We're two weeks - and halfway - into our sojourn in sunny Ravelston. While the flat has many idiosyncrasies, it's far from squalid and has a magnificent view out to the castle and Arthur's Seat. Meanwhile at home, the plasterboard is up in the old kitchen area, and the new kitchen is starting to take shape. I visited this morning, and the guys were up on the roof, preparing to finally install the Velux skylight. It's all very exciting. Louis, on the other hand, is more excited by his current favourite game, Ten Green Bottles.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Kitchen Update, Week 2
Plus a bit of climbing. I took the kids to Monkey Bizness on a dreich Saturday afternoon while Helen went shopping for chairs. Holly - of her own volition - waited patiently in line, put on the harness, and had a great session on the climbing wall. The next day, she found an exciting tree to climb in Ravelston Wood while Louis bombed around the muddy, leafy paths on his bike.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
The Wall
I popped in to the house on the way home lastnight, ostensibly to pick up the trailer but also to have a nose around. The guys were still working, and have already taken down the kitchen wall, cut a hole for the skylight in the extension roof, lifted the floors and removed the joinery from under the stairs. Tommy (I think) was busy stripping the electrics and plumbing from the old kitchen area. Very impressed.
On The Move
We took up temporary residence in our Ravelston pied a terre this weekend. We have no internet connection, so updates may be sketchy. Suffice to say we all got moved and settled in with no major traumas, and then Monday was pretty much business as usual. Holly was still off school, so we went to the house to meet Vince, then went for a hot chocolate and a haircut. After lunch we went for a wee walk to explore Ravelston Wood, which leads us down to a familiar park without so much as crossing a road.
Sunday, January 02, 2011
Almond Walk
The packing has started in earnest. Very soon, we move out for a while so that walls can be knocked down and kitchens moved from A to B. We made a fair bit of headway today, then decided that we all needed (a) a bit of fresh air and (b) a drink. So off we tootled down to the Cramond Brig for a walk up the Almond walkway (which was icy and very treacherous indeed) under the A90 (Holly enjoyed scaling the ramp under the bridge) and thence to the bar for a pint. Louis decided a wee lie down was in order, but in fact the kids were up to high doh. Isn't it time to go back to school yet?
Saturday, January 01, 2011
More Fireworks
Hogmanay, and we were invited to a wee soiree at Caroline and Craig's big posh house in the Grange. It was a lovely evening, culminating in a personalised firework display right there in the back garden. Again Holly and Louis loved it, and were able to join in with sparklers. In the interests of getting all the kids to bed we counted down to the bells at 9pm (it would have been midnight in Baghdad. Or Moscow) and managed to tuck in a very tired pair of kiddies just before 10pm.
Calton Hill
On the night before Hogmanay, we headed up to Calton Hill to meet with the torchlight procession and catch the son et lumiere, all part of Edinburgh's Hogmanay programme. Exact timings and details were vague, but we lucked out and arrived up the steep path from Royal Terrace just as the procession arrived from Regent Road. The announcer said there were 20,000 people in the procession, and sure enough the classic view from the hill included a sea of torches coming along Princes Street. After a wee bit of hanging about, the viking longship was duly set on fire in a simulacrum of Up Helly Aa, and the massed pipes and drums of somewhereorother banged out some stirring tune. Soon after, the fireworks started, and it became very apparent we'd lucked out again, with Helen choosing a prime spot right in the middle of things. There were fireworks going off all around us, it was an incredible sight and the kids were transfixed. We got home late (not for the first - or last - time this holiday) and the kids fell into bed, exhausted but happy. An excellent evening.
Thaw
30th December, happy anniversary to us! Can it really be five years? Anyhoo, we spent the great day with Helen shopping and me shepherding Holly, Louis, Pat and John along the icy paths to the Gyle Park for a bit of fresh air. We had a play on the swings and the flying fox, and on the way back Louis developed a taste for running - and slipping - in icy puddles. He got covered in cold, wet mud but loved it, even if his nice new Christmas coat didn't. Until, that is, he took a nosedive right into a big deep one, when it all got a bit much and we rushed him home for a dry clothes and a movie.
Snowy Pentlands
In the middle of all this festive jollity, Keith and I got together for a blast up the Pentlands. Little did we know that, with the thaw in full swing, the paths would be a mixture of deep slush and icy puddles, with swollen streams and rutted tracks thrown in for good measure. It took us nearly four hours to cover 27 miles. We returned tired and chilly about the extremities, and reflecting fondly on a grand morning out, even if we turned up too early (not to mention dirty) to get a pint at the Flotterstone Inn.
Christmas Pt II
The day after boxing day, Pat and John arrived in Embra, closely followed by Kate, Mick and Matty the dog. We had another round of Christmas and a nice dinner. Louis, in the meantime, was inseparable from his lovely new cycling outfit. Roll on, springtime!
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