So it’s 6.51pm and I’ve been working since 7.15am.

Into Tartan early as I had a load to catch up on. Another great morning. Got lots done.

Left at 1.15pm and had to stop in a lay-by to catch a dog behaviour call before 2pm! Got home at 2.30pm and had a quick bite to eat and then upstairs for my Tapping session with the girls from 3-4pm. Then back onto dog behavioural calls until 5.45pm and now have a puppy zoom call at 6pm.

So it’s 8.05pm and I’m now on holiday! No camper and, dogs or puppies for the best 3 days….. oh ok I still have 3 dogs…… dammit…. and I drive a campervan…… ok yeah will cope 😇🥰

So back to the title… my wonderful husband has gutted the house, he’s polished, hoovered and cleaned all the floors, there were candles burning when I came home and the house smelled lovely.

A clean house is an amazing thing…. I realise how lucky I am that he did all that without me asking. I will find some odd things in random places for the next wee while but let’s park that and move on. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣😘 Very, very, very grateful!

So yeah, it’s been a crazy few days and my head doesn’t have any space for the usual pearls of wisdom I might spout at this time of night.

Normal service will be resumed when I have some time to swing a cat.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Not gonna lie…. I’m pooped.

5 hours and 45 minutes spent being a campervan conversion lady this morning. Great morning. Got lots done. 1 hour for the drive there and then home again.

Home via Home Bargains as I had run out of deodorant?!?!? I have NEVER EVER run out of deodorant…. I usually have at least 3 or 4 floating around the house. I have now been 2 days without….. it’s actually all good…. I question whether I actually need it but I’ve bought two to get the minimum stock level back up. Lack of shops open in lockdown had obviously contributed to stocking levels. No…. not stocking levels. Jeez, I am tired….

So back home, quick hi to Craig and the dogs and upstairs to be dog behavioural enquiry lady and the calls have taken me ages. Things are ramping back up again which is great but it’s just been a busy week as I get used to the morning job.

There is a chance this will be the shortest blog ever but I’m hungry and need some dinner. I’ve been snacking all day without taking real breaks. Yes, I know this is wrong and note to self….. I just have this drive to get it all over with so I can relax.

It’s 6.43pm now and I have my jammies on. Dinner is in the oven a la Craigie.

The fire is roaring as it’s still very cold. Not that I’ve been aware of the weather much at all today.

I was very lucky to have my blog featured by another blogger yesterday! Jacob Nyamake features a different writer every Wednesday and it was yours truly yesterday. I can’t tell you how proud I am that he took the time to contact me. He’s a lovely guy and his blogs are a great read at Jake in the City .

Click on the link below to read my interview. I’m one wee proud cookie.

https://jakeinthecity.wordpress.com/2021/04/07/wednesday-writer-the-rambling-sloth/

Hope you all had a great day.

Stay safe everyone 🍪🍪🍪

A different Julie woke up this morning thankfully….. with a silent head. Ok I lie…. it wasn’t silent…. it was so much quieter than it was yesterday.

Mr Sporty Spice was out the door to the gym just before I got up at 6.30am. Shower, hair wash (was desperately needing done!) and out the door by 7.20am and guess what?!?? The windscreen was frosted over!!! In April?!?! So Mrs short ass can’t scrape the windscreens of a VW Transporter… I just have to wait for it to defrost…. note to self….. get scraper on a broom handle?!? Can’t be hard can it?

So I’ve been working ALL DAY. Oh diddums…. I hear you say… it’s a beautiful day but it’s baltic again……. so very cold. I did Tartan from 8-3 and then Pawsitive Solutions from 3-5 but stayed in Tartan Campers while I did the dog calls. Funny calling someone and remembering “which” Julie was making the call.

It was a good day. I’ve enjoyed it and been calm throughout. Thank goodness.. she says politely.

Oh the reason I stayed at Tartan for so long was because one of the guys was working on my reversing camera!!! I can now see out the back!!!! Of the van…… stop it.

So I had to rush home for Kinesiology tonight. I’d booked a session to try to take some of the stress out of my current working life. It was amazing as ever and I cleared some fears based around being unable to achieve others expectations of me and a belief that I would have to be the previous version of my working self… 24/7…. and that’s not me anymore. I know my limits and I know what is right for me. So Kinesiology will have taken the stress out of all of these things so I can sleep soundly tonight.

