Living in Colour...

We’ve been living the ‘Good Life’ following our holiday in North Berwick. Nothing complex, nothing major – just good, simple fun. Apart from a trip to Edinburgh for the festival, we’ve generally been to be found in the garden – enjoying the fruits on offer and making our own fun – all helped by a reasonable splash of sunshine. 

All 3 girls have been top-tastic with the veggie beds this year and our world has exploded with peas, beans, salad and potatoes. On top of that blackberries and raspberries are filling our hedges, the apple tree has a reasonable crop (plums not so good though) and Emily’s sunflower is a Rooke record breaker. For my part I’m delighted with the cottage style garden and the roses that have bloomed – a labour of love for the last few years, now starting to come into its own. 

The kids are back at school/nursery, so weekends are the preserve of fun and laughter – which makes the working week a bit harder as summer unwinds and its back to routine proper. Still I can’t say we’ve had a bad summer….it’s been one packed full of lovely family memories – truly life in colour…but as the year progresses I'm having to work really try hard to smile because it happened not cry because its over! Ho-hum - more adventures needed methinks...

 Niomi with new friend Hector (just a visitor)

 Fun in the sun with more visitors

 The start of the main crop

 Wildflowers still doing well

 As is the cottage garden

And front garden too

Videoclip: Living in Colour

One finger one thumb keep moving...

A late cancellation, and one thumb operation later and we were off to North Berwick, with the addition of a thumb all splinted and bandaged up. Poor Emily was a little traumatised by the whole affair but was putting on a brave holiday face. (For details see here - turns out it was 'trigger thumb'.)

Once again, with the Gurney’s abroad, we’d been given the onerous task of looking after their cat, house and garden (in no particular order) and, once again, the house and garden were more receptive to our efforts than the cat. I wouldn’t say the poor thing was traumatised but he does get A LOT of attention from the girls. Emily was even going for her animal lover Rainbow’s badge for looking after Squeak for a week. But with thumb bandaged up, and clear direction not to get it wet, then a change to our normal North Berwick agenda was required.

 Rookes on tour - the North Berwick chapter

Thumbs up, she's still smiling

 In more thoughtful mood

Delight lies in a big deckchair

Generally in fine weather we visit the beach, enjoy the sea and apply a more maritime aspect to our lives. But, necessity being the mother of invention, we were forced into moving the goalposts and thinking more out the box for new options to entertain. So off we went on the move…Traprain Law and the Exmoor Ponies, Hailes Castles (old and new), Smeaton Garden Centre and lake, East Linton for Preston Mill and a few other attractions, Archerfield Fairy Trail, Tyninghame and Binning Woods, Fringe by the Sea, the hostelries of North Berwick, a few playparks, and by special ironic request of Emily – a trip to Finger and Thumbs craft shack. We even invented a new family activity - the Walcycle - some on bikes (mainly Niomi) and some on foot (mainly the rest of us).

All in all we didn’t miss out by our pollexial deficit, in fact we gained a whole wealth of new experiences and a lovely week away. Thanks for another year to the Gurney’s!

 Exmoor ponies on Traprain Law

 Scaling the castle walls

 Flax and Rape

 Walcycle in the Woods

 More traditional walk in the woods

 Happiness is dangling feet off a branch

 Dressed for the cycle but walking instead

 Preston Mill - as seen in Outlander...apparently

 Wheat - I now definitely know the difference between wheat, oats and barley (rye is a little trickier)

 A 'mindful' summers walk

 A slightly less mindful activity

 Uh-oh - what's she found now?

 They come in lots of shapes, sizes and colours

 Ours aren't quite this good

 Bad thumbs don't inhibit wing growth

 What a picture!

Farewell North Berwick!!