The Final Week of the Summer Holidays 2015

 

Me in Castle Douglas

Last week was the final full week of the Summer holidays here in Scotland and I can't help but wonder where on earth have the Summer holidays gone!? They've seriously flown by this year! Although I think I say that every year! You blink suddenly it's all over and it's back to business; back to school!

Anyway, my final week of the Summer Holidays was certainly nothing short of crazy; I've quite literally been here, there and everywhere and could do with a wee lie down to be completely honest! Seeing as I count myself as a lifestyle blogger, I thought I'd share what I've been up to with you lovely people! So sit back and relax with a cup of tea (or a nice glass of lemonade!) and enjoy reading about my busy week!

To start last week off I met up with a lovely friend of mine, Daisy who I've known since we were around five/six years old. I lost touch with Daisy when I moved house as well as school when I was in Primary three and bumped into her once every now and then after moving. As I grew older

I decided to join Facebook and managed to get back in contact with Daisy, discovering that we share a lot of similar interests (particularly in music). So it was really lovely to finally meet up with Daisy after such a long period of time and spent a few hours chatting and catching up in Costa-it is however, a wonder that the staff didn't shoo us off as we were in there for hours! Hopefully, it won't be too long until we meet up again!

On Tuesday, we visited my Grandparents and as it was such a lovely day I was able to spend some time wandering round their garden with my iPod taking photographs of all the lovely flowers my Granddad grows there. Stupidly, I'd ignored the fact that it was a nice day; the perfect day for taking photos and didn't bother to bring my camera with me to get capture my surroundings. I was however, pleasantly surprised with the picture quality that my iPod produced and successfully managed to take a handful of decent photos.

 

My lovely Mum and I at the theatre

 We then enjoyed some yummy Chinese takeaway for dinner from one of the local takeaway's, before Mum, Gran, my sister Laurel and I travelled to Glasgow to catch the opening night of "Dreamboats and Miniskirts" at The Kings Theatre. I am huge fan of the musicals and love going to the theatre so without a doubt I had a great night! I'd previously seen "Dreamboats and Petticoats" back in 2012 which was set in the 1950s but if I'm being completely honest I preferred the sequel as I was more familiar with the music, fashion and the era in general. However, I must admit the highlight of the show for me, was the scene set in The Cavern Club in Liverpool where the actors took on the role of John, Paul, Ringo and George as they performed Twist and Shout. As you'll probably have worked out by now, I'm a huge fan of The Beatles so this particular scene really made my night! And of course I had to sing along although I'm surprised I didn't clear the theatre as I'm such a terrible singer!

The following day my Mum, Laurel and I took my Grandparents on a trip to a lovely town here in Scotland named Castle Douglas. We visit Castle Douglas at least once every year, sometimes more frequently than that depending upon just how busy we are. The drive there is lovely as there's so much beautiful scenery to take in along the way! It is in my opinion Scotland at some of it's very best!(providing that it's a nice day of course!)

Castle Douglas itself is a lovely, quaint, little town with some fabulous little shops and cafes for a much needed snack or even a spot of lunch. As we arrived, lunchtime was quickly approaching and we all felt a little bit peckish and in need of a bite to eat. With that in mind we made our way to the Designs Café which we only discovered a few years ago after a family friend recommended it to us. Designs Café sell a range of delicious sandwiches, toasties, soup, daily specials and even home baking. For lunch, I decided upon the chicken fajita featured on the daily specials menu which came accompanied by a lovely salad, all of which tasted great and could easily have fed a small army!

Our lovely lunch was followed by a browse round all of the lovely independent shops in the area. There was an amazing bohemian shop selling goods such as clothes, jewellery and house accessories which I thoroughly enjoyed wandering round and raking through the clothing rails. I couldn't leave this fab shop empty handed and instead left with two boho cushions and a gorgeous throw for my bed. Amongst the other shops we visited my sister and I couldn't help but pop into a little toy shop that we loved as young children named "Jenny Wren". Despite the fact that we're a lot older now it's still good fun to look around and reminisce about all the toys and cute little bits n' bobs we used to play with when we were little. And of course a visit to Castle Douglas is most certainly not complete without a visit to the ice cream shop next door! The only problem was that there were so many different flavours to choose from leaving in deep deliberation over what to pick. Eventually, I decided to be boring and completely unadventurous and opted for chocolate ice-cream. But oh my goodness was it absolutely delicious!

