Many of the items on my ever increasing bucket list relate to staying in unusual places. I've already scored off a Treehouse, a Gypsy Caravan and a Hobbit House. Next on the list was a Lighthouse. It was actually when we were staying at the Hobbit that our hostess Carole recommended we should investigate Buchan Ness Lighthouse Holidays. Foodie Loon must have been listening as he gave me a gift voucher for a night's stay for my birthday. When we booked our Saturday night for the beginning of December the idea of being cosied up in a Lighthouse Keepers Cottage in the run up to Christmas sounded idyllic. Little did we know what the weather would be like.
We arrived mid afternoon and it was blowing a hoolie. The doors almost got wrenched off the car when we opened them. If you had left the handbrake off, the car could have got blown into a wall. (not that anyone would have been stupid enough to do that... Lets just be thankful there was a wall in the way of the North Sea)
We were staying in Dundonnie Cottage which was cosy warm and inviting. We weren't the only residents on the island as there were a couple staying opposite us in Skerry Cottage. The decor throughout was lovely with lots of quirky touches that tied in with the nautical theme but not too much to make it twee. Plenty of games and books to keep the kids amused and a very well equipped kitchen.
All the windows had wooden shutters so we battened down the hatches to keep out the elements and quickly set to to lighting a fire. Because I was there as a Birthday gift our hostess Sheila kindly presented me with a card and a bottle of Bucks Fizz. A lovely thought and most appreciated.
I'd brought along a gift of my own for Foodie Loon. I'd spotted a Port in a Lighthouse bird feeder on sale at John Lewis and combined this with biscuits and cheese. We even managed to get it flashing later in the evening by replacing the now drunk Port with a candle.
Having explored all the nooks and crannies inside we wrapped up and headed outside, holding on to each other to avoid being blown away. The decking and BBQ weren't of much use to us on this occasion but I can imagine it would be a rather idyllic setting in the right conditions. We stocked up on firewood and peat from the shed, rescued a wheelie bin and headed back indoors to the fire.
We had booked to go out for dinner but decided to cancel and cosy up with a takeaway instead. The boys were dispatched to the chip shop and returned with our enormous Fish Suppers. Just before 10pm the storm began to die down and we headed outside (in our onesies) for some stargazing. The sky was fantastically clear although there was sporadic light pollution every 5 seconds...
Due to our stay taking place in the middle of my Foodie Advent Calendar I'd planned for us to make Reindeer Pancakes for breakfast. The perfect one included in the calendar had three somewhat mutant friends. Thankfully they were all fully (light)house trained.
We awoke to a beautiful clear and sunshiny day but the wind was still fierce and the waves were buffeting with lots of foamy spray being blown onto land. Time to say goodbye to lighthouse A3280 and we crossed the bridge from our Island back to the mainland.
So where to stay next is the question? Need to set up a savings plan for The Ice Hotel but meantime I might just have booked somewhere special for a long weekend in February. But I can't tell you where as its a Birthday present. Unless you can keep a secret?
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