MULL EXTRAVAGANZA

Well we're back with a large amount of photography from camping in Mull. We had a great time, and were blessed with more clement weather than it could have been. Very few midgies (wee Scottish beasties that eat you alive) and even some balmy days for the girls to swim in the sea - and freezing ones too, but they still swam. There was a kids trains ride, lots of castles, a late night Ceilidh, with Ailsa trying to take centre stage for all the performances. Balamory delusional thinking did occurr also (AKA Balamory=Tobermory is a BBC kids programme based on Mull-http://www.tobermory.co.uk/balamory/). We identified the houses of Josie jump, Edie McCredie, PC Plum, Spencer, Miss Hoolie had painted her house blue. We had diffculty finding Archie's pink castle. Although no midgies, there were a lot of ticks however - Sharon had 2, Ailsa 1, Heather 1, and I probably have some but haven't been fully screened. The camping was a lot of fun - the tent kept us dry and the inflatable mattresses were comfy.We visited Iona, the Island where St Columba set up a monastery and brought Christianity to Scotland from Ireland back in 500 and something. We saw a seal being hand-fed by this fisherman's son -bizarrely our camera which has a 12 second delay caught the magic moment.Mull is beautiful - we went on a few wee walks - interspersed by many coffee shop stops. We saw these cool standing stones in this field with Heilan coos and sheep.

Sorry for the huge number of photos. JR

Please accept our apologies

We will return to our regularly scheduled programming in one week.

Goodbye Beans


My sundae is bigger than your sundae.
We've had a great few days with "Patrick and Jennifer: The Return".
We're going to miss them a lot.
....maybe we could move to Kingston...

School Uniforms





Well today Grandma indulged Ailsa in a shopping trip for her St Monica's school uniforms. We've gone for a pinafore with a white blouse and the school tie, and also the yellow polo shirt and navy cardigan, both with the school crest. Check again in August for the actual first day of school.
Meanwhile, Granda and Heather indulged in an afternoon of napping, ice cream, playgrounds and backyard trampolining.

Happy 70th Dad!

Here is my Dad sharing his tips with me for living a long, happy and healthy life. I'm not going to share them with you here. They will be published at some point and you can each buy a copy from me for seventy dollars. This information is precious and therefore not cheap. There are no tips on preventing hair loss. Hair loss is irrelevant to health and happiness. Also, half of you will be happy to know that a beard is not essential to the recipe, either.

Without their Stetsons



This is what the Texan cousins look like really. Chris is helping Heather play a Bob the Builder game and Fiona, with her jacket on backwards, is helping Ailsa colour a Bob the Builder picture.

They left this morning, sadly, and we haven't seen Heather for awhile. I'm guessing she must be up in her room playing.

DUNNOTTAR
I was wondering about the ethics of posting someone elses photos, but Jen Cranmer has absolved me of this sin. You've already seen the dream romantic photo of Dunnottar castle in Stonehven - well here is the stark reality photo in colour - very romantic.

Aberdeen

Patrick and Jennifer are having the whirlwind tour of Aberdeen, after a day trip to Loch Katrine. We're off to see Kate Rusby in Stonehaven tonight after visiting the romantic but possibly wet Dunnottar Castle...where Hamlet was filmed with the honorary Scot Mel Gibson.

HAPPY CANADA DAY

A big rainy Scotland welcome to two long-journeyed Canadians - Patrick and Jennifer. They got through security at Glasgow airport safely and have tattooed our 2 daughters. Here is a fabulous cake made by the Foxes on a former Canada day