Tag: Scotland

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.

From castles to car parks

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During the couple of weeks I spent in Scotland before leaving for Northumberland I stopped at some really great aires and park ups, so this post is devoted to those. I know that some people who follow my blog also travel, and I have got lots of useful information from others’ Instagram and Facebook posts, so thought people might find this useful. I have put links in to the Park4Nite information, but I also use the Facebook CAMPRA group a lot, they have extensive information and links to each aire.

There is something very poetic about spending the day wandering round beautiful castles filled with expensive antiques, and then ending up spending the night in my tiny camper in a car park! Not all of the park up were just car parks, however the majority were on this trip. I specifically try and support the small businesses and community run aires on my trips, and have found some real gems of places to stay.

The first one after leaving Speyside was at Lossiemouth, in one of their seafront car parks. There are a few park ups in Lossiemouth, I chose this one as it was near a toilet. I do have a little folding toilet in Katy for overnight use, but access to a flushing toilet and sinks is an added bonus 😉 There is no charge for parking overnight, but there is a donation box near the toilets so I was very happy to use that.

I have just got an upgrade for next year, as I have now got a portoloo as well! This is very exciting for me, most of the places that I stayed at this year have toilet emptying facilities, and it was something that I was thinking about as a next step. While at my sister’s recently, I reorganised things in Katy, got rid of the months supply of soup, and some of the 25 books that I have been carrying around with me, and freed up some space. I had a test run while camping with my sister in Wales, and it works perfectly, so very happy!

No pictures of the park up as it was raining when I got there, but the sunsets the next morning more than made up for that. It was a gorgeous morning, with lots of people out surfing or dog walking, and stunning views across the bay.

The plan for the following day was to drive along the coast, and I ended up at the Glenbuchty Aire, near Fraserburgh. Although it had been a gorgeous day, and I had visited all of the coastal delights that I have previously posted about, when I got there it was a bit wet and blustery, so didn’t take advantage of the beach access. It was a very warm welcome from the hosts, I was parked in the garden bit of the aire, but they have five hardstandings as well. This was a lovely peaceful spot, and a real bargain at £5 a night, with another £5 charge to use the black waste disposal. You can contact them to pre-book, which I did.

I then made my way down the coast, to a park up at a little village called Port Erroll. I had seen this on a previous Instagram post and thought like it would be a good place to stay. The £10 per night donation is also helping restore the harbour. It was a gorgeous place to sit and watch the sunset, and marvel at the very large waves the next morning. Unfortunately very high winds meant I didn’t get to do the walk to Slains Castle from the port. They also have lovely toilets there, open all night. There is only space for about 6 vans, so it is first come, first parked!

My next stop was inland, as I was making my way to a campsite for a few nights. This was an aire I had read so much about, the Grampian Aire. This is definitely a very luxurious aire, and such good value for money. For £10 a night you get a lovely pitch with fantastic views, and access to a little kitchen, but for a further £5 you can use the very gorgeous toilet and shower block. I completely forgot to take any pictures of the facilities, but you can see them on their Facebook page where they also have a video. Such a beautiful place to stay, and a very warm welcome from the owner, Meike. This one I pre-booked online as they only have 5 pitches.

I will post about the Tarland campsite separately, but after six nights there I was back on the road, and back to the coast. I ended a beautiful sunny day at the St Cyrus Nature Reserve, near Montrose. Their car park is part of their Stay the Night scheme, and the Forestry Commission car parks in Scotland has a similar offer at many of their car parks, and you can make the £10 donation either online, or at the site. They also have toilets, and the beach is just stunning. I had a very lovely peaceful night there. I did pay online before I got there, but not pre-book, however there are plenty of spaces available.

The following day I went back inland to the Cairngorms. Due to a slightly grey and cloudy day, I didn’t do the hill walk I was planning, as I know the weather can change really quickly on the mountains, but did have a lovely couple of walks from Glen Cova, and around the Loch of Kinnordy RSPB Reserve. Here I took one of my favourite photos ever, I love reflection pictures, and this one turned out really well. Definitely one to print off and frame for the future.

