lifestyle blogger – BOOTY AND BEAUTY

Since having Harper, myself and Robbie haven’t managed to secure a night away together, amongst sorting our lives out and being a part of what seems to be a hurricane of events when living our daily lives and being parents, so you can imagine the excitement when we decided to escape our parenting duties and head off to MHOR84 for a date night away, with no distractions.

Being the true Cape Tonian that I am, I am an absolute sucker for scenery and all things nature related. The drive to MHOR84 was so beautiful, cruising through quaint little Scottish towns, past Loch Lubnaig, with sightings of free roaming cattle.

MHOR84 is nestled in amongst the Trossachs of Scotland, making it an ideal location for active families, couples, tourists, or anyone who fancy’s popping into the restaurant for a bite to eat, followed by an adventure of cycling, walking, hiking, or jogging. Or, you could keep your bottom plonked down with an array of drinks and bites flowing your way.

We were greeted by friendly, warm staff, who showcased plenty of banter across the bar area later that night, but who were also very attentive to our orders of gin, gin, and more gin!

Our room, was simple, clean and quirky, with a touch of rustic living, which is right up my alley. We had a beautiful view of the surrounding forestry, which was gorgeous to look at, considering we had an afternoon nap (typical parents) and could treat the eyes to such exquisite views.

Simplicity is key! We loved the few Scottish touches to our room.

During our stay, we really went all out with the food and drinks, and definitely ate our weekly calories in one sitting. Yes, myself and Robbie are little piglets at the thought of delicious food! The lunch menu was super simple. I had muscles and fries, and boy did I get some muscles! They were honestly the best ones and meatier than ever! I have. Think fresh and garlicy, with drippings of delicious juiciness! The portion sizes are incredibly generous, with average prices too. Robbie had the Scottish Rarebit, which he was pretty much silent for the entire consumption of his meal. Surely that’s a good sign?

Muscles, muscles and more muscles! What a beautiful way to enjoy some lunch!

The evening menu is separate from the day menu, and is dedicated to dinner meals, starters and an array of delectable homemade desserts. Again, I’d be lying if I said that our evening meal was anything short of complete lip smacking activities. Feeling guilty due to my generous face stuffing at lunch time, I opted for a salad to go with my Prosecco. Talk about balance! My oh my, was this honestly the fullest, leafiest, and most bloody divine salad I have ever had! Robbie opted for the sirloin steak which was a bit pricey, but in his words, it was “totally worth it”.

Dinner is served! Born up a tree! (Bon Appetit!) Just the way I like my garnish!

Steak and chips!

We sat outside, overlooking the Trossachs and taking in the Summer sunshine, while enjoying our dinner. We moved inside towards the bar area where more foodie events took place. The inside area was super cosy, right next to the fire.

Enjoying the sunshine with dinner! How romantic!

The ambiance of MHORE84 is super chilled, and one thing that really stood out to me was being allowed to actually enjoy our meal, without a feeling of being rushed out so that the next customer could come in. All of our meals were freshly cooked, and served with a smile! It makes all the difference!

This room expresses the quirkiness that MHOR84 is!

Check – out was at 11am the next day, so Robbie and I decided to take advantage and have a much needed lie in the next morning, grab some breakfast and head off for a fabulous morning cycle to Lochearnhead. I haven’t really cycled since I was about 12, so this excursion was quite an eventful one, as you can imagine. I nearly face planted a few times.

Breakfast!

I must also say that, the staff at MHOR are superbly honest too. We received a call from them just after check out, when we were plodding along having a riveting experience of face plants on what was meant to be a romantic cycle, to let us know that we had left a bottle of wine that we bought in the room.

We appreciate the honesty, MHOR. Parents totes need their wine! The MHOR, the merrier!

All in all, I would 100% recommend spending a night at this lovely getaway. There is also plenty MHOR to see from this brand, as it is actually a collection, ranging from a Motel, Fish shop, bakery, and have their own farm.

