Summer 08

The nichts are fair drawin in, and the only remaining vestiges of summer are the midges and ticks, which hopefully soon will go the way of the warm days and late sunsets. We never got away this summer but still managed to somehow spend more than we would have if we'd gone on holiday. Oh well! Now we're paying for it with strict budget cuts and frugal living, so we're feeling a bit poor. Never mind all that though, here are some of the highlights of our summer in pictures.

The last month of summer term we had Zoë and her friend Monica staying with us and attending Ullapool High School. Not sure what they made of school in Scotland, but we loved having them around even if they did slink off to Perth every weekend, foiling our dreams of free babysitting. Thanks guys.

We thought we had a few years left before the kids started going in for wild hairdos, but Mhairi got started at the school sports day at the end of term.

Finlay mastered his two wheeler at the start of the hols and has rarely been off it since.

The outdoor pursuit of the summer was swimming in the river near home. Here's me having a wee jump. Note the weird convex warping effects the g-force seems to have on my abdomen.

I managed to get out once or twice on the mountain bike. Joe looks much better than me though.

After 8 years in Ullapool, everyone except me (Dave) finally made it on to the ferry to Lewis. Grandma, Grandad, Auntie Jockie and Rowan came too. It was atmospherically dreich.

We did get away camping once for a few days, just down the coast at Gairloch. It's always nice to camp right on the beach and we got the new canoe out a few times. This picture's a good one because it almost looks like Christine knows what she's doing.

There were several walks up the hill at the back of the house. This one obviously took its toll on Joe and Christine.

My pal Jeff came over for a whirlwind tour of Scotland and to see a Man Utd game at Old Trafford. The game was rubbish, but Scotland's glory made up for the disappointment that is Engerland.

It was nice to have a visit from Uncle Cobb at the end of August, but a little worrying to see him turning back to the old ways, albeit in a funky Kajagoogoo stylee.

Joe won 5 gold medals at the Beaver Scouts Olympics. As Beaver leader, I had to restrain all the fatherly-pride celebrations till we got home.

The other day we had a wee explore of the caves at Rhue.

A walk wi' the bairns

Yesterday we took advantage of the sunny weather and took the kids up Stac Pollaidh for the first time. We all made it up as far as was safe and were thrilled when they reached the top.

It's 613m (2008 ft) high needless to say we are proud of them walking all the way unaided with the exception of Fin who was only carried about 1/3 of the way. We played lots of games and sang lots of songs to distract them from their weariness and they excelled. Dave and I forgot to put the suncream on so we all ended up with a little too much sun but it's nice to have a rosy complexion right?

Visitors

We had a wee visit from my Auntie Shona, Uncle Malcolm & their dog Norman this week. I don't seem to have many photos but here's the couple that I did take. We had some nice walks in and around the village and enjoyed getting to know one another a bit better. They'd exhausted Fin so much that he fell asleep in the bath! It was lovely to spend one on one time with them and we hope to see them again soon, although we can't guarantee the the weather would be so outstanding again.

- Joe wearing Uncle Malcolm's hat-

- Fin sleeping in the bath -

Easter Holidays

The holidays passed in a flash but we managed to squeeze lots in. The first week of the holidays Dave spent half the week in bed with a flu like bug that both Fin and I had the previous two weeks. I tried to let the fact that we had planned to tile our en-suite bathroom that week go, and give him some TLC and keep the kids out of his way. He eventually got started and managed to take half the wall down when he removed a few of the old tiles which were already there. The short version is he's started but not NOT finished...yet!

The second week we travelled down via Oban to visit family in Perth and Fife. We spent Saturday night and Sunday morning visiting McCaig's folley, Dunstaffnage Castle & The bridge over the Atlantic before going to church and heading over to Perth. The rest of the week was spent around Stanley, Edinburgh and the Trossachs. The kids had a wee game of Crazy golf in Stanley and decided they liked the third hole best, see below.

Wednesday we spent the day with my parents and went to Castle Campbell in Dollar.

