It's another double blog day! As part of my blog tour for 'This Family Life' I'm over on the Novel Kicks website waffling on about how new parents have to juggle work and being at home, while over here you have a treat because the very funny Heather Hill has written a blog just for you. If you don't know Heather, she's a very funny Scottish lady who's just released her debut novel 'The New Mrs D', which has been getting lots of great reviews. You can get it right here. So without further ado, here's Heather talking about a recent holiday she took in Scotland.
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| The lovely Heather Hill |
Last week, I took a break from writing for a
family holiday off the north coast of Scotland. I was in Sutherland, expecting
rain, high winds and a blue tan, yes, but looking forward to taking in some
breath-taking scenery. Yet I was pleasantly surprised because we had what
turned out to be a glorious week, where I even got to stand on the very same
beach John Lennon played on every summer from the age of nine to seventeen. John’s
family had a holiday cottage in the stunning little village of Durness, and he
would go there for three weeks during the school holidays. And as I stood
taking in the immense, wild beauty of Sangobeag Beach, pondering the childhood
experiences of one of Britain’s greatest artistic talents, I thought, ‘his
midgie bite collection must have been streets ahead of mine.’ Because, after
just one day there, I had a braille tattoo where my back used to be. I’m not
sure, but I think it said, ‘thanks for lunch’.
There were scores of them, buzzing round my
head and taking aim at me like I was King Kong and they were tiny American army
pilots. On one particularly damp morning, I found myself emerging from a cloud
of them, saying, ‘and tonight Matthew, I’m going to be… Sting!‘
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| SANGOBEG BEACH, SUTHERLAND, SCOTLAND |
In Sutherland, they have a weather forecast and a midgie forecast. Although I found
there weren’t so many of the little buggers on the beaches, they seemed to like
hanging out most around fresh water places. But I’ll share a bit of actual-factual
info that could save your skin - only the female’s bite. So if you can stick to
just being pals with the Mr Midgies, you’ll be fine. But you must, must go to
Sutherland. Nowhere does stunning scenery, peace, tranquility and miles and
miles of white, sandy, almost deserted beaches like the Scottish Highlands. And
I went to Cape Wrath! Yes, ‘I’ stood on the edge of a cliff at the most north
western tip of the British Isles and didn’t fall off. Sorry about that.
Now I am refreshed.
In the words of The Big Yin, one of my comedy
heroes, Billy Connolly, ‘you should go to Scotland, it’s a fabbie place.’ And
now, I must haste me back to writing my next novel.
You have been reading comedy writer, author
and mum of five (not the band) Heather Hill. You’ll find my blog here at: www.hell4heather.com, my daily
thoughts and musings on Twitter @hell4heather and my genuinely hilarious debut
novel, ‘The New Mrs D’, here: www.bit.ly/TheNewMrsD
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| THE NEW MRS D - VERY FUNNY! |
Until next time.
Hugs,
Jon X
