Single Dad Smiling

When we got to Legoland we discovered that it was CLOSED!

The kids were devastated.

I tried to soften their disappointment by suggesting a cheeky look in the hotel.

The hotel was SUPERB.

“Some serious dad brownie points are on the table here,” I thought.

A new Project

My personal life wasn’t exactly idyllic at this point in time.

I’d just lost my contract as a design fire and explosion safety engineer with Shell due to the oil and gas 2015 downturn and needed a project to focus on.

And you are now looking at it!

Lockdown Rejuvenation

So it’s Sunday!

And tomorrow Sonny, Lola and I travel to the Lake District for a short holiday with my Mam!

The first time we’ll have seen her since Christmas.

So today is the last day to finish off our latest self catering place in Aberdeen!

Do you want to hear about how it went?

Post Lockdown Optimism

Sorry I haven’t been as prolific at getting these blogs out in the last week or 2.

I’ve been busy.

A lady called me 2-3 weeks ago.

Someone I had no links to.

So she saw something I’d shared on Facebook about our self catering homes.

And she was impressed about how I was trying different things in these trying times.

Look after your Regulars

A lovely lady called Angela who runs a B&B in Aberdeen and helped me out when I lived out of the area and came back to spend time with my children.

She gave us a lovely homely place to stay for our precious weekends together. I will always remember her warm hospitality.

She also taught me a valuable lesson.

A 40th to Remember

My 40th was coming up.

I felt that I needed a bit of a blow out.

So organised a bar crawl around the harbour area of Aberdeen on Saturday night.

But before Saturday came I had a wee adventure to tackle…

A Trip of Noteworthy Mention

I decided that the rest of 2013 would consist of getting as much fun packed into my time off work as possible.

Kicking off with our first proper trip away in the camper.

There was no set plan, just to head west or north from Aberdeen, wild camp as much as possible and wing it!

Load of Bollocks

I’ve always fancied writing a blog.

Well for a good few years anyway.

And since then an old friend asked “Why are you writing the blog?”

Well I’ll tell you.

Finding my Feet Again

It was 2013, and had been over 10 years since I had spent any length of time living on my own.

As fresh faced young 20 something pup when I had just arrived in Aberdeen.

I’d just moved into a new city, a new country!

I had everything to prove to myself.

The Hardest Thing in the World

This is the hardest it’s felt to get started since I started my fledgling blogging career a week ago.

I didn’t really know what I wanted to write about initially when I started this blog on my business website so wrote abut my childhood and went from there, chronologically.

I‘ve felt a bit like Forrest Gump only on a keyboard.

Setting up Camp

The lovely dear I bought my house in Aberdeen from, Grace, had owned it since it was built.

Which was just after the war ended.

And the locals here make fun of English names!!

Fit a chik!

(Another) Englishman in Aberdeen

I came up to Aberdeen the week before Christmas in 2001.

It was a temporary contract with one weeks notice.

Almost 20 years later I still can’t escape the place!

A Letter to my Dad x

Dear Dad (Dav),

I am writing this letter to tell you how much I love and miss you.

I should have wrote this letter a long time ago.

Some people say this type of stuff at the funeral.

We were so immature and cut up that I don’t think any of us spoke. It’s all a bit of a blur to be honest.

It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re At

I’m originally from South Shields, north east England.

A special town.

It snuggles in a cosy spot right where the River Tyne meets the North Sea. It’s not Newcastle and it’s not Sunderland. And it never will be.

We’re not Geordies and we’re not Mackems. We’re Sanddancers.

And we’re proud.

Lockdown Benefits…

The human impact of the pandemic is horrendous, clearly but considering the self isolation aspect alone, pun intended, I have enjoyed the lockdown so far.

The main reason is that it has brought us much closer together as a family. The bonds between Sonny, Lola and myself have been strengthened massively.

And I am so grateful for this.

Ramblings of a First Time Blogger

Have you ever wanted to start something new but there always seems to be something else in the way like the day job or family duties?

So these great ideas or even dreams never materialise and you end up wondering what if.

Well, the idea of writing a blog has long been in my mind but the prospect of doing so would have been impossible a few years ago.