#Silent Sunday

That Friday Feeling...Holiday

Today is the last day of my holiday! Boo. This evening I get back on a plane and fly via the Bahamas back to the UK where I'm sure it will be raining ready for my return. I've had the most amazing time here in Grand Cayman - from swimming with sting rays and snorkelling on the reef to drinking rum cocktails on the beach and spending time with my sister, brother-in-law and nephew. I thought that a holiday theme would be the most appropriate theme for today's Etsy shout out - my one is coming to an end but it is the traditional time of year for summer holidays to commence. So here are some lovely things that I have found that you might want to take with you on yours...

Keep your hair under control with this pretty hair comb by Damsontreepottery

Shalotte makes such lovely magical pieces and this necklace is no exception.

Love these buttons from ButterflySue

And you'll need a gorgeous shoulder bag for all your accessories. Why not this one by Saysie?

How many random facts can one find about summer holidays? It was a bit of a hard one this week but here you go:

• The tradition of summer weddings was begun by the Romans who would choose Juno's month, June, for weddings as this would bring on her blessing.
•  August is the busiest month for travel and tourism.
• The Dog Days of Summer refer to the period between July 3rd and August 11th when Canis Major's star Sirius was believed to be closest to the sun and was blamed by the Romans for the intense heat, droughts and sultry weather. 
• The summer solstice in the UK is on June 20th. It was celebrated with dancing and bonfires and couples would jump through the flames. The tradition held that crops would grow as high as the couple could jump.
• What I call a holiday, Americans would call a vacation.  In the US a holiday refers to time off due to a national celebrations whereas in the UK a holiday is just any time that you aren't necessarily at work. 
• Today's youtube clip could only really be Summer Holiday. I prefer the Mike Redway version to Sir Cliff Richard's one.

It's a hard knock life...

...when you're on holiday in the Cayman Islands! I am having an absolutely fabulous time here - early morning swims, playing with my super-amazing nephew, spending some time with my sister and brother-in-law... and of course getting to see some of the sights of Grand Cayman too.

My nephew is seriously impressive - he's 6 and a half months old and is not only crawling (which he's been doing for the past month and a half already) but is also climbing absolutely everything he can, which includes the stairs, trying to get on the sofas and chairs (which luckily are a bit high for him to actually get onto) and mostly climbing up people. He managed to climb up me onto the sofa yesterday which was quite impressive. He's also started hitting your hand if you ask him to 'Gimme 5' and has such a huge smile and happy character.  I'm in love!

So, what have I been up to that has put the arts and crafts on hold for two weeks? Well... to start with plenty of visits to the beach, including Seven Mile Beach (yes, it's a white sandy beach and it's seven miles of beauty!) cocktails by a turquoise blue sea, swimming at the pool attached to my sister's condo and hanging out with the iguanas (including blue iguanas which are native to the Caymans).

But the highlights have been:

• Meeting my dad's cousin who has lived here for the past 30-odd years. She's an absoloute fount of knowledge and a wealth of facts about the history, flora and fauna of the islands. She took my sister and myself on a small trip to see some bits off the beaten track - we went looking for Lucas and Pygmy Blue butterflies and learnt about house-shaped graves which are a feature of some of the graves around the mid 1800s. They are found all over the island but there's some speculation as to why people started using them. Ann Stafford, who runs CaymANNature has done a fair amount of research into it and has some really interesting facts and finds. She's an expert on the flora and fauna of the island as well and showed us some unusual places, well off the beaten track, where we saw different kinds of herons, a nesting hawk and lots of different kinds of butterfly, and she told us all about endemic plants and those that were introduced and how some places are now threatened due to roads and man encroaching on habitats. You should definitely go and look at the website and feel free to go and like the facebook page too.

• Sting Ray City. Possibly the best part of my trip to Grand Cayman so far. We went out on Captain Marlin's boat for a 3 hour trip which had 3 stops - one in sting ray city, one at the barrier reef and one in the coral gardens. In Sting Ray City, you get to walk around on a sand bank about half an hour away from the main island. All around, and on, the sand bank are sting rays who are super friendly and just come up to you, brush against you and swim past looking for food. We got to feed them some squid and have photos taken with them, which included having to kiss one of the sting rays! They were so amazing and I was a bit like an excited child wading around looking to make friends with them.  The reef was really pretty, although it was slightly tempered by the fact that my mask was leaking and I couldn't adjust it enough to stop water coming through. But the coral gardens were amazing! There were thousands of tropical fish that we were swimming with - from Sergeant Majors to Blue Tangs, Angel Fish to Needlefish there were all sorts. And again we were given food to give to them - hand-feeding wild fish in their natural habitat was a really amazing experience and I would love to do it again. I was totally in awe of what I was seeing and having the opportunity to experience.

