BETWEEN TRAVELS: OUR SUMMER IN SCOTLAND.

We were back from India and Nepal not long after the birth of our second grandchild. Hollie Grace is a lovely little girl and both Suzy and Gavin were over the moon. Not long after this my nephew Andrew and his wife Lorella had a little girl, Leah, David and Sandra's first grandchild. The 'Sutherland' clan has been growing considerably in the last year or so, with twins, Sam and Jamie, born in St Andrews last year to Allan and Ozge a month after Ewan was born.

Hollie Grace

Even though it has been an excellent summer weather-wise in the UK we haven't done much travelling about. We have been tied up a lot with visiting and being visited by Hollie with her mum and dad along with working on the house. When we were through at Ayton visiting Hector and Fiona they were in the process of having solar panels installed. We decided to look into it and found that at a cost of £7500 there would be enough of a payback, from the Government, for what we generate to pay for this in 10 years. This allowance continues for a further 10 years after that and then it is pure profit. It appeared to be a win-win situation so we went to the Ideal Homes Exhibition in Glasgow to find somebody selling the system. We found a good company that explained everything in detail and they were very efficient, the panels were installed in one day and we were generating power and helping the environment.

New solar panels and conservatory

While we were at the exhibition we also looked at conservatories. The woodwork on the small porch at the back of the house was rotting and would require a lot of work done to it. The idea was to replace it with a conservatory maybe next year. We ended up getting over enthusiastic and had one installed after the solar panels were completed. These people weren't as efficient and the foundations had to be replaced when they found the walls to the conservatory weren't straight when they began building them. At last it was finished and it has made a big difference to the back of the house. I did a lot of work inside the house, fitting a cupboard in the alcove in the lounge then painting and decorating.

Another spending spree we went on was buying a car. The one we use when are in Scotland was Suzy's and she allowed us to use all the time we were there. It was getting a bit run down and old, she was happy to let us trade it for a year old Hyundai i10 and we paid the difference. It is a nice little car and more economical than the old Peugeot. Unfortunately it sprung a couple of leaks when the glorious summer was over and the normal Scottish rain returned. There was water coming in at the corner of the windscreen and the carpets under the driver's seat was soaking. We left it with Suzy to deal with after we headed south for the winter.

 It was our Ruby Wedding Anniversary at the end of July but we had a bit of a celebration a month earlier. Margaret, Justin and Ewan were up from Cardiff for a long weekend and we had Hector and Fiona through from Ayton, David and Sandra from Greenock and Alison,an old friend of Moira's, who now lives in Ayr. Suzy and Gavin were also down with Hollie, and Gavin helped me with the BBQ which we had out on the deck. The weather held for the occasion and it was sunny and warm.

Our grandchildren sound asleep

I haven't been doing very much running since returning to Scotland. Ever time I try having even an easy jog my Achilles' tendon plays up again and leaves me in pain for about a week. I have been going to the gym in Greenock regularly to keep fit and also managed a few rides on my bike. We have also been doing a bit of walking together to get fit ready for another route of the Camino de Santiago. We are planning to do the Camino Norte along the north coast of Spain in September as we make our way to the Algarve in Portugal for the winter.

When we collected the motorhome from where it had been stored over winter we were apprehensive about the state of the batteries. They were fine and the solar panel we had fitted on the motorhome roof last year kept them fully charged. We went for a week at a rally site near Pittenweem on the Fife coast. The motorhome was very comfortable and we had a good time walking again a couple of the sections on the Fife Coastal Path. At the end of that week we changed to the site in Edinburgh set up for the Festival. We had a walk around Edinburgh and saw some of the acts performing for free on the Royal Mile before going to the Tattoo. We went to the early show and even though it was still daylight there was the firework display at the end but we missed the coloured lights they play on the Castle when it gets dark. A week later we were through at the Festival again for a Big Band concert. They were called Sounds Sensational and were very good. All the old swings and big band jazz numbers, the three singers were also first class.

We think we have every thing in order as we set of in the motorhome first of all to visit the family in Cardiff before heading for the Continent. The 'van had been serviced and we have had a few faults inside also seen too. The 'van door wasn't closing properly, there was a leak at the sink and we and a notice of a recall to move the fresh water tank which was fouling the brake linkages. We had the work done at a motorhome caravan dealer in Ayr and visited Alison while there. She gave us a lovely lunch and we chatted through the afternoon before getting the bus home. The 'van took a week to have the jobs completed.