Day 1531 today’s word of the day was happy!

My new thing these last few days seems to be manifesting a word…. Yesterday’s was kindness.

Today’s was happy.

I did wake up to this wee face. Like every dog she’s all waggy tails and smiles until you point the camera at her.

We’ve settled into a routine in the downstairs bedroom. She has her side of the bed and I have mine.

We slept really well again last night. Only woke when I heard Craig getting up and coming down the stairs. (The bed downstairs really hurts his back, it’s been fine for me!)

So yeah, I’m working hard on changing my mindset just now and trying to focus on gratitude for what I have rather than wanting to fly around the world travelling. I saw “happy” and “happiness” in every post I saw today.

I wrote a little H on the side of my wrist, with a smiley face. If things irritated me through the day, I just remembered the H.

You cannot change things from a place of irritation or anger or wishing for change. I truly believe that you need to appreciate the day to day as it is and be grateful for what you already have.

I know all this but, for much of this year, I’ve been antsy about seeing the world or stressed about money or annoyed that things don’t go smoothly of a day. That’s not the right attitude.

I’m going to try and do some self help again this weekend as I have nothing planned.

Yes to this…

I’ve been really tired this week and have gone for early nights and haven’t been up early for running, in an attempt to recharge.

As I write this tonight, I’m sitting in front of the open fire, which is lovely. You would think it unnecessary for June, but it seems necessary today as we have some storm blowing over.

Time to batten down the hatches, be kind to myself and get another early night with a good book.

And relax…. It’s my Friday!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

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 1415 Exmouth to Bournemouth for the night!

Such a lovely surprise, an overnight trip to Bournemouth. Despite the forecast it’s been another beautiful day!

Helen and Anna made pancakes for breakfast and we set off on our magical, mystery tour after 9am.

Here we are in Lyme Regis. our stop along the way.

As you can see the sun has been splitting the skies all weekend. It’s been cold but beautiful.

Looking down to Lyme Regis sandy beach. This is artificially filled with sand and the right hand side, the rest of the beach is stony.

Down at he little harbour looking back up to where we were. Loved the little red boats.

This lifeboat heading out with a bouquet of red roses. Maybe laying a memorial at sea. It was called the Spirit of Loch Fyne. How funny?!?

Loved this yellow fishing boat. 🚤

Seagull on the horizon.

We climbed these very wonky steps to get up on the cobb which is the harbour wall.

I got new trousers in a charity shop yesterday and new snow boats for Iceland in December…. They were reduced from £120 to £49 and they are fully lined with fur, exactly what I’ve been looking for.

Loved all the beach huts down here.

Love the wee peachy pink thatched cottage.

We jumped back in the car and headed along the coast and I still had no idea where we were going…. As we got closer it was either Poole or Bournemouth and I knew we talked about Bournemouth before… and here we are. It was a bit cloudy when we arrived. This is the pier.

And view from it.

That big dark cloud hung around for a half hour or so.

Then we set off on a big walk to the Sandbanks Ferry.

Here we are having a seat watching the Sandbanks Chain Ferry.

With this view when it’s over the other side. Absolutely stunning.

We got the bus back into town. It’s been the most amazing day. Just perfect!! I’m gonna have to pull the cat out the bag when Helen comes up to stay with me in August! No pressure!

We’ve just been out to a Greek Restaurant called The Real Green. The food was amazing…

The walk back to the hotel was lovely too. I’ve done 24,999 steps.

I’m gonna take a shower and collapse into bed. It’s 8.42pm.

Shattered but still buzzing from the experience!

Off on the bus to Swanage tomorrow!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Day 1319 my 51st birthday 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️😬🙄😂😘

How did that last year pass so quickly?

How can I be 51 already?

I have to say I’m feeling all the love today.

It’s 4pm and I have had the loveliest day so far.

There have been tears.

Shocker.

I’ve had a lot of anxiety about my birthday… wanting it to be different and yet not knowing what I wanted to do. After weeks of discussion Craig finally came up with perfect day…. As he does often, to snap me out of my anxious thoughts.

Awake at 5.50…. Not the plan.

Presents by 8am.

I’ve been overwhelmed with the lovely gifts I’ve received.

Also the lovely cards and words that I have from people.

We headed down to The Little Coffee Caravan….. I have not been there in so long. They remembered me, we had such a good chat and Donna asked me if I’d lost weight!! Amazing customer service. We bought filled rolls and cake to take canoeing 🛶 this morning.

We went to Castle Semple Loch in Lochwinnoch this time. What an amazing morning.

