Holidaying in Scotland [Moness, Aberfeldy, Pitlochry]

The Milkman got some unexpected time off the other week, and with the last grains of sand trickling from my maternity leave hourglass we decided to make the most of it.  By coincidence we had been looking at things on Groupon over the weekend, so opted to book somewhere we'd seen through that.  We actually booked direct though - we've been left feeling cheated by a Groupon offer in the past.

The place in question was the Moness Resort in Aberfeldy, near Perth.  We were simply looking for somewhere to escape to, and this seemed fairly ideal as it had a leisure pool, on-site dining options and a room with a kitchenette which is vital when travelling with a baby!  Plus it was in an area where we haven't been before, in walking distance of the town.  Boxes ticked, job done!

The route the satnav took us was different to what we expected (though *touch wood* it's only lead us wrong once in all the years we've had it!), but it meant that we drove through places I had never seen before.  I definately want to head up that way again, especially to see more of Loch Tay and the Falls of Dochart.
 

Falls of Dochart :: Undiscovered Scotland

Loch Tay :: Dave Morris

The eating on this trip was pretty good.  Our booking included breakfast, which I actually think is my favourite meal to eat away from the home.  At home I am pretty samey with breakfast - 30g of porrige made with water and 2tsp of honey - so a cooked and continental buffet sees me acting like Homer Simpson skipping through the land of chocolate.  And the other eats didn't disappoint either.  In fact, we only ate once outside of the resort after we arrived - a really lovely piece of cake in the Watermill during our wander around Aberfeldy.  I also spotted a sculpture of a stag on our walk, which I really loved.  It incorporated words and symbols which represented the area.  There was a spotlight above it which I first thought was a CCTV camera, so it made the whole thing seem like a Banksy piece with the way the deer is caught in its glare.

Is that a Banksy, dear?

We didn't make as much use of the facilities as we'd thought we would, simply due to badly timed baby naps!  But we did try out the pool, hot tub, steam room and sauna. We had the place to ourselves, so I even got photos of Mini Milk in the pool.  Given how understandably strict photography rules are in swimming pools now, that was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Well, unless we get a villa for a holiday one day...after we win the lottery.

One thing I didn't enjoy about our stay was the room.  Although it was spacious and well kitted out, it had three major flaws.  Firstly, it was an adjoining room so there was just a door seperating us from our neighbours.  I really don't want to be those people with the screaming wean, but unfortunately with a young baby you often become those people by default.  The guilt I felt about Mini Milk disrupting other people put me on edge during the stay - I'd have much preferred a more isolated room, or at least that the adjoining room was kept empty so the inevitable noise that comes with a small person didn't impact on other guests.  Secondly, the room must have been underneath a staircase or hallway.  A staircase or hallway used by elephants.  Urgh.  And lastly, there was no wifi.  That was only available in the public areas, which is pretty crappy given that access is more a necessity than a luxury these days.    

My trip souvenirs

We made a trip to Pitlochry on our way home.  It was a nice place for a wander but it was sad to see that it has been a casualty of the economic crumple, what with all the empty shop units leaving gaping holes in its main street.   We stopped in at the Heathergems factory, where they make "gems" from dyeing and compressing heather.  I really like the result, the colours and patterns that come from the process.  I stopped myself splashing out on any jewellery or gifts (for now...), but I couldn't help buying an interesting off-cut block of the compressed heather.  It is my trip souvenir, alongside a very cool copy of Pride and Prejudice I found in a second hand shop in Aberfeldy.

I'm so glad we got the chance to go away before I head back to the world of work, although I'm sad we didn't get to bring the older kids due to the timing of the trip.  But staying away from home with a baby isn't exactly the relaxing experience you want from a break, so I think we'll hold off on the more adventurous plans (camping, going abroad) until Mini Milk is a little older!