• Swimming with dolphins. YES! I went swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Cove. Admittedly these dolphins are not wild (actually one of them is, but the others were bred there) although there is actually an entrance where they can get in or out if they wanted to. But they are fed pretty well and well looked-after so they stay where they are. We did the 'Ultimate' dolphin experience which meant that not only did we get to swim with them, stroke them, kiss them and get kissed, but we also got to swim by holding on to the dorsel fin of a dolphin on each side and they pull you through the water and, even more amazing, the 'toe-push'. You lie on your tummy with your legs locked and your feet facing down. Two dolphins come up behind you and push your feet with their noses, literally pushing you out of the water so that you have your torso and upper leg above the water. I got to do it twice as the first time I did it, Sally (one of the dolphins) didn't quite manage to get her nose onto my foot and I wasn't raised up out of the water. The next time both Sally and Lucia performed brilliantly and I ended up pretty much walking on water! It was great fun and such an brilliant experience. What a fabulous day!

• Turtles! We went down to the Turtle Farm where they breed green sea turtles. Sea Turtles have a real issue with breeding as a number of the babies never make it to the sea and their natural breeding grounds are being destroyed by humans. At the farm they breed turtles, many of whom are released into the wild. I hadn't realised quite how large they can get - they are huge! And we got to hold some of the baby ones which was fun too. As well as the turtles, there were also some nurse sharks, various fish and a crocodile. Another fantastic experience. And I've seen lots of Cayman wildlife now. Yay!

So there you go - some of the highlights of my trip so far. I am having a fabulous time. Sorry for the lack of craft posts but...well you have to make the most of the time you have! I'll be back next week so don't worry, there'll be crafts and reviews aplenty very soon. 

A short trip to Scotland

I've been away for a few days - I finally achieved one of my goals and went to Scotland. I've never been and have spent a fair amount of time wondering why not. Anyway, I booked flights to Edinburgh at the end of January and then promptly forgot about planning anything else. It resulted in a slight panic when I realised I had no idea what I was doing so I booked some nights in a hostel in Edinburgh and 2 nights in a hostel in Stirling and then left the rest up to chance...

I totally lucked out in Edinburgh. Not only is it an absolutely gorgeous city, but I met people in the first few minutes of my arrival who I then spent the rest of my time in Edinburgh with. We went on a walking tour of the city, up and down the Royal Mile, down to the Scottish Parliament and Holyrood House, out on the town for drinks and giggles and walked up to Arthur's Seat as well. I had such a fabulous time in Edinburgh I didn't want to leave it...

Walking in Greyfriar's Cemetary

Edinburgh Castle

View from halfway up to Arthur's Seat. 

However, my other motive for going to Scotland was, ultimately, to see a loch and some mountains. So I said goodbye to the wonders of the city on Monday morning and took myself off to Stirling. Yes, Stirling. That renowned place of lochs and mountains. OK, I clearly hadn't done my research - I got to Stirling in the pouring rain only to discover that a) my hostel was more family based than single traveller based so I was unlikely to meet any new friends and b) Loch Lomond, which I was planning on visiting from Stirling, is actually nowhere near there. In fact, I'd need to travel for a few hours to have some hope of seeing it. Oh well. I decided to go and see Stirling Castle and the William Wallace memorial instead. As well as getting incredibly wet, I also saw some really breathtaking views of the countryside and had a great walk (one of those ones where you know you'll ache in a good way the next day). I got back to the hostel about 5 hours later and, after going to what could possibly be the worst bar in the world, managed to hook up with the guys who ran the hostel who took me to a much better place where there was some live music and a great atmosphere. I ended up having a really great time.

Walking towards the William Wallace Memorial (that's the tower you can see) 

View from Stirling Castle

Looking down from the William Wallace memorial

On Tuesday I got up at the crack of dawn to get a train to Glasgow, followed by a train to Balloch, followed by a bus to Balmaha on the shores of Loch Lomond. It took me over 2 hours but I was definitely rewarded - snow-capped mountains around a beautiful loch! Yup, definitely the reason I came to Scotland. It was stunning. It was also raining, so on the advice of the friendly people in the visitor centre I scrapped my plan of climbing the hill (mainly because of return bus times) and got a ferry over to Inchcailloch, an island near the shore. For some reason, every time I got somewhere interesting in Scotland it always stopped raining - Arthur's Seat, William Wallace Memorial and Inchcailloch. Thank goodness it didn't rain while I was on the island as there were no houses or shelters, just loads of trees and some interesting walks. I went up to the summit and looked over the loch, saw some deer (too slow to get a photo though) and plenty of birds and worried about whether my ferry man would actually come and pick me up as promised. He did, thank goodness and I got back to Balmaha alright, where I promptly went and got a cup of tea and possibly the world's largest scone ever seen. Mmmmmm. I got back to Stirling at about 6 having had to repeat the whole journey in reverse. But it was definitely worth it - I absolutely loved the loch and the island.

About to get on a ferry to Inchcailloch

From Inchcailloch island. You can just see some snow-capped mountains in this.

