I’ll start by saying it’s a relatively short book but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I spent a lot on time in Benbecula growing up as I have family there. Because of this I think it gave me a really good picture throughout.
Every page I could imagine being there, and hearing different points from characters really made it.
It just seems like a normal family working the croft, making a living and going through life as the norm back in the days that assume was set before the Highland clearances.
From childhood, to the setting and into ‘now.’ The hardships of living in the conditions they did and how they had to just get on with it.
Then describing Angus’ weapons was very spine curling, before going on to show his mindset throughout.
An author that I will certainly be reading more from!
(Also I do apologise for my book review, hopefully I’ll get better with them)
On the back on my post a few weeks ago (two posts back) just sharing some wee spots that we stayed/ate in and this is my second favourite from the trip.
The Ardshiel hotel just up from the old ferry terminal in Campbeltown.
We stayed here for one night, and chose to have dinner in the hotel too.
I’ll start by saying how cosy but upmarket it feels when you first walk in. There is glass walls full on old whiskey.
The reception area was small but considering you don’t spend much time there, I don’t think it matters too much!
To the left there’s a lovely little bar area that leads into the lounge and dining area. A really good selection of drinks including cocktails and mocktails! I had been feeling a bit under the weather so I tried a mocktail (I honestly can’t remember which though) before dinner and it was amazing!
The staff really were so welcoming too. They just seemed like a well gelled family working together! That goes for breakfast staff too!
I had a cosy wee room at the back and I couldn’t fault it in anyway, one of the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time!
I started with soup, which was just what I needed! Homemade, and so nutritious!
I had a burger for main (my go to). It was amazing! The beef tasted really fresh and none of it lasted long at all!
If I come back to Campbeltown, this will certainly be my first stop!
This post is more of a just ramble and get some thoughts out.
It’s been three weeks since we lost Mac.
The most handsome, cuddliest boy that would go anywhere with us.
Mac was sixteen and he lived the most wonderful life. I told myself for the last year or so that when he told us he was ready to go, i would be ready too. I thought I had accepted it and I wanted to do right by him. I really wasn’t ready. I wept with him in my hands as we said our goodbyes.
The best big brother to little Macey. He really showed her how to live life to the fullest
We were so heartbroken. I let myself get into some dark places in the while that followed. I wouldn’t process it at the time. It just felt like he’d be here forever. It felt like he had been here forever.
One of Maceys first longer walks, happily following Mac on a new adventure.
The people that he met, the smiles he put on people’s faces and the fears he helped some of us over come will stay with me forever. He was truly a once in a lifetime dog.
I just know that over rainbow Bridge, he’s found the biggest, muddiest puddle known to man with the sunshine just cracking through to have a nap in.
Always happy having a paddle
We used a relatively local company that hasn’t long started up to cremate him and I honestly couldn’t thank them enough for their kindness and thoughts throughout. I knew Mac was in good hands, and now have him home and as a family can each have a little piece of him, and Mac will venture over to Australia at the end of the year to be with the rest out the family.
I would have loved to hear Macs thoughts or have had a conversation with him one day, I know that boy has seen and heard some fantastic stories. He reminded me of that old guy in the pub that’s seen everything, met everyone and has endless stories to tell.
Sorry for being away! Life has been hectic for the last few weeks and the blog and my socials have been put on the back burner, but I’ve been doing a little bit of traveling in the last week and visited places that are not on the tourist map so I thought I’d share some highlights!
To start with, Food!
On Wednesday of last week, we stopped over in Arklow, Ireland. After a long day of sailing (Almost 14 hours from lands end up to Ireland) we were after some decent food and this lovely little place was recommended to us by a couple of people!
This is Asian Harvest Restaurant!
We were hesitant about what we were going to eat since we were back out on the boat on Thursday but we thought why not give it a go and I am so pleased we did.
We were met by a lovely lady, who I assumed was the owner and she could not have been more helpful!
I’m not picky, but I can be nervous of trying new food but I went with deep fried shredded chilli chicken and the portion was unbelievable! (I finished everything on my plate too).
