I didn’t sleep that well last night, 3 diet cokes before bed probably didn’t help. 😆 we have no plans this weekend so the day was my oyster. If that’s even a thing?! 🤣
I can hardly move this morning… my butt and legs are totally seized up. Not sure if it’s the Fit Body Farm yesterday morning or the go-karting last night… maybe a bit of both.
It’s funny when you get up to move and have to try to swing into action.
So after the busiest day yesterday I had no plans this weekend. I set about some housework this morning, did two washings and got it it out to dry as it’s so windy again… clean bed tonight. My heart wasn’t in it today…… by 11am the rain had stopped so I took the dogs out.
Check that cloud! Sunny spells but very windy all day
I took them into a freshly cut field for a good run.
Thought this looked really dramatic Calaidh loved eating this bit of grass!
When We got back I carried on with a bit of weeding…. A wee bit of work made a massive difference.
Before and after! (still way more to go!)
I realised Craig would be home from work in a hour so I thought I’d have a wee sit down and a rest….. I went and lay down on the bed and woke up at 3pm!!!!
Musta needed it!!! Out for the count.
I’m really dizzy just now and I have a bit of a sore throat so I did a covid test this afternoon but it was negative so all good.
Craig’s on a night out tonight for the first time in like a hundred years it feels, so I’m on taxi duty….. £40 I reckon it costs to Kilmarnock and back twice tonight. Used to think it was free when you got a lift but now it seems really expensive.
This photo of the dogs made me laugh… please don’t go out daddy…. He’s getting ready in front of Bhru and Calaidh!
Please don’t leave us….. 🥹🤣
So quiet night for me. I’m watching Spiderhead on Netflix and so far it seems really good.
I have to stay awake long enough to pick Craig back up again…. Volume on phone turned up high just in case.
The farm was great this morning! It’s a lovely start to the day. This is going to be our warmest day of the year so far I think.
I’m writing this lying here at 11am….
When we got back for the Farm I got changed and started tackling the weeds in the garden. They’ve grown so much over the last few months. Taken over.
BeforeBeforeBeforeAfterAfterAfter
It was hard work but I was on a roll. It’s lovely to work in the garden in the sun but now I’ve hit a wall and have finished my book and am having a wee lie down for an hour or so until I need to get ready to go out.
I’m heading to work with Craig as he’s off to West Kilbride and I can have a wee wander down at the beach. I’m waiting to see how hot it is before I take the dogs with me.
It was a fair bit cooler so I took Freya and Bhruic down onto Seamill Beach, West Kilbride.
How’s this for a view?
West Kilbride looked lovely with al the houses perched on the hill.
I have to be honest here and say I didn’t relax much on this walk. I was really anxious about letting the dogs off the lead so I walked with the on lead most of the time. It didn’t do them any harm as it was warm and it stopped them running about too much.
Off lead for a wee run
It clouded over a fair bit but looked really quite dramatic.
I loved the look of these flowers in the rocks.
I’m then off to my works’ Christmas night out!! We are heading to ScotKart in Camuslang…. Go-karting 🏎🏁
Not my finest look
I went through a huge range of emotions this evening….. fear, anxiety, terror, thought of backing out at the start, what have I done, fear, absolute terror…….. and by the second race I bloody loved it!!! Ok so I was always gonna be last but my fastest lap first time was 1minute and the second race my fastest was 51 seconds.
The second race was so much better, no more moving out the way for the boys… Julie’s racing line all the way! I was so chuffed it took them so long to lap me the second race. The first race they lapped me a million times!
So yeah, I’ve had a busy few days….. and I’m so pleased to say that The Rambling Sloth webpage is now fully functional. Click on the link to have a look!
Now don’t get too excited…. If you read the blog then it’s not really anything new but it’s way more professional than it’s been in the past. Previously if you looked up theramblingsloth.com you got Day 100 and could never see anything passed that. As lovely as Day 100 was…. There was more to my blog than just that 🤦🏻♀️🤣
So…. Long story but I’ll try to be brief…. I’ve had to temporarily find an alternative provider for my Health Kinesiology sessions due to ill health.
As devastated as I was by this and determined to “go it alone”…. things happened that meant I had to seek out a bit of help. None of these have been my story to tell but have impacted me enough that I’ve needed some support through them.
So anyway, new HK lady has web design experience so had helped me sort out the issues I had with the website. How lovely is that?!
She has an appointment that you can book with her for a half hour, called a Zoffee….. a “zoom coffee” and she told me to book one and she’d use the time to work on the page.
So huge thank you to Angela Daye – Inner Pathways for this unexpected IT support!! Again there is a link to be clicked there to take you to her business page. She is highly recommended!