On our way home from Castle Douglas, Mum pulled into a little lay by beside Loch Ken so that I could take full advantage of the beautiful scenery and the unusually lovely weather (for Scotland that is!) and take a few photographs. So I spent a good half hour or so snapping photographs of the loch which I'll eventually get round to editing. I think that'll be a job for when the weather's bad and I have nothing to do! 



The sunset over Dunure

Needless to say I was exhausted by the time we arrived back home but still to accompany my Mum on a trip down to one of our very favourite places, the small fishing village of Dunure. My sister was invited to a movie night at a friend's house so we decided to take a short drive there and enjoy the stunning scenery on offer! I somehow managed in the short time between arriving home from Castle Douglas and popping back out again removed my camera from my bag meaning that yet again I missed out on a photography opportunity! Typical!

The following day was of course Thursday which meant I had my radio show at 3TFM from 1-3pm. Every week during my show I pick a "Dream Theme" which helps me plan out my playlist for the show and gives my lovely listeners the chance to request the songs they want to hear during the show. Last week's theme was a follow up to a show I hosted a few weeks a few weeks ago named "Girl Power" which celebrated the best female artists to brace the music industry. So as you've probably guessed by now last week's "Dream Theme" was of course "The Best of the Boys". So in the space of just two hours I attempted to squeeze in as many of the best male bands/singers into my show as I possibly could. That particular theme could easily have gone on for hours as there are so many amazing bands/singers that deserved to be included on the list!

Colourful beach huts in Kirkcudbright

 On Friday my parents, my sister and I decided to pay Kirkcudbright a visit. Kirkcudbright's yearly art trail happened to be on so we managed to visit a few of the stops and have a look around the artwork. Up until then I'd never been to Kirkcudbright before which is a little strange I suppose. Following a mooch round Kirkcudbright we also visited a place named Gatehouse of Fleet which has an old mill situated directly beside the river with a cute little café and tourist information centre hidden inside. We decided it was the perfect time to take a break and enjoy a much needed refreshment from the café. As we sat outside in the cafe's patio which looked onto the river we spotted a heron in the distance closely studying the water surrounding it for fish. Unfortunately, it was too far in the distance from where we happened to be seated for me to actually get a decent photo of it-next time perhaps! The peaceful surroundings was the perfect place for a café and I for one could have easily sat there for hours enjoying the sweet sounds of nature-pure bliss if you ask me!

To finish off our busy week my Grandparents treated us to dinner at The Stage Door our favourite restaurant in Ayr on Saturday. The Stage Door is an extremely popular restaurant inside The Gaiety Theatre located in the town of Ayr. I've been lucky enough to have dined there with my family on numerous occasions since it first opened a couple of years ago and not once have I ever been disappointed! The menu has something to suit everyone; the prices are great and the portions are huge! My Mum, my friend Heather and I had breakfast there one morning and couldn't believe just how big the small breakfast was! It was seriously unbelievable! The food itself tastes and looks absolutely amazing which is all the more reason to dine there! And of course my diner there last Saturday lived up to my previous expectations and was just as good as I remembered it to be! So if you're ever in Ayr and looking for somewhere to eat; The Stage Door is definitely worth a visit!

Last week was indeed a busy but great week however all good things must come to an end and so do the Summer holidays. Today, the schools here where I live have now returned which for so many means early morning rises, homework and wearing a uniform. So to all my lovely readers who've already returned or are due to go back to school in the not so distant future; I send you all my best wishes for the coming school year!

Lots of Love, Peace and Best Wishes from,

Rob (The Hat Hippie) xxx