- 7th to 21st August 2026 – Home, training, & getting back to work; The end of our first year in the village; Optician & oncologist appointments, a partial eclipse & being proud grandparents; Stripping walls, a summer fair & family….
- 2nd to 6th August 2026 – Far have we travelled and much have we seen, dark distant mountains and valleys of green… you could never ‘Kintyre of this place!
- 24th July to 1st August 2026 – Country Shows, Blood Tests, Commonwealth Games, Scottish Folklore, Wildlife & being by the Sea…
- 13th to 23rd July 2026 – World Cup disappointment; Homemade moth traps; Visiting Mum; Late Christmas presents; 18th Birthday celebration & another new Prime Minister…
- 1st to 12th July 2026 – Newcastleton Common Riding & Annual Music Festival; Feeling hot, hot, hot; Grumpy Mum; A new fence and amazing Footy!
Read an excerpt below…
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7th to 21st August 2026 – Home, training, & getting back to work; The end of our first year in the village; Optician & oncologist appointments, a partial eclipse & being proud grandparents; Stripping walls, a summer fair & family….
We had a good journey back from the Mull of Kintyre on the 7th August which somehow feels longer than a fortnight ago! It’s always nice getting home, less so having to catch up with the washing pile, but good to have a few days relaxing & getting the garden straightened out prior to going…
Keep reading2nd to 6th August 2026 – Far have we travelled and much have we seen, dark distant mountains and valleys of green… you could never ‘Kintyre of this place!
From Glasgow to the Mull of Kintyre and a short hop over to the Isle of Arran… we’ve had a great week or so and, despite what you might hear about or be experiencing in relation to hot weather & heatwaves, Kintyre definitely missed the memo but, who cares… it’s still been great! Here’s what…
Keep reading24th July to 1st August 2026 – Country Shows, Blood Tests, Commonwealth Games, Scottish Folklore, Wildlife & being by the Sea…
As ever, we’ve been pretty bust these last few days… Pete had his quarterly blood test for the Oncologist. Although his appointment with her isn’t until the 12th August, the health centre were able to confirm that his Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) count has dropped again to 0.6 which is a lot better than the…
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13th to 23rd July 2026 – World Cup disappointment; Homemade moth traps; Visiting Mum; Late Christmas presents; 18th Birthday celebration & another new Prime Minister…
Well, another World Cup has come to an end and England didn’t make it to the final… I really, really thought they were going to get there this time & they came pretty close… a matter of minutes away but it was not to be. Such a shame 😞 Luckily, being English means we are…
Keep reading1st to 12th July 2026 – Newcastleton Common Riding & Annual Music Festival; Feeling hot, hot, hot; Grumpy Mum; A new fence and amazing Footy!
It’s been almost 2 weeks since my last blog… where does the time go? So without further ado, an update on the past 10 days or so… Last weekend (3rd-5th July) was the Newcastleton Music Festival which, in years past, has apparently been quite a big event with lots of folky music going on in…
Keep reading21st to 30th June 2026 – Milestones, warm days, thunderstorms, delivery delays, back to work, & footy…
The Sunday before last (21st June) marked Father’s Day, the summer solstice & longest day of the year but that’s not all… it also marked the day, 4-years ago, that I was hospitalised with pancreatitis and therefore, the day I gave up alcohol for good! I can’t quite believe it’s 4-years since I had any…
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13th to 20th June 2026 – Six beds in Seven days… it’s good to be home!
We left our place near Villanueva del Rey just after 10am, after saying farewell to our hosts when they turned up to clean the place for their next guests. What a lovely family they have been! We enjoyed another easy, slow drive to Sotoserrano some 400kms away (about 240 miles) with a couple of stops…
Keep reading8th to 12th June 2026 – Lazin’ on a sunny afternoon… or two, three, four…
Well, we have been pretty relaxed this past week, making the most of our final days staying near Villanueva del Rey. This break has been nothing but relaxing… we’ve really taken it easy and only had the occasional walk out during the 5 weeks we have now been away. It’s strange for us to do…
Keep reading1st to 7th June 2026 – A perfect week: Restful days, beautiful sunsets; a trip to the Zoo, a call home, topped off with a Ruby…
… ahhhh, total bliss! 😊 After completely forgetting about a planned FaceTime call to Mum last week, I actually remembered the rescheduled one this week and spent a few minutes with her online last Monday. It was nice to see her but always leaves me feeling a bit melancholic… it’s difficult enough to have a…
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23rd to 31st May 2026 – Friendly Hoopoes, BBQ bans, days out & catching up with old friends…
Last weekend (23 May), whilst having breakfast in the cool shade of our terrace, a Hoopoe came to say hello! It sat on the railings about a metre from where we were sat, for about 10 seconds, raised its crest in greeting (or fright? 🤔) before flying off again… What a fantastic bird to see…
Keep reading16th to 22nd May 2026 – Week two of our Spanish Adventure (II)
On Friday 15th May 2026, we decided to take a final evening walk around Santa Maria de la Alameda to take in the wonderful views of the Mountains before leaving on Saturday morning and heading south… it was still blumming freezing so, much as we loved where we were, we couldn’t wait to see the…
Keep reading2nd to 9th May 2026 – A special centenarian, holiday haircut and “a little bit of politics”!
What a strange world we live in… from far off wars we didn’t start but impact on our every day lives, to joyous birthday celebrations for one of the greatest Britons ever, to a seemingly dramatic rise in right-wing popularism… not sure if it’s just me but it can all feel a bit overwhelming at…
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All the gubbins… 