Kinesiology helps me to live from a place of abundance rather than lack. It’s the best treatment I have ever found. I will never be able to explain it but it works for me every time.
So….. in other news…. Work has been good this week. I’ve felt calm and in control.
We sadly had a step incident at work….
Someone killed the step to our portacabin yesterday so the boys had to build a step from pallets…. as you do!
It’s a very fancy set up that I was able to use as decking for a quick seat in the sun at lunchtime!!! I always wanted a job I would wear shorts too in the summer… and here I am!
I also had a lovely massage at Harmony – Beith this afternoon after work. Norma worked her wonders as usual. I felt so relaxed when I left. 💆🏻♀️🧘🏻♀️
Back home for a bite to eat and then Claire popped in to the garden for a cuppa.
That’s the first time we’ve caught up in weeks due to our holiday and then she caught a bad COVID-19 variant and had been really unwell. It was lovely to see her smiling face again and get a good natter!
So that’s all from me today I think. Have to get to bed for the 5am alarm for the Fit Body Farm.
Of course it’s cloudy today and I had to put the lamp on as it’s dark cloud…. But today is the longest daylight of the year. The first day of summer.
It’s been up to 16C today though so it seems warm (remember it’s Scotland so that’s warm to us!) tomorrow will be hotter. 🙏🏻
I’ve just filled the van with diesel on the way home…. only put £70 in and just got over half a tank…… 😳 I paid £196.9 per litre….. I remember when we went over £1 and that was horrifying. Where will it stop?!?
Some good news though, I was renewing my van insurance which is a usually a task in itself. I like to pay in full rather than pay the monthly fee and pay money for nothing. They quoted me £406 and I said that I couldn’t afford to pay that…. Said I would have to do monthly amounts so they stood to get £469 if I did that….. they came back and knocked it to £298. I couldn’t believe they took so much off it. So just thought I’d mention this in case anyone else wants to haggle at insurance renewal time. It was so easy and better in my pocket than theirs. Same insurance. 🤷🏻♀️
I’ve been shattered this week, really lethargic and eating really badly which I know doesn’t help…. Early night tonight 😆
Took this photo of Calaidh out in the garden after work… she’s a cutie.
Jus’ throw the ball!! 🎾
Also took a photo of our rose bush at the back door, it’s really beautiful if a bit scraggy.
A lot of foliage fell off it last year. I’d love it to bloom all up the wall.
Oh that reminds me (the word bloom is the trigger 😆) I won an online competition yesterday on FB – a page called Tiree Photgraphic.
I don’t win anything but it’s so lovely to have one of my photos mentioned on the page. This was the lovely Balevullin Beach on Tiree on the most beautiful day.
I love the light nights that summer brings.
Tomorrow we will all be saying “aye the nights are fair drawin’ in…… 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤣 a wee Scottish joke… the first person that says that to me will get a slap. We can’t think of winter just yet. 🤣
So I finally issued my Staffa blog at 8am this morning but it seems to have bombed as hardly anyone has seen it. 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤣 it only took me about 7 days and 3 hours to write. 🤦🏻♀️🤣
Anyway, it’s a quickie today as I’ve been out since 9am on a day trip with some of my lovely neighbours to Edinburgh for the Lion King. 🦁👑
I don’t think I’ve been on a train since COVID though, so even that has been a wee adventure.
We’ve had a lovely day but it’s 8.37pm and we’re on the train still closer to Edinburgh than we are to Glasgow!
Both our trains were cancelled today so we had to be inventive and we’ve managed to get the train on different routes but way better than the bus.
Just arrived in Glasgow
Sent this next one to mum and dad saying… “where’s Julie?!”
Just arrived in Edinburgh Waverley!
They both guessed!
We went for pre-theatre drinks at a Festival bar on top of Edinburgh’s Waverley Market.
It’s actually been a lovely day weather wise too.
The Wallace Monument from the Festival Bar
I had to get this next photo as my in laws have two cool giraffes in their living room and I reckon they have escaped and been found in Edinburgh 🦒🦒
The Lion King is in the Edinburgh Playhouse.
The show was amazing. It’s not the same as I remember from the last time I saw it, I think a few less special effects this time round but still amazing.
Show selfie 🤳
After the show we went to Guilliano’s for dinner.
Check my pizza… it was amazing!!
Edinburgh is looking amazing in the evening sun…. a lovely end to a lovely day!!
You soooooo know I am freaking out about getting home late. My phone just told me I should be getting ready for bed….. eh yeah!!!! I know that…. We don’t get into Glasgow Queen Street until 9.30pm and we have to walk to Central Station. Rachel two doors down has just announced that there isn’t a train to Glengarnock after 7.40pm.