Shelagh suggested this opportunity came along at a point that I was well enough and ready to handle it. Which is so very true. I just haven’t felt like I was handling it very well these last few days.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Well I think it’s safe to say my mind has been well and truly closed for the last 24 hours with all sorts if noise and rubbish flying around inside it. Oh my god…. it’s no wonder I am shattered half the time. It’s hard work overthinking this much.

I have allowed my brain to blow it all day today. And all night last night.

It was one of those nights I felt like I was wide awake, permanently switched on. Yet I wasn’t as I did sleep for some of it but I think I was almost having a mild panic attack as I couldn’t sleep. I tossed and turned, I did the tapping balance at least 3 or 4 times which worked for a bit them before I realised I was back rabbiting away to myself again. I tried thinking through the opening of some of Suzanne Robichaud’s meditations and that completely calmed me down only to find a few minutes later the chatter came back.

Am I now officially insane?!? Talking to myself in the middle of the night?!? Those who hear my on a daily basis can only imagine what it’s like to listen to all night. 🙈🙉🙊

I think this is what it’s all about……

Something I asked for a while back did arrive very suddenly and it’s swept my feet out from under me.

So I had all the patience in the world when it came to my future. I knew it would be ok. I knew it would all work out. I always knew. I had patience when I had nothing.

I now have two jobs…. my attitude leaves a lot to be desired, let me tell you….. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I am all over the place. ALL OVER THE PLACE.

I know it’s irrational.

Gone is the credit that I should be giving myself for having 2 jobs and being busy. Replaced with a baseball bat that I am hammering myself with.

I have this thing that I need to get everything done so that I can relax. I can’t relax until everything is done. (:same thing yep) If this means getting up earlier and working longer just to get some chill time then so be it. I need to remember that the stress involved with juggling all this is the only reason I need the rest.

This next one is part of the problem. I don’t know precisely where I am going and that bothers me.

I am stressing on the journey rather than savouring it. Boom…. hits nail on head with said hammer. 🔨 (actually it was a baseball bat….)

Lovely early morning walk with Bhruic and Freya this morning as Calaidh is away to the groomers this morning. it is beautiful but it is FREEZING!!!!! Absolutely Baltic!

Went to collect Calaidh from BrawCuts Grooming in Barmill. Auntie Megan did a great job. She’s all floofy and fluffy!!!

So I’ve spent the rest of the day making calls and hanging out washing also had a cuppa with (and moaned at) Claire, chatted with (moaned at) mum on the phone. You get the drift.

Thanks for staying with me with me while I moan again.

You’ll be glad to know I booked Kinesiology for tomorrow night as I need this Tasmanian devil tornado if stress to calm the f right down. ‘Scuse French. Needs must.

Maybe my mood today has just been like the weather, blowing hot and cold. All day.

Enough already.

Stay safe everyone 🙉🙊🙈

Who remembers these?

My Dad says Smarties and Yorkie were are the cutting edge of 1970/80s Easter egg technology 🤣🤣 we used to love collecting the mugs! I remember my brother and I getting about 12 big eggs each and loads of smaller ones too!

I would say in our life without kids, Easter is just a word. I forgot to buy eggs for anyone this year, it’s not on my radar. Mind you we’ve been in lockdown for so long I can hardly remember why day it is…..and I’ve also been a bit busy these last few weeks. That’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it.

So up quite sharp this morning and down to Gro Coffee for breakfast again….. 3 weeks in a row doth a habit make!!?

Back home before 11.30 and I went straight back out with Calaidh and Bhruic.

Ok enough of the daffodils… I have another million photos of them but I also have a million pics of Calaidh and Bhru in the burn!!!

So back home and it’s only 1pm and the blog is nearly done. Check me. Planning way more chilling time today though the weather has turned so it will all be indoor chilling and not outside!!

So I hope you all have a lovely Easter.

I always emoji my journey from an egg hatching to an eagle….. and eagle seems a bit much but that’s the giggle…. I might just stay a hatched chick…. but it seems pretty apt for Easter.

