Verity, the VW Campervan

Verity has been one of the best purchases I have ever made. She is a VW Transporter, that was lovingly converted into a campervan by The Wee Camper Co. She is beautiful, and I love her. Very dramatic, but it's true!

Verity!

I sold my car at the end of last year, making Verity my everyday vehicle... much to the amusement of my colleagues when I rock up to the office in her (pre-COVID 19... I've been fortunate that I can WFH, and have been doing so since we went into lockdown).

The timing of the purchase was perfect given the current circumstances that we find ourselves in. As soon as the campsites opened back up, the kids and I threw our stuff into the van and hit the road! We have been to a few different campsites over the summer, but our favourite so far has been Tantallon, near North Berwick. So much so, that I have two additional trips booked at this site before the year is out... one with the kids, and one on my own (with Evie!).

The view from our pitch at Tantallon

This weekend I was at Balbirnie for two nights; an ideal spot for exploring Fife. On Saturday I visited St Andrews, and then on Sunday I drove to Elie, Pittenweem, Anstruther and Crail. Evie loved all the beaches, and I enjoyed spending lots of time in nature. I find the sound of water very soothing... I'm thinking that a water feature for my garden might be a nice addition!

The beach at St Andrews

Verity has her own Instagram page, so you can have a look there to find out more and I will share some more updates here on the blog with my top tips for #vanlife!

For my fellow campers, which campsites in Scotland should I be adding to my list?

Review - Nairns Oatcakes

I love oatcakes, and as a family we eat loads of them - more so me and the littlest. She loves a wee oatcake instead of a sandwich at lunch, as do I.

My desk drawer at work is always stocked with oatcakes of some form... this week I've been enjoying Nairns Super Seeded organic oatcakes with tuna - they are just really delicious. I find that at work I'm busy and will snack at my desk a lot, and if I forget to take something fresh, then oatcakes and a wee tin of tuna is ideal for me.

I also have the Nairns gluten-free biscuit breaks in my drawer - the oats and stem ginger ones are fab. My drawer is also stocked with peanut butter, and an oatcake topped with this is an ideal snack to keep me going in the afternoon as I try to steer clear of the sweetie tin!

The littlest loves her oatcakes served with a bowl of soup to dip in, or hummous. Funnily enough she isn't really a fan of cheese!? 

Nairns have some great serving suggestions for little ones, and I particularly love the idea of serving oatcakes with nut butter and apple slices... yummy! Or perhaps tuna and avocado... or for a sweeter suggestion you might like greek yoghurt and strawberries. They all sound delicious and I will definitely be trying these out soon.

Of course, you can't beat oatcakes and cheese. Rick and I love the Nairns black pepper oatcakes for this!

We were sent a selection of Nairns goodies to try, including some Astro Bites for the kids. The Astro Bites are Berry flavour oat mini biscuits and come in a box with five packets. They really are more-ish, and I ended up eating four of the packs before the kids even got near them!! Oops! Needless to say the littlest loved them just as much as I did!

How do you like your oatcakes?

Thank you Nairns for the oatcakes and Astro Bites. Opinions are always honest and are my own.

Travel - Our Yurt Experience Part 2

I thought I would share with you our itinerary of activities from our glamping trip to the West Moss-side Yurts...

Friday

After cramming all of our belongings into the car we hit the road and headed towards Stirling. Check-in at the yurts was from 3pm so we decided to spend the afternoon at Briarlands Farm which was very close to our accommodation for the evening. The weather wasn't all that great, but I was well prepared so we all climbed into our waterproof trousers and made our way round the various activities. (Rick wasn't prepared and his trainers got absolutely soaked!!). We've been to Briarlands before and had a great day out so I was keen to visit again. There have been a few changes since we were last at the farm, and my son loved the new maze. I've absolutely no idea why he was insistent on wearing his cycling helmet by the way!!

The Highland cows at Briarland Farm

Which way out of the maze??

Saturday

After breakfast at the yurt, we decided to explore the play trail at Glen Finglas. The kids loved following the map and looking out for various items as we walked round the paths. There were drumming benches, spy chambers and a secret den.

The giant seed... children are encouraged to weave grass or leaves into the wire frame.

Following the trail

The shy roe deer

Magic eye trick... line up the panels to discover a stag beetle.

