I'm trying to craft but the pull of the road is too strong.

 

Our home for the week, converted corn mill on the Isle of Skye, beautiful location next to a stream, fields of sheep. What more do you need as a base to explore Skye?

Unfortunately a cracked windscreen put an end to our explorations, every pothole made the crack travel further but I still managed a few photos which I will leave you with, before I start to tidy up my workroom and get on with some crafting before we go away again.

Just to prove that I am tidying the workroom ready for the next project.....

speak soon xx

Sunsets and lochs

 Back briefly to Scotland, I think this will the the last Scottish post as we have been back for a month now and really its old news, so here we have the West Coast in Photos starting at Ullapool.

Ullapool is a busy little town with a bustling harbour when the Outer Hebrides ferry pulls in, its also included on the NC500 so the campsite is always a hive of activity as people pull in either to stop for a night or just to use the facilities.

The small museum had some interesting display including this community quilt.

But the best things were the sunsets......

Then it was on to Skye for a catch up with friends, shopping and just enjoying being somewhere that has always meant a lot to us ( we have already rented a cottage for early next year just to spend more time around the less visited parts of the Island)

Our next to last stop in Scotland was back on the mainland at Morvich, not really a new place but just one that we have past many times on the main road not realising that there was a campsite amongst the hills. This is now one of our favourite sites, from the list of wildlife sightings to the walk to the cafe.

After our stay we made our way back down towards Callander, picking up a puncture on the way and onwards back across the border.

There will be many more travels to come but for now we are back at home, I'm recovering from sunstroke following a recent quick trip to the coast and the next few weeks are going to be house and fibre based although I may include a couple of quick outings as time goes on.

Speak soon xx

Exploring Morecambe

 We rarely travel over bank holidays mainly due to Ian working but last weekend we had the chance to grab a couple of nights away and found a relatively cheap campsite at Morecambe just 15 min walk from the prom for £23.50 per night. It was on a holiday park full of static caravans with a small area of pitches for touring vans.

When we first walked up to the sea front our impressions were of a depressed seaside town especially as so many shops etc were closed and/or boarded up but as we walked along the seafront we noticed that it was not so bad and suspected that shops had closed because of the Bank Holiday. In two minds about the place we returned to the site and popped the cameras on charge whilst we did a bit of research on line.

We woke on Saturday to sun streaming through the sky light so after a bite to eat we headed back down to the sea front.

Brightly painted hoardings hid unsightly demolition and building areas.

V Dub immortalised in paint

Eric Morecambe

Thora Hird

John McGuinness

And the open air swimming pool, now demolished and the space occupied for the summer by a travelling fair. However, glimpses of the old pool can be seen between the fairground rides.

Great care has been taken to add interest to the Promenade and surrounding areas.

The Art Deco Midland hotel has had a facelift in recent year (we tried to book a room when it first reopened but were unable to find a vacancy )

This style of building could be spotted around the town especially former cinemas.

                                               The beautiful railway station is still original

Like many traditional sea side places, the piers have been lost but the Wintergardens still remains and is slowly being restored

many years of nicotine staining are slowly being
removed and we will be visiting again to check on the progress

After winning on the tombola ( we gave the prize back to be redrawn ) hot chocolate and toasted teacakes eaten whilst listening to the organist we continued our small voyage of discovery.

After stopping off at an amazing book shop, we headed into the back streets.

We found this lovely row of shops complete with iron work frontage, hopefully they will all come back to life in the future.

We past the former Alhambra theatre as we sat on the bus back to the campsite , determined to return someday and explore the town further.

Farewell Morecambe, we will be back.