Just before Christmas, Louis' nursery put on the traditional Christmas Nativity Play. They wisely restricted the kids' performance to standing up and saying lines, and singing en masse. Louis was a shepherd, and this will be his last nursery show before starting school next August.
Inspired by the previous weekend's visit to the Princes St entertainments, we also popped along to Murrayfield ice rink - my erstwhile Saturday morning stomping ground - and had an excellent skating session, with both of the kids going from complete novices to competent shufflers in one entertaining hour. We'll be back.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Big Wheels Turning
Yesterday's snow departed as quickly as it had arrived, leaving us with a relatively mild, sunny day. We took ourselves along to Edinburgh's Winter Wonderland, or whatever it's called, and had a wee wander about before the now-traditional ride on the big wheel. It's still blummen chilly up there, and it's high - with the kids also spinning the basket thingy, I for one felt more than a little giddy.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Let It Snow...
The weather for Edinburgh this week was... everything. The temperature dropped, and Louis took a tumble on the icy cycle paths on the way to Grandma's, then Hurricane Bawbag swept in, wreaking havoc across the country. Just as we were catching our breath, it snowed overnight. A little bit. We had a great time in the garden this morning, throwing snowballs, bouncing on the trampoline, and building a snowman. In the afternoon, Louis and i went round to the BMX track, and Louis coped admirably with the snowy paths. I could barely keep up with him.
Carols in Ely
Last weekend, Helen and I were in London for Catherine's 40th. The kids stayed with Grandma Pat & Grandad John, and before heading into London we all went to Ely Cathedral for Papworth Hospital's annual carol service. I couldn't stop thinking of Tim Minchin's lyric "some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords but the lyrics are dodgy," but it was still good fun singing along like I was back in primary school.
Wednesday, December 07, 2011
Simon Says
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Ballet & Bikes
This weekend was Holly's first ballet exam. She had been selected, along with most of the girls in her class, and has been working hard, practicing at home as well as taking extra classes in the run-up to the exam. They performed for the examiner in groups of four, but won't hear the results for six weeks! Louis' time to perform came in the afternoon, when we visited the little skatepark in Gyle Park. It's quieter than the Saughton skatepark, much more on Louis' scale, and much less heart-stopping for observing parents.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Pigs & Pottery
A couple of wee weekend trips; first, we were off to the Ceramic Experience so Holly could make a Christmas mug for her teacher. She worked hard on the details, and it turned out great. We also popped into Gorgie City Farm, where the pigs were the highlight of the day, and not because we'd had bacon rolls for breakfast.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Autumnal Hues
I hesitated to post this batch of pictures; it is, after all, just a few more snaps of the children pottering about with wheeled things. However, we awoke this morning to gloom and misery, both meteorological and figurative; I returned to work today after three delightful weeks of school holiday, pottering, visitors and training, and the weather reflected my mood more than somewhat. This batch of idle snaps captures a couple of delightful autumnal days - Holly rollerblading at Silverknowes, Louis debuting the new bike at Glentress - and restored the post-work cheer.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Remember, Remember...
We decided - at almost the last minute - to do something for November 5th. Lesley, Luke and David were heading down to Holyrood Park to watch the fireworks at Meadowbank. It was a lovely clear night, so we met them on Haggis Knowe and got a splendid view of the display. Lesley brought sparklers, and we brought biscuits and hot chocolate. As well as the spectacular Meadowbank display, we could see fireworks and lanterns going up all across north-east Edinburgh. It was delightful, but chilly too, so we were all glad to get home and warmed up before bedtime.
London Links
Last weekend, we had a half-term visit from Catherine, Matt, Isobel and Sally. They stayed for a few days, and we had a lovely time with them, pottering around and visiting the Botanics and the Inverleith playpark in the autumn sunshine. The kids all got on incredibly well with each other too, Louis especially is coming out of his proverbial shell and becoming really quite sociable...
