both slept really well again and woke up about 8.30am which is the longest lie in on the holiday.

Breakfast was a breakfast for champions again made by Warren on the BBQ. I Tom Calaidh down to the river for a walk.

Steve left before lunch and Craig, Warren and Doug went back into the village for supplies. Tonight’s dinner is Spiced Lamb Pot!

I took Calaidh for a walk in the opposite direction from camp while the boys were out.

So the boys were back in camp in a heartbeat or so it seemed. I had just sat down with a book….. I kept on reading!

Warren packed up camp and headed home as he’s working tomorrow.

Doug then does the prep for dinner! Can you tell Craig and I are being very well looked after this holiday.

I went for a nap this afternoon too…. up in the top of the pop top.

Now I’m crocheting….

It’s a hard life this camping and lounging around malarkey 😆

I’m conscious I’m posting today’s blog before yesterday’s but hey…. I’m heading back into camp soon where there’s no signal.

Looking forward to dinner and an early night!

Stay safe everyone 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

No signal at camp so posting a day late!

Wow what a day! Driving, driving, driving!!

So the puppers slept in with us last night…. Of course they did… given that two of them were off to the kennels today for their holidays. I went to sleep with Freya cradled in my arms. It was the sweetest thing…. She’s moulting like crazy so there was hair everywhere. In my mouth, eyes…. You get the gist!

And… to ad to it all…. I woke up with a raging headache and stomach cramp. Just in time for 5 days wild camping in a wood with no toilets of showers. Naturally.

At 9.15am I had my last shower….. at 9.50am I too this photo.

Off on their holidays. We are both really struggling with this but the kennels were lovely. Lesley and a John both came out to meet me and Joh took Bhruic and Freya while Lesley distracted my attention by asking about their food. I glanced toward the dogs and she said nope don’t look…. Gulp. I had a little lip wobble but they made me feel at ease.

So back to the house and we left just after 11am. First stop was to my lovely in laws and they took all of our washing yesterday and by the time we had arrived my mother in law (Mawlaw!) had washed and….. IRONED…. everything!! Sooooo lovely of her…. Most of the stuff she ironed has never been ironed before. I am not an ironer!

So armed with freshly made chicken Mayo brioche rolls…. We set off on our journey.

After an hour and a half…. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Then hours and hours and hours of driving and finally Wales.

So we’re staying at Nash Oakland near Presteigne in Wales. We are camping in a woodland next to a river. In the middle of nowhere. With no signal. It sooooo peaceful.

Calaidh is in her element. Playing in the water and with a stick.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️