Evening stroll

Mid week yet again. This year is just flying by!

It doesn't seem two minutes since we were planning this years holiday, and now here we are looking back at it! They go so quickly. And they hold so many memories. Ok, so some of the memories you want to forget sometimes, but most of them you want to hold on to forever. 

Time to look forward now as we head further in to the year. A few more weeks and we'll be off work again. DD will be going away with her boyfriend, leaving us to take off somewhere. Then in to the final few weeks before Christmas. I know it seems a bit early to start talking about Christmas, but I feel like I'm a bit behind with craft planning. It would seem that many crafters have already built up their seasonal stock! I'm only just starting. I admit to being a bit disorganised. But I've managed to nearly finish some snowmen ornaments. It had to be snowmen really for me ........

They're not quite finished as they need noses and smiles yet. But you get the general idea. I'll be putting them on my Facebook page when they're done, along with my next two wooden cats. I tried to finish the cats at the weekend but decided I didn't have the right bows - so frustrating! So now I'm on a hunt for spotty bows! 

And look what I saw when I was out walking with Oscar tonight.........

......a cute hedgehog!! I stopped to watch it wander round and then eventually head off in to the grass. Oscar just stared at it and watched it go. 

Heading towards the weekend, again .....

www.facebook.com/catztayl

Routine

I don't know what's happened, but since getting back from our holiday I seem to be finding it hard to get back in to a proper routine. I'm back in the office which keeps a certain routine, but I haven't quite got there with a routine at home - everything seems a bit unorganised! 

We did, however, manage to organise ourselves in to going for a walk on Saturday. We were a bit late setting off by the time we'd got the rucksacks sorted and had breakfast, so it was mid-day before we eventually started walking in Settle. We've not done a walk round there before, and figuring that the Lake District would be quite busy as it's now the school holidays here, we thought we'd go in a different direction! 

It was a lovely day - the sun was shining for most of the walk, and we didn't see huge numbers of people most of the way round. 

We were looking out towards Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent for a lot of the walk ......

.......and then across Attermire Scar......

.......and up to Victoria Cave...

......and up to Sugar Loaf Hill! 

The sun was just about still shining as we headed back in to Settle.  Time to spot some of the flower pot people along the way ......

How cool - a Flowerpot Festival during July and August! We saw lots of different 'people' and they really brightened up the town. 

Now it's back to Monday........

Time to get some crafting done and plan what we're doing next weekend .......

Taming the tomatoes!

While we'd been on holiday my mum had been calling round to our house to keep my plants alive for me. I don't know what I'd do if she didn't - I'd either not grow any vegetables, or have dead plants when I got home. So I'm really grateful for her help. 

This year we went on holiday a bit later than normal. I think it must have been peak growing time for my tomatoes, as this is the photo my mum sent me ......

Tomato takeover!!!!

I had to take matters in to my own hands when we got home last weekend, and chopped them right back .....

I'm not sure I did the right thing as they look a bit scrawny now. Hopefully I'll still get lots of tomatoes......now I can see where they are! 

It was, sadly, back to work yesterday for me. I'd spent Monday trying to catch up with housework - washing and ironing - and getting some ideas down for some new craft items. So, no line dancing this week. Then back in the office yesterday.

So, after getting some craft ideas sorted on Monday, after work yesterday and today I've been trying to spend time working with the ideas to see if I can actually make them! I've painted things and had more ideas! So lots done and lots more to do! Here's a little peek at what I've been doing......

I'm loving it! 

The Western Isles

Week Two nearly over. 

After saying goodbye to our daughters last weekend, it was time for us to start our week on our own, and a little adventure, just the two of us. We've been heading to the Scottish Highlands for  almost twenty years, and each time we go we keep saying we must visit the Western Isles as the ferry goes from the village we stay in. So we decided that this year was going to be the year we went, finally, across the sea to the Isle of Lewis. 

Ferry tickets booked, we parked up on Sunday afternoon ready for our 6.30pm ferry across the sea. We've not taken our motor home on a ferry before, or Oscar for that matter. 

Once on, we went up on the deck to watch as we left the mainland behind for a few days ......

The weather was a bit mixed on the journey......

....and I discovered I'm not really cut out for boat journeys without any medication, so I was very pleased to see land approaching as we came in to Stornoway! 

And then it was time to head off and find somewhere to park up for the night. 

Monday, after checking a little book we bought in the ferry, we headed south, down to North Harris, and a walk to an eagle observatory hide. It was a lovely walk - fairly level - but no Eagles in sight when we got to the hide. 

The weather seemed to be brightening up a bit so we opted to carry on walking for a while. We're so glad we did as we spotted an eagle!!! We stood and watched it for a while, soaring its way higher and higher, until it disappeared. Well worth the walk! 

Then back to the van and a mooch down towards South Harris ....

We saw some amazing beaches .....

And then it was time to find somewhere to park up for the night and eat. 

Tuesday morning came complete with sunshine! Woop! Something we haven't had for a while on our travels! 

We'd seen some information about a whisky distillery on Lewis, so we headed there first. What a fabulous place! No modern technology, no huge visitor centre, just a basic distillery and an enthusiastic man to tell us about what they do. 

After a wee dram to taste, and a bottle stored safely in the van, we carried on down the road in glorious sunshine and found a lovely beach to sit and have lunch.....the last of our Lochinver pies. 

Then off to Great Bernera, joined to the mainland by a bridge ......

It's only a tiny island, but well worth a visit as the scenery is fantastic ....

And then back over the bridge to find another spot for the night. 

As it was such a glorious night we decided to use one of our little disposable BBQ's. We called in at a little village shop for some supplies, and had chicken skewers and rice .....delicious! 

Wednesday was another sunny day. We'd stayed overnight just down the road from Callanish, so we went up to visit the Callanish Stones. What a place! Definitely a place to visit if you get to Lewis. 

We spent quite a long time wandering round .... 

.....before heading off towards the Blackhouse village.  

An interesting place, and somewhere with self-catering accommodation if you want to stay there too. 

We parked up for lunch next to a little loch and a path that took us to an old mill and kiln .....

Then time to do the final leg of this side of the island and head up to Butt of Lewis, and the lighthouse .....

The views were amazing - blue sky and blue sea ....

.....and then time to park up for the night. We stopped at a beach on the way to let Oscar have a run, which was lovely. Being a nervous dog, and not really getting on with other dogs, we don't often find places to let him be off his lead. 

We ended up going back to the same spot we stayed at the previous night......with views like this later on as the sun was setting ......

Our last night in Lewis for this trip. 

Yesterday started off nice again, and we headed back to Stornoway to have a look round before getting our ferry back to the mainland. It's a lovely place, and there seemed to lots going on as there was a music festival on in the castle grounds ....

.....a lovely marina ......

.....some fabulous street sculptures ......

.......and colourful artwork .....

......making it a really enjoyable couple of hours, before finally boarding our ferry to leave Lewis. 

The weather was kinder to us on the way back, and having taken some tablets to stop me feeling ill, I quite enjoyed the journey back. 

And then back to the mainland for a couple of nights before we head home tomorrow. 

I'm so glad we decided to get the ferry to Stornoway this year. It's a fabulous place, from the flatter east to the more rugged west, and then down to Harris, it's been an amazing few days. 

I'm sure we will be back one day ....