🥚🐣🐥🦅

Stay safe everyone 🐣🐥🦅

It’s been a busy week. I ent to bed at 9.30pm last night and managed to sleep until 8am.

Craig always says “what do you have planned today”….. my answer today… “absolutely hee-haw”.

I have sat outside in the sun all day. I wore factor 15 suntan lotion which is a commitment from me. It smells of coconut 🌴 🥥….. it smells of holiday. I shut my eyes and In the heat of the sun I could be anywhere. I open my eyes and I am still home but it’s the loveliest day. Clear blue skies, very little breeze and just the sound of the birds chirping.

I have crocheted, I have taken photos of the dogs, I have caught up on WhatsApp chats and FB group posts.

While I was doing all this, Craig washed my van and tried to polish out some marks AND cleaned all the windows. How lovely was that?!?! I didn’t even ask him to do it. I have to confess I’ve not even been out to see it yet. He’s worried it will be dirty before I actually do go for a look 🤣🤣

He also cleaned out the greenhouse ready for the new spring planting 🪴 all while I sat on my backside.

I had an over the fence catch up with one neighbour, I had a cosy nap in the sun in Grans chair and had our other neighbour in the garden for drinks early evening.

I feel calm and rested. It feels like a holiday and obviously the weather helped. We have the heating ramped up to try and thaw out now as it did get a bit chilly towards the end.

Eleven hours outside in the fresh air, what’s not to love??

Hope you all had a great day.

Stay safe everyone ☀️☀️☀️

I did not see this weather coming…. it was frosty early on and Mr Sporty Spice had to scrape the car at 5.30am when he got up for the gym. Bloomin’ middle of the night! 🤣

I managed not to wake up which is something but at 6.40am I sat up with a giant panic that I’d slept in. Also freaked thinking the client I was meeting this morning didn’t know our meeting point…. she did. Of course she did. 😳🥱😬

I did not feel good this morning. In face I felt positively dreadful. So exhausted and so nervous and so overwhelmed with everything that’s gone on this week.

I feel like I’ve been catapulted into some crazy world these last few weeks and you know what, it has been crazy. Tartan Campers came from nowhere and was never part of my new life plan. It came from nowhere (yeah you said that) and has taken over a whole lot of hours. I’ve done 21 hours of work with 4 hours of travelling which is a lot of a week when you consider I was getting up at 9 and walking the dogs and then making some calls and sleeping, crocheting or reading for the rest of the day.

My days feel soooo much longer. I’m obviously getting way less sleep as a result. However, in comparison to my previous working life it should be a positive breeze! And yes, that’s where I beat myself up. (I know never start a sentence with and….. ) The old me would have scoffed at these hours. The new me is scoffing at my exhaustion….

One the me’s just needs to give the other me a break! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I was all over the place this morning. Nervous, butterflies mixed with calm determination…. I knew I’d be fine but with a thumping tension headache as racing heart, all brought on by my own mind. My own lack of self confidence.

Like my mini meltdown yesterday, I can’t stop myself when I’m it it….. Yet I drive to the park, pay for parking and head into the park and conduct my first face to face puppy consultation and even I wouldn’t have known how I felt beforehand.

It went really well.

I guess deep down I knew it would.

That doesn’t seem to help though…. 🤦🏻‍♀️

So I was home by about 1.30pm and was still wired to the moon. I’m obsessed with how tired I feel and the desperation to get some sleep….. but there was a thing today…. the sun was shining ☀️☀️☀️ and it was glorious.

She who sun worships cannot be inside sleeping whilst sun is shining…. so she chooses to stay awake and fight it for the good of some vitamin D.

We then got invited to our neighbours garden for some drinks at 4pm. It was so lovely to be outside chatting to people. Almost normal. We’ve missed that over the winter. Of course I took my 0% With me, this time Peroni.

You know what, I feel so much better, I forced through the tiredness and looking back I can see how much energy I put in to feeling tired. It causes a lot of stress for me.

The stress has gone, replaced by some nice chat with lovely people. Guess that’s the way to do it.

Stay safe everyone ☀️☀️☀️

A good one from my new job!

