As mentioned we did quite a lot in Ayrshire so this is why I am writing more about it on this blog. The house as mentioned was fantastic. It had 4 bedrooms, I office, large kitchen, utility, 3 bathrooms and large hallway. One of the bedrooms had a Sauna. This is the second house we stayed in which had a Sauna and this time Nigel took advantage. I don't like them but Nigel made the most of this. We are really fortunate as in most cases our hosts let us use all their facilities. It had an outside barbeque and large seat swing. We didn't get to use these as weather was not good. We have decided Scotland is probably not a place we want to settle as it is very cold and wet and the temperatures are much lower. However, being that much further north in summer the daylight hours are longer. When it's dark in Brixham midsummer at 10pm, in Scotland it is not dark until nearly midnight.

We did get to Ayr as well and talk about preconceived ideas. I had always assumed that Ayr was a large industrialised town but in fact it is very much like Torquay and Weston Super Mare, a sprawling seaside town. It is very popular with Scottish tourists especially families with small children. The beach is huge and sandy and fairly flat and it has beautiful views looking out at the Isle of Arran and up towards the Isle of Bute and beyond.

Having not been to church for a couple of weeks due to illness or travelling we looked online and found a spirit filled church in Ayr , so Sunday morning we put the postcode in our Sat Nav on the mobile phone and headed for church just to get some refreshing and input. It was a small building but when we got there most of the room was set up with table and chairs and a small coffee area at the back. The instruments were just a guitar and organ underneath a large window. We were given a lovely greeting and told to help ourselves to coffee or tea and biscuits. While there a few people came up and introduced them. There seemed to be a lot of nationalities and one lady a South African was thrilled to speak to us about the house sitting as her and her friend had their first sit in July and were anxious to know what it was like. We also met a couple from the Netherlands with a young baby who had come over the teach at the church for 6 weeks through YWAM( youth with a mission)a worldwide organisation whose sole aim is to get youth involved with mission work and knowing about God .

As the people finished their tea the music and worship started and it was all really relaxed and the meeting just seemed to flow with worship and music. The speaker got up but urged the music team to carry on as he felt God did not want him to speak but to encourage more fervent worship and prayer. As the service went on they started praying for healing and those who wanted healing were encouraged to make themselves known so people could gather round and pray so Nigel stood up and the guy from the Netherlands put his hands on Nigel's knees and started to pray. Now Nigel is very logical and analytical and does not make emotional decisions but he started to the pain from his knees subsiding. In fact the more the guy prayed the better his knees felt. In fact he put his sticks down and started to walk around just in case it was because of the warmth from his hands. But the pain had gone. The speaker encouraged people to come to the front who had felt some change from the healing prayers and Nigel got up (which is definitely not like him) and walked to the front with no sticks. He testified how he was pain free. All I could do was look on and cry with tears of joy. His knees were completely pain free for several days and although some pain has come back he can now walk the dogs for at least an hour which he couldn't do before.

We were only in Scotland for 2 weeks but then have a weeks' break and had still been unable to find another sit. The minibus was still not sorted so we made the decision to buy a smaller tent and head south towards North Yorkshire again. The weather was supposed to be ideal camping weather dry and hot so we let the boys have our 8 berth tent and purchased a smaller 5 man tent, plus camping cooker, electric cool box, chairs and electric hook up. To us this is an investment as we can use in the future and some items will be of dual use for the mini bus or camper when we get it back.

It has been great house sitting but it is also nice to have a break from walking dogs and looking after animals so the camping meant a bit of relaxation. It was a long way down to Yorkshire and we had not slept well for a couple of nights so decided to book into a guesthouse in Ayr the first night. Booking .com found us a very lovely guesthouse called Blackburn villa at a very reasonable price. The lady Karen there was so welcoming and the next morning at breakfast we sat around a large dining table with other guests eating breakfast and made some great friends a young couple from Singapore who was at university in Glasgow and London. We also met an older couple from Stranraer who were taking a few days break from the kids. We were still at the breakfast table chatting an hour after breakfast had been eaten. Fantastic. We also picked up a potential 2 people for more house sitting assignments for next year. It has been great and we have also been invited back to Bridgend and Symington and Newcastle for more house sits in the future which is very encouraging. We have decided we do need to get some cards printed as everywhere we go we are getting opportunities opening up for potential house sits. Every one whom we have told what we are doing is fascinated and really interested and enthusiastic. I have taken the week off next week from work and so has Nigel so we are going to make it a holiday and we are really looking forward to it.