The chicken was just perfect and the veggies throughout were sweet and crunchy. She gave us chips, noodles and rice as well as copious amounts of prawn crackers for the table too. Between us there was a big mix of different foods, from king prawns to chicken fried rice, every single ounce of food was gone by the end.
The price of it all was incredible too for the amount of food we got, as well as the boys having a beer each too.
If I’m ever back in Arklow, this will be my first stop!
*Images in this blog are not my own, credit goes to tripadvisor*
So we can all get affected by seasonal depression but for the most part, I actually don’t mind winter. I adore snow! I act like a toddler in a sledge whenever it snows and I refuse to admit I’m cold.
We are now approaching the spring and as much as I’m still hoping for a dusting of snow, I’m really looking forward to the temperature rising just a few degrees.
Here’s the thing. I hate jackets.
I very rarely wear a jacket, only if its absolutely chucking it down with rain. And then the conversation usually goes, ‘I’m cold,’ ‘Well Put a jacket on!’ But it’s not my core that’s cold, its my hands! A jacket won’t warm my hands.
I’ve definitely felt the cold this past winter more. Maybe its part of getting a little older but the circulation in my hands has been awful and they’re just always cold.
But I can’t just warm up when I go home.
I actually don’t have heating at home.
Well I have an oil boiler, but I just don’t have oil. And haven’t done for almost two years now and truthfully I don’t miss it. We ran out and at the time it was the middle of summer and we just decided to not spend the money at the time to get more and we realised how little we use the heating because we just never topped it up.
I love having the stove. In an ideal world it could be bigger but it’s ideal for heating the lounge. It’s where we spend most of our time anyway, the kitchen has the back door open most of the time for the dogs to come and go and we had the radiator off in the bedroom because who likes a hot bedroom anyway?
Even when I’ve been out on the boat, Ill come home and change out of wet clothes and immediately light the stove. I’ll sit with my book in front of it and it feels so much nicer to warm up that way too!
I do have a dyson air purifier which also works as a heater so if its particularly cold, Ill leave that on low for a few hours to heat the rest of the house up but also since we’ve started mainly using the stove, we’ve both had an improved immune system as well as surprisingly saving money. I only really buy coal to keep it going. I get loads of wood from jobs I do and my granny has a whole shed full of peat which Ill take a bag of from time to time, but next year I plan to go and cut my own!
My favourite people to be around? Without a doubt those that care so deeply. I couldn’t care less about the topic.
Whether its a hobby, or a belief or a job, I love nothing more than listening to someone tell me all about their passion.
Never ever apologise for caring so deeply about something because listening to people is one of my favourite things. And the more you ramble the more I know you love it.
Happiness is contagious. Spread that far and wide.
Found a cool stone that you want to tell me about? Or did you go to space? Happiness is equal and beautiful. And I will listen to you talk about your happiness for hours.
So up in the Scottish Highlands we have a typical croft house. It’s usually a two bedroom, one bathroom, with a kitchen and living room. Over the years is has changed with the vast majority creating more space within the attic. Sometimes an extra bedroom or two, or just making a more social area.
I have such a love for these houses and seeing how different people redesign and style them. A lot of people will opt to put an extension onto the property, usually out the back of the property to create a bigger kitchen area.
They also wouldn’t originally have had heating so there was usually a fire place in each room. This will have been blocked off now in most properties so the fire itself isn’t usable but I love that they’ve kept them
My granny for example turned the upstairs into an extra two bedrooms and put an extension out the back also. Although she turned that into a pantry/storage type of area which for some reason we’ve always called ‘the shed.’
In my job I see so many of these houses and I get such a thrill out of seeing how the space has been utilised or modernised.
This property i was in last week has kept an older charm such as keeping the V-Lining on the walls but has made such a big open space throughout the property.
I will almost certainly make another post in the future with photos of different properties too to show what I mean, but i really wanted to make this post and I haven’t been taking photos!