So I had a chance to have a lie in today…. had the Osteopath this morning at 9.30 so could have an extra 2 hours in bed…. no… I chose to get up early, clean the bathroom, put a washing on, have a shower and wash and dry my hair and then head to my appointment. Result. 5.15pm and I’m exhausted.

I literally hammered myself into floods of tears.

I had another good few hours at Tartan but overran a bit and had a dog behaviour call scheduled for 2pm. I couldn’t make that so apologised just before 2pm. It was an enquiry call so not a paying client but I just seemed to go into a mini meltdown. I was in a spiral of panic. I drove home about 45 mins later than I should have, beating myself up for that. Then thought the van had some wheel wobble and I beat myself up for that. Then I spoke to Craig who said my handsfree has really bad interference so I was raging at that. Still don’t have my reverse camera fixed because I’m so busy I keep forgetting to ask. I literally hammered myself into the ground and the result was floods of tears.

Then I see this….

My day has been good. I’m tired. I’m doing more than I have done in a very, very long time. I’ve not had to think this much for years.

I’m gonna leave this here tonight. Need to get some sleep. 🛌😴💤

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Well, that was not the best nights sleep that I’ve ever had…. I went to bed in a bad mood and I shouldn’t have. I was restless all night thinking about it. I read this:

I’ve really struggled with my weight/food/exercise these last few years and desperately want to lose weight but it’s just not something I can deal with just now. I’ve tried… if you’ve followed this blog you’ll have seen the weeks at 15k steps a day, the weeks I’ve tracked my food… but I can’t seem to do it all at once. I’m using a lot of energy just now just being….. I don’t know if that makes sense but it does to me. In my lack of sleep I realised that actually this post was accurate…. it hurt me and I was angry at it but its right. I don’t want to lose the fat as much as I want to take each day at a time and listen to what my body and mind need.

In more positive news….

I also got a congrats in new new job card with mini eggs and Malteser bunnies from my friend Gillian.🐣

So this next thing is lovely…. Auntie Jac saw this today and thought it summed up my new career.

Isn’t that a lovely way of thinking about things?

Speaking of my new half of my career…. I worked from 8am to 3pm today as I have an Osteopath appointment tomorrow morning. Guess what….. I had my first customer meeting and we sold a van conversion!!! Woo hoo! Deposit received same day snd I have already ordered the pop top roof and the inside furniture. Boom!

Would you believe we had the meeting outside on deckchairs as the sun was out. It wasn’t particularly warm but it was warmer than inside the workshop…. I have ALWAYS wanted a job where you could be outside in the good weather!

Back home about 3.30pm and then onto my Pawsitive Solutions calls. Work done by 4.30pm… Then out to the van to fit my new rear seat storage….

Now I could have bought something that was £75 per seat but I’ve gone for something that was £5 per seat!!

So it’s as cheap as chips but will be great for us to get used to the van.

After dinner I intend not moving until it’s time for bed. 2,633 steps today but that’s ok…. it will just have to be 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😳😬🤣

Stay safe everyone 🚐🐶🚐

The alarm went off at 5.45 this morning as Mr Sporty Spice was going to the gym. 😴😴😴 soooooo tired but also wide awake. What is it about that time in the morning when you need to go back to sleep but can’t?!?

I got up at 6.20 and decided to head into Tartan Campers early. The guys start at 7am so I can start early if I want…. except for today….. locked out!!! A freak chain of events meant that the guys that were already there had no key for the front door. So I spent the first 45 minutes standing in the car park. Should have gone back to sleep 🛌

The old me would have been raging about this… the new me…. registers it, feels it… meh… and moves on. it’s no big deal at all.

I got a good chat with the lads about camping in the Outer Hebrides, I had a coffee to drink that was still warm and I had a safe drive down. Three things!

I got back home about 1.30 after I managed to get out the staff car park. I forgot I’m only working half days this week and hemmed myself in behind a guy who finishes at 3pm. Muppet!

Had some lunch as soon as I came home as I was SO hungry. Might need to think about taking a mini lunch with me but on the plus side I remembered to clean my teeth. 😬😁 I also took my water and breakfast. Way better than most days so far.

I knew I needed a sleep. I felt exhausted but a good tired of that makes sense. I did a Suzanne Robichaud meditation….Sleep Session – I surrender (letting things go) starting about 2.30pm.