At this rate I’ll take a taxi…. 🚕🤣
To the boss man… I’ll be the burst couch tomorrow… least you know I’ll not be hungover 🤣🤣🤣
I started writing this on day 797 while sitting on the machair at the side of Gott Bay beach on the island of Tiree.
The internet connection was so bad that I decided to wait until I was home to write it…. It’s now day 808. 😆
So back to day 796…. I went with Tiree Tours to Staffa leaving at 2pm.
Sadly about 20 minutes before we were due to depart… Bhruic had an explosive bout of diarrhoea. We could not take her on a boat trip after that….and sadly it meant that Craig had to miss out. (Incidentally she was fine for another 5 days until it happened again by that’s by the by…)
Here I am all vested up and ready to go
I would say that this trip is really not for dogs….. this next pic is me making the descent onto the boat and not sure how we would have got Bhru down there at all….
Making the descent down to the Rib
“Where you going without us Mumma?”
So we set off for what was around an hour’s speedboat ride out to Staffa.
Staffa is situated about 6 miles off the coast of Mull and 33 miles west of Oban as the crow flies. I’ve wanted to visit Staffa and Fingal’s Cave since my parents took me on a boat trip from Oban around Mull past Iona and Staffa and back to Oban. I guess I was around 10 or 12 years old.
The trip is not for the faint hearted. It’s a loud and fast ride but you soon settle into the noise and the movement. It’s not particularly bumpy as the Rib speeds over the swell but we’re out on a relatively calm day.
We pass the Dutchman’s cap on the way there and I have to tell you I have photos of it from every single angle 🤣🤣🤣
Speeding past!
Then all of a sudden we start to slow down. There she blows!
Staffa has been uninhabited since 1800. Staffa is the same geology as the more famous Giants Causeway in Ireland. The island is of volcanic origin and is made up of an extraordinary pattern of predominantly hexagonal basalt columns.
In short, it is out of this world and so stunningly beautiful that this will be a very precious memory for me for many years to come.
We sail slowly up to the main attraction, Fingal’s Cave which is 20m high and 75m long.
The rib slowly sails into the cave. The water is clear turquoise coloured and the roof is shimmering gold.
It’s breathtaking and awe-inspiring all at once. The colours are amazing.
The water is deep but you can see the rocks almost as clearly as the ones above the water.
The roof is just as stunning as the cave itself. Nature is an amazing thing.
Everywhere I look there is something else to see. I’m worried I’m taking too many photos and not enjoying the experience for what it is.
We back away back out and the sea looks dark green.
Now we’re heading round to the landing platform.
I was the first off the Rib and straight up onto the landing platform.
Even the water here is eye catching. So green with the moss on the stones.
I’m on my own… I wish Craig was here but I am more than happy exploring by myself. I don’t feel odd in this group of couples. I am off over the basalt columns like Heidi the mountain goat. 🐐😆
Again it isn’t for the faint hearted. You need to be pretty sure of your footing. In the 21st Century, it’s probably the least safe thing I’ve visited but it is nice that there’s an element of common sense to your visit rather than being herded along a path with barriers all the way.
I stopped to look backwards and no one was following me. I was on my own and likely to get into Fingal’s Cave alone.
And then you turn the bend to walk into Fingal’s Cave. Wow…..
I’ve run out of adjectives…. I’m scared at this bit as it’s so precarious, yet determined to push into the cave. No one else is around.
Looking back out the way over to Iona and the Dutchman’s Cap is just visible on the horizon.
Then you reach the end of the path… just a small chain to stop you.
Zoomed in right to the back of the cave.
Don’t look down!!!
And so I stood here and I sang. All by myself. I just sang a couple of scales like I used to do in Higher Music when I was warming up for singing. The video clip I recorded did not do it justice. The echo was amazing. The clip sounds like I’m randomly singing for no reason. 😆🤣
The Gaelic name for Fingal’s Cave is An Uamh Bhin which means the melodious cave but it was subsequently renamed after the 3rd Century warrior Fionn MacCool.
The cave inspired Mendelssohn’s Die Hebriden in 1832 when he visited and heard the acoustics. (Click on the link for a listen!)
After a good bit of signing, nervously at first, I was joined by two guys from the boat and I shut up straight away and let them have their time alone in the cave. I went down the rocks closer to the water.
The left and I was alone again so went back in again for a second visit!!
Then others finally arrived (no idea what kept them all …so I headed back out and along the path I’d just come. It’s just as beautiful heading back to the landing area. Look at all the hexagons in this!!
This pile of basalt columns is called Am Buachaille or the Herdsman. It fascinated me.
Then I’m at the bottom of the steps…… they are very steep!!
These steps are pretty vertical up the side of Staffa and onto the top. I should say here that a boat trip landed with lots of people with walking sticks (and I don’t mean walking poles…) you have to be pretty sure on your feet to tackle this trip… I held on tight all the way up. Here is the trig point on the highest point of the island.