So I haven’t bothered with resolutions or anything of that rubbish because what will be, will be.
But I am looking forward to the year ahead. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been feeling a bit poo. Just a bit in over my head and not as excited and enthusiastic as I would be but I know it’ll pass.
I’m taking everything as it comes. Like getting back into the gym. I’m not forcing myself to go because I burnt myself out doing that before so if the notion comes, I’ll go until I get a routine back.
My Mum and Dad very kindly bought D and I tickets to the Spanish formula 1 so I can’t wait to go. We’re spending a week about an hour outside of Barcelona and it’s going to be so lovely to get some warm sunshine, a breath of fresh air and just some time off work. I went with my brother and Dad back in 2019 to Tossa De Mar and it was such a lovely wee place. Catalunya is a gorgeous place and I can’t wait to go back!
D’s family are coming over from Australia too in August and we haven’t seen them in three years so that’s going to be nice taking them touring about here. My brother who currently lives out in Australia too, will be home briefly in July so that will be lovely to see him again too.
My cousin gets married in October and I can’t wait to watch her walk down the Isle too!
My biggest thing is enjoying spending time outdoors. I try my best over winter but it’s dark, cold and wet. I love seeing the spring flowers popping through like the daffodils and watching the lambs and calfs running about. That’s when I know better weather is coming.
We also have a big year coming in terms of the RNLI with the arrival of our new All Weather Lifeboat in spring so it’ll be all hands of deck and getting out training at every opportunity!
So the whole point of the blog and Instagram initially was showing my wee garden and home so thought I’d do a wee post on how I got here.
We do love a conspiracy theory, what you believe or not is up to you but I don’t enjoy having to eat and enjoy things that are regulated by people who don’t really care about us.
I have quite a big garden, and having enjoyed being in the garden with my granny while growing up I thought I’d try and utilise the space I have.
Now I’m very much a beginner so I’m just doing trial and error and this will take a very long time. But my thought process is if I can make what I’m putting into my body and environment, even 1% better then I’m going to do it.
This year I tried a couple of different fruits and veggies to see what I can do well or what I need to work on. Those were carrots, Broccoli, Spinach, Strawberries, Tomatoes and Chilli’s.
All of them grew to my amazement, however I wasn’t on the ball enough and I lost my Broccoli and Spinach. The tomatoes grew very leggy so I learnt I need to give them more room to grow, stake them earlier and to give them more nutrients to fruit. I only started my Chilli’s in October inside and they’re growing nicely so hopefully come spring they’ll be established and ready to fruit.
I’m ready to expand for next season, and I need to manage my time better so I can’t wait in terms of growing my own foods!
I’m also cutting down on chemicals. If I don’t need it, I don’t use it and I’m always on the hunt for more natural ways to clean/wash etc. I’ve stopped burning candles and I’m on the lookout for some natural ones instead.
We don’t use central heating anymore (we actually ran out of kerosene and never bothered to buy more) and I adore using our wee stove. It heats our living room and kitchen where we spend most of our time and we both find having a colder bedroom is a lot more refreshing too. It also means if there is a power cut, we still have heat, means to cook/boil water and a little bit of light.
I’ve cut right back on the meat I buy from supermarkets. I generally only buy chicken now (there’s unfortunately nowhere locally to buy fresh). I love being able to support local farmers and crofters by buying their meat and its far better for our bodies and environment, as well as directly supporting farming and local businesses.
This is just the changes I’ve made so far, and I can’t wait to continue this journey. One day I’ll hopefully even have some chickens too!
Honestly I don’t know if I’ve ever cried over a book, however I’ve been close a few times.
The one I’ve picked for this is Dave Grohls autobiography, The storyteller.
I loved Dave Grohl before, but after reading his book it really gave me a new understanding and appreciation for him and his life and the struggles he went through and how he overcame it all, and for his biggest achievement in life was his kids and watching them grow up to be amazing human beings!
Contact us
Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence. The only limit is the extent of your imagination.
Confessions of a Clumsy Scot 