Day 1583 6k run then ferry to the Isle of Arran!

I woke at 4.30am…. Of course I did. I think I may have woken Helen too.

Alarm set for 6.15am and by 6.30 we are out for a run!!

The sunrise was pretty.

I took Helen to see my favourite gate!

And she’s off up the hill looking like a purple wheelie bin.

And we’re done. It’s the first time I’ve run in a week… it was an easy start but I did find it rough towards the end.

Home, cold shower for me then off to Ardrossan to catch the 9.45am CalMac ferry to Arran.

The sun is shining!!!

It is, however, a tad windy!

I managed to get the flag to look like is plastered onto the lighthouse when leaving Ardrossan.

It might not look it but the ferry is heaving. I’ve never seen it so busy.

Finally we can see Brodick and the clouds are clearing.

The wind dies right down in the bay. Goat Fell looks lovely under the blue sky.

We decided to walk around Brodick, look for a coffee shop and then head round to the rocks near Brodick Castle to sit in the sun for a bit.

CalMac’s Isle of Arran still loading as we walk away.

We went to The French Fox for coffee…. It was a lovely wee space. Thanks to my friend Anne for the recommendation. We sat outside under a poly tunnel.

We had brioche French toast to share and she split it between us.

The coconut milk latte was exquisite too.

Then we were off again, headed for the base of Goat Fell. This river was lovely.

Some lovely wee buildings.

Then down to the beach.

It’s beautiful.

It’s still windy at times but a lot less than the ferry.

Now walking back round the bay and it’s lovely and calm.

We got some beautiful shots.

Love this next one.

And then we went to The Parlour in Brodick for pizza…. Thanks to my friend Lesley for the recommendation.

Big smiles… 30 miles done already this weekend!!!

Lovely pizza. Quattro Saggioni and a fruity pizza with fig on it. They were honestly amazing!!

We had about a half hour to kill so sat in the sun and waited for the ferry.

The Isle of Arran AND a man in a kilt with 2 Border Collies!

We are shattered but have had the best few days and still one more to go!

I said it yesterday but I love that we just want to do the same things and are happy to go with the flow. We’ve had a lovely few days on the west coast of Scotland.

We’re on the ferry heading back now. It’s a lot less windy so far. We are the blue dot 🔵

Hope you all had the best weekend. We’ve the day off tomorrow… 🙌🏼🙌🏼

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Day 1582 a day trip to Dunoon with seals, dolphins AND a PS Waverley sail past! 🚘🚆🚢🚶🏽‍♀️🚶🏽‍♀️🚢🚆🚘

If alcohol free Carlsberg did days out…. Wow. We’ve had it all apart from scorching sunshine!!

We spent a while trying to decide what to do today. We were going to go to the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow Green today…. Entrance was £22.50 and I was worried that it wouldn’t take our attention for a whole day and yet, we would feel like we should stay…. I’m sure we may have missed a great day but we opted for a car, train and ferry trip to Dunoon! I have lived in Scotland all my life and I don’t think I’ve ever been to Dunoon.

So we took the dogs out first and then drove to Glengarnock train station.

We jumped on the train to Paisley Gilmour Street.

We changed there for Gourock.

When we got to Gourock we had to chose between the ferry to Dunoon at 1.05pm or Kilcreggan at 1.30pm. We chose Dunoon as it was earlier. We had some time to kill.

What hoves into view around the corner, as we wait?!?

The Waverley is heading to Dunoon just before us!!

Then we spotted this seal waiting around the fisherman. That’s the best photo I got!

Dunoon Pier is beautiful.

Lots of it is derelict.

This is our trip for the day!

We went for lunch at The Boat House in Dunoon. It was really lovely, a beautiful view doon the watter, as they say in Glasgow!

We then for a long walk through Dunoon to Kirk and then to Hunters Quay.

We sailed back with Western Ferries.

We were the only foot passengers

Then Helen screamed and was routed to the spot and couldn’t speak… she spotted the dolphins!!

We were very excited and almost missed getting off the Ferry!!

How lucky was I with the seagull?!?!

Last off the ferry!!

We then had a 50 minute walk back along the front in Gourock, to the train station… what pops up behind us?!?

How lucky were we!!??

So no blue sky but it’s been dry all day.

We’re on the train home now and have pre-ordered a chow mein!

We’ve marvelled at the view, the wildlife and all the buildings we have walked past.

We have chatted about anything and everything oh and had a good charity shop rummage!