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Birthday Night Out :: The Great Gatsby, Vodka Wodka + the HillheadBookclub

It was my birthday at the weekend, so me and some friends headed to Ashton Lane for some cocktails in Vodka Wodka. I had a nice Kir Royal, but I wasn't too keen on the Very Berry Belvedere. I was very amused by how seriously the bar guy took his art. I was trying not to laugh - it was like that scene in "Love Actually" where Rowan Atkinson is gift wrapping the illicit necklace for Alan Rickman. By the time we had to endure the hunt through the bar utensils for a zest peeler, simply so he could carve a small curl of lemon rind to float in a Kir Royal, I was snorting into the Milkman's shoulder.

We moved on the Hillhead Bookclub for dinner, but that was a total shambles. We'd booked through 5pm but despite me checking that yes, the menu we had ordered from was definitely the 5pm one, the waiter came back about 10mins later to say that it wasn't and could we please change some of our orders? No biggie technically as there weren't many changes, but it set our meal back (in a place which has possibly the slowest service I've ever experienced anyway) which was an issue because we had tickets booked for a film showing at 8.30pm. The food was good though, even though we had to wolf it down and skip dessert...which really sucks for a birthday meal!

We raced back along to the Grosvenor after that, for the main event of the evening - The Great Gatsby!! I can't tell you how excited I was about this film. I mean c'mon, it's one of my favourite books brought to the screen by one of my favourite directors and with one of my favourite actors leading the cast. And may I just say that no, Leo isn't one of my favourites just because he is pretty. I honestly think he is a great actor, who doesn't quite get the praise he deserves for that because his pretty gets in the way...it's Johnny Depp syndrome. I didn't have time to re-read the book before seeing the film, but actually I'm quite glad I hadn't because it was like seeing it for the first time (almost). At first I was a bit unsure, but I quickly acclimatised to the world on screen. I avoid reading reviews before I see or read or listen to something, particularly when I expect to enjoy whatever it is. However, I had heard that critics didn't like the use of modern music in a jazz-era film. Well I say bollocks to that - it was totally the right choice of soundtrack because it made the characters and the time in which they were living instantly relatable. If they were plonked into the here and now, that is the music they would be listening to. And even if you personally don't listen to those artists or styles of music, it keeps the story real...if an "authentic" soundtrack had been used it would have dated the story unnecessarily and turned it into a cheesy pastiche. As it was, the film was slick, funny, touching and totally decadent which perfectly honoured the book. And even though I knew it was coming, the conclusion was still shocking, heartbreaking and infuriating. This film didn't disappoint.

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Helensburgh and Lomond Real Ale (& cider!) Festival

the goodies

On the 18th May, I went to the Helensburgh and Lomond Real Ale Festival. Which is strange, given that I don't drink ale, beer or even lager. But I went last year when I was pregnant and couldn't drink anything, so clearly I'm not letting its name put me off. And I wasn't the only mama-in-waiting there last year either.  Her and I locked eyes at one point and just shrugged at each other as if to say designated driver. So this year I was very happy to be in with the crowd, and even though I don't drink the dirty stuff I was still catered for as there was a selection of ciders on offer.

I started off with a perry called Double Vision, which was delicious and more like drinking fruit juice than cider. While I got that into my system I decided on my plan of attack - I would chose my ciders by the LOL-factor of their names.  So my next drink was the Legbender, a sweet cider. At first I thought I'd made a bad choice as it seriously smelled like a sewer. But it tasted incredible - rich and smooth but not too heavy. Noms.

The other ciders on my list were Janet's Jungle Juice, Swallowfields and the Wobbly Munk.  Unfortunately my plan of attack hit a stumbling block, in that everyone else clearly had the same plan. None of the other ciders I had earmarked were left when I went to get my third drink. And it wasn't particularly late in the day, so that was disappointing. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the ales were running out (we were into the second day of the festival), so the ale drinkers were guzzling up the cider whilst my back was turned.