It took us a few hours to navigate the trail, including snack time in the secret den! Back at the car park we decided to head to the Scottish Wool Centre for a nosey and have lunch. We met the owls and birds of prey from Perthshire Sporting Plus. This was definitely one of my highlights of our holiday - seeing the kids faces as my son held Toby the European Little Owl.

Isn't he cute!!

Afternoon tea for two at the Scottish Wool Centre

That night we had a BBQ at the yurt and the sun stayed out long enough for us to eat and enjoy a little glass of wine.

Sunday

The weather was terrible overnight so we had a lazy morning in the yurt, the kids played with their games and drew some pictures. Back in the car, and this time we headed in the opposite direction to Bridge of Allan for lunch and a wander. I had a gorgeous tuna salad at Jam Jar. The littlest had a roast dinner which looked amazing... it was a huge portion which she didn't manage to finish so I had some and it was delicious.

The sun appeared thankfully and we made our way to Blair Drummond Safari Park for the afternoon. The entry was really expensive which I hadn't anticipated (about £50 for the four of us... I would have been a little cheaper buying online), but we went in anyway. 

This was the first time I had driven round a safari park, and I must admit it was a little daunting with all the entry gates. It did feel like we were going into Jurassic Park! We drove round the animal reserves slowly, taking it all in. My favourite animals were the deer, giraffes and zebra. The monkey drive through was closed, but we did take a boat to Chimpanzee Island later in the day. The pedal boats were good fun and the kids thoroughly enjoyed the Adventure Park...we also had some ice cream cones. Our last stop was the Sea Lion Show, by which point it was 5pm and time to go home. It started to rain just as we were leaving. 

Enjoying the pedal boat

Monday

On Monday morning we got all packed up and said goodbye to the yurts. We were back to Glasgow pretty quickly as Rick had to get to work. 

We had a fantastic weekend though and I will most certainly be visiting this part of Scotland again soon.

Sarah x

Travel - Our Yurt Experience

At the weekend the kids, Rick & I jumped in the car and headed North for a long weekend. I had booked accommodation through Canopy & Stars; basically the website is a selection of inspected quirky places to go glamping. The site is not only for the UK - there are locations throughout Europe too. I was initially keen to stay at a treehouse near Edinburgh but discovered these were fully booked. The staff at Canopy & Stars helped me select a lovely alternative - the Stuc a'Chroin Trossachs yurt near Stirling.

The Canopy & Stars website

I was drawn in by the beautiful photographs of the yurt on the website and couldn't wait to stay there myself!

Photograph from Canopy & Stars website

The farm was very easy to find thanks to the directions provided by the owner Kate. She was a fantastic hostess and met us on arrival. We had a tour of the site and were given some instructions about the facilities and finally were accompanied to the yurt. It was just beautiful. 

After unpacking the car, Kate invited us to watch her feed her 6 day old calf Query (all the calves at the farm had been named alphabetically, and she struggled to think of a name beginning with Q! Query is a twin and her mum was unable to feed both the calves, so Kate was bottle feeding one). The littlest in particular was very keen to ask questions and observe the goings on; as was I. 

Inside the yurt there were lots of interesting touches, from the candle holders, the dream catcher and a selection of wall hangings. It really was a cosy space and I particularly loved the wood burning stove. Kate had provided some home baking for our arrival and I have to admit I demolished the lot myself with a cup of tea... I had told the kids it was full of nuts and was for grown-ups only!!

We managed some grown-up time and enjoyed a glass of wine!

Our home for the weekend

There was a communal kitchen area across from the yurts, and with just three yurts on the farm it didn't feel crowded. We stored our food in the fridge here and used the kettle for my much needed cups of tea! There's no electricity in the yurts, but in the kitchen area there are sockets that can be used to charge phones or cameras etc. 

In the yurt there were two gas rings and a grill so we were able to prepare scrambled egg and bacon for breakfast. We also had a BBQ which we used for dinner on the Saturday night. We bought burgers from Kate that were made using beef from the cattle that graze at the farm. They were delicious!

In terms of the bathroom facilities, there are two toilets both with showers. After spotting a huge spider in one of the toilets on the first night, this loo was not an option for the kiddos as they were too scared to go back in!

