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.

Boys in Blue

Yesterday Perth Round Table visited the Fire Station in Perth.  This year it is the 40th anniversary of the station and it has recently had a £20M refit. 

The station also has the longest pole drop in Scotland as the building is a 2 storey one.

The furthest away engine is brand new and costs a staggering £0.5M At the moment is not yet in service as the guys are being trained on the unit. It is a multi purpose vehicle, able to fight fires and also has a high reach platform however a lot of the fire fighters are not keen on it as it has a few design flaws.

Freezing Facts

How cold was December 2010?

• At Heathrow it was the coldes December since records began in 1948.
• At a place called Rothamsted, 26 miles from Heathrow it wat the 4th coldest since 1878 (1879, 1890, 1981 being colder.)
• In central England as a whole it was the 2nd coldest on record since 1772 – the coldest being 1890.
• In Scotland it was the coldest month since February 1947.

In the last 100 years the UK has only experienced five colder months;

• January 1940
• February 1947
• January 1963
• February 1963
• February 1986

So yes December 2010 was cold and we have snow again!

Five Star Accommodation

Over the weekend we had more snow again.  The boys decided that they wanted to make a snow cave which was extended to have an additional room connected by a tunnel.  Cameron and Ali wanted to sleep in it.

Airport Adventure

The other day Alasdair and some of his friends managed to get a trip round Perth Airport where students practise repairing aeroplanes. 

All the boys had a fantastic time exploring and climbing on board all the aircraft in the hanger.

This one and the helicopter were Ali’s favourites.

 

 

Christmas 2010

Christmas Day opening presents.

No Sign of The Titanic

This was taken on Christmas Eve by Sarah and Cameron.  Last year everyone got excited when the River Tay froze.  This year it has happened again with even more dramatic affect.

Survival in the Snow

 

At the start of all the bad weather Alasdair decided he wanted to cook his lunch outside.  He build himself a fire and cooked eggs from our chickens. 

Even in this weather our chickens are still producing 5 eggs per day, although they are not impressed with the snow.

Christmas Cutbacks

As times get harder everyone is looking to save money.  Our Chief Exec posted the latest cutback on his blog.

The global economic downturn requires the North Pole Branch of S. Claus (International) Ltd to look for improved, more competitive, operating procedures. With immediate effect, the following economic measures are to be implemented in the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ Dept.

1. The partridge will be retained, but the pear tree, which never produced the forecast cash crop, will be replaced by a plastic decorative plant providing considerable savings in maintenance.
   
2. Two turtle doves are a duplication of resource, and simply cannot be justified. In addition, their romance during working hours could not be condoned. One position is, therefore, eliminated.
   
3. The French hens will be replaced by English beef.
   
4. The four calling birds will be replaced by an automated calling system, with a ‘call waiting’ option. An analysis is under way to determine whom the birds have been calling, how often, and how long they talked.
   
5. The five golden rings have been put on hold by our Investment Management Advisers. Maintaining a profile based on one commodity could have negative implications for institutional investors. Diversification into other precious metals and gilts appears to be the way forward.
   
6. Higher numbers are generally considered excessive. Three geese will be released, two token swans retained. The milking operation will be automated, freeing eight maids to join the e-milking team. The high cost of maintaining hereditary peers, plus the expense of international air travel and its impact on the environment, has promoted the Job Evaluation Unit to suggest replacing this group with ten pogo sticks. To maximise the brand value of the dancing subsidiary, we shall bring Pan’s People out of retirement.
   
7. Availing ourselves of operational synergies, the pipers and drummers will be replaced by an i-Pod.

Though as yet incomplete, early studies indicate that stretching deliveries over twelve days is grossly inefficient. Optimum efficiency and improved service levels can be achieved by making all deliveries on the same day.

In order to remain competitive in a difficult working environment, further cuts cannot be ruled out. If this should be necessary, the Board will request Management to scrutinise the ‘Snow White Division’ to establish whether seven dwarfs are actually required.

007 Below

I think the cold weather is finally getting to all of us.  Today I have been reading my Chief Execs Blog and I thought I would share it with you.

On a journey to work he was thinking about the cold weather coming from Russia and started coming up with some cold weather James Bond film puns.

Here are a few of the best ones.

• Grit and let dry
• Live and let Slide
• Quantum of Solid-ice
• Coldeneye
• Frostopussy
• Dry another day
• On Her Majesty’s Slippery Surface
• Cars-in-snow Royale

I know they are bad.

Snowy North

Found this photo on the web today.  No wonder the country is grinding to a halt. I think the ministers in London might be doing a little more if they lived in Edinburgh.

The Forth Road Bridge has been closed a couple of times this week.  (The first time in its history.)  Edinburgh airport has been closed and for over a week no trains have been leaving Edinburgh.

Last night it was –12oC in Perth.

Snow Snow and more Snow

We have had snow everyday for over a week. The temperature has fallen to –18 and the boys schools were closed all last week. They have had a great time playing in the snow but Sarah had several difficult journeys to work and even had a slept over at work on Thursday night.

Children In Need

Last weekend the Cubs and Scouts had a sleep over at St Matthews Church hall.  This was to raise money for Children In Need. 

The children could take teddy bears to the sleepover and Cameron dressed his up as Pudsey in cub uniform.

 

On Saturday we were all suffering from lack of sleep as we had only gone to bed at 2:30am.

In total just under £500 was raised for this good cause.

Chicken Update

Today we had our first bit of snow.  I don’t think our new chickens were that impressed.  However, we are now back in business with the egg production, three of our new chickens are laying.  Scotch eggs were made last week and baking is on the cards for this weekend.  Yum yum.

Wine Tasting

One of the best turnouts we have ever had for Perth Round Table.  I have no idea why this was.  Maybe it was to do with the event – Wine Tasting.  Needless to say we did not have a spittoon.

Bonfire Building

 

Once again Perth Round Table hosted the Bonfire and Fireworks on the South Inch and again I was responsible for building the bonfire.  This year I certainly was feeling my age as I am not as strong as I used to be.

Unfortunately the weather was not that great which affected the amount of money we collected for local charities.  This years total was just under £6000.

Alasdair as a Bat

Sarah made Alasdair this bat outfit for his school halloween party.

Halloween

Tonight has been Alasdairs school Halloween Party.  I am on the left in this photo.

Apart from all the kids screaming the evening was great fun.

Fossil Finding

Yesterday we visited Charmouth in  Dorset.  Charmouth is part of ‘The Jurassic Coast’, England’s first Natural World Heritage Site. This 95 mile stretch of coastline between Exmouth in Devon and Studland in Dorset tells the story of 185 million years of Earth’s history. 

 

The boys were armed with Grandad’s hammers and chisels and set off looking for fossils.

We did have quite a bit of success. Finding mainly shells call Ammonites.  The picture below shows an example of what we found.