Category: walks

Autumn highlights

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Three posts in one week, this must be a record! Although it may seem a bit strange to be posting about autumn when spring is here, there are a few more places that I wanted to write about from my travels in October. Then I can continue with more recent adventures.

I love autumn, as I have said before here, it always signifies new beginnings to me, being a teacher for so many years. Even now autumn is the beginning of a different life in Spain every year, so still feels like a start.

I love the autumn colours as well, and the quality of the light. I visited a beautiful house just outside of Bridlington while I was staying at Flamborough. Sewerby Hall is owned by the local council, and is free to visit. The hall wasn’t open when I was there, but they have a little zoo, and beautiful grounds.

It is also the best season to see squirrels and there were so many there! I am really hoping for more squirrels in my life this year. There have been some very cute rabbits at this caravan park which has been nice.

I also visited Beningbrough Hall on my way back down from North Yorkshire. I have been before, but that was a quick stop off during the Covid years, and only the grounds were open then.

The gardens look beautiful, they are very Japanese in style, but it was the wonderful autumn fruit and veg display in the shop are that really made an impression. Such gorgeous colours and textures!

The hall is another mainly empty property, now used for art exhibitions.

When in West Yorkshire I went back to visit my friend Sue, who has recently moved back from Scotland.  I have been to stay with her many times in her beautiful, but remote lodge in Argyll, but she has moved back to where she spent many happy years when her children were young, just over the hills from my old village of Marsden.

Even though it was dull, we had a really good walk around one of the many reservoirs in the area. I love walking around water, probably why I love Scotland so much, there is just something magical about all the reflections. 

As I was leaving Katy Kangoo at my sister’s for the winter, we thought it would be fun to have one last camping trip, to Wales. We booked the very last few days that the site was open, at the Wyeside Camping and Caravanning Club site at Rhyader in mid Wales.

The drive there was stunning, through Herefordshire, and we were really lucky with the weather. We did get a bit wet on the first day, but had a glorious couple of walks, with Ryan the dog of course, and lots of fun just playing games and catching up.

The site is right next to the River Wye, as the name suggests, and so while I pitched my tent on the grass next to my sister’s motorhome, Katy had her own pitch just across from there, so she didn’t sink in the mud!

It was interesting watching the staff close down the site, thinking about what my lovely colleagues would be doing in Scotland. This year I will be doing both opening and closing down, so am really excited for the start of the season and meeting my new team in a couple of weeks. 

I am going to be moving on from the static caravan tomorrow, I have a mix of camping and aires, and some historic visit activities planned.  The rest will be weather dependent, so I may be able to get a lot more crocheting done!

I have brought a large amount of wool with me, and am getting on really well with the granny square blanket.  I have also made myself a warm crochet hat, and matching knitted wrist warmers in uniform colours for work.

I do have WiFi at my next campsite as well, so fingers crossed will be able to keep the posting going. I have so many gorgeous things to show you from our recent city break in northern Spain. 

Until then have fun, and thanks for visiting. 

A little R and R

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As you may remember if you have been following this blog for a while, last year I started using static caravan sites as part of my travel accommodation. 

Much as I love travelling in Katy, and using aires, there is joy in staying in one place for a while, especially if it has lots of room, central heating and a shower!

After Tarland I made my way down the coast, stopping at a few of the aires I have mentioned previously, and my first rest stop was in Northumberland, at the Haven Haggerston Castle site.

The weather wasn’t brilliant, and as I have visited the area a lot recently, I didn’t do much except some short walks around the site. They have a beautiful lake, with lots of geese and swans, and it was lovely to just watch them, and listen to them visit the caravans looking for food.

From there I made my way to Huddersfield, for a weekend with friends, we have been meeting up regularly for the past few years, and although this was a smaller one than previous years, it was lovely to catch up with friends I have known for 42 years.

It was also a reminder of how beautiful my adopted county is, even though I love visiting other parts of the UK and the world, Yorkshire has a very special place in my heart.

When my children were little we had some excellent holidays to Scarborough and Filey, and Ellen and I have visited Whitby a few times for steampunk events. However I have never really explored the coast in between the resorts.