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Guitars, Pumpkins etc.
Many long moons ago, back in the last century, I laboured under the delusion that I could learn to play guitar. I bought a cheap(ish) Jim Deacon, affectionately known as Joey. A Damascene revelation of my musical ineptitude (and a shortage of the readies) prompted me to sell it to Dave. Fast forward 20 years or so, and Dave has recently upgraded, so Joey came home. Holly loved "playing" it, as ever with more emphasis on the performance than the technique. Hopefully my cloth ear is not inheritable...
Monday, October 24, 2011
End of (Holi) Days
Helen was back at work today, but the rest of us were still off. After hanging around in the morning for the gasman, we popped out on the bikes in the afternoon to do some shopping via the BMX track and recently-reinstated playpark at Drylaw. The sun shone, the roundabout spun, and I (as ever) caved in and bought sweeties for the kiddies.
Silvery Sunday Stroll
The rain and wind of recent weeks abated at the weekend, leaving an overcast but mild and calm day, ideal for taking a stroll/ride along the prom at Silverknowes. So we did.
Blinded by Science
I have very fond memories of the Ontario Science Centre (circa 1977), and the kids always enjoy the Edinburgh Science Festival, so last week we finally made it to the 10-year-old Glasgow Science Centre. Predictably, it's fabulous. Similarly predictably, it was heaving and in one full day we barely scratched the surface. Between us, we built a spinosaurus skeleton, went to a lecture on forces and laid on a bed of nails, built a rocket, played with dams and turbines, blew huge bubbles, gasped at optical illusions and won a tower-building competition with a handful of straws. An amazing day out, and we'll definitely be back.
Sugared Almond
The sun shone at random one day, so we headed down to Cramond and took a wee stroll up the River Almond Walkway to the weir. On the way back, we stopped at the Cramond Mill coffee shop nearby for a wee refreshment. It was very nice, and a nice gentle start to the October Week.
Devout followers of the Jesus Phone and Social Networking may wish to download and install Instagram for even more pictures. Here are a few recent ones.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Fairy Footprints
This afternoon, Helen popped out with Paula to do a bit of house shopping. To entice the children away from CBeebies and as a wee surprise for mummy, we made fairy cakes based on a recipe found by completing a game on the above-mentioned website. They turned out really rather well, you can try the game (and recipe) yourself here.
Landforms & Craggs
Between our collective late night out on Friday, the crap weather, and the children's increasing ability to amuse themselves with no parental intervention, it's been a relatively calm weekend. In an attempt to at least get some fresh air, we popped out to the Gallery of Modern Art for a stroll around the Charles Jencks Landform and the Tony Cragg sculptures in the grounds. Like a moth to the proverbial flame, Louis was drawn to the water inlet and proceeded to soak himself. All good stuff.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
On Assignment
Once in a while, I take pictures of something other than the children. Lastnight, I was at the Voodoo Rooms for the launch of The Sunshine Delay's new album, Keep It Together. They'd used some of my pics in the sleeve artwork, and asked me along to get some pics of the gig. It was dark and intimate, and I didn't want to use flash, so shooting was tricky. The Nikon coped though, by pushing the ISO to 6400 and using spot metering to leave the background dark. Here are a dozen or so of my favourite shots. Buy the album!
As if one media launch wasn't enough, before the gig I was at Waterstones for the launch of our pal Clare's debut novel, Polls Apart. It is, according to the quote on the cover, "a wildly addictive political thriller from a stunning new talent. You won't put it down", and the reading certainly left me wondering what was going to happen next to Anna and Richard, whoever they may be. Luckily, I wasn't required to take pictures so I was free to sip (ahem) wine and hob-nob with the Edinburgh literati. Or at least the small subset thereof with whom I am personally acquainted. I bought a copy of the book (it's jumped straight to the top of Helen's reading list), and you should too.
