Holiday

I'm currently sat in the far end of our caravan, watching Zeus try to find a place to lie comfortably and listening to the wind pound against the walls of the van. Dad just turned the car engine on as he is off to a military museum and Zeus is up at the windows wanting to go with him.
      There's something about caravanning that just brings us all together and makes us happy. I don't know if its the fresh air or the fact we all work together to make this small space work, but it just brings me a peace and happiness. 

We got here on Friday evening in 50-60mph gusting winds and tried endlessly to put the awning up. It was so hard and when we eventually got all the poles up and sturdy, the canvas started coming out of the rail that the awning threads through, and we realised that it had come apart and was broken. So after 2 more tries, we gave up and all got moody and upset because, having Zeus, we can't camp without the awning.
       But then after a silent meal and a few comments, dad knocked it all together and managed to fix it (luckily). We really thought we'd have to go home.

On Saturday, I did my first ever flying lesson, in practice for my charity flight. Scary or what!?
I kind of got the hang of it after a while but it was very challenging, but also worth it.

Then on Sunday, we went to this old disused military airfield and because it was quiet and not a real road, dad let me have a go at driving the car! I got so excited, because I kept flashing back to when I was 7 and I'd sit in the car on the driveway, pretending to drive with the indicators and wiggling the gear stick. And now, 8 years later, I actually drove it properly with the engine on and the car moving. It's amazing how time flies!

Anyway, sorry for the kind of boring blog post, but I felt I had to write about this weekend as it was so fab!

Love, 

Ellie xxxx

PS: I actually wrote this blog post on Sunday evening, so at the time I was in the caravan but we're home now!

Scotland

Right now, I'm sitting in a big conservatory in Inverness, Scotland. I can see the freshly-frozen, ploughed fields in front of the house as the sun gleams in through the windows, and in the distance I can faintly see the Scottish highlands covered in snow. It's the most beautiful sight I've ever seen, and I've seen Dallas at night, which is also incredible. 

Scotland is amazing. All the people are so friendly, the bread is delicious and they do everything properly. The Aga is a dream come true and so is the fire, and it's somewhere I'd absolutely love to live when I'm older. If you step outside, you can't hear a thing, besides the occasional tweeting bird. It's so silent, you could hear a leaf fall to the ground. The house backs on to a forest, which is also frozen too, but it looks so beautiful with the morning blue sky shining through the long and empty trees. It's the most peaceful place I've ever been to in my life, and everyone should put "go to Scotland" on their list of things to do before they die, because it's an experience everyone would love. I felt like I should write a short blog about this because it's an amazing experience and to anyone who has never been to Scotland - get online and book yourself a holiday here! It's beautiful, friendly, and so homely. Even though it got down to (apparently) -10 degrees Celsius last night, I was still so warm and cosy in bed and it was lovely. 

Today we're going to a beach near Loch Ness, and then going to a cafe for lunch. The only downside to Scottish cafes is that they don't have clotted cream, so you can't have a proper Southern Cream Tea (not that I'm a massive fan anyway, but my mum is). Even though this is the sunniest place I've been to in a long time, it's also the coldest. Although today I think it's 2 degrees, which is actually not too bad for here.

When I'm here, I feel like I'm on top of the world. Wherever I look, I feel at home and happy. Even though I don't like flying, I can't help but want to fly up here every single weekend. It's definitely a place I want to live at some point in my life. Like I said before, if you've never been here, you have to. It's the best place in the world. Or it's the best place out of the parts of the world that I've seen, anyway.