Girl In The Pretty Dress

I look forward to going to Scotland every winter. Sadly this year I spent the entire holiday feeling very poorly indeed. Back home, whenever someone asked me how the holiday was I replied with "Well the medical centre was excellent , and the three pharmacies I visited were lovely." That being said, staying indoors wasn't too bad, with these views to admire... We rented the most charming and secluded cottage.  If I won the lottery I would buy it (I liked it that much!) When I was feeling up to it, I didn't have to venture too far to see more of the scenery. The cottage is surrounded on all sides by secret pathways and spectacular views. The most spectacular part was perhaps the three waterfalls, which you surrounded the house and could be heard everywhere you went. The village of Lochgoilhead doesn't offer much more than a medical centre and a post office, but the one benefit of having to make multiple t...

Two months ago Cali and I took some time out and spent it with family in the Scottish Borders. We stayed in this house , which is what I would call 'Unusual' and 'Unique'. It's extremely spacious which makes it excellent value for money - but (I'll be honest) not quite to my taste. The house is not too far from Kelso which is a perfect town for a touristy day out shopping for knick-knacks. It's also only an hour and a half from the coast. We visited Eyemouth - which has a small but perfectly formed beach and a great coastal walk (past the smugglers bay!) If you do get chance to visit Eyemouth, I would also recommend this lovely pub . But the main draw of this house is that it's very much off the beaten track and the best of the Scottish Borders is right outside your front door - waiting to be explored. On another note... this post is, as usual, a little late. I've been getting into bad blogging habits over the past year and you may have not...

Last month we had a short family trip up to Scotland - back to my favourite area on the west coast. We'd decided to travel with 3 dogs in tow so were limited on options for where to stay but struck it lucky with a beautiful rented cottage on the Ardmaddy Estate . We weren't quite so lucky with the weather (having arrived in the lead up to 'Storm Desmond') but we made the most of the few moments that the sunshine managed to break through the clouds. The Ardmaddy estate is only a few miles from the Isle of Seil - which gave us the perfect opportunity to explore this ruggedly beautiful island.

Today is my birthday - so naturally I took the whole week off to celebrate. What better way to spend it than a trip to one of my favourite places? The west coast of Scotland boasts some truly spectacular scenery. I've been a few times now and I can never get tired of it. Links to all the places we visited are below (I whole-heartedly recommend a visit to all of them) but this post is going to be quite picture heavy so I'll shut up now and let the images do the talking. Where we stayed: The Galley of Lorne Inn in Ardfern Day 1: Where we ate: Brambles (Inveraray) & The Galley of Lorne Inn The Castle: Inveraray Castle (One of the locations used in Downton Abbey) Day 2: Where we ate:   The Lord of the Isles (Craobh Haven) We went riding with:  Lunga Stables  (Craobh Haven) Where we explored: Craignish Point & Ardfern Marina Day 3: Where we ate: The Oban Chocolate Company  (Oban) Boat trip (not pictured): Sealife Adventures  (Seil Island)...