Day 1442 dog walks, writing and a trip to Largs! ☀️☀️☀️

That’s two days in a row the forecast has said one thing and the weather has done the opposite. I’m not complaining. I’m sitting here right now….

I have my jacket off and even had my jumper off earlier. The sun has been shinging almost all day. It’s been cold but it’s beautiful now. I have fur lined boots and fleecy leggings on and I am pretty cosy.

I’ve found a new path and a new bench today. I’m in Largs but I parked at the Marina and walked from the Largs Pencil, into Largs. People have told me to do that a lot, I finally have!

The Pencil is a memorial to the Battle of Largs in 1263, between the Scots and the Norwegian Vikings.

It’s so lovely to see the sun and in between breeze gusts, feel the warmth of it. It’s been away for a LONG time! I am so ready for Spring and Summer.

I met up with Craig’s sister Lisa and my nephew and we played on the 2p machines for a wee while until I won a dolphin keyring! It’s been ages since I did that!! So serious!!

But the sun was calling. I’m like a caged lion being inside when the sun is out. I’ve also fasted for 19 hours so I’m ready for a cuppa. I sat outside in Indigo Eats Largs. It was a beautiful wee sun trap albeit, by the side of the road, it felt very European!

I haven’t washed my hair since Wednesday morning!

I could have sat there all day but the sea was calling. I walked up to the top of the promenade, turned back round and walked all the way back down to the Largs Marina where I’ve parked. I can’t bring myself to leave, it’s just so beautiful. I’m now perched on some rocks at the jetty!

Sunshine and blue sky is very good for the soul. 💙☀️💙☀️

Here are some more photos from the walk.

They are rebuilding the harbour wall up the top of the promenade. It looks like they are extending it into the sea a bit too.

Looking back down to Largs.

CalMac’s Loch Riddon seemed to stop sailing at 4pm.

My blogger friend The Windsor Waffle, thinks railings are my new thing… she might be right. It’s the shadows too!

My new favourite bench with a lovely dedication on it.

I’ve had a lovely day. I didn’t sleep that well, I tossed and turned like a tossey turney thing. If you ask Fitbit it says it was much better than it felt!

I got up at 7.30…. I’m still trying the no phone before natural sunlight but it’s hard. 😂

I took Calaidh and Bhruic for a run.

Then back to get Freya and take her up the hill. I left my phone to charge as it didn’t charge overnight.

I then really randomly sat down at my laptop and started to write…. I feel like I have a book in me. I say that and squirm because my head says not to be so ridiculous and my heart trusts that it might help some people. I wrote for about 3 hours just jotting things down.

Will see how it goes. I may never mention it again…. I feel drawn to help people but I’m not sure gallivanting around the world, with anxiety, is the best kind of business plan. 😂

On the way back from Largs I stopped at he Hailey Brae roadside view point. Wow.

The gorse bush is almost in full bloom with the Isle of Arran on the horizon.

Largs is just down in the foreground here.

I had the lookout to myself. It was so peaceful.

I love the calm. I love the peace. I love the sun. I love the blue sky.

I am very happy.

Stay safe everyone ☀️💙☀️

Day 1165 the little gift shop on tour!!

It’s 21.56 and I haven’t written the blog yet. What a busy day!!! I’ll have to make this quick as I am ready for bed!

I’ve had another excellent day.

The Scottish Dog Behaviourist waved the dogs this morning and I was going to sit out in the sun and have a decaf coffee. Instead I decided to hoover the whole house, as you do. That said, I’m so glad I did it as I haven’t hoovered for weeks!!

Gayle and I decided at the little gift shop today, to go out another wee trip to Largs for ice cream tonight! 🍦🍦

I’m afraid it’s going to be another photo bomb 😆

We headed over for about 6.30pm and it was really misty and moody.

Thanks to the little seagull for the photo bomb!

Spotted this lovely heart stone that only looked like a heart on the way out of Largs, not when you looked at it on the way into Largs.

Another lovely evening and thanks to Gayle for the company and great chats!

I feel like the forecasts show the weather will break tomorrow and I didn’t want to miss a last sunset if it’s getting more cloudy.

Living life to the max!

Stay safe everyone ☀️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿☀️

Day 1143 back to work on the sunniest day of the year so far 🥴☀️☀️☀️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙 so a wee recap on Mount Stuart mansion 🏠

Ok so it’s only been 14°C today maybe a high of 15 but for us Scots, that’s T-shirt weather all the way.