Query in her pen

We had hoped to get some grown-up time sitting outside with a bottle of wine, however the weather wasn't as good as I had hoped so we ended up whispering in the yurt whilst the kids tried to get to sleep. It wasn't ideal and I hadn't really thought this through. Plus the kids were sharing a sofa bed and although they had sleeping bags there were still a few arguments about them crossing the line into the other sibling's side of the bed! 

The other thing I hadn't considered was how bright the yurt would be - obviously there is no black out lining! So when it was 7.30pm and I was trying to convince the kids it was night-time they had a hard time believing me. At my house we go into lock-down at 7pm - all the black-out blinds get closed, the lights are all dimmed and it's as good as night-time. This wasn't an option at the yurt! If I had thought ahead I would have brought eye masks for them to wear. 

Next time I think we'll visit the yurt without the children. As ideal the surroundings are for children, it is also a very romantic place and I would love to spend a few days with Rick just relaxing, enjoying the countryside and his company. We really did feel like we were far from home when in reality the yurts are just an hour's drive from Glasgow. Very easy to get to for a few nights rest & relaxation in the countryside.

I'm going to write a separate post on all the activities that we did during our stay at the yurt and I've also got some video footage to put into a short vlog... watch this space.

Have you ever gone glamping and where would you recommend to stay? Or perhaps I have inspired you to give glamping a try?

We're Going Glamping

 

This weekend we are going glamping for our summer holidays. We are staying in Scotland at a gorgeous looking yurt and we can't wait. I'm hoping the weather improves somewhat as it's been raining today! I'm not packed yet, but hopefully it won't take long to get our stuff together... waterproofs, wellies, bikes, sun hats, sun cream... who knows what the weather will be like!! Best to prepare for all eventualities in Scotland and that's one of the benefits of travelling by car - plenty of space to ram it full of our belongings. 

 

We were at the St Enoch Centre today to pick up a few bits and pieces (more on this in a separate post) and had lunch at Ed's Easy Diner. The diner has a specific gluten free menu which was ideal for me. I had a really yummy chicken salad, with a portion of fries. Shhhh... don't tell my PT!

 

So apologies as I'll probably be quiet on Twitter and the like for the next few days.

 

That said, I'd still love your support and votes for the Clickstay Mummy Blogger Awards where I could potentially win £1000 towards a villa in Portugal. Regular readers will know that I'm yet to take the kids abroad and I would love to go on an amazing holiday in the sun. If you liked my post 'My Tips for Travelling with Children' then I'd love you to vote for me here. It takes 2 seconds and you can vote once each day. The competition ends on 3rd July and at the moment I'm in third place. Please share, RT and like my statuses over on FB. I really, really appreciate it and will try and squash you into my suitcase if I win!!

 

I have a competition running to win a beauty hamper with House of Fraser, which you can enter here. Good luck!

What's On: Festival of Museums, Glasgow

The Festival of Museums takes place this weekend on the 15th - 17th May. The programme has over 100 events across the country, many taking place as part of the Museums at Night initiative and many events are one-off too. There is plenty happening in Glasgow if you are looking for something for the weekend...

The Great Big Museum Bus Tour is a hop-on, hop-off tour of Glasgow's must-see museums including the Burrell Collection, Scotland Street School Museum and Riverside Museum. Each museum will be showcasing a different traditional craft with inspiring practical demonstrations (Sat 16th May from 11am onwards).

Past Times Weekend - Auld Kirk museum in Kirkintilloch are taking guests back in time at their Family Fun Day on Sunday 17th May, 12 noon to 4pm. There will be craft activities - making and decorating swords and crowns - plus face painting, medieval weaponry and birds of prey.

The event that takes my fancy is the Reid Building Tour - Glasgow's most daring new architectural work. The one hour guided tour will explore the architectural concepts behind the building (Saturday 16th from 3pm, advance booking required).

I'm also intrigued by The Museum of Light at Paisley Museum (Saturday 16th May, 7pm to midnight) where there are a wide range of activities running from 'painting with light' to scientific demonstrations and a viewing of the planets Venus, Jupiter and Saturn through the telescopes in Coats Observatory.

What are your plans this weekend?

