Along December

A December miscellany; the view from my office window, a cheesy corporate portrait; Holly's dress from last month's fashion show, and a few snaps of Christmas chez Lodge.

Christmas Choir

A christmas performance by the Davidsons Mains Primary School Choir in honour of the turning on of the Christmas Lights in D Mains. Louis is hard to spot, but he's on the left in the second row, just to the right of the pillar.

November Miscellany

Remember, remember blah blah blah November. A few goings-on including fireworks chez McKee, a school fashion show for Holly, Louis' guitar recital, an icy seafront at Silveknowes, a new job - and office - for me, and a case of Hillend Thumb for Holly.

Loose Ends

A few odds and ends from October.

Gay Paree

A family jaunt to the city of light, in honour of Grandma Pat's significant birthday. What a marvellous city. We stayed in an AirBNB apartment on the Avenue de la Grande Armée, strolled along the Seine and around Pere Lachaise, climbed the Tour Eiffel and the Arc de Triomphe, hiked up to Sacre Coeur, rented Vélib bikes, visited the Lodges' old haunts, and even managed a trip to Disneyland.

Birthday Triathlon

Another year, another birthday for me. Forty-twelve this time. We went to the Gardener's Cottage en famille, and very nice it was too. The day before, Helen had done her first triathlon in Peebles. She ran (and swam, and rode) a good race, but it was hard work. I didn't manage to get any decent pictures, except of Louis and the bike...

Poolside Malarkey

More video from Val Thorens, this time in the apres-ski pool.

Val Thorens

A wee bit of footage from our ski trip earlier this year.

Wild Swim

I took Louis and his pal Will to Dalmeny on the bikes, and we went for a swim in the muddy shallows around Hound Point. No fires this time!

Once In A Lifetime

We had entered the ballot to walk across the brand new Queensferry Crossing, and on beautiful calm, sunny, blue-sky day - and with a few thousand other people - we did. It's a pretty bridge, as bridges go.

Renegade

I bought a new bike. It's one of them modern "adventure/gravel/all-purpose" bikes they're talking about. It's steel (because Steel is Real apparently) and it's awesome. That is all.

Old Pals

We were invited to a gathering of the NCT parents at Caroline and Craig's house. Holly made one of her illusion cakes.

You Shall Go To The Ball!

An invitation to walk across the - yet to open - new Queensferry Crossing!

Fife Epic

On a beautiful day, Louis and I rode out to - and then over - the Forth Road Bridge, and then did a wee loop around Inverkeithing and the Fife Coastal Path before returning home. An epic ride of 20 miles or so, recorded for posterity here.

The Green Green Grass of Home

We finally deflated the pool in anticipation of the end of the summer holidays. The grass may have suffered a little in the meantime. What you don't get from the picture is the extraordinary smell of rotting vegetation that emerged...

Deer Deer

Holly snapped this deer running through the woods at Bonaly while on a Wildlife Club.

Li'l Orphan Annie

Holly was a "generic orphan" in Captivate's Fringe production of Annie.

There are more photos (in which Holly also appears) on Captivate's site here.

Laid Back

At the movies.

Swanston

After Zorbing, we went for a wander around the Swanston area, and lovely it was too. We met a friendly dog, some highland coos (not pictured) and some chickens, finishing up at The Steading for a light refreshment.

Zorbing

The staycation rolls on (see what I did there?) and today we went Zorbing up at Hillend with Rolling Haggis. Basically they put you in a big inflatable ball with a load of water and roll you down the hill, with hilarious results, at least for the occupants of the ball.

Green

I think we may need to clean the pool.

Mmm, Gizzard

The Ringtones choir sang at soprano Maria's birthday party. There were labels on the food to help us navigate the various Ghanaian specialities on offer. Gizzard sounded particularly appealing (and was indeed v tasty).

Some Like It Hot

We now have a double oven. I fitted it myself. I am the king of DIY :-)

Return to Foxlake

A dreich day at Foxlake - it's always been sunny when we went before. Usual shenanigans, I didn't bother taking any "proper" pictures as (a) it was raining and (b) they'd be the same as before :-)

Greenback Dollar

We had been scheduled in for a bit of Pony Trekking as part of the ongoing staycation, but owing to some kind of booking cockup we found ourselves adrift and at a loose end in deepest Perthshire. Or was it Clackmannanshire?

We headed for Dollar, and took a stroll up leafy, verdant Dollar Glen to Castle Campbell. We admired the castle from the outside owing to the admission fee, hard-earned cash which would have been (and indeed was) better spent on milshakes and hot chocolate in the Cafe des Fleurs in Dollar.

A wee map of the walk is here.

Messing About in Boats

Next day on our summer staycation, we had a Clip'n'Climb session at Ratho to start with. It's fun climbing on a variety of odd and interestingly shaped walls and obstacles, suspended (and lowered) by a clever auto-belay device, removing the need for a fallible (and in my case, strong and heavy) human at the other end of the rope.