And the view….
Look at the columns of rock there…
I should have said, we got an hour on the island so all to soon it was time to head back down those steps!!!
Holding on for dear life with one hand and taking photos all the way…
Jeezo man… what goes up must come down.
Tiree Tours are heading back in to pick us up. They’ve been moored out at sea for the duration of our time on land.
And the steps keep on going…
Love these sea pinks.
And guess who gets right up front for the journey back!
The trips stops several times on the way back. You raise your hand, as you can’t be heard over the noise of the engine, if you spot some wildlife other than seabirds. Again I have loads of photos but this is the best of a Minke Whale. The porpoise were too fast for me. 😆
As you could have guessed I highly recommend the trip to Staffa though it’s closing down to visitors from August until March of 2023. I believe they are working on the access. Probably making it all Health and Safety compliant I guess.
I had the best afternoon and was back in Tiree by 5pm after my front row seat home.
I’ve been on a roll today… got loads of stuff up for sale on Vinted.
Everything up for sale for free and the buyer pays the postage to Vinted. Once they take delivery of my stuff, Vinted will transfer payment to me. A small risk, I guess but I’m not selling anything extortionate.
So if it sits still long enough… a selling is considered.
Now for those of us in Scotland I want you to consider how hot it has been in England recently. Everything we see on FB is about high temperatures, don’t walk your dogs on tarmac or midday….. looks out window 😳🤨🥶…. “another hot one today….” Looks out window….. 😳🤨🥶
Well, the Windsor Waffle, my good blogging friend needed her aircon on in the house ( 😲sorry “WW” I read your blog but haven’t had a chance to comment yet…. ) I love that she has aircon as for those of you not in the Uk, that’s quite unusual for us and would only ever been necessary in the South of England. We are busy freezing to death and being blown into next week with our current version of summer!! Isn’t it funny how if can be such a north/south divide at times. We got the raw deal this time…. Actually I say that and am very grateful I don’t have 30C heat…. I would just like a shade warmer than winter. Not asking much 🥶😆
So weather rant over, it’s been a quick day. It’s our neighbour’s birthday today so might have a few wee drinks in the village pub in a bit. I’m off to see The Lion King in Edinburgh tomorrow so looking forward to that! 🦁👑
Hope you’re all having a lovely weekend…. Hot or cold and May our summer come sometime soon….. please 🙏🏻
I didn’t plan to go to the Farm this morning as I was so tired…. Of course I woke at 5am and tried so hard to go back to sleep. I should have just gone to the gym…. I gave myself all the excuses under the sun…. Even thinking I’d save money in fuel by not going. How ridiculous is that?
I’ve put my day to great use…. I’ve not sat down (she says writing this as she’s sitting down…. 🙄)
I’ve blitzed the housework and honestly had to empty the hoover 4 times….. FOUR…. So either the house was disgustingly unclean, which it actually wasn’t, or the Shark hoover really is soooo small that it honestly can’t be made to hoover up after animals. It’s a nightmare!
Anyway, it’s all sparkling now…. With dog hair glitter and water splashes from when they shake the rain off…. 😆🤣🤣
It has been pouring today…. Honestly it was torrential this morning, the dogs were soaking wet after a few minutes outside. I had to wait till this afternoon to walk them.
The skies have cleared.
It’s the first time I’ve been round this way for ages and the roadsides are so overgrown. There’s nowhere to stop when cars go past. The 4 of us had to bury ourselves in the grass! One van came flying along at some speed and had to slam on his brakes….
So I’ve been busy putting some things up for sale today. I have generated way to much clutter and things need to go to make some space … a tidy house is a tidy mind.
I sold one thing as soon as I put it up for sale! Now I’m not making a fortune but it’s money for things that are taking up space in the house.
Just sold a second thing too!! Kind of glad I didn’t rush to post the first parcel… 😆
I’ve not managed a nap today so I hope I get a good sleep tonight. Lazy evening for us which is kinda he we roll these days. Just the way I like it!
It’s the first time I’ve said it in a long time but I feel wiped out tonight…. I woke at 5am and couldn’t get back to sleep so ended up in work for just after 7am. Was determined to get away 4pm and finally made it at half past. 🤨. I could hardly keep my eyes open driving home!
It’s quite hot here today so it might just be that. When the sun shines it’s meant to be 18C… then it rains and feels a lot cooler. Obviously….
Being busy and working late is a real “wine” trigger for me.
I’m tired, walked in the door and saw Craig with a glass of white and my heart sank…. I wanted to have the ahhhh moment that we all think that drink brings.
He quickly poured me an alcohol free wine (which to be honest are still fairly rotten) but honestly it did the trick. I’m now halfway through a bottle of red, without the after effects.
