Holiday at home: a trip to the water park!

From Thursday:

1) Our day started with “special breakfast”. In this case it was freshly-made mini-doughnuts, with a choice of caramel sauce, chocolate sauce or maple syrup for dipping. Yum!

2) We proceeded to burn off those calories by spending the afternoon at The Time Capsule – an indoor waterpark.  Heaps of fun: flumes, water rides, wave machines, currents, slides, and a hot pool.

3) Finally, we had chicken and veggies cooked tempura-style for dinner – this was the first introduction the kids have had to tempura, and they both loved it!

One week in October.

In no particular order, here are some beautiful things from last week (beginning 8 Oct):

1) It was my beautiful little girl’s seventh birthday on Wednesday. We had friends round for birthday tea – after which we lit a Chinese lantern and watched it drift away across to the Ochils – the kids loved it.

2) In the evening of M’s birthday, K surprised me with a mini bottle of champagne 🙂 (after all, I was the one doing most of the work all those years ago!).

3) On Tuesday I ran away from all the madness surrounding me at home, and spent a lovely few hours in Edinburgh with a friend. It was a glorious autumn day, the views were wonderful, we had a lovely walk through the Meadows, and enjoyed coffee and cake in the National Museum brasserie.  A welcome escape from reality.

4) Before I went home, K popped out during his lunch hour, and we sat outside (yes, it really was warm enough) at Victor Hugo’s cafe on the Meadows, and ate lunch together. Uninterrupted by children.

5)To finally complete the skirt I shelved at the start of the summer – I really enjoyed wearing it for the first time.

6) I sewed three skirts for three special little girls.  And I still have Megan’s to complete.

7) Friday was hard. But in the midst of all the heartache and pain, a butterfly flitted about, and a rainbow appeared. During the church service before the committal at the crematorium, the Linlithgow Rugby Club Male Voice Choir gave the most beautiful and moving renditions of The Rose that I have ever heard.

Day out, perfect start, and planning.

1) The sun shone, the children played, we enjoyed a relaxed day with friends.  On the way home we stopped in at the cafe and had cupcakes for afternoon tea.

2) Breakfast this morning was perfectly poached eggs, on sourdough toast, topped with homemade hollandaise sauce and a sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper.

3) I finally find a design for M’s birthday cake that both K and I like. Later, I order her main birthday present.  As her birthday isn’t for another two and a half weeks, I feel super-organised 🙂 .

Walk in the Trossachs

1) Friday was fun – my friend and I checked out a new cafe in the morning, and then I spent the afternoon in class with A and M.  It was great to put faces to their new teachers, and to see the fun things they get up to, while they’re at school.

2) We went for a walk in the Trossachs on Saturday – it was stunningly beautiful, if somewhat wet underfoot (and we won’t say anything about the midges…)!

3) Church, followed by an afternoon nap, then my brother joined us for a non-traditional Sunday dinner of homemade pizza. A lovely day 🙂 .

Brave girl, all quiet, and fun outside.

1) Despite my warnings, M ran too fast on her way home from school on Friday afternoon. She fell, acquiring the worst set of grazes (8 plasters worth*, and that was just the ones which needed to be covered!) she’s ever had.  We weren’t far from home and, not once during the remaining walk, and the entire cleaning/dressing process, did she cry.  That’s my very brave girl!

2) On Saturday, we went to visit friends, after a fun trip to Dynamic Earth.  The kids all promptly vanished into the back garden and were barely heard from for over an hour 🙂 .

3) Bumping into friends unexpectedly at the Kinneil House Open Afternoon yesterday meant that the kids both had friends to do their activities with – a happy afternoon.

* 3 days on, and we’re down to just one!

A weekend away with friends.

About our weekend away:

1) We’re all full of excitement as we journey north-west through the Queen Elizabeth Forest Park, then up past Crianlarich onto the remote Rannoch Moor, through the stark beauty of Glen Coe, and on towards Ballachulish on the shores of Loch Leven, before crossing Loch Linnhe on the Corran Ferry. A journey through a particular stunning part of Scotland.

