Ace Archer

Last night Cameron took part in his first archery competition.  He won his age group, best bullseye and also the overall competition

He has only been going to Perth Archery Club for a few weeks.

Christmas Chess

My parents bought me a chess set for Christmas.  It is a good job we have a large lounge.  Both Cameron and Alasdair like playing chess so have two good opponents.

Millie Peach

A couple of weeks ago we had a new member of the family join us.  Her name is Millie Peach and she is a black labrador.

Millie has settled in really well and at the moment we are on a bit of a road trip with her.  We called in at Wigan and now down in Devon. 

Winter Walk

Yesterday we had a great day walking in Glendoll. During the day we experience a quick snow shower.  Unfortunately we ran out of daylight to complete Mayar but we had an excellent day. (Click on the photo to enlarge it.)

Loch Faskally

 

 

Had a brilliant day canoeing on Loch Faskally with Sarah and the boys.

 

(Click on the play button below to see a video of our day)

 

 

iTeam

Sometimes I come across funny pictures that I just love. I am sure you have all heard that there is no I in team.

I used to agree but did say there was a me if you look hard enough (tEaM).



Now an i has been spotted so I thought I would share this with you.

Cameron in the Cairngorms

Cameron and myself have just got back from a camping trip to the Cairngorms.

Alasdair is away with the scouts to Lochgoilhead so we decided to go camping ourselves.

The plan was to go up a couple of Munros but unfortunately the weather was poor so instead we just had a low level walk.

We spent the night camping at Derry Lodge.

Cairngorm Camping

Last weekend I was camping in the Cairngorms with Perth High School.  We were doing a Silver Duke of Edinburgh’s Award training expedition.  Weather on the Sunday was fine but Saturday and especially Monday were a real challenge. 

3 C’s

Today I have been baking and decided to try a new 3 C’s recipe.  A chocolate cheese cake. 

The kitchen was really busy today. I also produced a chocolate sponge cake and chocolate brownies.  Just so I did not over dose with chocolate I also made an egg custard tart.  Good job our chickens are laying lots of eggs as 13 were used today.

Gardening The Easy Way

Today one of our friends Gordon asked for a hand in his garden.  He had hired a JCB to clear the bottom of the garden.  The advantages of the children playing on computer games and using joysticks came into its own today, as Cameron was better than both Gordon and myself. 

 

 

In no time he was digging holes, moving rubble and levelling the ground.

The One That Didn’t Get Away

We have recently been away in our caravan to Edzell. 

The campsite was in the middle of some woods and had a small course fishing pond which the boys loved.  Alasdair  and Cameron caught loads of fish but Sarah caught just the one which happened to be the largest but did not want to hold it. The fish was a mirror carp shown in the picture. 

 

 

Puddles in Perth

Today it has not stopped raining.  I think I need to invest in a boat or at least get the boys dinghy out of the attic.  Below is a picture of our local sports centre in Perth, complete with it’s new water feature.

Messing About On The River

This weekend was Alasdair's birthady and he wanted to go away for the weekend. We decided to take the caravan up to Blair Athol campsite and stayed the night.  The site had a river running along side it, which Alasdair spent most of the time messing about in it.



We enjoyed the site so much that we have booked to visit again as soon as the boys finished school. 
Why we were there the Athol Highland games were on, but the boys enjoyed playing in the river and riding their bikes so were not really interested in going to the games.
Blair Athol estate has its own private army which is the last private army in Europe.

Starwars Humour

I received this picture on Facebook and thought it was funny enough to post on my blog.  My children love Starwars but might not understand the joke as they probably won’t know the image on the left.  Sign that I am one of the oldies who used to tape top of the pops on a cassette.

Eggcellent Egg Custard

Alasdair was helping me with some egg custard the other day. Here is one he personalised for Mum.

Birthday Boy

Today Cameron became a teenager, so we thought we would go out to celebrate his birthday.  Where better to go than the first pub he ever visited, the Moulin Inn.  We took Cameron here for his first pint (milk) when he was just a few weeks old.  It is quite scary how time flies and the fact he is now 13 years old.

 

 

After lunch we went for a walk around Lock Faskally.

 

Chain Mail

Quite often I receive chain emails and do nothing with them.  This time I have decided to post it on facebook and on by blog sites.  I hope you appreciate this one as much as I did.  If you are able to spread this poem please do.

T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,
HE LIVED ALL ALONE,
IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE,
MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.

I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY,
WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,
AND TO SEE JUST WHO,
IN THIS HOME, DID LIVE.

I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,
A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,
NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,
NOT EVEN A TREE.

NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,
JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,
ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES,
OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.

WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,
AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,
A SOBER THOUGHT,
CAME THROUGH MY MIND.

FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,
IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,
I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,
ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.

THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,
SILENT, ALONE,
CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR,
IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.

THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,
THE ROOM IN  DISORDER,
NOT HOW I PICTURED,
A TRUE BRITISH SOLDIER.

WAS THIS THE HERO,
OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?
CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,
THE FLOOR FOR A BED?

