And so, straight from our holiday in Newton Stewart, (see soon to be published post), the girls started school. For Emily it was P4 but for Niomi? Well for Niomi it was the BIG start of school...
And how did it go? Well despite all parental fears, worries and anxieties, she's taken to it like a duck to water, bless her. (Cue massive sigh of relief on our part). She was so excited on day one she was ready to go with school bag on for about 2 hours before she needed to leave. Honestly it couldn't have gone better...off she now goes every morning on her bike - happy, chatting and singing all the way. She's already made new friends with children, parents and teachers alike. Made herself quite at home - like she's been there for years. We're so proud of her.
Oh yes - Emily's loving being back too. Catching up with friends on the social scene - life's a whirl when your 7. Let's hope the school's get to stay open for some time to come, and they both continue to thrive back in the buzz of it all.
And then boom…with Covid-cuffs unlocked we were off. Due east across Scotland for 75 miles we travelled, to our old favourite of North Berwick. The Gurneys were away on an island tour of Mull so we had the run of the place once more. Sun-kissed we hoped for, but more wind-swept it was. That said, we weren’t for caring, it was just lovely to be by the sea. Friends visited, beaches were trod and the sea was paddled – all experiences we'd not had for some months. We peddled our bikes on pastures new and walked on footpaths of old. We even got a visit to the Farm Park. It was just nice to be out.
The week ended with a Tour de Grandparents. Nana and Baba came to Kirky and I went to Brum. It was just great to be back in touch in the flesh. We’re ready now for Part 3…
Just like everyone, holidays have been off the agenda in recent months. And as May/June and early July are the highlight of the annual weather calendar in Scotland, it’s been all about staycation, staycation, staycation.
No long weekends in the van, no trips to festies, no visits to see friends and family. But still we’ve made the best of things and the sunshine has really helped our activities. We’ve taken to walking the paths round and about – many new and untested by us until now. We’ve been enjoying Scotland's finest whether foraging for wild foods or watching nature as its grown through Spring into Summer. We’ve learned to travel in style…Niomi racing ahead on her bike, Mummy and Emily – on foot and scooter accordingly – deeply engrossed in Harry Potter chat, and Daddy – well he just potters along on his tod admiring the view.
Destinations have been woodland adventures, ruined castles, wee lochans and long distance paths. And when our allotted outdoor time expired then there’s been plenty of fun in the garden – we’ve had plenty of play with water (fun if you have a wetsuit), fed our resident robins from the hand, watched the newly hatched blue tits learn to fly, tasted the first bounty from the veggie beds and admired the flowers as they start to emerge all over. Books have also had a theme...Emily's devoured book after book - either reading herself or having all the Harry Potter series and the Hobbit read to her, whilst Niomi has started to recognise letters and is now reading her first words - more than ready for school in August.
And we've done our best to replace the gaping campervan void in our lives...I was given a campervan lego set for Father's Day (it'll be finished by Christmas), Emily's made her own campervan...and we've also treated DDU to a new tattoo.
All in all it’s become The Good Life all round, and we've enjoyed our our new found staycations. Now roll on Part 2 as we start to venture further than 5 miles...
Woodland Explorers I
Woodland Explorers II
Woodland Explorers III
Harry Potter chat and Niomi in the distance
Scooter Girl
We've tramped most of the feet of the Campsies
The baby blue tits first day out the nest - born and bred in the garden
I have 2 very different daughters. One is all unicorns, fairies and magic…the other all snails, woodlice and worms. Niomi loves her minibeasts and she recently co-hosted a Zoom presentation to some of the family all about her favourite creatures. She’s far braver than the rest of us too – no qualms about handling her garden delights and always keen to rescue any insects that get stuck in the house. A future zoologist or entomologist in the making? Possibly. Welcome to Niomi’s mini beasts zoo…
Pleased as punch with the start of the Snail house
Snail house and Wormery in full swing
The beginnings of Painted Lady butterflies
Almost ready for chrysallis
Practising butterfly handling with a Small White
Caterpillar - who knows what it'll be when it grows up
We've been in lockdown for a few weeks now (actually Daddy says it's more like ten). And I want to tell you and show you how I've been feeling and coping, and what I've been doing to keep me busy.
I have been doing a lot to keep me busy like home schooling, going out for walks and cycles and scooting. Daddy's also bought me lots of books to read, I've done some Brownies badges, and when the weather's nice (which has been quite a lot) we play outside almost all the day. When we are in the garden we play skipping, monsters, trampolining, toilet tig, cricket, football and we also do camping and gardening. We have planted carrots, courgettes, pumpkins, sunflowers, kale, rocket, chard, oakleaf lettuce, lambs lettuce, runner beans, peas and potatoes. We've been baking stuff too. And I even got to cut Daddy's hair!!!
We are also trying to keep connecting to people. Even though we are having to keep far away from each other we are still finding lots of ways to connect. I have learnt how to use Facebook Messenger, Houseparty, WhatsApp and I use them to talk to my friends and family. I've also chatted to some of my friends from a safe distance. Me and my friend Brodie have made a secret code to write secretly to each other. I have also made care packages for my grandparents, put a rainbow in the window, done hand clapping for the doctors and nurses who have been working hard and chalked messages on the ground for the bin men.
I've also really liked seeing my family at home all the time and I have done an interview with Mummy:
What has been the biggest change? Not going outside very much and not getting close to people. How are you finding homeschooling? Fun spending time with my girls but tiring. How are you feeling? Happy and unsure. Your top 3 moments from this experience?
1. Sleeping in a new tent in the garden.
2. Spending a lot of time in the garden.
3. Picking wild garlic. What activities have you most enjoyed doing? Learning new hobbies like wool felting and mosaics. What are you most thankful for? Having a lovely and healthy family. What TV show have you watched? The Detectorists. What's your new found favourite inside family activity? Just Dance. What's your favourite food in Lockdown? Emily's pizza. What is your goal after all this? Remembering to enjoy slowing down.
There are also some things I've not liked such as not being able to see my friends and family as much, having to stay away from other people, not getting to properly go to school and not doing my activities like art classes and Brownies, not going on holiday and no trips away in the van!
But the things I'm excited to do when its all over is have play dates again, seeing my friends and family much more and getting back to school.
Bye for now...Emily x
Flower cupcakes
Yummy yummy pizza...Mummy's favourite food in lockdown
