Secret Sanctuary

We have just enjoyed a week in our favourite corner of the planet.

Situated on the remote West Coast of Scotland, Ardnamurchan is a long, narrow peninsula along the shores of Loch Sunart and marks the most westerly tip of the British Mainland.

Ardnamurchan is a wild, remote yet strangely beautiful place. It is one of the least populated areas of Great Britain, whole communities were evicted during the Highland clearances of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today less than 2000 people live on the 50 sq mile peninsula, there is however abundant wildlife, including Red Deer, Otters, Seals, Eagles and Pine Martins. The area also contains hundreds of wild plants, many of which are very rare, indeed some are only found in Ardnamurchan.

This was our home for the week.

Set in idylic grounds with space for the children to roam.

And to have adventures.

The dogs had 3 ponds and a river to choose from.

Apologies if this is too much information but I had to share this photo.

This is the view from the ensuite loo! The dear came down from the mountains

at dawn and dusk.

Back home to reality now. No more huge sky. No more silence.

Lucky Me!

Look what my lovely Postman delivered this morning.

A gorgeous little bundle of goodies from Kelly http://www.vintagelifestyle.co.uk/index.htm

which I won for being a runner up in her recent photo competition.

Thanks Kelly!

Floss' 40th Birthday Garden Party!

Happy 40th Birthday Floss! You don't look at day over 21!

Well I must say, your garden is looking delightful! The food looks yummy and that tea cosy just sets everything off beautifully (that trip to the charity shops of Edinburgh certainly paid off).

Since the weather in France is so lovely I've decided to wear this.

This little bag matches my dress and fits with the Garden Party theme.

I love these shoes but I suspect they will be coming off in a while so that I can feel the grass between my toes!



Here is my birthday gift to you. I hope you like them as Hydrangas are one of my favourite flowers.

And here is a little something for your boys.



Well, this garden party has been wonderful but I really must dash to get back to Scotland for my children's bath and bedtime!

Have a fantastic time at your "non-virtual" Garden Party. I'm looking forward to your photos already!

I've Won a Prize!

I cannot believe it! I'm a runner up in the Vintage Lifestyle photo competition!

For those of you who didn't know about this, the lovely Kelly over at Vintage Lifestyle

http://vintagelifestyle.co.uk/index.htm

recently ran a little competition.

She invited readers of her blog/website to take a photo of something they had purchased from Vintage Lifestyle. The main thing being that the photo had to have a vintage feel.

I only recently bought my red corner cabinet from Kelly but I love it so much that I couldn't not take it's photo.

I'm so delighted to be a runner up! So unexpected! The winning entry was fantastic and there is also another runner up. It would be great to see all the other entries too.

If you have not already discovered Vintage Lifestyle (and I doubt it!) you really should visit. Kelly sells the most wonderful items.

Getting There

Our garden is only 3 years old. Slowly but surely I am getting it the way I want.

This is the path to the back garden from the front of the house.

It is becoming suitably overgrown.

The garden is so green it is lovely to have a burst of sunshine from this tree with it's yellow blooms.

Apologies to the garden experts but I can't remember what it is, but I do know that it only blooms in June.

Sunday brought another wonderful car boot sale find.

I managed to get this galvanised small tin bath for £3.

It is now planted up with Greek Basil, Corriander, Chives, Parsley, Thyme and Mint.

All ready for the kitchen!

Gala Day

Today in our village was Gala Day.

This is an annual event where the local schools decorate floats, children (& some adults!) dress up and everyone follows the procession to the local park for fun at the fair.

My childrens' school decided this year that their float would celebrate the sixties. There were hippies, mods, rockers and astronauts abound!

Lily, my 9 year old daughter, decided to dress up as a hippy.

Here she is with 2 of her friends (Lily is on the left).

Before the procession was underway the rain started pouring but this did not discourage anyone!

Within 30 minutes the sun was shining again.

We made it to the park, Lily disappeared with her friends and my two boys enjoyed themselves on the fairground rides.

This is Jacob (centre) atop a red double decker.

Oscar decided to play is safe and stayed inside the bus incase the rain started again!


A fun day was had by all.

The boys are now in bed, exhausted.

Lily has a friend staying for a sleepover.

Now is my time.....sshhhh.....silence.......

Beauty Basics

It is important to me to be well presented. I am not into the heavily made up look but believe in looking after my skin and using a little make up to achieve the "my skin but better, my lips but better etc etc" look.

Thought I'd share a few of my failsafe products.....well, they work for me, for now!

I love Liz Earle products and would buy everything in the range if the pennies allowed!

For now I am happy to stick with the basics of Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (wonderful stuff!), Radiant Boost Skin Tonic (which smells devine) and Skin Repair moisturiser. Now who is that little product peeking out from the back?? Ssshhh, don't tell.....it's my secret weapon, Boots No7 Protect & Perfect serum. This is seriously good.

In the evenings before bed, I like to give my skin a little treat with these products from Decleor. I'm not sure if they actually do any good, but they smell so lovely it's a real treat to go to bed with them on my skin.

A few of my other faves at the moment are Chanel Vitalumiere foundation. Being so pale I often have difficulty finding the right foundation but this is just about pale enough! For similar reasons, I love Benefit Posietint which is paler than it's famous sister Benetint.

I love the retro packaging of Benefit products so just had to buy the Bad Girl Lash. With a name like that I couldn't resist!

Finally, lipgloss. Any.