As if one media launch wasn't enough, before the gig I was at Waterstones for the launch of our pal Clare's debut novel, Polls Apart. It is, according to the quote on the cover, "a wildly addictive political thriller from a stunning new talent. You won't put it down", and the reading certainly left me wondering what was going to happen next to Anna and Richard, whoever they may be. Luckily, I wasn't required to take pictures so I was free to sip (ahem) wine and hob-nob with the Edinburgh literati. Or at least the small subset thereof with whom I am personally acquainted. I bought a copy of the book (it's jumped straight to the top of Helen's reading list), and you should too.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
If You're Going To San Francisco...
...be sure to wear some flowers in your hair, says the song. In the week that Peter, Kirsty and family return to ol' Fog City (tonsorial arrangements uncertain at time of writing), I came across these pictures while trying to clear up some hard disk space. They're from our last trip there, in the distant pre-children days of the 2002-3 festive season. According to my journal (no, really) we spent a couple of days in SF before driving south on Highway 1 to Costanoa, where we strolled along the rugged coastline before celebrating Hogmanay in the hot tub. We started the new year with a hike into the forest in sunshine and shorts and a visit to the elephant seals at the Año Nuevo State Park. Back in SF (the return journey the scene of the now-legendary Graceland singalong) we went roller-skating in Golden Gate Park, took a cable car over the hills to the tourist trap of Fisherman's Wharf, and a barbecue to end the day. Other pics show our trip to the Sonoma valley for wine tasting, our bike ride over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and the ferry back to SF. We rounded off the touristy stuff with a trip to Alcatraz. What a busy trip, it's hard to remember having so much energy!
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Evidence
Proof, if any were required, of my exertions on Sunday. My official time (as recorded by the chip attached to my shoe) was 2s faster than the time I recorded myself. Woohoo! The GPS track tells the whole sorry story, minute by minute. Note how, as the race progresses, the pace goes down and the heart rate goes up. To 101%! As if that wasn't enough, the organisers have also seen fit to publish pictures of me suffering in the final metres. They might at least have taken some of Holly too, but don't seem to have bothered. Harrumph.
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Run and Become
Today was the Bupa Great Edinburgh Run. Despite a week of balmy blue-sky days, the cloud - and then the rain - descended on Edinburgh with a vengeance over the weekend. When the time came for Holly's mini run this afternoon, the clouds didn't exactly part but the rain at least let up a little to let the huge number - there must have been hundreds - of 4-8 year olds take to the streets for 1.5km. The atmosphere was excellent, with smiles and healthy glows all around, kids and adult helpers alike. Holly took it all in her stride - pun intended - and ran the whole way with Helen, and still had the energy for a sprint at the end. She was - rightly - really pleased with herself and we're really proud of her. Maybe Louis will come along next year too. For my part, I did the 10k in the morning after a month of half-hearted training. I pulled a calf muscle in the second kilometre, but managed to finish 4s inside my target of 50 mins. It was hard work. I'll post my Garmin GPS/HR track in due course for all you fans of excess data.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Birthday Observations
Someone in this family edged one year closer to his half-century this last weekend. First of all though, Leo (who is considerably younger) had *his* party at the Lo-Gy Gym, an odd arrangement of hoops and trampolines in a disused church in Loanhead. Holly especially loved it. The other birthday was a more sedate affair, with a nice morning start for pressies, a leisurely day (including a nice family bike ride in the sun) and a trip to Pizza Express for dinner en famille. It was also doors open weekend in Edinburgh, so in the continuing absence of our car we took a bus to meet Andy and Gillian up at the Royal Observatory on Blackford Hill. We got a nice demo of the main dome and the old 36" telescope there, cracking views over the city (not pictured) and a nice bit of thermal imagery of Holly and Louis. We also built rockets and fired them towards a model moon. For my next birthday, I want to be an astronomer...
