The Great Outdoors…

OK – so despite Covid giving us a lack of things to fill the diary with – it appears I haven’t been very good at keeping this blog going recently. Hmmm...note to self to try harder. My only excuse is that I appear to have been stuck in some sort of Covid time bubble, meaning time has passed without me realising it. It's been 3 months since last post??? There was 6 inches of snow on the ground then and Emily had a broken foot….Ho hum, onward and upward.

So, what’s been happening? Well like most people I guess things have been fairly restricted, but as ever we’ve been busy making the most of opportunities available. I’ve bought, dismantled and reassembled a second-hand greenhouse. I operated a record length taxi service to bring Grandad out of solitude to stay at Easter (this probably aided the sad departure of our beloved old Volvo – the first family car – which formed part of many a happy memory). And, despite Spring being slow to arrive, the last few weeks have definitely been all about rediscovering the Great Outdoors.

We’ve new local finds like Fin Glen, the Campsie foothills and Gadloch. Tanya and the girls took a dip in Fin Glen – I wasn’t brave enough. We’ve been camping in Angus, had multiple farm trips including a trek with alpacas, and even been tree climbing like we’ve never done before! All good for the soul – opening up outside and poking our slightly lockdown weary heads back out into the world. No more home schooling and plans are forming for the next few months. But we’re trying to have a few Covid-keeps, things that we've learnt on the journey of the pandemic. So we're going to try going a little more gently and mindfully, and not getting ourselves so booked up! Let's see how long it lasts...

Easter madness

Card sharks

The new greenhouse

Lunch au plein air

The water was bracing

Thanks for the memories!!

Feeding the kids

It was a long way down to the beach

Camping come rain or shine

NBF's

In her element!

Determination

Life in the treetops

Bless...

Too much hangin' around. No wonder the blog doesn't get written!

Snow-ch…

Snow. The treetops all laden with white cotton wool, footsteps wading through inches of powder, kids thrilled, delighted – snowmen, snowballs and sledging. The world muffled and quiet, everything pristine. That’s the beauty, excitement, joy of snow. It transforms your life – snow clothes, snow games, snow walks – even extra snow food as the calories get burnt in the frosty air. And then Niomi, as always unconventional, also discovered snow litter picking. Bless her - she cleared the park single handedly!

And then SNOW-CH! Mummy bangs on the window, Emily in her arms. Snow injury, snow pain…..trip to hospital, big boot, broken foot. Poor girl. The downside of sledging.

Luckily prior to all that there had been plenty of snow fun. We had about 8 inches of the wonderful white powder. More than enough for a half term of fun. The accident happened on the final day of holidays before home-schooling resumed, and only a few days before the snow melted. Let’s hope she’s not been put off sledging for life though. That said, she’s now doing a grand job of sitting happily on the couch, the world coming to her, with an occasional hobble round the house. 3 weeks till the boot comes off and counting…

Snowparent and snowchild

Playing before the fateful incident

Snow-delight

Snow-ch

Videoclip: Litter Picking by Sledge

You can view the video by clicking here

Snow-home

6th Birthday - Covid style...

Independent, strong-willed, dedicated, ingenious, kind, generous, happy, resourceful, unique….Niomi is 6 years old! She came into our lives just over 4 years ago and it’s been a wonderful adventure ever since. We actually think her lockdown birthday was possibly ‘better’ than it would have been otherwise….Plenty of calls, plenty of singing, plenty of candle blowing and plenty of cake - she just jumped, sang, ate and chatted her way through the day. We even managed a small ‘party’ with her friends in the garden. 

And who can say their life is complete without a unicorn tepee?

Happy Birthday Niomi!!

6 today!!

Birthday girl

She got to adopt a Polar Bear (not that one)

Bubbles with friends

The unicorn tepee

Videoclip: 6th Birthday - Covid style...

To watch the video click here

Life in the slow lane…

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,
A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;
Blinks but an hour or two ; and then,
A blood-red orange sets again.

