Borrow my doggy....

Sometimes parents can be a wee bit cunning. We love walking. The fresh air, the great outdoors, the beautiful scenery round about. It's even well documented that it's good for you. Kids however think walking is a mild form of torture. They get bored, don't see the point and the views are well, frankly, just lost on them.

The answer? Borrow My Doggy.... Meet Sassy. Half lab, half jack russell and a touch of an akita, she's a total whirlwind of energy and excitement. We borrow her once or twice a week and go for a walk. She loves it, her owners love it, and, most importantly, the kids love it. We go for huge walks now without so much as a whimper. Sorted! Everyone with walk shy children should try it. And she's great fun - it's a pleasure taking her out.

And we kinda get a pet without most of the looking after part. Double bonus. Parents 2, Kids 0.

Meet Sassy

Happy, smiling, walking faces

Who's walking who?

On top of a hill and everyone was happy!!

Videoclip: Sassy the Whirlwind

Or you can watch the video here

Climate change...

As October drew to an end the climate changed from our autumn slowdown, and it all became wonderfully hectic for a few weeks. Crazy times indeed but for us it was all a really, really special time.

First up was a Halloween Party at friends Yvonne and Wilf's - and boy did they know how to do a spooky party. A trail of torches led to the front door and from then the kids were captivated by ghoulish devilry for the next few hours, culminating in buried treasure in the garden. It was scarily awesome! Thanks so much to them for all the effort they put in - left to us the kids would get the bare bones for Halloween. And they left laden down with sweets!

Next day, I was whisked off to help with the return of the Kirky Picture Palace, including the new James Bond complete with a DB9 parked outside...Then with barely a pause for breath it was Emily's 9th birthday party - an Escape Room special. And then later that day it was off to the bus station to meet and greet the family from India staying with us for COP26.

COP had been taking up some of my time at work in recent weeks, and we'd been talking about what we could do differently in our lives as well as for the COP fortnight. T really played her part painting banners with the kids, attending events, encouraging things at the school and taking Emily on the Friday for Futures march. (We even squeezed in a sneaky non-COP related trip to see Beauty and the Beast in Edinburgh). And I'm really proud of how we all carried out our own small part in the whole climate change conference; but what I'm most proud of, and what I truly loved the most, was hosting the Banker family from Gudjarat.

The Bankers became very much part of our home for COP. They brought with them smiles and happiness, as well as suitcases full of Indian snacks! We gave them a place to stay, a tour of Kirkintilloch, helped them orientate themselves, and ran rescue missions from wrong buses and missed PCR tests! We all joined together in the festivals of Diwali and Bonfire Night, with fire and fireworks. We shared food, conversation, knowledge, joy and laughter together. And when they left our lives felt slightly dimmed by their parting, but we had made firm friends and wonderful memories to cherish. It was a climate change of all that is good in the world, reminding me that what we have in common is much more than what makes us different; sitting on this precious world journeying together - our lives intrinsically intertwined whether we know it or not.

Little Witch

Carved pumpkins that gave us 6kg of orange flesh in the freezer

Scary snacks

Scary Daddy!

9 years old - a young lady

Sometimes we don't just buy second hand! Priceless...

Videolip: Emily's 9th Birthday

Or you can view the video here

Banner painting to line the streets for COP

Eco-protest - making me proud!

The lovely Bankers

The Homestay Crew

Videoclip: COP

Or you can view the video here