How funny that I saw that sober school post on Fb today. I swear sometimes I actually manifest this blog. 🤦🏻♀️🤣🤣
So not much else to report tonight other than it’s suddenly my weekend again. 🥳🥳
It’s been such a quick week. Tiree seems a distant memory already. I hope to get a chance to do my Staffa post this weekend before I actually forget about it. 😆
It’s been another busy day in the life. It’s 18.45 and I’ve not sat down…. Well that’s not entirely true but I’ve not sat and relaxed is more like it.
I didn’t go to the farm this morning as I was so late in bed last night I was shattered. Of course I woke at 4.45am but thankfully fell back to sleep until the 6.30 alarm and felt better for it.
I had little Peanut for company at work today and I sat outside for 10 minutes and lunch and he sat with me, wee sweetie. Still unsure of me but much happier than yesterday.
So I’ve been doing a bit of budgeting recently. We’re all in the same boat just now with finances and so I thought I’d have a look through to see if I could make any changes or improvements…..
Well I found a major one. I have been paying 2 TV licences since October 2015…. How is that actually possible?!? I mean that more from a how have I never noticed that perspective?!?!?!
It’s seems I’ve paid them from 2 separate bank accounts…. One is for this house and one is for the house we loved out of in 2015. What a total and utter waste of money!!!
However, on the plus side I am liable for at least two years of a refund as long as I can prove that we moved out of our last house legally……. Now where would that paperwork actually be…..
So at the very least I am saving £12.47 next month so that’s gotta count for something eh?!?
Got to laugh….. 😉
So now I’m in the village pub with the Crochet Hookers working on my latest blanket!
I had the busiest day today. It started badly when I seemed to hurt Peanut the office pup and he spent the rest of the day hiding from me. In our morning excited shenanigans, I must have stood on his paw or something as he squealed something chronic.
I tried too hard to do too many things at once today and felt a bit flustered. I worked till 5.30 but ended up doing new things that weren’t on my list to do staying late if that makes sense.
Anyway, I have a plan tomorrow and I just need to try and stick to it to get through everything.
Once again I found myself getting irritated by the interruptions or the additions to my day and yet that is life. I can see now that there is absolutely no point in getting antsy.
The day ended with a scraping at the office door….. Peanut without harness and lead that he should have been attached to…. I was forgiven. I picked him up and we had a big cuddle.
4 loads I’ve done already today…. But it feels good to get everything washed. Considering we hardly took any stuff with us, that’s a whole lot of washing. 🤣
I put it out on the line to dry Tiree style….
This is the Tiree washing not mine!!!
Leave it out, it may rain but the sun and wind will ultimately dry it at some point… that’s what I’m going with.
It was lovely to be in a big clean bed last night and have a huge bathroom (by Tiree portaloo standards that is….) yet I didn’t sleep that well as Calaidh stayed in with us and seemed super excited every time she remembered we were back. 🤦🏻♀️🤣
She didn’t wake me enough to think to put her in her room but enough that my sleep was disturbed!
The day after a holiday is always a bit rotten. Did I actually appreciate every minute I had off, every lie in that wasn’t 5am, how did it pass so quickly…..
Then I remember that we did have a great time. There are plenty more weekends away and holidays to be had this year. It’s only June.
And for some in the UK it looks to be a hot one…. Not so much for Scotland but still warmer than it’s been all year.
So I’ll leave you with a few pics from the ferry trip, from Scarinish in Tiree to Oban on the Scottish mainland, yesterday.
Churning up the sea as we try to hold port in CollPassing the Isle of LewisLady Muck the most chilled out she’s ever been on a ferryThe Waverley Paddle Steamer, MV Coriusk and MV Loch Frisa moored in the distance at Craignure on the Isle of MullThe Lismore lighthouseThe Clansman cutting through the waves Dark clouds MV Isle of Mull leaving ObanThe Isle of Mull passing Coriusk on the horizon
It’s been a very stormy few days. The wind has been relentless!
I didn’t write the blog yesterday as there was no way I was standing outside to load the photos in my 4G spot….
I should say here that I’ve reached another milestone. 800 days of my blog. What started as a daily chat of my life with anxiety, coming out of depression and straight into COVID-19, has become a pretty life altering event for me. I can still talk through my feelings on the bad days, but I love sharing my adventures and taking photos of the lovely places we visit.
So back to yesterday….
We still managed to get out and about, despite the gales and walked Bhru down to Balemartine Beach and sat in the sun for a good while. Even although the wind was howling, the sun came out and it was nice to be outside in the fresh air.
The wind blowing the puddles on the beach
Oh wow witting the blog from The Clansman ferry today and the photos are loading straight away… what a luxury!