Writing & Painting
This evening we had Helen's pal Lauren around, she brought her collection of nail varnishes and did Holly's nails and a rather nice plait arrangement with Holly's hair. Holly was thrilled, needless to say. In the meantime, Louis continues to practice his letters and is now a published poet. His poem "Louis' Day Out" appears in the Scottish edition of "My Day At...", a wee anthology of nursery poetry published by Young Writers.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Between The Wheels
Another new bike has joined the family this weekend - Holly has inherited Calum's old Edinburgh Bicycle Gripper. A wash, a bit of air in the tyres, and a bit of lube on the chain, and it was good to go. Holly took to it straight away, and was particularly enthused by the gears. She's pretty much got the hang of them already, and proudly rode to school today.
The Writing's On The Wall
Two visits to carers and educators; on the wall at Louis' nursery there is a lovely self-portrait with the caption "me and my mummy have blue eyes". On the wall in Holly's classroom, under the heading "When I am stuck I...", Holly has drawn a wee picture and written the words "I check the internet or use a reference book". None of the other kids mentioned the internet. That's my girl...
September Ketchup
It's been a while - here are a few snaps of recent goings-on. We've had a visit to the animal sculptures at the Botanics, and Louis has done a bit of self-portraiture. We had Eloise for a sleepover and the Stirlings for lunch. We had bikes, dressing up, and a wee gathering at Grandma & Papa's in honour of Michele's (and my) birthday. There's probably a few other bits and pieces in there as well. Enjoy.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Run a mile...
...jump a stile, or eat a country pancake. Yesterday, Holly opted for the former. I'm notionally in training for the BUPA Edinburgh 10k, and after school I suggested to the kids we go for an easy 20 min run with them riding alongside. Louis was happy to oblige, but Holly wanted to run with me. I had my doubts, but she got all kitted up, then took us through a wee warmup routine before heading off to the BMX track. Lo and behold, she managed the whole 1.75km in about 12 mins, without stopping. I was well impressed. The GPS track below is a bit wonky, but gets the time and distance about right:
Sunday, August 28, 2011
I've Got A Bike
Louis has a new bike. As you might expect, he's inordinately pleased with it. The wee Mongoose he learned to ride on has done sterling service since before his third birthday, and we were planning to get him an Islabikes Cnoc 16 for Christmas. In the meantime, I'd been keeping an eye on eBay and a good one came up in Aberdour, so we snapped it up. It seemed a shame to hide it until December...
Back to Reality
The sky is grey; the rain falls in that relentless but half-hearted way; the central heating is on and my goodness, aren't the nights fair drawing in? Edinburgh does not fare well by direct comparison with the clear blue skies, balmy evenings and numerous al fresco bathing opportunities of Catalonia, but it has its compensations. We had a nice birthday dinner with Eloise and the Stirlings at Bar Roma; a ride on the carousel in Princes Street gardens; we took in an excellent Fringe show, The List Operators for Kids; and by no means least we went plane-spotting by the airport. A short stroll down a farm road brings to you a spot where you can - like Wayne and Garth - thrill to the planes thundering by, mere metres above your head. The kids derived just as much entertainment from - literally - a hole in the ground.
The Others
If you've perused the last few blog entries, you could be forgiven for thinking that - photographically speaking at least - we Millars kept ourselves pretty much to ourselves. And for the French part of the holiday, you'd be right. Spain was a different kettle of fish, with 22 adults and children sharing a massive old stone villa in rural Catalonia. Here are a "few" snaps of our fellow travelers. Some pics with rudey bits are friends and family only...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Homeward Bound
Louis is pretty relaxed about the "hurry up and wait" of modern international travel...
Pont de Llierca
Last day of the holiday. We'd been pointed towards Sadernes as a good spot in the lower Pyrenees for swimming. We drove up there to find that it's more of a hiking spot, with the nearest swimming hole 20 (adult) minutes walk away. We had a spot of lunch in the shade, then backtracked to the Pont de Llierca, an ancient bridge straddling some gorgeous pools for swimming and - more to the point - jumping. It was a fantastic way to end the holiday, and we rounded it off with a wee beer and ice cream stop on the road home.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Isabel feliç aniversari!