Haven have a lot of sites in this area, so I booked two of them, Blue Dolphin, near Filey, and Thornwick Bay, at Flamborough. I was keen to do some walking along the coast, and also to go to Flamborough Head, which I remember visiting briefly many years ago.

The other thing I love about staying in statics is the really good kitchens so I can do lots of nice cooking!

I was really lucky with the weather both weeks, and had some excellent walks along the Cleveland Way, which runs right past the Blue Dolphin site.

I had just been reading another book on one of my favourite subjects, mapping. This one is about the first geological map of the UK, and it was brilliant to be there looking at the same cliffs that the man who created the map, William Smith did, on his travels in the 1800s.

His work was partly practical, as he worked as a surveyor for canals, another of my great interests, but also links to fossils and ideas about the history of evolution. An interesting time to have lived.

The author of the book, Simon Winchester, is one of my favourite non- fiction authors, and I have read a few of his works.

Thornwick Bay was a beautiful site, gorgeous caravan with a very cosy lounge, complete with fire, and direct access to the amazing coastline here.

Flamborough Head was also amazing, not least because there were so many seals there. It was a sunny day when I visited, and there must have been about 50 of them, just rolling around in the waves, playing, or sunning themselves. 

This means that in 2025 I was lucky enough to see Welsh, Scottish, and English seals!

I have had a busy few weeks since my return to the UK, and some technology issues, hence less posts than I had planned.  My laptop has died, the replacement I ordered didn’t work, so I am down to just my phone. I am on the road again as well, making my way up to Scotland, and am currently in another lovely static near Moffat.

Not much is planned for this week, apart from a couple of walks as next week will be busy, so lots of crafting and working on my crochet skills.

Hope you are all having a good time, the year is flying by, can’t believe it is the first of March already, and I am back in Scotland excited for another fantastic summer. Even if at the moment it is raining very hard! At least Katy is getting a good wash 🙂

Take care, thanks for visiting and hope to be back here again soon.

From Speyside to Deeside

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Although I could have stayed at the Tarland by Deeside campsite as part of my welfare weekends, I had already booked six nights there in September, so I ended up staying as part of my tour of the north east of Scotland after I finished my contract. This is an absolutely stunning area of the country, with the Dee similar to the Spey, a beautiful shallow river spanned by many Victorian iron bridges, with lots of pretty little towns and villages around it.

It is also castle country, so on the way there, and while I was staying I visited a few of the ones I have previously blogged about. I didn’t have time to visit all of the ones in the area, so am hoping to see a few more on my way up to my caravan storage this year.

The campsite is gorgeous, very similar to Speyside as it is very wooded, with shaded pitches and views of the hills.

The village with some lovely shops and cafes is within walking distance, and the first day I was there they had a food a drink festival, so I got to go and see some more fantastic pipe bands.

There are also the Tarland Trails near the campsite, with lots of purpose built mountain bike trails, and part of these are in Drummy Woods, which is right next to the site. I had a short walk through the woods after the food festival, and met some very nice cows!

As well as a couple of lovely chilled days sitting reading, stitching, and enjoying the peace and quiet, I also ticked off somewhere that has been on my bucket list for a long time. Several of the people I follow on Instagram have done this walk and it looked fantastic. Ciss Outdoors, who I have followed on Instagram for a while, has just set up a fantastic website full of useful information about hiking in Scotland and beyond. Sam Culley has a You Tube and Instagram that I have used when planning lots of my adventures in places like the Peak District and Yorkshire.

The walk was on the Balmoral Estate and covered visiting some of the memorial cairns built for Queen Victoria’s family. The royal family were there at Balmoral when I visited, so I couldn’t do the full trail, but did get to see Princess Beatrice’s and the famous Albert Memorial, which is a pyramid overlooking the edge of the Cairngorms.

This was an amazing moment, it is quite a steep climb, but so worth it, and a very emotional one for me. Those of you who have been following me for a long time know that I have had a number of issues with my mobility over the years.

For about five years before I retired I was struggling to walk, and needed a stick even to walk short distances in the last years, which was partly why I took early retirement. To be able to do all the things I do now, especially after a season of tough physical work, is amazing, and standing up there looking at these views is something I will never forget, and be eternally grateful for.