I love this typical Hebridean view
This lovely guy lives on a field at the camp site. Now I’m not a horsey person but honestly this poor guy looked so bored with no shelter from the intense sun, or the strong winds and nothing to do but say hi to passers by, which were few and far between. Maybe horses don’t need much but I get this one wanted more.
The rest of the day was spent inside Abbie the camper van while the wind RAGED at her rear end. I’ve lost an upper reflector as the wind worked away at it and broke the clips off.
We had a movie afternoon and night with lots of munchies which was really nice. Had to keep upping the volume over the wind though.
We’ve had the pop top roof down since 1.30am on Friday morning. Too windy for that. We had to unhook the electric hookup as the flap that covers the inlet was squeaking like mad right next to my ear!
We got a text last night to say that the ferry was being rescheduled to 3.20pm today which meant a lazy morning.
Poorly sick-ill puppy
Sadly poor Bhru was up half the night with the runs again. Think the noise of the wind really unsettled her… so we were pretty shattered.
It’s wild today…. The sun came out and doesn’t show just how wild it is… gusts up to 47mph.
The waves are huge. The Clansman appeared around the headland and my stomach was on the ground just watching it.
It was heaving up and down in the swell…. Then Bhru threw up over Craig’s crochet blanket and then proceeded to have more runs outside despite having no food today.
My anxiety was out banging the drum. Then I read this on FB….
Now if that wasn’t meant to be then I don’t know what was. Thank you to the lovely lady who posted this on a wild sea swimming group. I really needed to see it.
I drove on to the ferry shaking but thinking calm as the storm will pass. We get Bhru out and across deck when they call me back as they might need Abbie to move. I could hardly stand up with the swell. I joked with the CalMac guy that he should move it for me…. He said I’d be fine…. and I was…. I helped a couple with two kids and loads of bags, get upstairs and found Bhru and Craig at the top of the steps… I was still shaking like a leaf!
As we sail out of Tiree, a calm washes over me (which you will all agree is way better than a giant wave….. yeah too soon….) I think these big ferries have stabilisers and honestly you’d hardly notice the swell. Unless you look at the horizon abut I’ve tried to stop doing that. Bhru is the most settled I’ve seen her thankfully.
Cuddles from her dadFinally fast sleep
We have towels with us in case she is ill but so far so good.
We docked into Coll with a good few lurches.
We are currently powering down the Sound of Mull and just passed CalMac’s Isle of Mull.
It’s still very windy but honestly you’d never know here inside.
We’ve had the loveliest holiday. Bhru has been on her best behaviour and I commented to Craig that we’d had a great time and hadn’t even really argued. My anxiety could start a fight in a teacup at times…. He smiled and said yeah but Bhru’s had a lot to say about me…. So that’s kept him sane.
We should arrive in Oban in a few hours.
My lovely father in law is manning puppers 1 & 3 today for the next few hours then we’ll be home to surprise them by 11ish…. Can’t thank my in-laws enough for looking after them this week and letting us get away.
I’ve still got squillions of photos to share and of course, my trip to Staffs but I’ll get to them over the next few days.
Tiree you have been stunning and blown us away with your beauty.
There’s a storm a brewin’… it was a nice enough morning but cloudy until the rain came on about 12ish and rained most of the afternoon. The wind is up to gusts of 28mph and tomorrow and Saturday that only keeps increasing. To the extent that our ferry is likely to be disrupted or cancelled.
So we took a drive up a new road today but went back to Balevullin beach to take Bhru for a walk and watch the Blackwater Sports Surf School.
The black dot in this next photo is Abbie the camper van!!!
We had a coffee and a wee snack then headed down to Gott Bay to watch the kite surfers.
Then we went to visit the Yellow Hare cafe and gift shop and it’s the first gift shop we’ve seen on the island. We had coffee and cake (again…) 😬🤣
We went to speak to the CalMac office to see what they thought about the ferries on the next few days and they told us to download the app to keep up to date with decisions made but it was ok for now.
Within about an hour that had changed and Friday’s is called out for disruption or cancellation. We sail on Saturday and the weather is forecast to be worse 😳
It’s raining by now so we came back to the campsite and moved to a more sheltered pitch.
We had a lovely relaxing afternoon and I finished the book that Claire leant me called “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens.
It was sooooo good. I’ve read it in a few days.
By 5pm the sun was back out so Bhru pup and I took a walk down to Balemartine Beach.
We had toasties in the Ridgemonkey for dinner.
And planning a lovely lazy evening though it’s 7pm already. We might need to baton down the hatches overnight but will see if the forecast changes. The bushes are providing a fair amount of shelter though it’s eased off for now and the sun is out.
