Real food Weekend

There is something about this time of year, long chilly walks and good old comfort food that just go hand in hand.

We've had a very relaxing weekend.  We went out for dinner on Friday night.  Woke up Saturday and took Pippa for a long walk in the local park

Then we came home and made sausage with onion gravy and mashed potato with mustard and creme fraiche!  Real comfort food.  And I made enough so there would be leftovers for Sunday!  Don't you just love it when you have left overs?

Then on Sunday (today) it was pretty much the same thing.  We went for a walk.... this is us in the car on the way to the park...

We bumped into another tri colour in the park.  Well actually 2 other tri colours.  Which was very cute.  Pippa likes to make friends with other cavaliers

After our walk we came home, took a nap on the sofa whilst watching a movie and I decided to make a apple crisp for after our leftovers

It was de-lush but unfortunately we didn't have any vanilla ice cream or cream to go with it! :(  

And I finished off the weekend with a quick blast of sewing.  I'm getting all my charms ready for the falling charm quilt which is my next quilt top project!

Mull

We managed to get a very long awaited and overdue couple of days away this week.

The boyfriend had a week between jobs and I figured no time is good to take time off so I might as well grab the opportunity when I could.  We got a good spa deal break on 5pm for a 2 night stay on the Isle of Mull.  It was a pretty decent deal, tho I did have huge concerns before we got there as the hotel staff were just so rude to me on the phone!  Sometimes with these deals you get treated like second class citizens, so I rang the central group and spoke to them about it and everything was fine when we got there.  It annoys me slightly as I used to manage front of house for hilton amongst others - years ago - so I know how things should be and when they're not like that, I'm not too happy.  And at the end of the day a hotel only ever has a deal on because they need the business!  

The hotel was a bit dated.  It was like stepping back maybe 15 years, but as I say it was nice enough.  Anyway we went for the peace and quiet and the relaxation and opportunity to spend time together.

Mull is beautiful - much like any part of the highlands and islands really.  We did tonnes of exploring and walking with the dog.  She LOVED it.  The beach is her new favourite place to be.

Here we are at the bottom of the island.  That's Iona in the background.

We came across some magnificent views.  I just love the peace and quiet.

We did some off roading and did a long walk through the woods.....

Which turned into a coastal route and lead out to some cavesWhich was pretty cool

We kept going and around the next corner was a really cool waterfall!  Behind Pippa in this picture.  Note how mucky she is!

On the last day we found this lovely beach at the top of the island.  We had the whole place to ourselves.  I love the cut cottages here - just like the house I grew up in.... I'd love to wake up to this view every morning.  Pippa loves running in the sand - look at her wee happy face!

To be honest we were pretty happy there too

And of course when on Mull you have to pose for the obligatory 'Tobermorey/Balamory' shot.



Feels like weeks ago already!!!