Sunday 27 August 2023

A Wonderful Week on the Isle of Arran



...early morning walks on the beach, every view a joy to behold, the company of dear friends, the perfect hostess, an enchanting house, a dog we all fell in love with (and I'm not even a dog person), ruthless hunter cats, peaceful writing time, morning writer 'workshops' - and the sort of food that makes you glad anything eaten on holiday has no calories.  And sweeties.  Post-jelly bean cold turkey is no joke.


The journey there - somewhat blowy!


First morning walk...




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My Shame
Returning from the beach, I decided to sit in a side part of Barb's garden, separated from the rest by a hedge.  Took photos of myself and hydrangeas (examples below), then decided, as the sun was so glorious and the grass dry, to do my daily lower back exercises in the open air.  The exercises are yoga based and involve many curious poses.

When I got in and told Barb how much I'd enjoyed my pleasant half hour, she revealed to me that this particular hydrangea-filled sun trap does not actually belong to her, but to her neighbours.

I pictured them looking out of the window and saying, "Darling, there's a mad woman taking photos of herself and trying to do yoga in our garden.  Should we go down and tell her to bugger off, or hope she leaves quietly?"



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Lunch in garden with sea view (this garden actually owned by Barb) - what more could you want?


My fab new trousers.  Very glamorous with my slippers. 😏




One of our writer workshop sessions, attended by some of a local writers' group, too.  Barb, Darlene, Georgia and I would take turns to present the subject du jour; mine was on POV and pace, which I will convert into a blog post at some point in the near future :)



It's not a real holiday until you've had your feet in the sea :)


If I deleted every photo in which the horizon is wonky, I wouldn't have any left.  However hard I try to get it right!!!





Part II HERE
Part III HERE


18 comments:

  1. As almost every English dictionary includes a definition of workshop similar to this one from Oxford “ a meeting at which a group of people engage in intensive discussion and activity on a particular subject or project.
    ‘a writers' workshop was held on 25–27 July’ " AND I would be against almost any view held by Alexei Sayle anyway, I will continue referring to our efforts as workshops. Fabulous workshops with a cute dog and a beach. And jellybeans. So many jellybeans.

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    1. Ha ha! Yes, I agree. Actually, what the heck. I'm changing it back. I don't care what Him Indoors says!!!

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  2. This is a fab write up, T, and I love the photos. I am struggling with the whole post-retreat-food cold turkey and am constantly craving food!! You doing your exercises in the wrong garden was a delightful moment and a reminder to me that I'm not the only one who does things like this!

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    1. I know, right??!! Me too! My stomach has expanded and wants MORE FOOD all the time!!!!!!!

      As for the exercises in the garden... !!!

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  3. Arran is glorious; I spent all my teenage summers there. Those views across to the Holy Isle are to die for.

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    1. How lovely, Linda! Lucky you. It's just heavenly :)

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  4. Wonderful to hear that you all had a lovely time together.

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    1. It was, Carol! One of Barb's writer group people asked me, how did you all meet? Were you in another writing group together? To which I replied, 'No, we met on Twitter' !!!!

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  6. Looks fantastic. Carry on having fun!

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    1. Oh, we did! Thanks for taking a look x

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  7. Wonderful, post, Terry. Almost feel as if I was there. x

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    1. You were greatly missed, J, though I did enjoy your room!!! Next year... Barb says we are booked for the 3rd week in August every year for the rest of our lives, so we're good to go!!!

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  8. Ah, now I get it. I thought I'd seen another post with just photos of the scenery, but I didn't know why you were there. Sounds like a fabulous way to combine holiday and writing! Does Barb live there?

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    1. Yes, she does. Her house is glorious, as is the whole island. It's so far away from living in South Tyneside that it might as well be another planet! As for the yoga in the wrong garden... I can never carry off being cool for very long, usually under 5 minutes!!!!

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  9. PS I did laugh at your yoga in the wrong garden, though. It's the sort of thing I do.

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