I went for a medium cider called Bollhayes after that, but it was too tart for me so I switched with The Milkman to get his Legbender instead. I think I buffered between the Legbender and one called Wilkins for the rest of the evening, but my memory does understandably get a bit muggy from that point onwards! I probably should have made more of the BBQ that was on offer to help soak it all up, because the chicken schnitzel I had was delicious.

hangover preventative/cure

Things wound down when the light faded and the pumps began to dry up, so we boarded the Beer Bus (a free shuttle bus between the town centre and festival). The banter was flowing, the tunes were pounding and everyone was in great spirits. I think public transport should be more like the Beer Bus, maybe perhaps then I wouldn't drive everywhere! In fact, nights out in general should be like the festival - everyone just enjoying themselves, drinking but also managing to be civilised and treat others with respect at the same time. The festival had such a good vibe, conversations just started with whoever you happened to be standing near (in our case, the most memorable one involved the sweetest little black Staffie puppy I have ever met). There was no brawling, no using doorways as toilets, no one stumbling about putting others on edge. It was just a good time had by all, and as the proceeds go to charities in the local area we were also doing our bit for others at the same time.

I really enjoyed myself, it's an impressive wee event that is very well organised and I can't wait until next year!  Just bring more cider next time, right guys?

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Books [Thomas Hardy, Frank McCourt, Ian McEwan] + Film [The Woman InBlack]

Goal #85 is to work my way through at least 75% of the (184) print books I own but as yet haven't read.  I finished my 4th book for the goal this week, and it ticked another 101/1001 box as it was also the first book down for goal #88 (read 10 classic novels) - Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy.  I thought it was...ok. I had seen and think I remember enjoying a television adaptation of it in my teens which my mum made me watch, so I had always wanted to read the book.  For such a long awaited read, I have to be honest and say I was a little disappointed. The storyline itself is fairly interesting, with some good twists. But I didn't quite believe the ruinous love interest of the main female character (her blindness and the risks she took for him didn't fit with the character she was built up to be beforehand), and towards the end I felt some of the plot points were a bit far fetched. That said, the writing is beautiful in parts.  It made me wish I was the sort of person who kept a collection of quotes, or who at least wrote in the margins or highlighted sections. But this was dulled by getting a bit bored and lost in some of his longer descriptive parts, or the details of farming. At points it reminded me of exactly the sort of writing that put me off Anna Karenina - long pointless paragraphs that served more to let the author show off his knowledge rather than adding anything to the story. At times I had to force myself to read it, and that's never a good sign!

Before that I read possibly the most depressing book I've ever come across - Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. At one point about mid-way through I got to feeling that if I had to read about one more baby dying I was going to throw the book out of the window! And the father in the story made me so angry that I was always in a bad mood when I closed the book for the night. However, what saved the book for me was McCourt's ability to build a scene. Reading, I could feel the damp, hear the coughing, smell the communal toilet festering away beside their kitchen door. Admittedly none of those are nice things to evoke, but I am always captivated by someone who can bring a whole new world to me just with the power of their prose. I am not a fan of the tsunami of childhood abuse books that followed ones like this or the Dave Pelzer books, but I think this one is probably in a class above those in terms of style and ability. I have the follow up, but I think I'll wait before touching it.

I read a short story collection before that, something I always find a bit hit&miss. This one came free in the Guardian a while back, and I kept hold of it as it featured some good writers (including one of my favourites, Margaret Atwood). Writing this now, I can't remember any of the stories so  it clearly didn't have much of an impact on me. But looking back at some of the titles mentioned on Goodreads they are coming back to me. I wasn't disappointed as I read, and I didn't skip any stories which always a good sign. I'll be keeping hold of it, as it did have some good pieces.

And finally, the first book I read was Ian McEwan's The Child In Time.  It was the second of his books I read in a matter of months, as I also read Black Dogs.  It's just coincidence that I read two books by the same author so close together, they just happened to be near one another on my book shelf.  I read another of his books a few years ago (In Between the Sheets) and I have a few others of his on my shelves.  Which makes me sound like a massive fan, but I don't really think I am.  I enjoyed the book, but I find with his work that I read it with a kind of detachment...as if there's a barrier which stops me getting fully involved.  I think it's maybe that his characters are all a bit more middle class than I am, so I can't relate to them fully.  Perhaps.  But he does tell a good story.