Sarah x

Travel - Our Easter Holiday at Piperdam, Scotland

Since the kids were born we have holidayed in Scotland either at my sister's house in Aberdeen, my dad's house or borrowed my aunt & uncle's holiday home. This Easter however we had our first 'proper' holiday that I paid for! It felt rather grown-up (although saying that it was my sister and her other half who arranged it & all I did was transfer them the money!!).

We had booked a lodge at Piperdam Golf & Leisure Resort which is just outside Dundee, Scotland. Ali & Robin had chosen the Forester Executive Holiday Lodge, a 5 bedroom lodge that sleeps 10 people, and it was beautiful. The highlight for me was definitely the outside hot tub on the balcony... bliss! It worked out at £360 a night for the Easter min-week break which I think is reasonable given that we were splitting this between two couples. However for a 4 star lodge at this price, I would have expected that towels, toilet roll and electricity would have been provided, which weren't. That said, the lodge was gorgeous and we were nestled in amongst the trees which was lovely. We also lucked out with the weather - it was sunny for the whole week!! Not often that happens in Scotland!! The kids had a blast.

Champagne in the hot tub

Enjoying a Bear fruit yo-yo whilst watching the bears at Camperdown

The couples took turns at cooking - steak by Ali & Robin (Tesco Finest of course!!)

The Easter Egg Hunt

Making toilet roll owls with Auntie Ali - she was super organised and 

brought plenty activities for the kids

It turns out there are plenty of things to do for little ones in the surrounding area of Dundee. We had a morning investigating the Dundee Science Centre, spent some time enjoying the wildlife at Camperdown Country Park and went on the flumes at the Olympia Swimming Pool.

Ballathie House Hotel

R & I visited Ballathie Country House Hotel in Perthshire for an overnight stay in October en-route to Aberdeen. As part of our Autumn Break package, we had a four course dinner in the hotel's 2 AA rosette restaurant and it was the best meal I've had in a long time and quite possibly one of the best steaks I've had in the UK.

The hotel is stunning

After checking in we headed to the Riverside Building which is a short walk from the main building and it has views over the River Tay. We were on the first floor with a small private balcony.

Some of the rooms are gorgeous, like this four poster bedroom which I think is in the main building.

The decor of our room wasn't to my taste, but the room itself was lovely and spacious. It was a bit tired in places which was disappointing but it was clean which is the most important thing. I regret now not taking the room in the main building which was available when I made my booking. Anyway, here are the photos I captured of our room:

After unpacking my bits and bobs, I got cosy and watched some TV with a cuppa. It was lovely to get a chance to relax without feeling pressurised to do housework or laundry which always seems to happen when I'm at home!

Our room had lovely fluffy robes and I was super excited about having a nice hot bath to relax before going to dinner...

But if you were seeing my tweets on the day, then you'll possibly remember that there was no hot water! I was gutted. So I got dressed for dinner without washing and we headed to the main building for dinner...

Make-up on and ready to go!

The hotel lit up at night

Celebrating my new job with a glass of champers!

We started our meal with an amuse bouche which was a haggis ball if I remember correctly. We then had warm bread brought to our table with smoked butter. The smoked butter was absolutely to die for. Delicious!! All the food was presented beautifully and I thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Starter - waldorf salad with goat's cheese

Seriously the best steak ever

Chocolate fondant pudding with ice cream

After the most amazing meal ever, we retired to one of the sitting rooms for coffee & petite fours in front of the fire. It was bliss.

Unfortunately the next day there was still no hot water which did put a dampener (!) on things. Thankfully I wasn't too cold during the night (which is usually the case with me and my Raynauds!). We got up & dressed and headed back to the main building for breakfast. I had a fabulous breakfast of smoked salmon, scrambled eggs and bacon. Yum!

The customer service at the hotel was absolutely fantastic; knowing that we were disappointed with regard the hot water/heating situation we were given money off our stay without even having to ask. I felt a bit awkward about it all and don't like having to complain, so I was pleased with the way that this was dealt with.

So, my closing thoughts on Ballathie... the dinner definitely was the selling point for me - can't stress enough what an amazing experience it was. I'd happily recommend the hotel for a weekend getaway and I will go back, but next time I'll go for a room in the main building.

(This wasn't a sponsored post; I just wanted to share my experiences with you as I loved the food so much!)