The following day I visited the nearby Muir of Dinnet, a nature reserve with trails up through the woodland, and around Loch Kinnord. It was a beautiful day, the views were stunning, and I had a quiet picnic by the loch, just thinking about how lucky I am.

If you get a chance to visit the area, please do. It is so beautiful, and a real undiscovered gem of Scotland.

I am on the final two days of life here in La Marina. It will be sad to leave, I have had a fantastic few months, but am SO EXCITED to be going back to the UK and to Scotland!!! I still have to pinch myself that this is my life, it really does keep getting better and better.

There will be a quiet couple of weeks, blog wise, as I am visiting friends and family, but then am having a couple of weeks of caravan life where amongst some outdoor activities, I will be mainly writing. I have been very disciplined this week and have gone back to the first novel, in an effort to finally finish it this year. The last few chapters are the most difficult, but really interesting, as they are the ones set at Hardwick Hall in the 1940s, so I have been doing lots of interesting research.

So until I see you again, have fun, and thanks for visiting.

Castles old and new

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Google informs me that Scotland has over 2,000 castles, of which 1,500 are still standing, or there are significant remains. Therefore I was never going to do more than scratch the surface on my quest to visit more of them after I left Speyside. I had naively thought that at least I could do most of the ones in the area around the Tarland campsite, there is actually a castle trail in the area as there are so many, but only managed a few in the week I was there. Lots to do when I go back!

Scottish castles are really unique, as many of them have a very distinctive architectural style, and lots are pink, or greyish pink in hue. They really do have a Disney castle feel, and none more so than the beautiful Craigievar Castle Sadly this was one of the ones that I didn’t get a chance to see inside, as most of them only allow guided tours, and by the time I got there, all were booked up for theafternoon before I had to head to the campsite.

It was a beautiful day for a wander though, and the grounds and surrounding area is just stunning. Not that there are many parts of Scotland that aren’t, except perhaps the motorways around Glasgow, which confused me a lot!

After leaving Tarland I headed back to the coast, to Stonehaven. I mentioned in a previous post that it had been too windy to walk along the coast to Slains Castle, but this was an absolutely gorgeous day, perfect for a walk along the coastal path to see the dramatic ruins of Dunnottar.

I am collecting photos that I particularly love to be printed onto canvas eventually, and I think this will have to be added to that collection. Such an amazing landscape, and I was so lucky to see it in such beautiful weather.

As well as the castles there are so many beautiful baronial houses, and after leaving the Grampian Aire I went to Leith Hall Dating from the mid 1600s, it has been extensively remodelled and is now mainly Georgian inside. Again I had an excellent guided tour of the house, memorable for several curiosities as well as the wealth of textile treasure.

If you visit any heritage house you will come across taxidermy, a favourite pastime of the Victorian collectors, but Leith has a very special display, of boxing squirrels!

This has to rate as the most unusual piece of taxidermy that I have ever seen. No clear idea of the provenance, but I can only assume they were specially commissioned.

Sometimes there are just little things that really catch your eye as well, not only for their beauty, but imagining how they were acquired, and the recipient using them. I like to imagine that this beautiful desk set was a very special gift, and that happy hours were spent here writing letters and journals.

Another really interesting find was this gift of a photo montage of all of the tenants of the estate, given to General Leith Hay in 1902. A fascinating piece of social history, and one that is great for anyone tracing family history in the area, as many of these people wouldn’t have necessarily have had other photos taken of themselves.

One of the members of the Leith Hay family was a very keen needlewoman, and one of the corridors was lined with needlepoint pictures, all from kits popular in Victorian times. There musty have been at least twenty of these, along with all the fire screens and chairs. I know I have marvelled at this before, but how many hours of work does this represent!

I have been thinking about doing some needlepoint again, not that I need another crafting project ! However I used to love it, so am on the hunt for a nice kit that I can do for the caravan.

Someone was clearly a keen collector of embroidery as well, as there was this display case. Sorry for the poor picture, but there is a Georgian waistcoat, as well as shoes and bags.

There were also some beautiful bedspreads, in crochet and lace work.