Speaking of media goodness, I actually watched a film recently. A whole film, from start to finish. And even better, it was a film from my LoveFilm list! It had been gathering dust on top of the Blu Ray for weeks, as my LoveFilm rentals always do - I don't like watching films by myself, but the Man often refuses to watch my choices or at least needs a lot of prompting to do so. This one required prompting, as it was a horror and he feels the same way about horror films as I do about excessively spicy food - how can something uncomfortable be fun? I'm not actually a huge fan of horrors either. I don't mind being made to jump, but I find a lot of big budget horrors are quite samey, with less focus on story than effects. But this one was The Woman In Black, which I thought might be a bit different. On the jump-meter, this one ranked pretty high. I loved the atmospherics and the scenes, though I did get a bit annoyed that they overdid the suspense music at parts where nothing actually happened! The storyline was a little safe and predictable though, and I was hoping for more than that. But I was pleasantly surprised by Daniel Radcliffe, as I've not really seen him in anything before (true story - I've never watched a Harry Potter film), and in general I thought the casting was really spot on. A good, easy watch...and I didn't have nightmares!

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On Scottish Independence

So today this Buzzfeed link came up on my Facebook news feed - 40 reasons why Scotland is better than England.  Clearly it's a tongue-in-cheek list, but it got me thinking.  I really dislike the "better than England" aspect of the title.  Why can't Scotland just have a list of things that make it great, without having to make it into a rivalry or dig at another country?  It's petty, and makes us look bad.  Why can't we just be proud of who and what we are, as a standalone statement?  This is something that irks me in other contexts too - whether it's women trying to justify their place in society by bashing men, or religious fanatics insulting other cultures to make themselves seem superior...it makes me very uncomfortable and I also think it totally negates the point being made if you have to couple your pride with mud-slinging.

Despite this, the list itself made me smile, and as things like this always do it did fill me with a flush of pride.  Scotland is an incredible place, and I don't think it is fully understood by outsiders.  I do think it's profile is rising, but I don't doubt that the image that springs to mind for the vast majority is a bottle of whisky draped in tartan, sitting on a hill above a loch whilst bagpipes play in the background.  Lists like this one add a few other things into that mix, giving hints at the depths of the real Scotland. 
 
The guy who posted it on FB is a passionate supporter of Scottish independence, and frequently posts links and memes from the YES side of the campaign.  I envy his outright conviction on how he is going to vote., and some of what he posts is quite convincing (whilst some of it is just blatant propaganda).  Myself, I'm still on the fence because I feel as if I don't know nearly enough to make such an important decision.  Having said that, if there was a strong breeze I'm fairly certain that I would topple off, into the NO camp.  I think the idea of independence is a nice one, but I don't know if it is really feasible and I don't know how it would impact the lives me, my family or anyone else in the country lead (or the lives of those in the rest of the UK and further, potentially). 

But I think this is something that I really should be looking into.  The question being asked of us in 2014 isn't a small one, and it isn't one that anyone should answer if they haven't done their homework.  I think it would be irresponsible of me to answer one way or the other until I feel confident in my choice.  I am worried though that not enough people will have this attitude, and that votes will be cast on the strength of a fear of change or because of football rivalry or because of a scene in Trainspotting, or any of a million different, ignorant reasons to vote one way or another.  But I'm not sure how to go about really educating myself.  Obviously the basic starting blocks are the campaigns on either side of the divide, and I think I have my head screwed on tight enough to be able to take bias and propaganda into consideration when looking at anything from either party.  But I'd like something more neutral, which lays out in black and white the realities of a yes or no vote in terms of things I am concerned about (health care, education, can we afford to go it alone, etc).  A Google search hasn't turned up anything like that though, which is incredibly disappointing because for your average person undertaking solo research is too much of an ask (whether it's a matter of the time they are able to dedicate to it, or their actual ability to conduct research).  I think this is such an important issue that more should be getting done to educate people even on the basics...but all I see is report contradicting report on the news, and name calling on social media.  Neither of which are helpful.  Hopefully there is something in the pipeline to make sure we all get to make an informed choice.

