There goes my Mum...

The Champion

The Fun-seeker

There goes my Mum - 87 wonderful years. She left this world last Thursday. She left with peace, serenity and a smile. 

She was a champion of racket sports, an organiser of all things, a helper to those that needed it. She was a strong, determined woman but at the same time a woman who liked to have fun.

Thank you Mum. You’ve left me with so much – your indominatable spirit, your sense of quietly looking out for those in need, your ability to step up and just go and do something if you thought it needed doing. You were a strong driving force, always trying to do what you believed was right.

I’ll miss you. God bless Mum. I guess you just finally ran out of puff.  

Mum and Grandmum

Highs and Lows...

The world just now seems to constantly see-saw between seemingly trivial yet massively joyous happenings, to unexpected and exaggeratedly disappointing events. It's a coronacoaster world of highs and lows, and is simply the product of the world of restrictions within which things can change quite quickly. For us, our own plans have see-sawed, having been impacted by various degrees of lockdown constraining our trips away and by bouts of self-isolation due to close contact with those testing positive for covid.

Still, like the evolutionary beasts we are, we’ve been constantly trying to adapt and plan for all eventualities. And as autumn deepens and winter approaches we’ve developed new found indoor activities in the shape of a newly acquired Wii (thanks to the Southern Rookes 😊) and finally completing the Lego campervan after 4 months of trying. Plus we've fallen back on some tried and tested favourites of box-play and hide and seek. It’s certainly been testing our creativity to the max.

But when we’ve been allowed and the weather has permitted, we’ve also been out and about enjoying autumns finest in the shape of a boat trip on Loch Katrine, climbing Ben A’an and Tomtain, as well as branching out to playparks new and endless variations of tig in the garden. So where restrictions have meant cancellations, delays and disappointment – we’ve tried to bounce right back to looking at what we can do instead. Generally though I've found the kids to be so much more resilient and accepting than us adults – we should all try to be much more like them and flow with the current rather than trying to swim against the tide. There really is much to be said for the ‘Power of Now’, a lesson I should heed well to stablilise those highs and lows.

The Crew atop Ben A'an

All aboard!

In the middle of Loch Katrine

The Arrochar Alps

Cap'n Niomi

En route up Tomtain in unexpected sunshine

Morning mist over Kilsyth

Box play

Daddy's defeat...the first of many

It's even fun getting winter coats out!

4 months effort with the kids 'helping'

Garden fun whilst the weather holds

It's Maths Week...

Last week was Math's Week at Emily's school...and it appears we now have budding dramameticians in the family. Not sure they're vying for the Oscar's just yet but I guess everyone started somewhere...

Videoclip: It's Maths Week