From Winter-Time by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic slow-down. And I wouldn’t say that was quite us, but our life just now does have a definite focus on slowing things down…Simple things taking much, much longer than normal. Living life more gently - no rush, no pressure. There’s been more baths, more games, more jigsaws, more talk. 

And like the last lockdown - learning to be together as a family and finding our own pace has been something which has its own inherent joy. We’ve tried to pace our life more mindfully, and we’ve let that pace be our guide.

The days may still be short and cold, and the restrictions on activity still in full flow, but since the end of December the weather has been predominantly crisp, clear and frosty. We’ve had a bit of snow and a bit of rain but mainly – the skies have been blue and the temperature been between 4 and minus 4 degrees. So as our weekdays and weekends blend more into a seamless, blurred week the festive rhythm has merged into the new winter rhythm of a January lockdown in the slow lane.

But it’s not been all go-slow, we’ve also tried to make the most of what we have, using the short days, the fine, frosty weather and the local places on offer. Tanya the Brave has continued her weekly outdoor early morning swims in a local loch…to the point where its been too icy to be actually able to get in. I’ve tried running the country paths when I can but that’s also been limited a bit by ice. And we’ve also adventured out as a family – still discovering new spots around East Dunbartonshire – a new ruined estate and some waterfalls a couple of highlights.

So its not quite been hibernation, more rather life in the slow lane. But is that a bad thing? For the umpteenth time in the last year I guess I’ve reached the conclusion definitely not. There's much to learn and be grateful for in the midst of all this.

Game of Uno #768

The Bunnybull by Niomi aged nearly 6

Ice Queens

Linn Cave I

Linn Cave II

Early morning bravery

Swimming on the ice

Sunrise on the morning jog

The Festive Rhythm...

Dear Santa...

Happy New 'New' Year! And there we have it....2020 ending and 2021 beginning. The transition from one to the other passing in traditional Covid style with a Zoom call style celebration. Who'd have thought it!

So a quick round up of what was for us, as was for many, a somewhat quieter festive season this year. 

A week before Christmas everything was still on track. But then St Nicola and Bad Boris altered our plans by effectively cancelling the Southern Rookes and Grandad Rooke from coming to stay. So at the eleventh hour we were left with one large turkey (for 2 pescatarian adults and 2 tiny kids), a cheese mound to see us through Brexit and beyond, gravlax, puddings and plenty more. Hmmm...what could we do but rise to the challenge and tuck in!

Still, it wasn't the same. Despite our best Zooming efforts it didn't have the same buzz. That said, the slightly more quiet time did give us a different perspective on Christmas, and I did spend less time cooking and more time eating. 

We were also very lucky - the weather was crisp, cold and snowy. We've had 10 months of practising how to all get along locked down as a family. And we have plenty of friends who we could all individually meet up with outdoors. So that meant only one thing....Sledging!

So we found a daily rhythm - slow start - play with gifts - cheese for lunch - sledging - festive dinner - early bed - and repeat...The only break in our festive rhythm was my growing an ear that elf's would be proud of and spending the early part of Boxing Day getting some hefty antibiotics. And whether our rhythm sounds like heaven to you or not, it could have been a lot worse. And we all actually had a lovely time and have much to be grateful for...

But Dear Santa....next year could we please have our other Christmas back???

Penguin vs The Elf

Festive Hair

Goldie - the gift of choice from Santa

Snow Fun I

Snow Fun II

Videoclip: You're never too old...

Or you can watch the video by clicking here

Happy Christmas everyone...

To all our family and friends, near and far....we wish you peace, joy and happiness this festive season. This year has been tough for many reasons, not least because we've hardly seen any of you - but you are always in our thoughts. May 2021 bring a better year for us all.

Lots of love Nigel, Tanya, Emily and Niomi xxx

Operation Rainbow…

 

Installation Team (photo by Pamela Marshall)

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

Videclip: Operation Rainbow

To view the article in The National click here