It’s been a year of Rainbows – and up here we’ve finished it off in style.
My ‘work’ with YourKirky www.yourkirky.com has ended the year on a high. We made local and national press and the film we made of the project was seen by over 7,500 people (grab a tissue). We even got a mention in the Scottish Parliament.
Truly awesome – go team YourKirky…
To view the video (highly recommeded) and spot ALL the Rookes at various points click here
And so with Lockdown Part 2 in mid-flight, most activities cancelled and lots of shops shut; there really was nothing else for it. It was time to start Christmas early...in November. It used to be that Christmas didn't start till after my birthday in mid- December, but kids put paid to that. Then it didn't really start until the first weekend in December, but now Covid's put paid to that. So after checking that the festive calendar really still didn't have anything in it, we just got the boxes out and went for it. It was a monster weekend of Christmas. The Christmas Pork Pie, the Christmas Pudding, decorations - homemade and bought, paper chains, music, lights, The Tree....phew - we did it all.
And with 26 days till Christmas, let's hope we haven't crested our festive wave too early...😟
Sometimes your kids can just blow you away. A few weeks ago Niomi did that to me by reading her first book. You might think that's normal for kids in P1 and to an extent you'd be right. But for us it's definitely a significant milestone. Nearly 4 years ago Niomi came into our lives really finding it tricky to make herself understood and for us to understand her. Since then we've all worked hard...lots and lots of stories, word games, puzzles, chatting and singing. But in particular she's worked especially hard. All through the pandemic she's practised her letters and numbers, gradually moving on to sounds. It's never come easy for her and now all that hard work just paid off. She's doing great. And alongside that she just got a great report from her teacher saying how well she's settling in! I'm so proud of her...Well done Niomi!
Despite the current slow pace of life, it's been a really eventful few weeks. Obviously my Mum's passing has been sad news, but there's been plenty of good things happening too. Autumn is for me the season of magic, mystery and strange goings on. As a young guy I always remember this time of year for foggy, crisp nights and locking myself away, immersed in Lord of the Rings - emerging after a week or so and seeing Elves, Ents and Hobbits everywhere.
As a slightly older young guy, I still hold with these memories, only now I live in a soggier Scotland and to find the time to read Lord of the Rings would take a year not a week. But still, despite this, we've been having visitations recently - Witches and Wizards have graced us with their presence in a range of differing guises.
First up was High Witch Nana and Grand Wizard Baba - appearing at an appropriate social distance from Banchory. It could potentially have been a tricky visit - all outdoors with restrictions on cafe and restaurant opening. But with some careful logistics, a dash of fire from the firedrum, and a sprinkle of decent(ish) weather we had a lovely time. Although by game of hide and seek in the garden No.83 I think they were more than entitled to fly back home.
Then came Halloween, and with no guising this year, Mummy got to eat all the sweets without fear of leaving children candy-less. Still we practised inside guising either side of the lounge door...the jokes not improving but the weather was defintiely more clement. Our pumpkin offering this year was decidely poor, but no sooner had it been put out than the doorbell rang - a surprise offering from the Witch O' The Dell left on the doorstep. For background info - a year or so ago - Emily and Niomi started getting notes and presents from a good, friendly witch called the Witch O' The Dell. And this year she most certainly arrived in the nick of time to save our Halloween. But just who she is, who knows!?!
And finally, not least was a not so little Emily's 8th Birthday. Bless her. Restrictions don't make for the easiest of outdoor birthday parties but Mummy was determined we would have a party - and, after some hasty last minute re-scheduling to avoid rain - party we did. Harry Potter is all the rage (we're on the second reading of all the books) - and so a Hogwarts themed party was the order of the day. Wand choosing, broomstick making, Chamber of Secrets, Potions lessons - there was even a game of Quidditch! All hosted by Professor McGonigal and Mr Jolivander (Mr Olivander's younger and decidely better looking brother). Phew...it was quite an event. And all topped up with a generous smattering of Potter themed presents and a few old craft and unicorn favourites. Happy Birthday Emily!
Making hay whilst the sun nearly shone
Sporting new dresses on The Antonine Wall
Al fresco fish and chips with the Grand Wizard Baba...
...and the High Witch Nana
Puny Pumpkin
Witch O' The Dell showing how pumpkins are really done
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.
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.
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...