We had a birthday party for Isabel, who was 4. We had party games, Helen borrowed a (stubborn) pony from the local stables, I organised a treasure hunt around the house and woods, everybody joined in and a great time was had by all.
Més De Catalunya
Our nearest large-ish town in Catalonia was Banyoles, sitting on the edge of the Estany de Banyoles, site of the rowing events of the 1992 Olympics. It's a beautiful, clear, natural freshwater lake surrounded by wooded hills and awash with wildlife. Swimming is allowed in a couple of spots, and we took full advantage. I think swimming in fresh water is one of my very favourite things. We also visited the town and its market, and of course a dip in our own pool was a daily fixture. Evenings (once the kids were in bed) were spent with a glass of Cava, watching the light fade over the Catalonian hills.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Anem a Catalunya!
In week two, we waved goodbye to La Belle France, and drove south back to Mas Pelegri, a splendid villa outside Serinyà, a wee village in the hills near Girona. First item on the agenda was the pool, then looking for the secret (so secret we couldn't find it) cave in the woods at the back of the house. We ventured out to Besalú, a pretty medieval town nearby, and took the petit train tour before allowing the vendors in the town square to empty our wallets for lunch.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
France - Part Deux
The second half of our week in Languedoc was dominated by visits to Domain La Yole adventure park - Holly loved the high-wires, cargo nets and zip wires. We also managed visits to the beach, and - horror of horrors - endured one morning of rain. A handy excuse to take it easy for a day, as it turned out...
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
France - Les Premiers Jours
Here's the first batch of pictures from our summer holiday. We flew to Girona with Ryanair (a far less horrendous experience than anticipated) and drove north to the South of France, a wee seaside town called Valras-Plage near Béziers. We rented a wee mobile home at Camping Les Sablines, and spent happy days pottering around the pool, on the beach and at the market. Pat and John were visiting chums in Paris and popped down to visit for a few days. More to follow...
Summer's Lease
"Summer's lease hath all too short a date" said that Shakespeare bloke, and he was pretty much right. The school holidays are well and truly over, along with our own family holiday. An excellent holiday it was too, but sorting through the 1200 pictures I took is proving something of a daunting prospect. In the meantime, here are a few snaps of Holly and Eloise climbing at Ratho, cleaning the algae-clogged pool, and meeting up with Niamh and Ella at the Ceramic Experience before we went on holiday.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Day In The Life Of...
Helen and the kids are famous again!"Helen Millar, a busy working mum to two children - Holly, 7 and Louis, 4 - is always on the go. Here she offers tips and tricks to staying naturally energised and creating a healthy work and home menu, making sure she takes time out to stop for meals when she can."
Friday, July 22, 2011
Paint The Whole World...