We stayed a lot longer than planned due to Finlay dropping his backpack full of his favourite cars down a deep gorge...

below John Knox's pulpit, and Dave insisting on retrieving it by removing his trousers and wading up the river in his underpants! (you can ask him for the full version).
Thursday was the long drive home again to get ready for school starting back the following week.

Easter

Here's a few snaps we took over Easter weekend. The kids had fun decorating their eggs and rolling them down the hill although Fin was a bit bewildered with what was going on! I also took a photo of some daffodils in the gadren, one of my favourite flowers. I also took the opportunity to update the family on how the kids looked these days!

Well Done Joe

Joe came home recently and asked if he could have a Buff which was £17.99! We explained that we thought this was a lot of money to be spending on a scarf and that we didn't think we could justify such an expense but that if he could save his pocket money and work harder around the house then he could earn enough money to buy it himself. A few weeks later (after a couple of visits from the tooth fairy, extra work around the house and foregoing his usual Saturday morning trip down to get a sweetie from the paper shop with Dad) he had earned enough money to buy it himself. When we ordered it they sent the wrong one so I phoned to explain and they said they'd send him the right one and he could keep the one they'd sent by mistake so he was doubly thrilled! We're so proud of him, Joe's a hard worker and when he sets his mind to it nothing can stop him.

I made this!

I recently attended a creative textile embroidery course here in Ullapool where I spent 6 evenings learning new techniques and different ways of using my very basic and old sewing machine to make out of the ordinary designs. I was totally out of my confort zone but loved it and felt inspired to nourish my creative side more often, although the sewing machine hasn't moved since! Here's the first of many products which I hope to create.

Valentine's Day

We thought you'd like to see the lovely cards and biscuits that were made on Valentine's Day for us. The kids had each made me a card and Dave and I had each bought a card, I was treated to breakfast in bed which resulted in orange juice on the duvet and Fin made these lovely heart shaped biscuits at nursery in the morning. The family all came home for lunch together and in the evening Dave resisted the temptation of playing footie for 2 hours so he could woo me with a romantic comedy and some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It was a lovely sunny day and we all had a great time.

Birthday Baking

I couldn't resist taking these pictures of Fin helping clean up after making a chocolate birthday cake for a friend's birthday this week...I think he's inherited Dave's ideas of tidying!

Sledging smiles

We had our first snow fall of the season so took the kids sledging for the first time this year. Here's a few snaps of the family.

January

Most of January saw the usual miserable weather here, but we managed to wrap up and get out between the showers once or twice.

- Achmelvich Beach -

- Ullapool Hill -

Merry Christmas!

Here's a few snaps of our Christmas morning at home with the kids. We thought we were in for our first very early Christmas morning with the kids when Joe appeared at 11pm on Christmas Eve to ask if it was time to go and see if Santa had been yet! After a disturbed night with several visits from Mhairi and Joe we went down stairs around 7am to start the day. All Fin wanted was a new Doc Hudson to replace the other 3 he had lost but once he got into the swing of it his list kept growing. By the time Christmas morning had come he'd opened several presents so was thrilled to actually be allowed to open them as I struggled to keep up with the notebook and pen madly trying to make a note of who got what from whom.

- Joe with his new guitar -

- Mhairi, Joe and Fin with blankets made by Auntie Missy and Auntie Katie -

- Joe and Fin enjoying the wrapping as much as the presents -

It was nice to be able to catch up with family on the phone in the evening and spend some quality time with my mum and dad over the festive season, we just wish we could be together more often. We miss you all very much.

Barcelona

Dave and I managed to get away for a long weekend to Barcelona. We left on Thursday for three nights. We visited Montjuic, see picture above, took a trip on a few cable cars and went to see the fountains at night. Dave had to attend a Spanish teachers conference on Friday and Saturday while I relaxed and stepped out of my comfort zone.

We had been there two years ago and I had done all the touristy sights then so this time I decided to visit Montserrat, a spectacularly beautiful Benedictine monastery/mountain retreat about one hour North West of Barcelona by train.

It was fantastic and felt good to be able to get there and back without my handsome Spanish speaking guide by my side although I did feel a bit lonely at times. I'd forgotten what a nice treat it is to have a few days together without the children.