Exploring the UK: Golspie, Sutherland, The Highlands, Scotland

Last week I travelled up to The Highlands to visit an old school friend who's a teacher up there. It was the furthest North I'd ever ventured in the UK and what a sight for sore eyes the region is! We travelled around to quite a few little towns so I thought I'd concentrate on each one in a few posts.

The Highlands had been on my bucket list for a while so I was looking forward to doing plenty of exploring. We headed to Golspie as we had tickets to see the stunning Dunrobin Castle* at the bottom of the town. The fairytale castle perched above walled gardens dates back to over an incredible 700 years ago. It has been the home of the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland since the 13th century - making Dunrobin one of the oldest inhabited houses in Scotland. At 11am and 2pm there's an incredible falconry show put on in the grounds. To be honest, I wasn't really prepared to be impressed. Birds? Pah! I'd seen an owl one before and it was a little bit boring. But this one? This one was amazing. The gentleman was so knowledgable and made it fun. The falcon flew straight over my boyfriends head, just skimming his hair.

After refuelling on a jacket potato and plenty of cake, we headed to the Big Burn in search of waterfalls. The walk is only a 2.5km round trip through lush, green woodland. Pack sensible shoes - not *ahem* boots with a heel - and don't forget your camera. The scenery was absolutely stunning on every corner you turn. There's just something so relaxing and mesmerising about watching the loud waterfall echoing in your ears. After being rewarded by an impressive, gushing waterfall it was well worth the muddy boots!

We drove back as the sun was setting, leaving the sandy beach in the distance. There was more exploring to do in the morning!

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Money doesn't always equal happiness

Money. Money makes the world go round. Or so everyone leads you to believe. I was one of these people who spent money like water. I wanted to do everything and anything. I still do. But I don't have a full time job. So that makes it kinda hard.

At first I was unbelievably upset that I couldn't have my monthly spree on ASOS, treat myself to a Pret baguette or go out for spontaneous Friday night drinks. I moped around whining and sulking about the fact my bank account wasn't regularly being topped up by wages.  But then all my family, boyfriend and friends rallied round me. I realised money wasn't the centre of my happiness. They were.

When everything comes crashing down around you, you start to question where you are in life and how you get out of the rut, these are the people who have your back. They're the people who help you realise nothing's the end of the world. You just have to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and get back on the life road full steam ahead. They help you belly laugh, smile until your jaw aches and help you get back in the game. If they're lovely boys, they may even buy you a beautiful bunch of flowers to let you know they're thinking of you. Or if they're good parents they'll bring you home a bottle of perfume from their travels and treat you to dominos to cheer you up. Or friends who send you hilarious memes to remind you why you're friends in the first place.

Next time you feel down about your lack of friends, remember money isn't central to your happiness. The people you surround yourself by are. Don't take them for granted.

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Introducing the new ASDA Italian ready meal range

Ready meals have such a bad reputation. They're billed as tasteless, unhealthy and quite frankly, a little bit rubbish. However, ASDA were having none of this and took themselves to explore the many regions of Italy to ensure an authentic taste. Pretty cool eh? Each one features truly local ingredients and they've really work hard to ensure they're packed full of intense and gorgeous flavour.

I luckily got to try four different dishes - it's a hard job but someone had to do it. I was very impressed with the quality and the rich flavour of each meal.They didn't have any of the blandness you come to expect from a ready meal. I'm usually a bit of a snob but I had to eat my words - and pasta! - when it came to these dishes. My personal favourite were the chunky succulent pork meatballs in a fresh tomato sauce served with thick bucatini pasta. ASDA have tried really hard to use a variety of pastas to help their customers experiment. Non-pasta dishes have also been introduced such as gnocchi and potatoes. 

Not content with bringing 18 brand new ready meals to the shelves, they've introduced a new chilled fresh-baked breads to the equation. Keep an eye out for the incredible sweet caramelised onion bread topped with gooey cheese. Perfection!

The ready meal range starts at just £2.18 making them great if you're on a tight budget one week yet don't want to compromise on taste. They're three for £6 at the minute too - catch them while you can!

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