When you’re travelling with young children, it’s always good to go
armed with some ideas of what to do of the weather is foul and you’re
on need of some indoor activity. During our October break we spent
some time at the Ceramic Experience just near Ocean Terminal, making a
lovely surprise for Grandma’s birthday.

Edinburgh is a wonderful place to spend time at any time of year, but
my favourite time of year is in September or October after the frenzy
of the Festivals is over and Edinburgh is getting back to ‘normal’. I
took this photo while out shopping on a Saturday afternoon. We were
just heading from Princes Street up to the Royal Mile as we wanted to
price some pieces of kit to complete a kilt outfit before the party
and dinner season got into full swing. On the way the view from
outside the Royal Scottish Academy through the Waverley Valley towards
the Forth caught my eye, and armed with only the camera on my phone I
still think I captured quite a good shot. Hope it will inspire you to
come and stay at Craigwell Cottage some time.

Our first morning at Craigwell Cottage looked a bit drizzly, so the
idea of walking over to The Manna House for croissants turned into a
quick trip in the car. But the croissants, petit pains au chocolat and
Mediterranean cheese swirls which we brought back were soon polished
off, and we were ready for a bit of light DIY. But it was not that
simple. Having dismantled the bed which had reached the end of its
useful life, we opened the new box to
find that the new one was in an even worse state. Time to hit the
phone. While Sandy took the old bed off to the dump (where he had to
put up with the predictable comments), we climbed up to the garden and
took some photos looking over the rooftops to Holyrood Park.

Just beginning to experiment with my new iphone and mobile blogging – so forgive this photo! It was meant to show that the minute we arrived at Craigwell Cottage for the weekend, we kicked back, and relaxed in front of the TV while the kids got ready for bed.

No, we’re not crazy! But as Sandcastle Cottage is booked during the
school holidays, we’ve decided to take the kids to the big city for
the weekend. Yes, our first stay at Craigwell Cottage in the heart of
Edinburgh’s Old Town. I’m hoping to put up some blog postings about
what we do while we’re here. More to come.