I finished the day at the Knocknahushoch Farm Aire You can book this one online in advance, through Pitchup and it only cost me £8 without electric or any facilities. This is definitely one of the most unusual places that I have stayed at, as well as being a farm, it is also an airfield, and you can park right next to the plane if you want to. As it was a bit windy I stayed next to the main buildings.

After a trip to Dundee to meet up with an old friend, I was intending to stay at St Andrews, near the harbour. However it was the weekend, and with a golf event on, the place was very very crowded. So I headed back to one of my favourite park ups from last year, at the Kelpies. As last year, the weather was atrocious driving into Falkirk, which was such a pity as it was my first time driving over the Forth Bridge, and I could hardly see anything! I will have to back one day.

No pictures of the Kelpies at night, or the park up, as it was raining all night, but it is basically just the Kelpies car park anyway. It costs £15 to stay, which includes a voucher for a hot drink, and thankfully the next morning was beautiful, so I enjoyed my coffee with a view, while catching up with my son in Japan. You don’t need to pre-book this one, as it is a very large car park and a very popular overnight stay.

The rest of the day was spent visiting my last historic properties in Scotland, including a very special place. More on that later. It was a gorgeous day, so I visited Musselburgh, and had a long walk along the seafront there.

I ended the day at the gorgeous Sitooterie, a spacious garden with great views, named for the lovely little cabin complete with cosy sofas, books and games. Luckily I didn’t need the space as it was such a nice evening I sat outside Katy, but it is a great option for us micro camper owners. It was £10 per night, with access to water and a composting toilet, and a very warm welcome as well. I pre-booked this one by ringing the owner and paid cash when I got there. The aire can accommodate up to 10 campers, depending on size.

I have really loved trying out such a range of different places to stay this year. I am also very happy to be able to support all these people who are kind enough to provide for us travellers, and really pleased that there are so many options, particularly in Scotland. I have so many lovely places pinned on Google maps for my return journey next March.

Although I am very happy being back in Spain, I have been in one place for 3 weeks now, so I am starting to get itchy feet again! However I do have lots of nice day trips coming up, and am back on my bike as well. Crafting is being slotted into the busy schedule, as well as all the other social activities, and I have also been learning to play poker! I hope you are also all having fun whatever you are doing. Thanks for visiting, and see you next time.

Scottish, and Spanish, sunshine!

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Admittedly not all of my weeks after leaving the campsite were beautifully sunny, but the majority of the time I was still blessed with amazing weather, so I was very lucky. Part of my route planning was trying to visit as many National Trust for Scotland properties as I could. There are so many in the areas around Aberdeen, so I could do the interiors of properties on the less sunny days.

Fyvie Castle visit was on a bit of a grey day, the exterior reflected this, looking very somber. Like many Scottish castles, there are a number of towers that have been added to over the years, which gives them this very distinctive look.

Most of the castles I visited you joined a tour, rather than it being a self guided visit, and while I often prefer to be alone, usually as I need more time to look at the textiles than everyone else 😉 the tour guide was really interesting and knowledgeable, and really made the place come alive.

Even though it looks fairly modern from the outside, and the beautiful plaster ceilings are reproduction, rather than original Jacobean, it has a long history. Charles 1st spent time there as a young boy, and Charles 3rd, our current king, had his 70th birthday party there.

There were some great textile treasures there. I have seen so many different interpretations of this embroidered jacket, there is an original one in the V and A museum in London, known as the Layton Jacket, after its owner. This one belonged to the daughter of James 1st of England, Elizabeth of Bohemia, so dates from the same period.

There was also a gorgeous, and very pristine, whitework bedspread featuring the Scottish thistle, no provenance, but I would imagine a member of the family.

On a more modern note there were a set of co-ordinating needlepoint cushions in one of the lounges which all used the same colourway, and which were so pretty.

There was so much needlepoint on my tours of the castles and houses, and while it is so time consuming, I am really tempted to make a cushion at some point. I gave up needlepoint for cross stitch when my children were small, due to time constraints, but am tempted to try it again!

The following day the sunshine was restored so I went to Pitmedden Garden, not only a very good example of different types of planned gardens, but also home to some very interesting sundials. The gardens date from the late 1600s, when the ‘new’ technology of sundials was very popular, and reflects both the historic layout of the parterre gardens, and more modern interpretations featuring less structured planting.