Next thing I know is 4.35pm!!! Musta needed it! That’s our stock phrase…. 🥱🛌😴

Of course the second job needs doing too but I only had a few calls to make. Did them and then Freya and I went for a walk with Claire.

My new working life means I’m struggling to hit even 2,500 steps a day so I needed a push to go for a walk. Claire doesn’t push… she just asks 😁 but I wouldn’t have done it without her.

Did anyone notice, there was still some light in the sky last night at 8.20pm? Love, love, love the lighter nights.

Another good day and I’m listening to what I need. Not gonna lie I’m already looking forward to my bed too but I’ll get used to it. It will just take some time to undo 2.5 years of the sloth 🦥 🤣

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

I did not want to move when the alarm went off this morning…. I think I spent a fair bit of the night wondering when 6.30am was coming, without looking at the time. 😴🥱

Why did I agree to do a job that needs an alarm? Who’s idea was this? Vowed I’d never go back to early morning starts…. you get the drift…… let’s get this clear… getting up at 6.30am is a whole lot better than 5.30am like my previous job. Also now that I don’t care how I look (🤭😁) I will get that time right down to the wire. At the moment I am just practicing at getting out the door with everything I need. It’s not going that great…. I forgot to clean my teeth one day, forgot food one day and forgot my water today but as the days go on I expect to claw all of that back and be organised once more! I really should write a checklist….. note to self! I actually do love a good list.

So I was at Tartan Campers today for 7.45am and worked until just after one. All going great!

Back home, had lunch as I was STARVING and was close to devouring my right arm… why is this saying not the left arm?!? Does it not taste as nice? 🤣🤣

Then up to my upstairs bedroom office for round 2 until 5pm Pawsitive Solutions calls.

Another full day and I think I’m better for it. I think I am more focussed and less faffy which is a technical term in my book. I definitely feel more alert and involved and a part of something.

One of my friends messaged this afternoon to say she’s booked Tartan Campers rental van Archie for her holidays!!! How cool is that?! Can’t wait to see her when she comes to pick it up in a few months! We better be allowed to hug by then….. 🤗💕

I love this next one….. ♥️♥️

My blogger friend at The Windsor Waffle said that The Rambling Sloth seems more like The Busy Bee at the moment… that made me smile 😊 and so I pinched it for my heading today. Don’t worry, not changing the name and normal blog service is continuing for now. 😬

Keep being kind to others, keep smiling and keep giving out ransoms compliments and the world and you will be all the better for it.

Stay safe everyone 💜💜💜

So yes…. possibly due to my errant number system the blog says it’s one year to the day since Craig and I went into COVID-19 lockdown. I think we have to skip over the fact that the blog seems to be six days later than the news reports it but maybe Craig and I were later than everyone else?!? No??? Let just pretend….. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😆 it’s the news that’s wrong….

I think we’ve all seen our lives turned upside down in the last year. We have literally stayed at home for about 90% of it. I’ve only seen my parents and in-laws about 3 times since this all kicked off. We’ve been really lucky that no one has been really sick that we know. My poor father-in-law is in isolation for the next few days having tested positive last week though very luck he doesn’t really have any symptoms.

We’ve seen others be more relaxed with the rules and I guess there are some who have been even stricter than us. I think we’ll come out of this with a completely different outlook on life and know 100% what matters to us. We know who we need to see and we’ll do it pretty fast in case it changes again.

We booked two wee holidays today!!! Loch Ness in May and Glencoe in July. Hope there’ll be many more in between but at least these are in both calendars for time off.

11 years ago I said I do to this clean shaven handsome man. I remember when we first met and knew we would be together. I remember counting the days we had been together never mind the years.

Yet look at him now. Still as handsome (well I think more so) but so different. We think the beard arrived about 2014 and the hair started to grow maybe a year or so after that. 😍

We both now I’ve most couples it’s not always been a walk in the park. We’ve had some highs and we’ve had some lows but we’ve faced the head on every time.

We went back down to Gro Coffee in Irvine this morning for breakfast 🧇…. wait till you see the photos this time.

I may not eat for weeks now. I actually managed it no problem until the last 3 bites but I was beaten.

