Welcome to the August instalment of ‘Life Within Four Corners’, where I share some of my favourite Instagram photos, and the stories that went along with them, from the preceding month. You can find out all about Life Within Four Corners here, and I’d love it if you joined in by sharing some of your favourite monthly photos and stories too! You can also get involved on Instagram using the hashtag #lifewithinfourcorners, and at the end of each month I’ll pick a few of my favourites to post up on my feed (thanks so much again to those of you who’ve already been joining in!)
We’ve been enjoying some fab end-of-summer weather here in Caithness, and it’s been lovely to see the neighbourhood kids out playing in the street and on their bikes. I snapped this photo of my youngest doing exactly that a couple of weeks ago – as regular readers will know, catching the sunset is one of my very favourite things!
Sunset cycling aside, we did of course have the return to school to contend with, and I wrote something of a swan song to our summer holidays a bit earlier in the month. I was lucky to have gym shoes for this photo as they only arrived a day before the schools re-opened (down to my last minute tendencies rather than any delay by a well known shoe retailer, I should add!)
We met these friendly cows on a weekend wander recently – having a slightly silly fear of cattle, I wouldn’t normally be so brave as to photograph them had they not just suddenly appeared. I think they were very curious about who was making all the noise on a peaceful Sunday in the countryside. With two children on bikes and the dog running around we tend to stick to quiet lanes!
I do pretty much ALL the cooking at home (grumpy face), and as chief cook and bottle washer I often post a few pictures of our favourite family meals. I had lots of people asking where to find the recipe for this delicious gluten free chicken curry. If you fancy trying it you’ll find it in the Hemsley sisters book The Art of Eating Well.
I’ve been trying to get back into using my bullet journal since the new school term started, cue several photos of my weekly spreads accessorised with books and cups of tea. I’ll try to post something on my new bullet journal layouts in the near future. Although they do take time to set up, they really help keep my week on track!
Last weekend the whole family took a hike up Ben Bhraggie in Golspie, an interesting walk that involved lots of nice scenery, a hairy caterpillar sighting and a picnic at the top. Although the statue at the summit is famous for all the wrong reasons (it depicts the first Duke of Sutherland who was involved in the Highland Clearances), it did give us a prompt to discuss this sorry part of Scottish history with the kids. It was a hike with a history lesson we might not otherwise have considered telling. For that reason I think perhaps ‘The Mannie’, as he is known locally, should stay exactly where he is.
We also made a visit to Beauly earlier in August, which is a beautiful place if you’re ever in the locality – as well as a must-see for fans of the Outlander time travel series (Beauly is smack bang the heart of Clan Fraser country and Beauly Priory is where Claire meets the seer Maisri in the television show). In fact, Diana Gabaldon, who wrote the Outlander
August has also seen the usual shots of days out in wellies and children walking into the distance, what would life be without dreamy horizons and of course more pictures of my dog?
And whichever direction September takes lets hope it’s a good one folks. Do pop over and say hello on Instagram if you’re on there – and I’ll see you again next month for more adventures in stories, rectangles and squares.
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What a lovely month and lovely photos to go with it. We’ve had rare sunshine this month. This is what I like about September, it’s usually much drier with beautiful skies. Have a lovely month hon x
Thanks Susan, yes Autumn can be really lovely. The last few days have been pretty good here, hoping for more of the same for a little while yet! xx