It always takes us some time nowadays to get on with personal projects in terms of editing and collating. Part of the reason for this is ‘life’! We love embarking on personal projects as much as we can, but perhaps we don’t always have the time to reflect like we used to. Our son, Frank is nearly 2 years old! The time is flying by, but we are living each moment from one day to the next as he grows into a little boy. Part of the joy of being work-at-home parents is that we do get to see those precious moments more often than not, and the plus side is we can take off when we like on various adventures, big or small!

So our first adventure we are sharing with you today is our family holiday in the Inner Hebrides towards the back end of the summer. We loaded Helen’s Dad’s 4×4 with everything but the kitchen sink and took off on a long trip up to Scotland. We say long, because the journey up to Glen Coe alone took us nearly 6 hours with a break in Moffat. Bear in mind that a toddler and a dog to entertain and stretch, these journeys take a lot longer than they used to. We only stayed for one night in Glen Coe, using it as a stop over for Skye rather than staying to explore the beautiful landscape. So onwards from Glen Coe we drove to Mallaig and took the passenger ferry to Armadale on Skye. We chose this route because it meant less time in the car and more time outside for Frank and Rudy. Our first taste of Skye was breathtaking. We enjoyed fantastic weather and toured around the south-west cost because we’d read some very lovely things about it. So our first afternoon on Skye was spent playing in the sea in a very quiet bay called Tarskavaig. We suddenly felt like we were on holiday after the very long journey getting there. Although we still had to drive to the north of the Island, this was a beautiful place for us to stop for a while and soak it all in.

We’d booked into a family friends cottage very close to Stein in Waternish for 5 nights. The croft cottage is a rustic little place, full of charm and family quirks such as games, books and ornaments. Frank and Rudy felt at home straight away! The views from which led out across the bay and we didn’t get board of sitting in the conservatory looking out at the sunsets that kept coming. The main thing that was a bit difficult for us on this holiday was the distance we had to travel to go and do things. It was a case of everytime we went out, back into the car and dealing with a stroppy Frank (and dog) who didn’t want to have to endure another car journey be it little or long.

However what we did experience was really appropriate to us as a family. We spent time at Dunvegan Castle and explored its interior and grounds. We enjoyed picnics in quiet bays, a walk to Neist Point, local markets and an afternoon in Portree. We didn’t try to do too much, we just wanted to enjoy the fine weather whilst we had it, and when the weather closed in, we hibernated! Reading books, snoozing and playing games at the cottage. This place is cut off from the world, no internet or phone reception meant we had time to switch off from work and enjoy quality time together.

When we left Skye we took another road trip to the Isle of Mull where we had booked into Adarchy House Hotel for 3 nights. Helen had previously been to Mull on a family holiday years ago and was pretty keen to go back. Staying on the south of the island meant we kept everything we did pretty local to where we were staying. We enjoyed long walks on the nearby beach, a trip to Iona, and a day on Fidden Bay, which plays host to some of the clearest waters in the UK. It’s even been described as one of the best wild water swimming places in Europe! It didn’t disappoint! Although we had some rain and wind, generally the weather stayed pretty fine for us whilst we were on Mull.

We really enjoyed an impromptu visit to Ardanalish Isle of Mull Weavers, where we had a little tour of the weaving factory wearing ear defenders along the way. It was really educational watching the weaver at work, operating the machinery and enjoying a cup of tea in the process. There was someone else doing some documentary photography while were there with a Leica m9! Definitely the right place for this camera.

We hadn’t really thought out the guest house situation very well with Frank and Rudy in tow. Our room was pretty small and Rudy had to bunk in with us! This meant a very wet, stinking dog coming in at the end of a day playing in the sea! Still he was amazing and we survived! It was nice to let someone else make breakfast for us for a few days. They are extremely hospitable at Adarchy House, but we didn’t think they were that well set up for families…so if we were to return to Mull, we’d definitely go down the self-catering cottage route. It just works so much better!

Our journey home took even longer because we traveled in one go from the south of Mull to the Lake District including the ferry journey over to Oban. We all survived, but breaking up the journey whenever possible is highly advised! Frank was a trooper in all honesty and we had enough entertainment to keep him going when we needed to! The main thing to think about on this sort of trip is to be flexible! Don’t put too much pressure on yourself to do as much as you can in terms of travel and the things you decide to do! It makes everything so much more fun for everybody if you can chop and change plans depending on the situation. So here we go…

(All images copyright to Roscoe Rutter Ltd shot with Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, Zeiss 18mm f4)