Craig is always great at buying gifts. He only got a leather strap bracelet that says 11… 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😬

Back home and out in the rain with the dogs. It’s the only time that varifocals aren’t the best… in the pouring rain.

We have a lovely dinner planned tonight. It might be a bit later than usual as she waits for breakfast to digest.

Thanks to all of you for sticking with me for a year and to those who have joined more recently. Your kind words mean so much. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

I don’t know what will happen to The Rambling Sloth moving forward as I will be working way more than I have in a very long time. I’ll take each day as it comes and see how it feels. I’m fairly certain that I still need to keep writing to keep myself sane.

But for now I’m putting the phone down and off to enjoy the rest of my weekend.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Mr Sporty Spice was away to the gym this morning at…. wait for it…. 6.15AM…. I mean come… on…. on a Saturday that’s the middle of the night. So guess who was wide awake?!?!

I was going to get up and walk the dogs but decided to do a Suzanne Robichaud hypnotherapy meditation. I read that when you are busy you should make time for you so I’ve been busy….

Stop People Pleasing

Should say that I add links into blogs every now and then and if you click the blue underlined bit it should open!! That’s the one I did this morning and don’t remember it finishing and Craig woke me back up when he came home at 8.30am.

I’m trying to stop the anxiety from taking over this time.

We took the dogs out after a coffee.

I had a lovely surprise last night when some friends from New Zealand replied to an email I’d sent them on the 13th March 2011. Yes you read that right…. 10 years ago!!! I met them in Australia in 2004 when they were backpacking. I was early 30’s and they were older with grown up children but they were backpacking too. They were English but lived in New Zealand so I went to stay with them in Ponsonby when I travelled through New Zealand in 2005. They sent me a photo from back then and apologised for having never seen my email!!!

Just shows you how we all make impressions on people in our lives. After 10 years we were chatting like I’d seen them yesterday!

We got home to a nice surprise! It’s our 11th wedding anniversary tomorrow and we had a card from our maid of honour and flowers from my mum and dad!!

They were posted by a company called Bloom and Wild. You light see them advertised on FB. They come in a flat pack box with very strict instructions on how to handle them. This does not include dropping them on the floor at any point in time.

Then we were off out to pick up Craigie’s new wheels!!!

I tidied out the van again now that he will never need to drive it. I can now control it’s cleanliness again 😆

Back home and comfies on well in house comfies rather than out of house comfies is more like it. We’re having Gastro pub fish and chips tonight and it’s nearly ready (4.15!!) early dinner for us.

He’s making me watch the Godfather at the moment so we saw half of number 1 last night so guess that’s where our evening viewing is headed.

It’s been a lovely day. Not the weather… it wasn’t lovely. Cold and windy. Wouldn’t be my blog without a forecast now would it. 😬

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

What a dreadful day for the end of March. It’s so windy and freezing… we even had hailstones!! That said there’s been sunshine that I didn’t expect. It’s warm in the sunroom with my feet up while the dogs sleep.

Peace at last….. Calaidh will be hiding somewhere having a sleep and I’m not getting up to find her. They’ve been hyper today…. have they missed me? It’s honestly like someone’s been feeding them blue smarties. 😆 so they calm is very welcome. Craig is away down the bottom of the garden hammering in the shed.

It’s 4pm and I am so grateful for a day in the house yet I’m secretly wondering how things are going at the Tartan place…. yeah it’s no secret if I’m telling you guys is it?! I have to watch that. I need to create the right work life balance this time.

So I spent the morning catching up on dog behaviour calls and updating the village hall accounts. I am like a working woman possessed. Well I was until just after lunch!

We took the dogs out for a big walk in the hope it curbed some of their exuberance… it did, hence sleeping pups!

Since we came home I’ve had a lovely lazy afternoon. It’s nice to be home and have nothing to do (she says ignoring housework etc etc)

OH MY GOD IT IS SNOWING!!!!! 🌨🌨

And in true Scottish weather fashion it’s now sunny again. Honestly if you don’t look up in this country you might miss something quite dramatic.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I be chillin’ 😎

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

I was up and out for bed for 6.30am to take the dogs out at 6.45am with Claire. I mean seriously check us…..