It was a very beautiful and relaxing place to spend the afternoon. I am now back in Spain, so have been enjoying the autumn sunshine here. It is a very nice 22 degrees today, I have replanted all my pots so that I have some colour on the terrace, and am back to my favourite way of spending the early evenings. The sunsets have been so gorgeous this week, such pink skies, and I have been lighting my candles and enjoying a glass or two of wine and a good book.

I have just updated the reading journal that I started when I retired, and I have read 354 books in the last 4 and a bit years, that equates to 88.5 a year, or 1.7 a week, although I read far faster in Spain than I do anywhere else. I just love it, and have so many happy hours of reading on the terrace planned for the next few months.

I will be going on a few day trips with my Mum, but the next few months are all about relaxing, crafting and writing, as well as some cycling. It is lovely to be back, especially after 6 months away. This is the longest that I have spent away from the house since I bought it 19 years ago, and I really appreciate having this lovely place to live. I am looking forward to next year so much, being back in Lotte the caravan, and Katy, but it is lovely to have my own bathroom, and my sewing machine!

Hope you are all having a lovely life, see you next time, and thanks for visiting.

A different kind of history

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As you know, I love visiting historic houses and castles, preferably with lots of lovely textiles. However I also enjoy different types of historic buildings, and though I wouldn’t consider myself particularly into military history, I do love star forts.

These were popular during the Napoleonic era, as their design makes them able to defend against attack more robustly.

I have visited quite a few in Spain, and on the way back from Rosemarkie went to Fort George, on the Moray Firth not far from Inverness. This is more of an elongated star, but still has the distinctive pointed outer ramparts.

Although it was built in 1746, after the Battle of nearby Culloden, to house troops to suppress the Jacobite Rebellion, by the time it was finished it was no longer needed for that. It9 is still a working army base, as well as being a historic tourism attraction, and the site of the Highlanders Museum.

It was quite strange seeing the modern mess, cars parked outside the barrack blocks, and groups of young recruits doing their morning runs, with backpacks, around the ramparts, in and amongst all the visitors.

It has an amazing location on the coast, directly opposite the Rosemarkie campsite, in the photo below you can just see the lighthouse I walked to when I was there. It also famous for dolphin spotting.

It was a really interesting visit, there is some interpretation in one of the barrack blocks, showing aspects of soldiers’ lives throughout the different eras.

These folding beds were really interesting,  this is from one of the rooms for single men in the early 1900s.

At one point in its early usage, wives and children used to live in the rooms with the men, four families to a room, which was also used for cooking.

There is also a beautiful Chapel, the last building to be completed, and a nearby exhibition about Scottish gardens.

Of course there were textiles as well, the modern poppy tributes in the Chapel, as well as beautiful flags and banners there and in the museum.

A really excellent place to visit, for its location, and the sheer scale of the construction, especially when you consider when it was built. It took 22 years to complete and I can only imagine how that was done in the 1700s without the mechanisation we have now. 

The exterior walls and ramparts are so impressive, and it was fantastic to see a fort in almost the same condition as when it was first built, as the restoration really helps you visualise what it was like for those early soldiers. 

Well worth a visit, if you are ever in the area, sadly no dolphins when I went, but amazing views.

I have been on the Yorkshire coast again, just a little further south than the previous site, and still enjoying the fabulous walks in the area. Such an incredible environment, which I will share in a future post.

I have also enjoyed being back in the luxury of a static caravan, which is very nice after a few nights in the tent. I have a very lovely fake fire keeping me warm! However I am now in Wales on my final camping trip of the year, with my sister.

Until next time, 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. 

Channelling my inner Gladys Pugh

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For those of you who watched British TV in the UK in the 1980s, you may remember a series called Hi De Hi, set in a holiday camp.

Friends joked when I started my new job as a Site Assistant that maybe I would need a xylophone to make my announcements, reminiscent of the lovely Gladys, played by Ruth Madoc. You can actually still watch the series on UK TV Gold, and I remember it with great affection.

Although there are a few similarities between my new role, and what the staff at Maplin’s Holiday Camps did, most of it was very different, so I thought I would share a little bit more about the role. I know a few people who follow my blog also travel, and it’s a popular second career choice for nomads.