I REALISED THE FAMILIES,
THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,
OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS,
WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT..

SOON ROUND THE WORLD,
THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,
AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE,
A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.

THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM,
EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,
BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,
LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.

I COULDN'T HELP WONDER,
HOW MANY LAY ALONE,
ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE,
IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.

THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT,
A TEAR TO MY EYE,
I DROPPED TO MY KNEES,
AND STARTED TO CRY.

THE SOLDIER AWAKENED,
AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,
"SANTA DON'T CRY,
THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;

I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,
I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,
MY LIFE IS MY GOD,
MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS.."

THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,
I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,
I CONTINUED TO WEEP.

I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,
SO SILENT AND STILL,
AND WE BOTH SHIVERED,
FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.

I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE,
ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,
THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR,
SO WILLING TO FIGHT.

THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,
WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,
WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,
IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."

ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH, 
AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.
"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,
AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT.."

Christmas At Crathes

Crathes Castle which is close to Banchory in Aberdeenshire had a Christmas open day.  As members of the National Trust for Scotland we had a great day out.  Santa was there with his reindeer from the Cairngorm National Park.  Each room within the castle had actors who were dressed up as famous fictional characters such as Cinderella, Dick Wittington and Captain Hook.

Remembrance Day

Last Sunday the boys were taking part in the Cubs and Scouts Remembrance Service at St Matthews Church.  Alasdair was carrying the flag for the Cubs.  The flag bearers formed a guard of honour outside the church.  There was also a parade taking place which passed infront of the church.

Coffee Cups

Last weekend it was the Cubs and Scouts Coffee Morning.  This is an annual event to raise funds for the Scout Group.  As always I spent the morning in the the kitchen drying all the coffee cups.  The Group managed to raise over £1,100 towards their funds.

Top Awards

Last weekend it was the Cubs and Scouts coffee morning.  At the event Cameron and Alasdair were awarded their Chief Scouts Award.  Cameron gained the Gold Chief Scout award, the highest award in Scouts, whilst Alasdair gained his Silver Chief Scout Award the highest in Cubs.

Hiking round the Hermitage

During the October half term break we decided to go away for a few days in our caravan.  We had not used it before so just wanted to stay fairly local. 

We stayed at Dunkeld for a few days and went for a walk round the Hermitage.  Salmon were trying to jump up the waterfall and whilst there we saw 22.  It was probably only one trying to get up time and time again.

Egg Enterprise

On Sundays we have a car boot sale just down the road.  Sundays is therefore the busiest day for traffic and the boys decided to capitalise on this by setting up a stall to sell our surplus eggs.  In a short time they managed to sell all their stock and make some extra pocket money.

Our chickens are doing really well at the moment providing 5 eggs per day.

Back to Basics

 

Last weekend the scouts were camping again at Craggan.  This camp the scouts were looking after themselves and had a back to basics camp.  Tents were pitched by them and they cooked all their meals on an open fire.  Even the leaders didn’t get food poisoning.  Everyone on the camp passed their camping badge and their camp cook badge.

Cameron at Cumbrae

Cameron went on a school trip to Cumbrae, Scotland’s national watersports centre.  Here he had a great week learning to windsurf, sale and went kayaking

Pink Parade

6 Months ago a work college decided it would be a good idea to do the ‘Edinburgh Moonwalk’.  A 26 mile walk for Breast Cancer Charity.

Stupidly enough I agreed and the above photo is our team ‘The Chocolate Teapots’  The walk started at 11:30pm and 7,000 women and a few men all dressed in pink walked through the streets of Edinburgh.  I managed the course in 6 hours 35 minutes but my feet were suffering.  The team did managed to raise over £1000 for the charity.

The Power of Nature

Working for an energy company, Scottish and Southern Energy I am always interested in energy information.  My Chief Exec runs a blog on our company website and the the article below was posted.

Chris has sent me an interesting calculation. Apparently seismologists have estimated (I don't know how) that the total energy released by the Japanese earthquake was 4 x 10 ^22 joules.  That doesn't mean much to me. The interesting bit is to compare that to the energy produced by the 4GW Fukushima nuclear power plant that has been making headline news. It would take that station almost 317,000 years to produce the same energy. Even if every power station in the UK were to run flat out, all the time, it would still take 16,000 years to produce the same power.

As Chris says: another example of how puny human effort is when compared to the power of nature.

Camping at Craggan

Last weekend I was helping with the scout group at Craggan campsite.  Both Cameron and Alasdair were camping so Sarah had the house and duvet to herself.  We all enjoyed the weekend but still recovering from lack of sleep.

Cameron is pictured above building a bivouac and Alasdair is below toasting marsh mallows on the fire.

Diving

On Friday night Cameron was invited to Callum’s birthday party.  This was an unusual party as they all went on a trial diving course and Cameron loved it.

All the Ones

This year we will experience 4 unusual dates

• 1/1/11
• 1/11/11
• 11/1/11
• 11/11/11

If you then take the last two digits of the year you were born and add them to the age you will be this year it will equal 111.