I have been spending some time here working on my crochet skills, and have successfully made my first hat! After so many years of struggling crochet seems to have just clicked in my brain, which I am very happy about. Pictures of that and other recent makes soon. I have also been doing some writing, so feel like I’ve had a very productive week.

It is a balmy 23 degrees this weekend, and I am looking forward to another lovely week of social activities. We have a packed programme of coach trips to visit Christmas lights, and Christmas celebrations starting this Friday, and I had better finish making the Christmas gifts as there are only 18 days to go! My poker skills are coming along nicely as well, I won 9 hands last night and came 4th out of 8 players, so very happy with that.

Until next time, take care, have fun and thanks for visiting.

The wind and the waves

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After I left Speyside I went to the coast. There were so many beautiful places that I wanted to visit, and some park ups that I had on my list for my coastal tour. I will talk about the park ups in a later post, this one is all about the power of nature, and the importance of the wind and the waves.

I started my day with the most amazing sunset, and stood and watched as the early morning surfers took their boards out at Lossiemouth. The power of the waves was just incredible, after the stormy conditions of the previous day, but these confident surfers were out there loving it.

This part of the Scottish coast has some unique rock features, developed over time by the power of water against stone, wearing away in such minute steps, over millennia. Bow Fiddle Rick, just outside Portknockie, was my first stop on this journey.

The day I visited was very windy, but beautifully sunny, perfect for watching the waves crashing against the rocks here. Most of these small towns are also fishing ports, most now only used for leisure, rather than commercial fishing, superseded by the large Atlantic trawlers.

However the wind, and the waves, are still important here, it may not affect livelihood in the same way as when hundreds of fishermen lived here, but this area has a number of offshore wind farms, and the coastal town of Buckie is a centre for the offshore support.

The towns of Banff and Macduff, separated by the River Deveron, are still important ports, but I had come to see a lesser known area, just a bit further along from the port of Macduff.

The Needle’s Eye rock formation is another magical creation of the sea, and a little further on is somewhere I had been alerted to by one of the many van lifers I follow on Instagram.

The Tarlair Open Air Swimming Pools were built in the 1930s, and was open until the 1990s. The gorgeous Art Deco cafe has been restored and I had a very nice lunch there. The cafe is run by volunteers, has a great photo display of the pool’s history, and it is hoped that the pools will be open again at some point soon.

There are also open air pools at Gourock, a place I briefly visited last summer, and at Stonehaven, my destination a few days later when I went back to the coast. It was another gorgeous sunny day, for my cliff top walk along to Dunnottar Castle.

There is something so magical about watching the waves against the cliffs, knowing that this landscape is not permanent, that over time it will change, and that we won’t be here to see much of that change.

There is such a thrill at being at the edge of the land, just staring out at the horizon. I can’t imagine what it must be like to have never seen the sea, to never feel this wind, or watch the waves. It is such an amazing and mesmerising thing to do.

However, wind and waves can also destroy. I had a brief visit to Crovie, or to the cliffs above the village. It was too windy to walk down to the village, which was badly flooded in the 1950s, leaving it devastated as a fishing village.

It is a reminder, as we see almost daily on the news with severe storms and flooding, of the power of nature to obliterate.

I am currently at another incredible coastline, in North Yorkshire, enjoying more cliff top walks, which I will tell you about in a future post. Meanwhile enjoy life and thanks for visiting. 

The magic of the sea

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Maybe it’s because I am a water sign, or maybe it’s something else but I just love being beside the sea. Even if it’s just having a glimpse of it as I travel, or the little view from my house in Spain. It just instantly makes me feel calm and happy.

I was lucky enough to have four sets of visitors this summer, and so spent more time at the coast again with them, revisiting some of the coastal beauties of this part of the UK. 

I did have sometime off for some of these visits, though not when Dave and Louise came from Somerset.  We did have the evenings together,  and my first bbq of the season. 

This really is an undiscovered area for me, I had no idea how stunning these places were, and will always feel blessed that my first job with the club was in such an amazing area.

I now know where I am.going to be next year,  it was a surprise to me, and everyone else, and I shall reveal all in a bit.

Most of my coastal trips were beautiful weather, however the only inclement one was when my sister, Jacky, and her dog Ryan arrived at the end of July. This was the week before that very big storm that hit Scotland, and poor Jacky was in Orkney by then!