We had our first rain of the holiday today…. It’s been forecast all week and although the forecast keeps changing, Wednesday was always going to be the worst weather day. (at time of writing it is not going to be the worst day now…. 😬)
As I write this I’m sitting outside Abbie the camper van in shorts and a vest top! It’s hot again out of the wind.
So back to this morning…. For the first time I had to get up in the middle of the night to go to the loo. Someone brought a chilli sauce with us called “Shit the Bed”…. He who shall remain nameless put it in our lovely pasta dish last night leaving me, at 3am trying to carry out that actual task. ‘Scuse the disgusting nature of this conversation but there is a point to it…. I finally got to see the campsite in the dark, and hardly surprisingly, it wasn’t really dark when I got up. I could see to walk to the toilets without a head torch… I needed it for inside the toilets but there was a line of light on the horizon. We’re only a few weeks away from summer solstice which is the reason we’re on holiday in June. I wanted to get away with the lighter nights. We were outside in shorts until after 10pm again last night when the sun set!
I took lots of sunset shots…. The low sun was lovely.
So back to this morning. Moderately heavy winds and rain….. so we stayed in bed until 12.40pm!!! We had breakfast and read books and had a snooze… had a lovely lazy morning.
The rain stopped before lunch and it was still very grey and overcast so we headed to The Hynish Centre today which is run by Hebridean Heritage. It’s unmanned but very informative and we followed the heritage trail.
It explains how the Skerryvore Lighthouse was built.
Skerryvore is 10.5 nautical miles off the coast of Tiree. I can’t imagine how difficult the conditions were to build a lighthouse out there in treacherous conditions.
The lighthouse is 138 feet or 42m high and was built using Hebridean Gneiss for the first 4 layers and then Ross of Mull Granite as it proved easier to work with.
The fact they used no mortar on it at all is fascinating. The weight of the massive upper stones holds the lower stones in place and it withstands the onslaught of the Atlantic.
The sun came out as we walked around and it’s been a lovely day since.
The harbour is fascinating as it had to be open out to sea to allow ships to use it. This lead to sand filling up into the harbour and they had to find a way to remove it.
They built a flush out system where a reservoir fills up with water and the sluice gates are opened and the rush of water flushed all the sand back out to sea and then huge gates came down to keep the ship docked in water without more sand coming in. All of this in the early 1800’s…. It’s fascinating what they achieved.
We then drove back out to Scarinish for a wander and popped into the Co-op for tonight’s BBQ.
So as usual… loads more photos to share but will load these up for now.
The forecast isn’t great and everyone we speak to says the ferry might not run on Saturday…. We just have to wait and see. It’s been windy today but that is forecast to double by Friday afternoon….. 😳💨💨💨
And that’s not because of the chilli sauce. 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤣😘
I am sleeping like a log this holiday…. A lazy morning today, pancakes and crumpets with butter and jam, with coffee, for breakfast sitting outside though we figured this morning was long trousers day and not for shorts.
It turned out the morning was cooler but the afternoon as been absolutely scorching!!!
So, I’ve decided I can’t do my Staffa post justice while I have such low internet connection and I’m also trying to spend time relaxing on holiday so Im going to leave it for today and just show you a few photos from todays beach scope.
We drove up the North East of the island today.
We drove up through Scaranish and straight up to Vaul.
This beach had been recommended to me. As with all beaches on the island it’s stunning but I couldn’t find anywhere to park…. My anxiety told me everywhere was someone’s land…. There was no parking particularly for the beach so we double backed and headed up to Caolas and back down onto Gott Bay.
There’s a high level cloud but it’s still sunny… just not as warm as it was the last few days.
We took Bhru for a long walk and then back to the van for coffee. Then drove further down Gott Bay….. it’s that big…. And stopped again for a seat in the sun as the clouds were starting to clear.
The sun then split the skies so we drove further down the coast and stopped at Crossapool Beach.
It was absolutely stunning….. breathtakingly beautiful.
The sun’s been fully out since 2pm. We took Bhru for a big run on the beach.
Action shot 🤣🤣🤣
Of course we paddled.
And then promptly sat up in the dunes for about 3 hours and just enjoyed the view and the sunshine.
Honestly just out of this world.
So that’s all for now. Have so many more photos to share but they can wait till I’m home and have lots of time to share them.
We’re having the loveliest of holidays. Chilled and relaxed with no plans. Just taking each day as it comes.
Since I was about 10 or 12 years old, I have wanted to visit the island of Staffa off the west coast of Mull. Mum and Dad took us on a boat trip from Oban that went round the island of Mull and passed Staffa in a loop back to Oban.
It fascinated me.
And finally today in my 50th year, I finally got there and landed and walked on Staffa.
I realise it sounds so dramatic…. But it was to me!
