This month we’ve been on holiday. I still have plenty of blog posts to write with things I’ve seen on our trip to Scotland. It was amazing, I loved it. I can’t wait to go on another holiday in Scotland. While is not decided, of course, I think we are going to spend our time between Edinburgh and Glasgow next time, depending on how many days we are going to stay.
Besides this, we went to meditation and I found it interesting. Not something I would have imagined enjoying, I did. I wouldn’t go to a Buddhist meditation centre, as I’m not happy with everything, like they had a little prayer. How peculiar. If someone is religious, then praying to Buddha is a sin, and if someone is atheist, then praying is just nonsense. I did enjoy the meditation part and I tried it at home. It’s single point meditation and it’s relaxing.
Another thing I’ve tried this month was a comedy night and I found amusing only one of the comedians, the rest were not particularly funny. One of them was quite offensive. I’m all for free speech as any other alternative leads to dictatorship, but I’m not going to pay to listen to that guy again (I had free tickets).
Our trip went like this: St. Andrews – Edinburgh – Scone Palace – Dundee – Balmoral – Culloden – Inverness – Brodie House – Glencoe National Nature Reserve – Fort William – Clan Cameron Museum – Highland Titles Nature Reserve – Stirling – Doune Castle. As always on holidays, we got up early and tried to see as many attractions as possible.
How funny is this? A dog/bike washing area, at one of the camping sites we’ve been to. We didn’t use it though, as on our stay there it didn’t rain at all. I always get my hair dryer with me, while I’m on holiday with the caravan, as I need it for my long hair (the ones in the camp site are basic and it took a long time to completely dry my hair with those), and I can also dry Festus if is necessary.
This is a very special crow. My husband was busy paying for parking and he made a comment that the crow seems like she is asking for food. I looked in the car and the only thing I had was a Nakd bar. It was suitable for birds as it is made only from dried fruits and nuts, without anything else. She loved the bits of the bar I gave her. Some she ate straight away, some she burrowed in the grass for later. It was such a lovely experience. I’ve fed wild birds before, but not like this.
Isn’t it gorgeous?! I love it.
1. A visit to St. Andrews. 2. Edinburgh Chihuahua Cafe 3. V&A Dundee. 4. Balmoral. 5. Vegetarian Haggis. 6. Festus at Glencoe National Nature Reserve. 7. Highland Titles Nature Reserve. 8. Stirling Castle. 9. Doune Castle: Winterfell from Game of Thrones and Castle Leoch from Outlander. 10. The book I was reading, The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe. 11. Festus watching Show Dogs. 12. I got Becoming from the library, along with another interesting sounding book. 13. Liverpool Art Fair at Metquarter 14. Bingo night. 15. Ziferblat Manchester. 16. Tygryski, corn puffs. Festus and I love these. 17. Delivery from the Body Shop, including a new foundation. 18. Meditation. 19. Delicious desserts from the ethnic shop. 20. Frog & Bucket, comedy show. 21. Arya Stark, picture taken the day before, in Manchester. 22. New book I started reading: The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. 23. Time to enjoy some more Scottish shortbread. 24. Strawberries from the garden. 25. Royal mail delivered a parcel in a plastic bag, apologizing for the parcel being opened. I liked that. 26. I bought a white melon. It wasn’t as sweet as I thought it will be, so I’ve made it into a salad with tomatoes, spices, a bit of avocado oil. 27. England vs Norway game. It was amazing. 28. The book I was reading at that time: The uninhabitable earth by David Wallace-Wells. 29. Armed Forces parade. 30. Desserts from yesterday, but today we are going to have some as well.
Mushrooms stuffed with Haggis, recipe on CookStyle. I bought a few packages of haggis from Scotland and I have now some in the freezer, ready to be enjoyed.
These are the books I’ve read this month. Some were amazing, like the Five, the Uninhabitable Earth, and the Art of Statistics (if you have an interest in statistics, obviously). Some not so much. I wrote a very long review for the Five, you can check it out on my book blog, Coffee & Books. I had no idea about the five women and it was fascinating to read this book. I learned a few things about life in Victorian England for working class women as well.
The Uninhabitable Earth is a harrowing account of what happens now. It is a book filled with facts. I might say that a non-fiction book reads “as a novel” and this one reads as an “apocalyptic SCI-FI”, but, unfortunately, it’s true. Some of the things mentioned in the book were very unexpected, like the rise in crime and suicides when the temperature goes up. I wouldn’t have thought there is a link between these two. I’m yet to make a review for this one, but it will follow shortly.
Tamed was a nice book, that I would recommend, but it was not structured exactly as I would have imagined, considering the name. The librarian was good as well, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Tattooist of Auschwitz or the Boy that followed his father into Auschwitz, so I gave it 4.5 instead of 5 stars. Lastly, Becoming, not my favourite book, that’s for sure. I wrote a long review for that one too.
Books I’ve read in June, 6 in total:
The Art of Statistics by David Spiegelhalter – 5 stars
The librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe – 4.5 stars
Becoming by Michelle Obama – 3 stars
Tamed by Alice Roberts – 3.5 stars
The Five by Hallie Rubenhold – 5 stars
The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells – 5 stars
What a busy month, full of colourful memories! You’ve managed to cram a lot of travelling and reading in one month. I’m not sure I’d be able to join in a meditation, I find it difficult to relax. I think you need a special mindset and personality to do it.
Your Scottish adventures sound fascinating.
What a busy and fantastic month! Loads of places and events and I loved seeing them all. Good book recommendations, too. Thanks for that!
I think for mediation varies to countries. I did went to Buddhist meditation centre but we dont pray before hand. It is strange that but again is their centre practice. Japanese way of mediation is fun thou!
I think I need to read that Uninhabitable Earth book you mentioned! You sound like you’ve had a lovely time. I don’t go to any yoga or meditation thing for the main reason that a) I’m lazy and don’t really do exercise other than my cycling commuting and b) because of the ‘praying’ to other gods makes me feel a bit uncomfortable so I can understand where you are coming from. Crows are remarkably tame. I’ve read accounts of ones that are like pets and some that can even make noises that resemble speech!
The dog/bike washing station is clever! I never would have come up with something like that. Whatever that tree with the yellow blooms is, it’s beautiful.
Always nice when a holiday location just whets your appetite for another visit.
I would love to learn how to meditate. I have tried on my own with no luck so it seems a coach or class is required! This is the first time I have seen a dog/bike washing station. It makes sense. The Five sounds intriguing to me.
A class should help. I’m planning to watch some youtube videos to learn more about meditation.
I love Scotland too so it would be great to know more details about the places you went to visit. Quite a few years ago we visited Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Fort William but I’ve never been to Edinburgh or Glasgow. I really want to visit Scotland again in the future and explore more of the beautiful places there. Did you take the steam train from Fort William to Mallaig? It was the highlight of our journey.
I shared pictures and details from some of the places I’ve been to. Check my travel section – Scotland to see more. I liked both Edinburgh and Glasgow, when I visited it a few years ago. I didn’t take the steam train, but I will keep that in mind for next time. I love steam trains.