I have already told you a bit about the site in a previous post, so this one will focus more on the actual job.

After my recruitment day in early December I found out at the end of that week that I had been successful, and had got through to the recruitment pool. I was lucky enough to find out just before Christmas that I had got a contract, but that can vary, as the club have a large amount of work to do sorting out staffing. 

There are currently 85 UK sites, and over 400 staff, and as staff move sites at least every 3 years, that is a lot of organisation. Once I was sorted then there is a process of liaising with HR, ordering uniform, and getting contacted by your area manager and site manager. 

Top tip, don’t do what I did and order large sizes for your uniform. They are very generous and I looked like a kid whose Mum had bought it to last the whole 5 years of secondary school!

The support from company is excellent, from the initial recruitment day, to the end of this year’s contract I felt really happy, knowing what was happening and what I had to do. I have mentioned the training before, there are a few online modules that you do in the first couple of weeks, things like Health and Safety, Equality and Diversity, and retail training. 

The rest is hands on, and covers things like the cleaning procedures, how to use all the equipment, and how to greet and pitch campers. This is specific to each site and camper of course, but there are some basic things that are common to all sites, such as the gap that needs to be left between tents, and caravans, for fire safety.

On our site, in common with many others, we had gravel pitches, which were clearly marked, as well as grass ones as in the photo below. It was important that you were clear with people where to pitch, so you didn’t end up having to tell them to move later, especially once they’d pegged their awnings in!

You have a 12 week probation period, with reviews at 4, 8 and the end of the probation. They gave me a chance to get some feedback,  set targets and give you a really clear idea of how you are doing. With only three of us on site, and due to days off, usually only two on duty any day, you get involved in everything really quickly. 

The working day depended on what shift I was on, I had the same ones each week, which did surprise me, as I thought they might vary. I worked 10 until 7, Mon, Tues and Thurs,  and 8 until 5, Weds and Friday, with Sat and Sun off. There is also an hour break for lunch halfway through the shift.

Mornings on late shifts always started with a quick catch up with my colleagues, usually sorting out what we would be doing, depending on the weather, and how many campers were expected that afternoon.

Campers leave by 12, and start to arrive from 1pm, so we could schedule grounds tasks for late morning, and the afternoon, in-between arrivals.

My first task on lates would be to do the cleaning,  which was my choice. I really enjoy cleaning, so volunteered to do it Mon to Fri. Cleaning is always done between 10.30 and 12, so I would start at 10.15 with brushing up around the shower and toilet block, and sorting my equipment. 

At my site I had 5 showers, 8 toilets, a urinal and 9 sinks to clean across the male, female and accessible facilities. I estimated that by the end of the 4 month contract I had cleaned the toilets about 750 times! This was the very last one of all of those.

After cleaning there would be check out admin, checking the pitches, then on to afternoon tasks. Mostly this was grounds work, mowing, weeding, and lots of general tidying up. What was particularly nice was seeing the later blooms, such as these daisies and Jerusalem Artichokes that we had decided not to get rid of the earlier weeding.

The first task on early shift would be an 8.30 check on the facilities block, as well as a walk around the site. This gives you a chance to check on any grounds work tasks. Luckily we had great weather, apart from one big storm, but we would check for fallen branches, soggy ground etc.

Facilities were also checked at 4pm and 7.30, which also gives you a chance to wander round and chat to the campers about their day.

As well as the outdoor work I was also on Reception duty some of the time. The office and shop was open 9 till 10.30 and 4.30 till 6, so one of us would be there then. Some of this time was for general admin, like daily check ins, giving advice, extending stays, checking up coming bookings.

I also did some specific things during my time there, such as reorganise and update our walks section, and add areas to our information boards about local facilities, local events, and more about the prisoner of war camp.

We always had lots of interesting people staying on site, and it was a great privilege to be able to help people with advice about where to walk or cycle, or how to organise a distillery visit.  Many of our European visitors  were particularly keen to do that as the region has over 30 whisky distilleries.

Meeting and talking to the campers was definitely the highlight of the job, especially as they were all so kind about the site and complimentary about our hard work to keep it looking good. I was always especially happy when they told me how clean the showers and toilets were!

We had visitors from so many different places, lots of Dutch and German,  but also Swiss, South African, American and Australian.  It was brilliant seeing all the different vehicles that they arrived in, these are just a few that really stood out.