So good chat with Claire and the world put to rights before 7.30am! A great start to a day. ♥️

Jeep-less Craig needed the van today 😱 so he had to drop me at work.

So I’ve quite rightly had a few people concerned that I take it easy…. it’s been a whirlwind of a week. I had no idea on Monday morning that I would have spent 3 full days in The Tartan Camper Co!

The days I am working there seem like the longest days ever and that’s not because I’m bored. It’s because I’ve not done anything for 7.5 hours in over 2.5 years. I’m really enjoying it. When I left today I told them I was more knackered than I’ve been in a long time but that I have bloody loved my week. It’s a different tired. It’s a justified tired. A satisfied tired rather than that sludgy I’m so exhausted I can’t move tired. There is a buzz about me that I’ve not had for a while.

I really enjoyed my puppy call last night too. I was beaming from ear to ear when I came off that. It was a full 2 hours so far too long but I need to work on that.

It’s very important that I use everything I’ve learned and don’t react to situations as I would have in the past. I need to control my response.

I also wanted to share the photos of Edinburgh in tribute of the year since this pandemic lockdown started. Some stunning shots.

What a lovely tribute. 🌈

Stay safe everyone 🌈🌈🌈

Yes I know…… my first full day of full on work and I schedule a puppy call at 8pm…. 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️😬😳😆

There is a chance this will be the shortest blog today. I’m exhausted but in a good way. Have learned so much today already. It’s been a good day but that’s the most intense period of time I’ve spent on “work” in about 2 years.

I’ve pretty much done what I want, whenever I want for so long that being in one place for 7.5 hours seems like a HUGE commitment…. AND… I have to do it all again tomorrow?!??

Also booked in a puppy call for 8pm tonight but would rather do it today than wait for it tomorrow if that makes sense? I think I might go for a wee nap before then.

I realise yesterday was the anniversary of COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. The country paid tribute to those 126,000 people that have died as a result. I heard about the first person I personally knew that died of COVID-19 just this week. Wee Mo was a member of the cleaning team in my old work and she was always the last person I saw when I left at night. She was the smile at the end of a hard day. She always had a kind word for me. A very special lady.

I still can’t believe how much our lives have changed as a result. I look forward to everything opening back up again and letting us out of the house. Although in these past few days I’ve seen more people than I have on the whole year!!

Not entirely certain why the blog is only on day 361 today….. I seem to be 4 days out but hey. Worse things to worry about.

Stay safe everyone 🦥🦥🦥

So….. today has been a wee bit different. I was up with the alarm at 7.15 and in the shower and ready to leave by the back of 8… I had an appointment at The Tartan Camper Co at 9.15am.

I was due to drop the van off for some wiring work to be done but the owner asked if I would consider running a wee project for them. He’d text at the end of last week to ask, completely out of the blue.

They converted Abbie the camper van and we’d chatted about my previous work experience with a large vehicle manufacturer across my various visits here.

So…. check me…. at a desk, with a laptop and an iPhone and waiting on my new email address. We’re going to look at 20 hours a week at the moment to help them update a parts list and pricing etc. Negotiating with suppliers, shopping around, placing orders etc.

I’ve known about this for a few days now and I guess this was the reason for my recent antsy-ness. (I love that antsy-ness appears to actually be a word!!!).

I have taken several deep breaths today. I went to Tartan ready to take on the world, half way through the morning I wondered who the hell I was trying to kid…. me? I haven’t worked in an office since the end of May 2019. What do I know? How can I help? Who do I think I am? Thankfully it passed and I mentally slapped myself about the head….. 🤦🏻‍♀️

I cannot tell you how huge this step was for me but I’ll take it one day at a time and have to unpack all those boxes in my brain….

Tomorrow I am back to dog behaviour!

So in another piece of good news….

We are so sad to see the Jeep sold today but great that Craig can get a newer car with way better fuel consumption. I am also glad I no longer need a ladder to get into whatever car Craig now decides to drive. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😬🤣 that 2.5 inch lift was just two steps too far for me.

So it’s been a big day. I’ve just realised too that it’s the first day Craig and I have been apart for about 4 months….. (yea I bet he loved it!!) I have seen and talked to a lot of people today. More people than I have seen in 4 months….. I am going to be quiet for the rest of the evening to recover….. (what do you think?!?!)

