Arm Wrestle

Louis and I had an arm wrestle. That concludes our 2018 reporting. Good night!

Christmas at the Botanics

It's a long time since we've been to the botanics, it was a regular haunt when the kiddies were wee, but only during the hours of daylight. These days they light up the place at Christmas and charge money to wander about in the dark. It is good, though it would be even better if it wasn't for all the other people there...

Coke Can Camera

Now this is interesting. Back in the summer, Holly and Louis went to an event as part of the Science Festival on making a "solargraph" - a photo image of the sun taken with a pinhole camera made from a Coke* can and exposed over a six-month period.

This week, at the winter solstice, out six months was up. In a darkroom, lit only by the red glow of a rear bike light, we removed the photo paper from the cans and scanned the images into the computer. A bit of Photoshopping (a flip, a greyscale inversion and a wee tweak to the contrast) later and these are the images that came out:

Holly's:


and Louis':



* other carbonated sugar waters are available.

Woo Hoo It's Christmas!

Christmas comes but once a year, and when it does we dance like idiots. We were at home for Christmas this year, and hosted la famille Millar for exchanging gifts and eating. Helen did a magnificent turkey with all the fixin's but I didn't get a picture of that, or anything else. These are just a few snaps we took while waiting for folk to show up...

Playing at Murrayfield

An early-season rugby tournament, hosted by Murrayfield at Murrayfield.

Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?

Last Scout meeting of the year, and Louis and the Scouts made "snowmen" by wrapping their colleagues in toilet paper. Somewhere under there, there is another Scout.

MRI in the Toon

As part of my ongoing participation in UK Biobank, I was invited to Newcastle for a torso MRI, a functional brain MRI, a full-body X-ray scan and a free sandwich. Alas, I didn't get any of the images but it was an interesting day. MRI scanners are claustrophobic and noisy! Plus I didn't know the Millennium Bridge lit up at night.

Helen's POV

A selection of 2018 snaps from Helen's phone, including some from Center Parcs and Croatia as well as closer to home.

Silence In Court

Louis and the P7s have been working on a "mock court" for the last few weeks, with them all taking roles - from plaintiff to witness, from researcher to advocate - in a fictional civil case. The climax to all this was to have the case heard by an actual Sheriff at the actual Sheriff Court in Edinburgh. Owing to a slight organisational oversight beforehand, the kids were let loose in the courtroom with predictable results. But the case was heard, the Sheriff made his judgement, and at least nothing got broken...

Surreptitious Selfie

Holly seems to have taken a selfie with my phone. How did that happen?

Rule Britannia

Another Scouting outing, this time to the Royal Yacht Britannia. We had the standard tour, but after hours (thanks to one of the Scout Leaders working there) and thus exclusive access with nobody else around. Nosing around towards the end of the tour, I asked about the engine room and got a personal behind-the-scenes tour with my nostrils full of the smell of engine oil and Brasso.

Rest and Be Thankful

Once in a while I try to start running again. This was taken on an "epic" 13km Saturday morning plod. Any excuse to stop for a moment. Maybe I'll just give up again.

On The Wall

Hot on the heels of our recent trip to Alien Bloc, we had a scouting outing to Eden Rock, where Louis and the other scouts stretched their bouldering skills.

Action!

Holly had a school project - along with Sophie and Sophia - to make a short film about... actually I forget what it was about, something to do with wellbeing and positive thinking, probably. Either way, they wanted to do a stop motion movie on a whiteboard so I installed them in my office and left them to it. Here's Holly being director and camera operator.

Aliens!

Ah, Monday in-service days. They remind me of the glory days of my four-day weeks when Mondays were days of outings, excitement and adventure. This week we popped off to Alien Bloc with Holly's pal Rachel for a spot of bouldering. They both took to it naturally but seem to have no inclination to move on to "proper" rock climbing... which is probably just as well.

Just Eat!

Edinburgh has a bike hire scheme! Sponsored by Just Eat, the bikes are slow and heavy. Naturally then, I took the opportunity one sunny lunchtime to ride one to the top of the Braid Hills...

A Scouting Outing

I've been helping out with Scouts. This was my first Scout camp at Nineacres in Fife. I rode there on my bike. Here's one picture with Louis in it, enjoying the campfire.

A Pig's Arse

Another spectacular cake by Holly

Pedal for Scotland

Pedal for Scotland, the big one, and quite an achievement for an 11-year-old. The weather gods were kind and we had a grand day out with a free pie in Linlithgow!