We had a visit to Spey Bay, to the dolphin centre there, and although it was grey and damp, and there were no dolphins, it was still a lovely place for a walk, at the mouth of the Spey River and the start of the Speyside Way. 

When my friend Sharon arrived from Yorkshire we were a lot luckier, and visited the fishing village of Buckie, and then on to Findhorn again, for glorious views. I think Findhorn may be one of my favourite places on this coast, but there are other strong contenders.

Maggie and Peter, also from Yorkshire,  and the previous owners of Lotte my lovely caravan,  also came that same weekend,  and we went back to Cullen, to do the coastal walk, on a wonderful hot, sunny Sunday.  My photos just don’t do justice to this amazing coastline. 

At the very end of my contract, on the last weekend,  I used my welfare nights to go to Rosemarkie, one of our sites on the Black Isle above Inverness.  Rosemarkie is famous for dolphin spotting, and I did see some, but the choppy waves made it difficult to photograph them.

It was a beautiful evening walk to the lighthouse though,  and more chance to.practice arty photography. 

I also took a trip to Cromarty, at the end of the Black Isle, one of the many historic fishing villages in this area, now home to oilfield pipe terminals, and a cruise ship port in the Firth.

There is still so much to see and do in this area, and I will come back at some point. I am now on my end of contract busman’s holiday, making my way down the coast, via Northumberland to Yorkshire for a catch up with friends, before I fly back to Spain at the end of October.

However I won’t be back next year,  as my contract is going to be at Glencoe! I was really surprised, as thought I would be staying but am so excited to be given this site. I stayed there for a few nights last year so know a bit of what to expect.  It is going to be a very busy site, and very different to Speyside. This will be my office view though, so I think I am going to have an amazing time there. 

Lotte has been moved to winter storage, and I am going to be back to pick her up in early March. Meanwhile there are historic houses galore, and the excitement of getting back to Spain and planning more adventures. 

So I hope that you are all still enjoying life as much as I am. I can’t tell you how brilliant this summer has been, and I am so looking forward to next year.  See you soon and thanks for visiting. 

Highland highlights

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I have so enjoyed being in this part of Scotland for the summer. I love the gentle forested hills, the sparkling rivers, and the stunning coast with its layers of misty blues.

I will find out in a few days where my contract will be for next year. Fingers crossed it is here, as there is so much more to explore, but anywhere in Scotland will be fantastic. 

I have spent some more time in the local village of Aberlour recently, firstly doing the walk up to the Linn Falls. This takes you past the distillery, and you can just get a glimpse of it through the trees.

You can see one of the huge copper stills at the back of the distillery, as always the smells are amazing.

The village itself is very pretty, it is a planned development built in the 1812 by Charles Grant, and named after one of his sons.

Its full name is Charlestown of Aberlour, and there is a smaller village just up from our campsite, named Archiestown, after his other son.

As well as being the site of a great local Co-op,  butchers and deli, it also gives you access to the river and the Speyside Way.  There are many of these beautiful bridges over the river here.

Like many of the places round here Aberlour hosts a Highland Games, and I was lucky enough to be able to visit, as I have had weekends off.

It was amazing, all of the surrounding towns and villages support each others’ games, so there were dance, athletic competitors, and pipe bands from the local area. This meant there was a great attendance and atmosphere, and thankfully fantastic weather.

My favourite part was definitely the pipe bands, there is just something about pipes and drums that touches your soul, and the drum majors were particularly impressive.

The Highland Dancing, and ‘heavy’ competitions such as tossing weights and hammers were also wonderful to watch. I can finally say I have a seen someone toss a caber, and it is very impressive!

I have also been being creative during my time off, and have painted lots of stones to decorate the campsite. These are some of the types of campers that we have had visit this summer, and they are on display near our facilities block.

I got chance to do a little bit of caravan upgrading as well, with fablon covering the kitchen area. You can see the original surface in the second photo. I have also bought new fleeces and cushion covers for the colder evenings. It is starting to feel very autumnal here now. 