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Ok so this blog is not meant to be a weather forecast but since our weather shapes most of what we do at the weekend it makes sense to mention it….. that and I’ve been naming blogs for so many days you run out of ideas!

Oooooh can you tell where my head it today?!?

So to focus on some good news….

How great is that?!? I’m waiting on my wee blue envelope to come through the door but the UK are rattling through the vaccinations! We’ve been in Covid level 4 regulations and then lockdown for months now. The light at the end of the tunnel is now visible but all the talk of the European 3rd wave is making me think I need to do everything at the end of April when we can….. just in case our freedom is wheeched away from under us.

I felt great this morning, was up bright and breezy, it’s a beautiful morning and Craig and I have a breakfast date at Gro Coffee in Irvine. Wait until you see the photos of the cakes………. 👀

It was exquisite…… I was worried it might be a bit dry but even the pastry was moist. Melt in the mouth. The whole thing did… very quickly!

Came home and went straight out with the dogs!

Sat in Claire’s garden for a coffee once we got home.

I’ve kind of lounged around a bit like someone searching for a purpose…. ALL DAY…..rather than just enjoying the day.

So now I have my feet up in Grans chair… I’ve tried sitting out in the sun on several occasions but it is only 8C and even I can’t sit in that… maybe time for a nap. I hate to say in all my ramblings that I know I am “just tired”… again. Yes again…. its been a lovely day with cake and sea and friends and walks… I have nothing to stress or worry about. Be still my anxious head. Please.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

I may have suffered a little dehydration overnight given than my sunburn is a weeeee bit hot. Was awake about 6 ish with my head buzzing away with noise. Nothing significant, just noise. Instead of sleeping I deleted over 3,000 photos off my phone this morning.

Mr Sporty Spice left for the gym about 7.30am so I got up, dressed and walked the dogs!

Back home for a 9am poop scoop followed by a coffee and all of a sudden it’s 2.44pm.

It is so much colder today!!! I’ve been outside that whole time with just a thin hoodie and I was cold. My sunburn is cold…. in fact I am freezing!

I did a wee mod on the van this morning.

I’m sure it will improve performance?!? 🤷🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤣 honestly it’s just bit of bright colour on an otherwise dull interior and I’ve just it just because I can and it cost me £5.99!

I have cleaned the van and swept it outZ all good ready for the next time the pups are in it and put sand all over the seats 💺 🤣🤣

Popped next door for a cuppa!

Claire made me cheese on toast too! It was amazing…. AND gave me a hot water bottle.

I came home and have my fleece lined hoodie on and my hat…. and 2 blankets and I still can’t heat up….We’re watching the movie San Andreas…. loadsa drama for a Saturday after almost 3 months in lockdown.

So exactly a year ago today I had a drink. For the first time in 443 days of not drinking I decided to have wine as we were told the pubs were to close on 20th March with immediate effect. I wanted to feel normal, wanted to fit in and wanted to be part of the gang. We had no idea what was going on. Life seemed so strange…. our freedom was being taken away from us in a way it never had been before.

My next door neighbour runs our village pub. She had to close down that night with no idea of when she would reopen. I felt that drinking allowed me to share in her pain. Giving the pub one last hurrah…..

I loved holding the glass, loved that it held wine, loved that I finally felt normal again…. but hated the taste. I felt it right to the tips of my toes. It literally felt like drinking poison… yet I had another and another. To be fair, I only had about 4 glasses but felt rotten the following day.

A year ago today our world was changing. I started writing this blog 8 days after Craig and I went into proper stay at home lockdown. I called it day 8…..I have no real idea why I’m only on day 357 now but we’ll stick with it. I must have duplicated some days along the way 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️🤣 hey I’ll stick with it.

If you’ve been reading for a while you might remember I got a Hope Blamire original painting for Christmas from Craig. Look what Hope posted on Fb yesterday…

She has the gate bug too!!!

I also got a mention from my blogger friend! Go have a read of The Windsor Waffle.

We have a Chinese takeaway booked for tonight so maybe that will heat me up. Sunshine forecast for tomorrow. Thank you in advance!

Stay safe everyone ❄️❄️❄️