There’s not been a cloud in the sky all day and Ellison and I sat out at lunchtime again. Great to get a catch up on our wee outdoor lunches!

I was super busy today and the day passed really quickly. I haven’t caught back yet but hopefully it will be quiet on Bank Holiday Monday to let me catch up some more.

There were a few hiccups at work that I found out about while I was off. It’s hard to ignore them and I do feel bad if I haven’t ordered a part or missed some paperwork… I need to learn not to beat myself up. The part I spent at least two hours fretting over yesterday, turned out to be just enough after all…. Total waste of time spent feeling bad. I know that but it’s hard not to.

Anyway, I had the best sleep again. I remember nothing of last night but 25k steps will do that to you. I’ve managed a mere 6,880 today so far.

I know if Helen was still here, I’d be dragging her out on some adventure to enjoy the sun but, because I’m on my own I feel really tired and ready for an early night.

Helen being here has allowed me to break so many of my rules. Imagine still being out at the beach at 9.30pm last night and not actually worrying about it?!?! I would have been if I’d have been on my own. I’d have been much more aware of the time.

It was lovely just to throw rules out the window…. And yes, I hear myself, I set them all and yet are happy when they are broken so I just need to go on breaking them by myself!

I know you know I had a great time these last few days but I really did. It was like a breath of fresh air instead of having to entertain a visitor. It was really lovely to see her after all this time and I hope to go and visit her in Devon soon! Oooooh clotted cream scones with jam. Yum, just had that thought.

Anyway so I have had a lovely series of mini adventures so far in May. That’s me back to earth for a while until we have a week off at the end of June.

I also have so many things still to talk about! I haven’t forgotten my recap of the return journey from Jokülsárlón to Reykjavik but that will have to wait until a low news day!

Let’s get back to our visit to the 19th Century mansion that we visited yesterday, Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute.

It’s a really imposing gothic style mansion and has a breathtaking interior. While one wing houses a white marble Roman Catholic Chapel…

It’s very cool in there as the marble is freezing!

….the rest of the house is designed around the signs of the zodiac, which seems a total contradiction to me.

Each stained glass window is a sign of the zodiac, with the 3 windows on each side also coloured to represent the 4 seasons of the year.

The ceilings are all so ornate. There are 37 rooms in total and we only really saw a handful of them.

Not gonna lie but o lost track of all of the history…. Not even going to try and recount all of that.

It really is well worth a visit and the grounds are so beautiful.

I think I said yesterday, it’s £16.50 to get in but honestly nothing is stopping you wandering around the grounds alone. That usually costs £7.50.

It’s a really quirky visit.

The ferry trip back was just beautiful too. You cannot beat a blue sky.

A very lovely day!

Stay safe everyone ☀️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙

Day 1142 a beautiful day on the Isle of Bute, then Largs for a chippy tea and. Portencross sunset 🌅

I slept like a log last night. No wonder as we just didn’t stop yesterday and we’ve had way more of the same today.

It’s 8.30 and we are still not home yet so I will make this quick. We have had another amazing day and have been on the go since 7.30am!! We left the house at 8.30 and headed to Weymss Bay for the 10.05 ferry. A little bit of parking panic but otherwise all good!

We decided to walk all the way to Mount Stuart on Bute. It’s a stunning gothic style design inside. I’ll talk way more about it tomorrow.

It is a very, very, very long walk!! Not to be recommended, it took us about an hour and half… I’ve done 24,394 steps so far!!

And finally the sun came out. Woo hoo!

We had a wander around Rothesay after a bus trip back. yes bus trip woo hoo!

I bought a replacement Highland Cow for Helens grandson!!

Back in Weymss Bay station. It’s still so Victorian.

Then we headed down through Largs for a chippy tea.

And finally to my special place in Portencross where we are sitting now.

There are loads more photos to follow on another day!

I should just end by saying that I’ve had the best few days with Helen. She’s been sent to me to remind me to giggle and laugh way more (yes Craig I know, as you always say to me!!) She’s shown me that it’s easy to spend that much time with someone else. We’ve just settled into a giggly, comfortable life these last few days. It’s been a really, really special time. 💜

Everyone should spend time with a Helen! will miss her though will be found sitting in silence for a while… 😂😘

Stay safe everyone 🌅🌅🌅