Go East Young Man

In training again for Pedal for Scotland next week, Louis and I rode to Archerfield just outside North Berwick, another good marathon-length ride.


We even have a wee video:

Relive 'Afternoon Ride'

Pentland Ride

A warmup ride for Pedal for Scotland, Louis and I took his new bike out for a spin on the dirt trails of the lower Pentlands. A great day out.

Dancing In The Street

Well now that I've found out how to embed Facebook videos, there's no escape from this sort of thing; the choir I'm in doing a wee performance at Sainsbury's in Cameron Toll (the glamour!) in aid of SiMBA. With cool yellow hats.

Watery Activities Croatia

A wee compilation of all the usable footage I got from the "No-Pro" in Croatia this year. Good times!

Foxy McFoxface

A regular visitor, napping in the garden in the evening sunshine.

Big Ship in the Forth

Out for a bike ride around Dalmeny on a Saturday morning, I noticed a huge cruise ship  not unlike the ones we had seen dominating the harbourfronts in Croatia. So I took a picture of it. Note grey water and dark forbidding skies in stark contrast to the Adriatic.

Farewell Prvic, Farewell Hrvatska

Our last day, and we jumped in the little water-taxi and bade farewell to our temporary island home of Prvic Luka. When in Croatia one must of course visit Dubrovnik, so we duly did, but it was a rapid, targeted attack. The place was heaving. Nice though.

Croatia Day Twelve - SUP

If it's Thursday, it must be time to do a bit of Stand Up Paddleboarding in Vodice. We rented boards and got some excellent instruction from Bluewind Adventure, right on the main beach. They even took pictures and sent them to us. We all managed pretty well, but Holly was the star of the show and even managed a headstand on her board.

Croatia Day Eleven - Canoodling

Our local hotel rented us some sea kayaks, despite our complete lack of knowledge or expertise in the safe operation of such things. In the natural shelter of our wee bay the water was smooth enough and we got on fine, but on heading out to Otok Lupac - a small uninhabited island to the south of Prvic - the water got a bit choppier and it was a little alarming at times. Still, we found a wee sheltered bay round the back of the island, and caught our breath before heading back for lunch and a quick wander round the Prvic forest. In the evening, in a bizarre turn of events, we found ourselves watching England vs Croatia in the World Cup in a local hostelty. Everyone was there, from toddlers to grannies, all wearing the red checkerboard of Hrvatska and all enjoying the match. Especially when they won.

Croatia Day Ten - Vodice

Settling into our second week on peaceful, idyllic Prvic we decided to head for the bright lights of nearby Vodice. We took the ageing ferry around the island and headed for the beach and its inflatable fun thing. Back in Prvic Luka, we relaxed and watched the sun set, all at a suitably leisurely pace.

Croatia Day Nine - Swim

We took a notion to swim across our little bay, one side to the other, dodging yachties. And rewarded ourselves with beer and ice cream in our wee harbour bar.

Croatia Day Eight - Prvic

A change of location for week two, we dumped the car in Srima and took the ferry to car-free Prvic Luka, a wee fishing village on an inlet of Prvic island. The snaps above show the views from our house and various points around the island. We occupied ourselves in the usual way - strolling, swimming, snorkelling, lunching and drinking Croatian beer. There's a lovely bar (Mareta) overlooking the harbour where we would sit in the shade watching the yachties come and go.

Croatia Day Six - Zadar

Our last day in Zadar, and we spent it at our favourite stony beach and diving off the pier, followed by a couple of beers at the beautifully located Bar Bamboo round by the marina.

Croatia Day Five - Preko

We took a ferry from the port of Zadar over to Preko on the island of Ugljan. Preko itself sits in a sandy bay with shallow blue water, and has its own wee island you can wade to. Very beautiful and more tranquil than many of the bigger places we'd been to.

Croatia Day Four - Pag

A wee day trip to Pag island - nice bridge, pedalo on the beach - and then back to Zadar for the sunset at the Sun Salutation and Sea Organ on the waterfront.

Croatia Day Three - Krka

Day three, and we headed inland to Krka National Park, a beautiful series of waterfalls and pools of blue-green water set in a lush, wooded valley criss-crossed with boardwalks. It was beautiful, and we were allowed to swim in the main pool alongside the fishes. It was odd to be swimming in fresh water, but back in Zadar we restored normality with a splash in the Adriatic at our favourite stony beach.