Sadly, all good things come to an end and by Wednesday I had to return to Edinburgh to get my flight home. I left my case at the station so I could wander around all day but other than a short trip up to the castle and a search for a post office, I spent more of my time on the last day in Edinburgh sat in the sunshine or in cutesy little boutiques trying on summer dresses. There are some seriously cute dresses in Edinburgh... I finally had to leave though so made my way back to the airport. Just in time as it happens as there was then a huge rainstorm and I was really glad not to be out in it!

Anyway, I've had an amazing few days, met some lovely people, seen some stunning sights and had an all-round excellent time. I will definitely be returning to Scotland - I just can't work out why it's taken me so long to get there in the first place!

Loch Lomond and Mountains

p.s. sorry... I'm a bit addicted to instagram at present and haven't managed to get photos off my 'big' camera yet...!

San Diego Sunshine!

I'm back! Well many of you already know that as I've been tweeting and blogging again. We actually got back on Thursday afternoon but are still suffering from the inevitable jetlag. And you know what we tried to do? We tried to go to Reading Festival on Saturday... which was a mistake! First of all, I'm still on crutches, second it was raining, third it was incredibly muddy and the little stool we'd brought for me to sit on would have been swallowed in the mire. So we reconsidered and came back to London where we vegged out and watched Battlestar Galactica. Which is my new favourite programme even though they finished ages ago. In case you haven't seen it before, I thought I'd add a video clip to get you interested... We're presently coming to the end of Season 3 and I was in floods of tears earlier at one of the episodes.

Anyway, back to the main reason for today's blog post...

I'm sure some of you would like to know how it all went in San Diego at my friend's wedding. It was GRRRRRREAT! Spent the days running up to the wedding running around with James doing last minute shopping, errands, making place cards etc while also being entertained, and entertaining, various family members and friends. Andy and I have now been 'adopted' by James' mum and dad who are great and her aunt Mary is an absolute gem of a character. We really enjoyed the trip.

The bride and me... in our usual poses!

I discovered on the Monday before the wedding that it is traditional in the U.S for Maids of Honour to give a speech.... WHAT??? That was total news to me so I inevitably stressed and pondered and stressed some more before finally writing a few notes at 6 am on the Saturday morning. I think it went OK although having nothing to go by I don't really know. I did a whole play on the British/ American language thing and ended by making everyone toast the Queen... I mean, the happy couple. 'Twas amusing for me at least. The wedding itself was a huge success - we had lots of fun, danced, ate AMAZING food and enjoyed ourselves immensely. There was possibly the best steak I have ever eaten...mmmm. We got back to our hostel and collapsed, and were then up the next morning for brunch with lots of the wedding guests again in an old lighthouse on the bay. Gorgeous setting, eat all you want buffet which had so much food I couldn't even begin to think what I should try next! But oysters featured...

Jade (another bridesmaid), James (bride) and myself at brunch the next day

As for San Diego, I can officially say that I have been to many many shops but not a single tourist attraction. We did go to the beach on Monday after most of the guests had left which was pretty nice and I managed to burn in small patches despite wearing factor 75 suncream and sitting in the shade for the most part... damn that fair skin of mine!

Coronado beach was a huge, beautiful, white sandy beach on Coronado Island. We had to go over a crazy curved bridge in order to get there - apparently there used to be a subsidy if bridges were over a certain length so the architects made the bridge longer just so they could get the subsidy. It's quite cool (and featured in my last San Diego post here.) Once at the beach I was determined to swim, even though I was warned how cold it would be. What I really liked was that in the water, the sand sparkled and looked almost like flecks of gold. It was pretty cold in but once you got used to it, was quite pleasant really. Amazing waves but then I guess it is the Pacific coast, right? We ate huge icecreams with random toppings - Andy tried Apple Pie flavoured ice-cream which scarily did taste like apple pie... weird!

What else? We went for sushi, drank lots of American beer, remembered why we don't drink coca-cola in the U.S but did manage to get Mexi-Cokes (Mexican Coca-Cola) which was better if not quite right. I really don't understand the need to use corn syrup instead of real sugar. And after everything had quietened down, James and I went shopping... I usually hate shopping but having someone like her around is great: she just picks out all my clothes for me and persuades me to try on things I would never dream of! I will have to do a 'fashion show' post at some point!! Mostly it was just great to catch up with our friends, meet some new people and relax. Definitely a much needed holiday!

Not a very Silent Sunday

There's no Silent Sunday post from me today because... I'm in San Diego! We're here for a week - and how organised am I that I had all my blog posts ready and scheduled for this week? Anyway, as I'm actually writing this before I go, I can't really say what I'm up to but I thought I'd make you jealous with a few piccies I found on the internet... Jealous? Obviously I'll let you know all about our trip when we get back and hopefully share some photos with you too. For now though - hope you're having a great weekend!