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Kettlercise

I really shouldn't leave it until this late to update, because I am shattered and my heart can't really be in it when I'm struggling to keep my eyes open.  I hope I don't feel this bad tomorrow evening, as it's my second stab at Kettlercise and judging by last week I'll need all the omph I can muster!

So if you've not clicked the link, Kettlercise is basically a cardio/core/strength class, using Kettle Bell weights in a non-stop series of one minute toning exercises such as lunges, squats, jumps and bicep curls. Like this...


I'll be honest, I was pretty damn terrified about the prospect of this. But I was also excited to see if I could get through it.  The class I chose is run by Angie at Chris Bowman Fitness, and I didn't really have time to psych myself out of it. I was a bit worried the class would be full of goddess-like powerhouses, who would sneer as my feeble blubber wobbled into the room. I always have that fear when I join an exercise class...I blame the fact that my first introduction to instructor-led exercise was the Ministry of Sound workout based on the Call on Me video...enough to make anyone feel inadequate. But in reality, as it always turns out to be, it was simply a mixed-bag group of people just looking to burn some fat. I always find I'm somewhere in the middle in exercise classes, in age, shape and ability. Obviously I'd like to be at the top, but I'm always relieved to find I'm not at the bottom. Having said that, I did use the lightest possible bell (2.5kg) - my upper arm strength is non-existent and I didn't want to start off on something I couldn't keep up with. I think for now that will be the weight I use, because although I kept up well with the moves, I certainly felt it working! I wouldn't want to increase it until I've got a good few classes under my belt.

The class itself was intense, as expected. Angie is incredible, she has an instant likeability and keeps the class focused. Plus, she's got just the right amount of crazy mixed in to keep it fun! I really liked that the moves were done a minute each, so even in ones I found tough I could try to keep pushing myself until the minute was up. I didn't find any were too difficult to follow, but if Zumba has given me anything to go by I'd say I'm quite good at mimicking moves and picking things up after a few reps.

I left the class on a total fitness high, but also a little scared about how I was going to feel in the morning. And how did I feel? Disabled. I could barely walk, and stairs actually made me cry. I'm not exaggerating - I had muscle strain in muscles I hadn't even been aware of before. I was actually quite embarrassed, as although I wouldn't say I was fit I do like to think I have some experience in a range of different exercises. I can plank, surely that counts for something?! I honestly didn't expect to feel as destroyed as I did, and the recovery took days. I wasn't even sure I could face Zumba on Monday night (Kettlercise makes you aware of just how many lunges and squats Zumba actually entails, that's for damn sure), and even now I'm still feeling it in my thighs. It's a gift that keeps on giving.

But I am totally willing to put myself through it again tomorrow, because something that works my body that hard is bound to have results. I'm ready to see what shape I can get to by really pushing myself. I've noticed that classes are the fitness format that works best for me - at home it's too easy to slack off or even skip workouts all together. In a class, with other people's energy to feed off of (plus the fact that I don't want to look as if I'm slacking), I go at least 25-50% harder than I ever would at home. Plus, there's no pause button on a real, live instructor!

I could totally see me being a class junkie. If I had the dosh (and time) I think I'd try a whole bunch of things like circuits, yoga, pilates, maybe even metafit. I'd even like to try some sports, like squash. Oh well, maybe I'll win the lottery this week...until then, I think I'm starting to get a good combination of cardio and toning with a good enough mix to keep my body guessing. Now I just need to build my stamina and increase the frequency.

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