Croatia Day Two - Biograd

Second day, we took a wee trip down the coast to Biograd on the advice of our gracious host Sonja. It had a lovely beach with leafy shade to sit in, but it was a tad busy. Back to our own wee pool for more splashing about, and as dusk fell we became aware of lots of bats swooping on the pool for a drink. After many attempts I managed to get a picture...

Croatia Day One - Zadar

Day one in Croatia, and Holly's birthday. We had flown into Dubrovnik airport, picked up a hire car, and driven all the way up the coast to Zadar on the E65, a new, fast and almost empty motorway. We had glimpses of white limestone coastline, blue Adriatic water, rugged mountains, and small towns perched on hillsides.

On our first whole day, we wandered round the Old Town, stopped at Donat by the cathedral for an ice cream, and popped into Bruschetta for lunch to commemorate Holly's 14th birthday. 14!

We then drove out  beyond the marina to a swimming spot we'd been recommended, and took our first dip in the Adriatic. Beaches in Croatia tend towards the rocky rather the sandy, so we were all glad of our water shoes!

Then back to the house and our own wee pool. A nice gentle start to the holiday.

Winners!

Nothing much happened in June. Nothing I photographed, anyway. The exception, of course, was Louis' school choir who beat all comers at the Glee National Finals in Perth. And quite right too, they were superb. Even when the power failed during their performance:

Loser!

I entered the G-Form Enjoyro - part of the Tweedlove bike festival. It was a Christmas present. It's a mountain bike race, but you're only really racing on the downhills. I'm faster uphill (that's my excuse anyway). I came 58th out of about 80 blokes over 40.

There are more photos of me here but I can't use 'em without paying for them!

May It Be

The merry month of May, condensed into a few snaps. We had a visit from Catherine & Matt and family, we took them to Cramond Island to wallow in the mud, and up Arthur's Seat to brave the howling gales. Louis' Scouting activities included fire starting, selling popcorn at the school fair to raise funds for Ireland, and an overnight camp at Fordell Firs. Holly went rock climbing at Blackford Quarry with the school, and I popped round at lunchtime to say hello. Last but by no means least, the Davidsons Mains Primary School Choir (featuring one Louis Millar) won the regional finals of the Primary Schools Glee Challenge! On to the National finals in Perth!

April Cancelled Due To Injury

Edit: There are more - and more interesting - photos from the trip here.



Normally at the start of April I'd be posting hundreds of images of happy, sunburned skiers sweating in their winter clothes under a brutal Alpine sun. And that's exactly what we were doing last week in Meribel. We had a massive dump of fresh powder - in April! - and we were loving it, whooping down the un-skied areas down the sides of the pistes and generally getting it. Then I took a nasty tumble just off the edge of the Jean Pachot red run, pulling my right calf muscle and twisting my left knee. I bravely skied to the nearest mountain restaurant, where a demi of the local muscle relaxant seemed to work its magic, but it was clear I'd have to head home. By the time I got back to the chalet I could hardly walk, so the next (and last) day was going to be a write-off. First whole day I've missed my whole ski career I think.

Friday, of course, is the day we all have lunch together, I bring the cameras out, and we all goof about a bit and I get some nice pictures. That's wasn't going to happen, so Tim and I took up position in a nice bar overlooking the ronde-point - more muscle relaxant - and waited for everyone to come back for lunch. A nice boozy lunch, as it turns out, and nice enough to persuade a few others not to head back out into the deepening afternoon slush. So we ended the day - and the trip - on a bit of a pub crawl, toasting each other, injuries, the sunshine and the snow. Not so much of a write-off after all.

Brighton Breezy

We visited Brighton for Auntie Kate's significant birthday. It was a blur of social activity, hopping from AirBNB to luncherie to restaurant to bar and back again, but we hardcore cyclists managed a wee jaunt along the seafront on the town's shared bikes.

Paw Patrol

Another of Holly's Free Cakes for Kids creations. I may have helped with the badge.

Winter Is Coming

A wee dump of snow to cheer us on our way and remind us of the coming ski trip.

Up A Tree

Crossing the burn in the Hermitage of Braid:



Up a tree on Corstorphine Hill:

What's In A Name?

A few wee snaps from Farah's Naming Ceremony in Dunfermline, which has been better documented elsewhere.

Three Wise Monkeys

Happy New Year!