2) We arrive, and the first thing the kids want to do is jump in the swimming pool. They swim twice a day for the remainder of our stay. We swim, and enjoy the sauna.

3) Saturday brings a challenging hill-walk to the summit of Garbh Bheinn. It’s a tough 885m walk, up steep mountain sides, with an equally steep descent down the other side. We’re so proud of Aidan and Megan – I wouldn’t have believed they could do it, and the views from the top – from the Isles of Mull, Rhum and Eigg, and on round to Skye, then the Highlands, and Fort William, and stunning views of Ben Nevis, Glen Coe, and Loch Leven. So beautiful.

4) Evenings filled with good food, good wine, good company and fun games.

5) The weather holds the entire time we are there.

6) On Sunday we explore a beach beside an Iron-Age fort on the shores of Loch Sunnart. We see flowers, and shells, and seaweed, and scramble up rocks, and skirt around fallen trees. We visit the Garbh Eilean wildlife hide and eat our lunch as we watch the seals playing on the rocks nearby.

7) The kids have a go at playing snooker, and Freda (a crazy game which involved much running around a snooker table), and have heaps of fun.

8) Monday brings a slightly busier day as we pack up, before heading to Loch Doilet north of Strontian, for a walk through the forest, a river crossing, and a wander back before the lovely drive back to join our friends in Strontian.

9) I glance out of my bedroom window, high under the eaves of the house, and spy a huge silver-pale moon hanging low in the sky, framed by the crags shadowing the shores of Loch Linnhe.

10) We catch the last ferry back, and then the roads are pretty clear as we drive home. A fantastic weekend.

Climbing in the hills…

1) A glorious day spent climbing in the Ochils – we climbed Dumyat, a craggy 418m hill, situated at the western end of the Ochils, behind the Wallace Monument, Stirling.

 2) I started the day layered up against the predicted low temperatures. By the end I was down to two of my original six – the weather was just ideal :-).

3) We ended our hike with afternoon tea at the Coffee Bothy in Blairlogie, complete with delicious cakes. The whole day made pretty near perfect by the fact that we spent it with friends 🙂 .

Aidan, on the way up. 

Views across to the east, down the Forth Valley towards Edinburgh;

and to the north west, with the Highlands beckoning in the background. 
At the summit! 
Please click on any of the pics to see them in full size…

Sing-a-long, helping, and WIP Wednesday

1)  A bus, full of happy and excited children, all singing cheerfully along to the radio.

2) “Can we help make our dinner?”, say the kids.  

3) It’s Wednesday again, and I’ve been feeling hugely frustrated with my knitting recently. I have reached the point where I have hated knitting these fingerless gloves!!  The fiddliness of each finger, with its chocolate trim, meant insane numbers of ends to weave in… seldom have I ever been so frustrated by a project!  Still, here is Spring Project #3, almost complete!  Just need to seam it, and then it’s done!

Spring Project #3

Below is my Lacy Scarf – alas another source of frustration! I did a reasonable amount of knitting, only to discover I’d made a critical mistake and had to spend an equivalent length of time painstakingly undoing it all.  The good news: I’m back on track now…

Lacy Scarf

And finally, this little lot arrived in the post the other day… these are for my Summer Projects.  Aren’t the colours just lovely?  So restful 🙂 . I’m really looking forward to knitting with these.

Yarn for Summer Projects #1, #2, and #3.

For more of today’s Works-In-Progress, check out Tami’s blog

Explore, steam, and change of heart.

From yesterday:

1) The rain holds off, and we have a lovely explore of Corfe Castle.

2) We chuff slowly through the green countryside. I like to watch the puffy clouds of steam drift slowly along beside us.

3) He pushes his little sister away from the swing and won’t let her on. A few moments later, I spy him trying to lift her onto it.