I could write war and peace about my day but actually I want to go and get ready for dinner as we’re heading back out to Gro Coffee for dinner… I’ll have been there twice in one week but I do love it.

So I’ll just dump a whole lot of shots.

Thanks to everyone for everything. When you fee your life hangs by a thread of emotions at times, precious sentiment and moments mean the world.

Oh and thanks to Lindsay and Euan for lending us the canoe again!

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Day 1305 I have had the best day!!

Awwwwww have had the wee best day to myself….. I t’s 4.51pm and just getting dark.

It’s a lovely sky.

It’s been nice all day today. Calm and quiet after all the wind and rain we’ve been having. It’s cold but not freezing.

I woke at 4am with a really sore knee. I took ibuprofen and paracetmol and went back to sleep, until 7.15am! A long lie!

I made a pot of soup, in the slow cooker, before 8.30am… Ellison’s lentil soup again!

I headed straight to the Post Office to get some change for Sunday’s Macmillan Afternoon Tea in the Village Hall. Then onto Lidl for a “cheap” weekly shop…. It was still over £100!

I came back and unpacked the shopping, stirred the soup and headed off out with Bhruic and Freya.

Checking up on mumma! They look like a two headed dog.

The trees are a lovely colour.

One of the really old gates has disappeared…. That’s so sad!

It looked a bit like this one. I hope they didn’t bin it. To be fair, they are so old they’re not much use these days but they are relics.

Back to drop Bhru & Freya off and pick up the two Cal’s…. Calaidh and Khaleesi.

I let Khaleesi off the lead for the first time and she had a great run around. I have to limit it so she doesn’t run too far in her sore paws.

She followed Calaidh around and it was so lovely to watch.

Safe to say someone had a lot of fun this morning. She’s out for the count now.

Back on lead to calm down a wee bit.

There’s a lovely warmth to the sun when it comes out.

When I got home Khaleesi jumped up into the centre of the wee couch. I shouted the other 3 and suddenly got this amazing photo, without even really trying. It’s nice to have a lovely one of the 4 of them.

I did a poo pick in the garden 🤮… then spent the afternoon doing a washing, emptying and filling the dishwasher, cleaning the cutlery drawer, collecting things for charity, cleaning ALL the windows and generally pottering.

I have honestly had the loveliest day. Apart from a fasting panic yesterday, I’ve felt really good these last few days.

I’ve been in control, clear headed, ticking things off lists,. I feel content with my life. I’m trying to appreciate every moment, the days seem longer than usual, I’m getting more done.

I’m happy.

Check me.

Stay safe everyone ♥️♥️♥️

Day 1152 a real scorcher, scorcher and a chippy tea with Gayle ☀️☀️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿☀️☀️

Wow you know you’re having good weather if the sun emoji is at the top of your emojis. Right next to the Scotland flag!

I’ve had the best wee day to myself so far!

To be fair it started at 2am with a bark…. To wake up to this.

The moon was so bright that the room was light…. We don’t have curtains so wear eye masks but once I was up it was just really beautiful. Made me a bit less angry at the dogs. I let them out and we all went back to bed… until 6.15am when another one barked… or quite possibly the same one so it was off out for this mornings dog jog.

I didn’t take a lot of photos this morning as it’s just as beautiful as every other day this week.

It was a lovely walk. Back home for a peppermint tea in the garden before I got showered to head out.

I walked to the little gift shop this morning. It was such a lovely day and the village hall has a big event on with about 20 visitors expected. The downside to roadside living is that you can come back and never get a parking space!

Also getting my steps up!

It already feels really warm but I have to have warm clothes for the shop as it’s always really cool.

I had the best morning. It was heaving!!! So busy but I still got lots of lovely chats with customers. Doing what I love the most. Chatting to people, making them smile and having some banter.

The morning passed so fast. I didn’t get a chance even for a coffee, let alone the lovely salad I’d taken with me. I of course had to walk home in 22°C heat which is very hot for us Scots… wearing jeans and trainers, carrying my sweatshirt and body warmer!!

It is just a scorcher of a day. It’s hot and I am…. Wait for it…. Outside in my garden in a bikini for the first time in a VERY VERY VERY long time.

I am lying like a coiled spring, waiting on someone to walk into the garden so I can wrap myself in a towel but I’m in a bikini and not horrifically horrified by what I see.

The dogs just want to be with me so I’ve moved next to some shade so they are not to hot but able to still be close to me. Our artificial grass gets very hot in this weather!!

This is the life.

Gayle and I are going to Largs for a chippy tea later and I’m so looking forward to it!

Here we are!!