I loved the Overland truck, but think the little micro caravan, or red and white Eriba are more me!

My colleagues, Steve the manager, and Tony who was a new starter like me, were absolutely wonderful.  They were so helpful, not only with work related things like when I couldn’t start the tractor,  but also helping me sort things out with the caravan.

I honestly didn’t have any issues with living and working on site, one of the things that was mentioned a lot at the recruitment day. I think it helps that I have spent the last three summers living on sites, and that my colleagues are both nomads, as many of the staff are. They live in their motor homes, and love travel, so we already had lots in common. 

So to conclude this very long post, loved the job, the people, the area. Never had a day when I wasn’t really excited to go to work. To be honest it didn’t really feel like work, just an excellent way to spend the summer in the company of like minded people. So, very much looking forward to starting again next year and for the new adventures I will have.

I am really pleased I took that step, and went for it, it has been amazing, and I am proud of myself for all my new skills, especially driving the tractor!

Until next time, hope you are enjoying life, see you soon 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

stitchesoftime1 Comment

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!

Thoughts on Darwin and dandelions …

stitchesoftime2 Comments

I will explain the post title a little later on, but here is a summary of my first couple of months at my new site assistant role. All is going very well, although for some parts of the job there is a lot to learn.

Ours is a relatively small site, only 50 main pitches, with a tent field if needed to give us an additional 20 pitches. Most of our visitors so far have been motorhomes, campervans and caravans, but we are seeing more tents as the season progresses.

It is a site with lots of beautiful trees, and I have spent some time working out what they all are, with the help of a new plant finder app, Flora Incognita, which is brilliant.  We have Birch, Scots Pine, Spruce, Rowan, and Bird Cherry, as well as some gorgeous Crab Apple trees with wonderful lichen growth on them near Reception. 

There are also lots of plants, mainly in beds that have needed a lot of tidying up. The site was closed for 7 months over winter, so most of what myself and my colleagues dud initially was trying to get the site looking neat and tidy again.

I forgot to take a before picture, but I took seven wheelbarrows worth of weeds out of this bed by the facilities block. It looks so much better now and we have Comfrey, Lupins, Columbine, Dog Roses and Geraniums blooming there now.

We also have a large stone bed near the entrance that we haven’t even tackled yet, with gorse, alpines, and lots of rosebay willow herb.

There are three of us on site, and neither of my colleagues enjoy gardening, so I have taken responsibility for the flowering parts of the site, as well as sharing in basic ground maintenance. We have done some new planting as well, and put up hanging baskets and repainted and replanted existing areas.

There has also been lots, and lots of weeding, which brings me to the title of the post. What is a weed, except for a plant we don’t actually want in that place? I have taken out so many things, including many dandelions. Every time I do I think about Darwin and his theories about adaptation.

Dandelions, plantains, clover, buttercups and daisies grow really well here, and yet some would consider them weeds. It is such a pity, and I am very tempted to let the all grow. Obviously they do really well in this environment,  are very well adapted to live here. It would certainly make the job a lot easier, rather than constantly trying to remove them.

However, it has to be a balance, between keeping the grass neat and tidy, and having it more wildlife friendly. Long grass is difficult to pitch tents on, as it holds moisture, so we do a lot of mowing. I am now much more confident with the ride on mower, which has been very exciting to learn how to use.

The site was a prisoner of war camp in WW2,  housing both Italian and German prisoners, and later a resettlement camp for Hungarian and Ukrainian refugees.

All the old Nissan hut bases are still here, some are used as hard standings for caravans and motorhomes. Others are partly overgrown, which means you have to  be very careful when mowing!

It has been a brilliant first season, and has gone really fast.  Only six weeks until I finish. I will find out in early September where I will be next year, as I may be moving sites. Wherever it is I am hoping to still be in Scotland as I love it so much. Fingers crossed!

Next weekend I am off to stay at another of our sites, a bit further north at Dingwall.  We get two free nights camping at any other site every month, so we can have some r and r and also to see what other sites are like. I will be back as soon as I can with more updates, until then have fun and thanks for visiting. 

Paddles and pebbles

stitchesoftime3 Comments

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.