Sadly my trip to Dingwall, that I wrote about last post, did not end well. It  was the week of Storm Floris, and although I got there OK on the Friday, the weather was bad again on Saturday, so I decided to come home, getting a split pole in the process of taking the tent down.

I have another welfare weekend planned next weekend, at one of our coastal sites, so hopefully that will go really well, and I can share the photos of that, along with some more coastal trips in my next post. 

Meanwhile I hope you are having as much fun as I am. Thanks, as always for visiting, and putting up with the less than frequent posts!

Paddles and pebbles

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I don’t wish to start this post with a complaint but it has been so hot in Scotland whilst I have been here. As you may know, I can’t tolerate heat, which is part of the reason that I leave Spain for the summer.

When I got the contract through for a season in Scotland I was expecting a cool, and damp summer, which was fine. I ordered lots of practical uniform, such as waterproof overtrousers and fleecey layers.

However it has been a consistent 24 to the dizzy heights of 32 degrees for the last few months, and I have been sweltering!

Thank goodness that the coast is only a short drive away, so I can not only get cooler weather, but enjoy the amazing scenery.

My first coastal trip was to the village of Portsoy, for their annual traditional boat festival. As well as the boats on display, there were related events, such as skiff rowing, a raft race, and demonstrations and displays of boat building. 

There was also lots of music, dancing, and a food festival. It was a wonderful introduction to maritime Highland culture.

The town is centred around the 17th century harbour, which has been beautifully restored, and has an amazing coastline.

I stayed overnight at an aire just a few minutes drive away, at Cullen, birthplace of the fish soup, Cullen Skink. The aire is in a gorgeous location, right on the coastal path.  I spent a very happy evening watching the sunset.

I also had some very delicious locally smoked Mackerel for tea.

My next coastal trip was on the hottest weekend so far, to Lossiemouth for a very welcome paddle. Lossiemouth was a key part of coastal defences during WW2, and still has the concrete blocks put there to prevent tank invasion. 

The views across the Moray Firth were just gorgeous.  Over the water is Caithness, part of Scotland I have yet to explore.

Last weekend I had another overnight, at the aire at Findhorn.  This open expanse of beach leads to the bay, and the River Findhorn, and the village was an important harbour in the 1700 and 1800s.

So many beautiful pebbles, the variety of stones were amazing. I have brought some back for some painted stones I am doing for the campsite, that I will share when they are finished.

There is a very interesting little heritage centre, with some great interpretation and photos. 

I have plans to visit more of this coast in the next few weeks, I only have 7 weeks left of my contract, but am then spending the rest of September in this wonderful country.

I love it so much, and am so happy to have had the chance to explore more. Love the job, love living in my little caravan, very, very happy 😊

I hope you are all happy whatever you are doing, thanks for visiting and see you soon.

Highland beauty

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This area of the country often gets overlooked, there is so much else in Scotland to see, so it is easy to miss. That has lots of advantages though, as roads are quiet, and it is easy to park, unlike at Glencoe last year!

I have been doing some exploring of the local area, in between the domestic duties. The nearest supermarkets are about 30 mins away, though there is a little Co op in the nearest town 5 mins drive. That means trying to combine my fortnightly shop with other adventures.

Much of my time has been spent along the beautiful Spey River. The Speyside Way runs from the coast down for about 70 miles, using parts of the old railway line, and provides brilliant forest walks and cycling.

The above photos were taken on one of my first walks, at the little town of Charlestown of Aberlour, our nearest place. One of the features of these rivers are the gorgeous Victorian bridges that cross them.

Yesterday I went to visit one of the most famous. Built by Thomas Telford and erected in 1814, it was the main road crossing at Craigellachie until the 1970s.

The area is also famous for it’s distilleries, using water from the Spey. There are over 30 in the area, and while I don’t like the taste of whisky,  the smell when they are roasting is lovely. 

I recently went on a walk near the Tamdhu distillery, which is next to the old railway station.  Such a gorgeous forest trail with glimpses of the river.

Life has been very busy, the last two weekends I have been away, firstly to a very interesting training course, where I met lots of other new staff. It was fun to hear about their experiences so far. Last week I went to the coast, so will tell you about that in the next post.