Another exciting day planned for tomorrow.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Day 1275 from Turkey to Greece and back 🇹🇷⛴️🇬🇷

It’s 5.30 when the alarm goes off but we were both awake earlier….. we have to be in reception for 6.15 as we’re taking a day trip to Kos, Greece 🇬🇷

It’s very early when you’ve not surfaced much before 8am but my sense of adventure is tingling. I’m excited about my day. Through tired eyes! 😂

A picture of a massive lake we pad on the way there taken through the bus’ very dirty windows.

The bus journey is almost 2 hours from our hotel to Bodrum. That’s why we left at 6.15am.

Bodrum is beautiful. Would really have loved some time to spent some time here. There is A lot of money in the harbour… some very expensive boats.

Craig’s says I’ve to bring this wee guy home!

He sat on my foot. 😂

Check the size of the Virgin Atlantic cruise ship in the background.

Kos. 🇬🇷

So the only negative of the trip was it took us about 1 hour 45 minutes between docking in Kos and actually getting out into Kos Town. I think we sat on the boat for about an hour before we got off as they said passport control had reached capacity. It’s a long day with a 4 hour bus journey, to be stuck for that length of time getting into the country.

That said, Kos Town is beautiful and I’m really glad I got to see it.

We stopped for lunch straight away as we hadn’t eaten much. We were in a lovely, leafy, roadside cafe bar.

Check the sign I’m pointing to!

We went for a walk around the old town. It’s really pretty with quaint wee shopping streets.

We wandered round to check the beach…. It’s tiny pebbles but really clear water.

Passport control was so much faster when we left. Only took about 10-15 minutes to clear. We were on the boat about an hour early as a result.

Our Turkish boat leaving Greece 🇬🇷

The blue dot shows where we are in relation to home!

Sailing back into Bodrum.

That Virgin Atlantic cruise ship is enormous!

After cleaning passport control in Turkey in about 20 minutes, we are finally on our way back to the hotel. Don’t think we’ll be there much before 9pm. A long day. I’m glad we got to see Kos but with hindsight it really was a bit too much of a trek in one day. I’d love to go back and visit sometime.

Thanks so much to Gayle for indulging me on this trip.

I’m too tired to spellcheck so sorry for any errors 😂😂

Stay safe everyone 🇹🇷☀️🇬🇷

Day 1176 a soggy day in Ullapool with a coffee and filled roll at The Bothy ☕️

Freya and I went for a lovely walk before we left Clachtoll.

We couldn’t stay at Clachtoll for the full week as they were fully booked on the Tuesday night so we used it as a chance to pop back down to Ullapool and get some supplies.

Ullapool is a beautiful village in the Scottish Highlands. Craig and I got engaged in Ullapool in 2009. We had done the famous North Coast 500, although it wasn’t called that back then. Craig tried to propose at every place we stopped but the wind was howling so waited until we were checked into our hotel that night.

In true me fashion I couldn’t let that just be all romantic and lovely as I freaked at how much he’d spent on a ring, but that’s another story 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😂

Back to Ullapool. It rained all day… and it was pretty windy.

My first port of call was The Bothy which is a wee coffee shop that’s opened at the entrance to the Broomfield campsite.

It’s such a lovely space.

I had a haggis roll and Craig had a roll with link sausage. My decaf oat milk latte was just perfect, it hit the spot.

Since we had signal, Craig went back to the van with Freya to make some Scottish Dog Behaviourist calls, while I had a wee wander around the shops, as you do, with a keen eye on all things gift shop!!

They’ve widened the Shore road and it just looked SO different. I miss the quaintness of the original street but at the same time, like everywhere else, it needs to change to cope with the amount of visitors.

I had a great wee wander but got totally soaked. There’s no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes and I was definitely wearing the wrong clothes!

We decided to head to a couple of pubs for the afternoon. We started at the Arch Inn where we got engaged.

Now Freya has been exceptional this whole holiday. We have never spent any time with her alone. Freya does not like the inside of a pub. Totally spooked and scraping to get out. Wee soul. I’m much the same but marriage is about compromise and Craig spent the day on a beach with me yesterday 😂😂 not his favourite thing. 😂

We sat outside under cover in the Arch. Freya could just about cope with that, cured up in a corner, refusing treats the barman gave her…. In a total huff!

We then headed along to the Ferry Boat Inn. She came in but really did want back out so we didn’t stay long.

We then went to The Chippy for fish and chips to take back to the van.

It rained and blew a hoolie all evening. I did get out to watch the Loch Seaforth head out to Stornoway.

Couldn’t miss a CalMac ferry could I?!?

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 🌅🌅🌅