Alright, so buying a house does tend to somewhat zap funds available for going on a holiday. Luckily, Arran - where I've been practically every year since I was born, and absolutely love going to - is less than an hour down the road now, and only a little bit longer (and more expensive) on the ferry. So Scott and I went, stayed in a youth hostel, and slept through the worst storms the west of Scotland has seen in decades, impressively.