After that, a visit to the Bridge 8 Hub, which does watersports rentals on the canal. We started with two-seat Canadian canoes, then moved to Kayaks. At that point, Helen and I withdrew to dry land and let the kids loose on the massive paddleboard, and looked on as - inevitably - they both ended up in the water. Good times, and no sign of cholera, typhoid or dysentery. So far...

There's even a wee map of our waterborne outing here.

Going Ape

We had a long-standing promise to Louis to take him to Go Ape when he was 10. Helen's meticulously planned summer "staycation" was the ideal opportunity, so off we went to Glentress.

It's all slightly scary - it's high, and the kids are responsible for clipping themselves in and out - but my word, the sensation as you step off the side of a tree to be whisked to the other side of the valley on what suddenly seems a very this piece of wire!

New Balls Please

A morning of (free!) tennis at Inverleith Park, and then hose-based high jinks with the visiting Sokoloff-Gipsons.

Alumnus

Scott (I think) sent me these. Small images, but this is the programme from my graduation ceremony in 1987.

  

30 years?!? Really?

Hound Sausages

Another summer's day, another outing with the Stirlings, and yet another visit to Hound Point for sandy frolics, setting fires and cooking sausages. We tried round the corner this time, in the lee of the headland, and it certainly reduced the inevitable wind chill on what was otherwise a glorious bluebird day.

It's nice to see the teenagers relaxing and digging holes in the sand like wee girls again...

Faceache

I'm not sure why, but Louis seems to have got hold of my phone and has been practising selfies...

Gutted Haddie

We took a stroll up Arthur's Seat via the Gutted Haddie. Holly was in full teenager mode but relaxed into it.

Birthday Preparations

Some top-secret preparations for a certain birthday this year. Don't tell anyone! :-)

Burntisland

After the Chain Walk we went to the pool at Burntisland - it has flumes and waves. There was a bit of goofing around outside, and I went for a wander while the kiddies were sploshing around.

I'm not sure why they all decided to wear their pyjama onesies.

Chain Reaction

Another day out, this time with a brace of Stirlings and a plan. We headed over to Elie to do the Chain Walk. It was *just* scary and difficult enough for a bunch of 10-13 year olds, and a grand time was had by all. We had one twisted ankle, but we all survived and were able to return via the clifftop.

Excitingly, the weather was clear enough that we could see the Hopetoun Monument from yesterday!

Hopetoun

Summer hols, and I had a day off work with the kiddies, including one bonus Stirling. Faced with a dreich day and a lack of concrete plans, we set off in a pseudo-random direction (I asked the kids which way to turn at each junction) and ended up in deepest East Lothian. There, on the top of a hill, was the Hopetoun Monument. We walked up to it, lo and behold it was open and climbable. The stairs were steep and narrow and not a little scary, and the viewing platform more than somewhat vertiginous, but it was well worth the visit.

Following the same principle after lunch, we ended up at Longniddry Bents where the kids clambered on the World War 2 anti-tank blocks and worked on their album cover poses.

Sleepout

Fairies at the bottom of the garden? No, just Holly and Louis sleeping out. Holly in the hammock, Louis in the bivvy bag. No tent required! They lasted the whole night too...

Forth Bridge

We went for a walk across the Forth Road Bridge to have a look at the still-under-construction Queensferry Crossing. It was a bit cold and blowy so only Louis and I made it all the way across to get this view of the new bridge from the viewpoint on the Fife side.

Lucky Thirteen

Holly's birthday, and her first day as - gulp - a teenager. We had the family round for a small celebration, the pool is still out and Holly made full use.

A Midsummer Night's Show

Holly has been working on a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Royal High School. It's an odd production, with five (I think) Edinburgh high schools performing one act each with shared costumes and set. Low budget and much abridged of necessity, it nonetheless gave Holly the opportunity to perform on the stage of a proper theatre (the King's) and she was of course brilliant.

It even drew a complimentary review and a photo appearance in the Evening News, no less.

Player Of The Year

End of the season at RHC Cougars, and Louis was voted "Players' Player Of The Year" by his team-mates. High praise indeed!

First Impressions

Looks like this bird got a bit of a fright...

Harlaw Hammocks

We went camping up at Harlaw with Will and Chris Stirling. Louis and Will slept in hammocks, Chris slept in a tent, and I slept in a bivvy bag. I also got to make "cowboy stew" in my new campfire pot, and sausages and bacon in the morning cooked in Grandma Dick's old cast iron pan.

We had a very tired boy in the car on the way home...

Pool

Just a normal Scottish summer's day.

Gimme Shelter

We spent a night camping at Gimme Shelter, a marvellous wee rustic, homespun back-to-basics campsite with nothing more than a water tap and composting toilets. We went with the Goods and the McKees (sans Dave, who is allergic to camping).

Cub Camp

Louis packed and ready for a weekend at The Craigs.

Good Lad

Murrayfield

Everywhere we go
People want to know
Who we are
And this is what we say:
We are the Cougars
The mighty mighty Cougars
COOOUUUGGGAAARRRSSS!