So I’m going to leave it hanging there I’m afraid as I’ve been away all afternoon while poor Craig had to stay in the van and nurse a poorly Bhruic. Sadly she had explosive diarrhoea about 20 minutes before we went on the boat….. it would have been horrific if she’d done that ON the boat.
It meant Craig had to miss out… which at £55 a ticket was pretty sickening but no point in getting upset about it.
Will tell you all about my Staffa trip tomorrow as we’re back at the campsite and sitting outside until sunset again. It’s cooler than yesterday but still a lovely evening. Spending time with my boy ♥️ and the pup with the scoots….. 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️😬😆🤣
Tiree is called Hawaii of the North and it’s certainly lived up to its name today.
The sun is splitting the sky again.
Lady Muck enjoying some early morning tummy tickles
I woke at 6 but I’d had the best sleep… all that sunshine and fresh air doing us the power of good.
We opened the scenic canvas of the van for only the second time ever. Love having the roof off!
We had coffee and crumpets with jam for breakfast.
We set off on a tour of 3 of the islands beaches via the Co-op on the way home!!
First stop was Balephuil Beach.
The sand is so white and perfect.
Bhru is in her element!
Of course I had to go straight in paddling.
It’s unbearably cold but if you can breath slowly through it then the pain passes after a few minutes but honestly, it was excruciating!!
The beach is so gently sloping that you can walk out really far.
Just throw the ball and stop taking photos Bhru says….
We carried on further up the coast, all the roads are one track roads with passing places. We turned onto a stony track for Sandaig Beach… this one wasn’t the most enthralling but put Abbie’s suspension through the mill big time. All that way for a stony beach and a field really… still that’s what exploring is all about.
We drove through a herd of awfy big coos to get to this beach and they were on the main road too. My experienced navigator was exceptional but really poor at photographic spontaneity! that means there are no photos of the coos or the sheep that crossed the road in front of us… 🤷🏻♀️😬🙄😆
We carried on up to Balevullin Beach which really was stunning. This is where they do all the windsurfing.
I tried to maroon Craig and Bhru on an island but they managed to walk off it!
None of these photos really do it justice. The colours are exceptional. Everything is so vivid in the sunlight.
We picked up the surf dog that is owned by the Balevullin surf shop. we couldn’t shake him for ages.
We drove back down through Scarinish and stopped at the Co-op for dinner then came home to have a BBQ.
Mussels to start.
With lamb and mint kebabs for me and hot and spicy chicken wings for Craig.
It’s 7pm and the sun is still scorching but I’m off for my shower now. Get rid of all the sand and suntan lotion in time for sunset and bed! I’m downloading my photos in the wee camp kitchen hut 🛖 😆
There are so many more photos, it’s so difficult to chose between them!
Oh wow…. We had no idea how beautiful this island was. Tiree is part of Argyll and Bute and is situated off the west coast of Mull and therefore, Scotland, right next to Coll.
It’s a 4 hour ferry journey but only because we stopped at Coll first. That must have taken a good half hour. I also would have hated to join the ferry from Coll to Tiree as they had to reverse on….. REVERSE ONTO A FERRY 😳😬😆 with everyone heading to Tiree already watching….. what could possibly go wrong??!
So we sailed into Scarinish and we are camping at Balinoe so we drove straight here yesterday. The scenery along the way was stunning…. Pure white sand and turquoise sea all along the coast.
The guy who owns the campsite wants everyone to come straight from the ferry so he gets you on pitch and then does an orientation with everyone that arrived.
Our pitch for the week was
The campsite is basic but functional. It has two portaloo’s and 2 Portaloo showers. There’s an old camping kitchen with washing up facilities and a third shower room which I used last night… way more space to lay your stuff out.
The weather is glorious…. It’s scorching yet the forecast only says 14C. It feels way hotter. About 3pm we decide to take Bhru out for a walk down to our nearest beach at Balemartin.
The road out the campsiteThe machair is stunning though mostly buttercups and daisies just now – also the first glimpse of the turquoise sea
The photos don’t do it justice. It’s immaculate and virtually empty. There was a wedding here yesterday…. Can you imagine?! A sunny wedding no. A white beach with turquoise sea and in Scotland…. They were soooo lucky!
Back up to the campsite and made a lovely pesto pasta for dinner. There may have been a weeeee but of cheese on it too….
It appears we are in the sunset pitch on the campsite. We got a stunning view of it last night. I have many photos!
I did some sunset shots with Bhru!
She actually had the green ball between her elbows here…. If dogs actually had arms 🤦🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤣
The sun finally went down around 10pm. This was the reason we came on holiday in June. I wanted to camp with the lighter nights. I haven’t seen it dark here yet.
I haven’t even started todays blog… but that’s ok. We’ve seen so many stunning beaches. It’s just out of this world!!
The Rambling Sloth 🦥 