A brief break in the rain coming over the Lammermuirs. It's not exactly the Alps, but the Tour was very much in my mind as I slogged up the hill out of Longformacus. More Andy Pandy than Andy Schleck I may be, but in my head the yellow jersey was waiting at the summit. Two days later, Keith dragged me round East Lothian on a quick "evening 50" and wrung me out like a wet dishrag.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
It's Raining Again
Staring out of the window at a particularly heavy rainstorm this morning (it's mid-July in Scotland, what do you expect?) Helen suggested to the kids that they might pop out and see what it felt like. And off they dutifully went. In their jammies.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Return to Beadnell
Many moons ago, when Louis was barely one, we had a wee holiday with the Evanses in Beadnell. This week, Pat & John took a house there, and also took the kids for the week. We stayed for the first weekend, which was spent on the beach, in the playpark, and playing with the hose. Inspired by the Tour de France, I decided to ride the 85 miles home. It was murder, and took ages. Must get fitter.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Wheeler Dealers
The school holidays have begun, and while Monday was taken up with the usual routine of jobs, food shopping and jumping into our very own pool, I was off work on Tuesday to provide care, education and entertainment to Holly in the absence of Mr Hilton. I thought a proper day out would be nice (we'd been at home on Sunday and Monday and I - never mind Holly and Louis - was going a bit stir-crazy) so we came up with a few options and ended up visiting the Falkirk Wheel. It seemed a shame for Louis to miss out, so he came along too. We took a boat ride up the lift, along the aqueduct and through the Roughcastle tunnel (a journey of about 400m) and back again. It was all very entertaining and educational. They also have a new water park where you can play with locks, pumps, screws and paddle wheels. We had a great time there, with Louis inevitably gravitating towards the bike-powered pump, even though it wasn't working. Revelation of the day (for me at least) was the notion that the two "gondolas" on the wheel are *always* in balance - any vessels in the water displace *exactly* their own weight in water so the total weight remains the same. Pure genius, thanks to Archimedes over 2000 years ago. I explained this to Holly and Louis, they wondered whether he invented ice cream too...
Monday, July 04, 2011
Seventh Heaven
Where does the time go? Holly was seven this weekend! On Friday (her actual birthday) we had early-morning presents, of which the trampoline constituted the greater part. It was an immediate hit, and we were out bouncing about in our jammies before breakfast. Later that day, she had a wee party with a select group of friends at the Build-A-Bear Workshop. By the time I came home from work, she and Louis and Eloise (the last of the party pals) were *still* on the trampoline. On Sunday, the weather gods sat up and took notice, and we had an excellent family BBQ in Holly's honour. Such was the temperature that we even had the pool out, and it proved a great attraction in the sweltering - no, really! - Scottish summer afternoon. Much splashing and bouncing all round.
UPDATE: Scott and Michelle have also posted some nice pics here.
UPDATE: Scott and Michelle have also posted some nice pics here.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Pupil Becomes Teacher
With a couple of hours to spare this morning before Peter, Kirsty, Bea and Imogen had to catch the train back to London, we had Louis teaching Bea how to ride the balance bike. We set up a wee slalom course with bean cans, and they both coped admirably.
Return To The Arty Planet
As part of Peter, Kirsty, Bea and Imogen's weekend visit, we went back to Jupiter Artland for another wander around. It rained again, but was still excellent, and it was nice to introduce someone new to the delights.
Wheelie Good Riding
We had Peter, Kirsty, Bea and Imogen staying this weekend, and highly jolly it was too. As part of the social whirl, Keith, Leila and Ella dropped by for brunch on Saturday. Louis has been a bit wheelie-obsessed lately, and was intrigued to find that Keith is, as Daddy Pig would say, a bit of an expert at these things.
Hippo Birdie Two Ewes Too
Mum's birthday on Wednesday; after making her day "special" by dumping the kids on her as usual, we had her and dad and Niall over for fish suppers from the Corbie and a nice Victoria sponge.
Monday, June 20, 2011
A Day At The Races
Sunday was father's day - Helen was in Sheffield doing phase 2 of her birthday with the girls from '71, and so Holly was in charge. Louis was up early but - as planned - went up to Holly's room to read and give me a wee lie-in. They came down bearing gifts and cards and we all had a wee sweetie and a snuggle before breakfast. Then they disappeared into the kitchen, and returned bearing a glass with freshly-picked flowers from the garden, balanced on a plate with toast and ramekins with jam and butter in. It was lovely. I returned the favour, then hoovered the bed out. Later on, we went to see Anna and Amy run the Race For Life, which inspired me (temporarily) to do a bit more running. Maybe tomorrow. We had lunch chez Evans (during which time Andrew tried to persuade me to do Strathpuffer with him) and then went home to make a "welcome home" cake for Helen. It turned out quite well, and we were all - for different reasons - glad to see mummy home again.
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