I have also visited my first castle of 2025. I hope to see many more after I finish working, as there are lots in the areas I am travelling to then, but this was the lovely Brodie Castle, near Forres.

The castle was closed as there was a function on, but the grounds and the lake were enough to keep me happy.

I really am so happy here, I love life in my little caravan, and really enjoy the job. I am meeting so many people who love exactly the same things that I do, and feel so blessed to be able to do this in this gorgeous place.

It may not have the dramatic scenery of other places I have visited in Scotland, but it is a wonderful place to call home for the summer.

I shall hopefully be able to post again sooner than a month from now. The app is so slow that this has taken me nearly two hours, with waiting for it to respond, so it is not that I am neglecting the blog, it is just technical issues. Thanks for bearing with me, and fingers crossed see you soon.

Meet the latest member of the family!

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Well of course you should have been reading all about the gorgeous fiestas I went to in Spain in this post, however I have skipped ahead for very good reasons.

I will get back to my time in Spain as soon as possible, but on the day that I was scheduled to post, we had a major power blackout that affected most of Spain, Portugal, and other parts of Europe. 

That was ‘interesting’, and made you quickly realise how very much we rely on having working phones, access to the Internet, ATM etc. 

One of my main concerns was that I was due to fly back to the UK two days later on the Weds, to be reunited with a very special new addition.  I have previously hinted at changes for this year but I would like you to meet Lotte.

Lotte is a ‘new to me’ 33 year old caravan, that I bought from my very good friends, Maggie and Peter in Yorkshire, last year. There have been lots of preparations in place surrounding the purchase and subsequent removal of Lotte to Scotland. Here she is on the haulage lorry in Yorkshire, and arriving in a very sunny Speyside 🌞

I needed a caravan to live in as last year I applied for, and was successful in getting,  a post as a Site Assistant with the Camping and Caravanning Club! The interview process started in October, and involved me flying back to the UK in early December for a recruitment day, and I got a job 🙃

I was so thrilled as this has been a long held dream post retirement from teaching. I was over the moon when a couple of days before Christmas I found out my post would be in Scotland.   

There have been a few stressful moments along the way. In the same week I had the blackout, finding out that the caravan towing company wouldn’t take her to Scotland last minute, and Katy having a seized handbrake and having to spend two days in the garage. However all got sorted and a day later than planned I set off for Scotland in Katy.

Lotte arrived last Wednesday evening, and I have been spending the last few days moving all of my new things in, and sorting everything out.

She is absolutely gorgeous and I already love living here in her. I have a lovely staff pitch, very shady, with lots of trees and birds around.

I have a fixed bedroom, which is great, with so much storage space.

Also a cute little kitchen area, and most exciting, a bathroom.  I have a toilet, and running water and everything 🙃

Also a lovely comfy lounge area, so I can sit and craft in the evenings as I listen to the birds. It is all just perfect and I am over the moon about it all.

I start work tomorrow, which I am so looking forward to.  Most of this week will be training, and at the moment I have the weekends off, so I will still be going out exploring this gorgeous part of the country in Katy. I plan to use the many stop overs and aires here.

I am further north than I have been before, just above Aviemore, so really looking forward to exploring. I took 10 days to make the journey up to my site, so got to visit some new places.

My first stop was at The Nook Cafe, in the beautiful Northern Pennines. They offer overnight camper stops for £5, with use of toilets if wanted. I had a very peaceful evening, watching the sheep graze.

I then stayed overnight with my very good friends, Sue and Chris at their house, before going on to the Oban campsite for four nights. 

That is a very pretty site, in a walled garden, with beach access across the road, and a beautiful set of forest walks next door in Sutherland’s Grove.

I also had an afternoon walk around the headland at Port Appin, with stunning views across to Mull and Lismore.

Then it was on to Loch Ness Shores campsite for another four nights.

The weather has just been amazing all the time I have been here, I am so lucky. On my last day I did the forest walk to the Falls of Foyers.

One of the best things about being here in May is that the rhododendrons and gorse are blooming, so gorgeous.

So here is one very happy little camper signing off. I will be back as soon as possible, work and lack of WiFi may slow things a little, but thanks as always for being here for my new adventure.  Hope you are all having fun and enjoying life.