There is also a little quirky side shop, filled with plenty of rustic bits and bobs!

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

xxx

P.S This is an unbiased review. Our room or food was not sponsored by MHOR84. All payment was made by us.

It’s not every day that you fall in love with a Scotsman who you’ve met in your home country on a wild night out.

It’s also not every day that you two quit your jobs and make plans to travel overseas together after dating for only THREE months.

And it CERTAINLY is not every day that you happen to find out 3 weeks after arriving in Scotland together that there’s a baby on the way!

It is however every day, that families are split apart by visas.

And it is also every day that all the plans that you two have together get put on hold while temporary plans are made, knowing that many months will be spent apart.

I am not complaining about this, I am simply stating facts about our little friend called “life”. Life is weird. Life is unpredictable. It is also happy and sometimes it can be sad. Life can be fair and of course, something that the boyfriend and I are experiencing now – life can be pretty damn unfair at times. But alas, with life, we learn how to deal. Whether you’re dealing together or apart, you still just deal.

Smiles and flaring nostrils in Windsor!

When leaving Scotland to come home to South Africa to apply for my next visa, my other half and I said our goodbyes to each other. Trying to brighten a sad moment between ourselves, we kept saying that it’s “not for long” and that “I’d be back soon”, but of course there were tears. Airports can be such happy places, but also such sad ones too.

We already knew that it was a risk for me to be flying back to South Africa because of how far along I was in my pregnancy at the time, not knowing how long my next visa could take to be approved or not. The fact that the visa that I was currently on was the incorrect one to begin with wasn’t really working in our favour either, but we were only trying to fix our visa agency’s mistake. We had 4 weeks to get my next visa sorted. This would take us to my last week of pregnancy where I would still be allowed to fly back on the airplane. We had everything planned and I flew home with all of our visa documents.

Fooling around at Loch Lomond Shores!

Those 4 weeks turned into 6 months. Yes, SIX whole months – for reasons that I choose to not explain, but let’s just say that we weren’t dealing with the brightest cookie in the jar via the visa agency.

Over the next 3 months, my other half will be missing out on my growing tummy – our growing tummy. He will be missing out on feeling our baby’s kicks, and watching our baby grow. He won’t be here for our baby scans, or be able to listen to our baby’s heartbeat at the check-ups.

Over the next 6 months, there will be no more night time cuddles or Sunday morning breakfasts together. He’ll have to start making his own packed lunches for work and doing his own laundry (always a huge deal for men). I won’t be there to welcome him home after a long day at work or spend our usual nights cooking dinner together in our kitchen.

A day of exploring in Edinburgh!

We have started our life together in Scotland. We have our own home. Our own space. Our own routine and independence.

We had it all planned that we would be having our baby in the UK. We had been going to regular midwife appointments and had met the lady who would be delivering our baby. Everything was comfortable and we had everything figured out.

It’s been a week since we have found out that we will be apart and things have settled. We have had to move forward from what we cannot change. We have had to re plan the birth of our baby, which will now be taking place in Cape Town and my other half has now planned to work plenty of over time to make up for the cost of us having to live double lives and to earn enough leave days to fly to Cape Town for the birth of our baby.

Our first rugby game together in Scotland!

There is a silver lining to every situation. One thing that we both need to remember is that this is all temporary and will be fixed with something more permanent. What I am learning is that there is no amount of distance that will keep us apart. There are always risks with the things that we do, and while living our little friend called “life”, these risks taken can sometimes have unpredictable consequences.

In “life”, regardless of the situation, with every challenge thrown our way, we always need to try our best to be positive and look at the situation from all angles. We are handed situations for a reason, but we just haven’t quite figured this one out yet.

Not only will this make us even stronger than what we are, this will also make us appreciate the time that we do actually spend together. At the end of the day, this is also a small sacrifice for a much bigger picture of our hopes and plans for our family.