A Fun Afternoon at the Coast

Uncle Chris with his godson and terror sisters posing in the ruins at St Monans Castle.

We had a fantastic walk along the coast at St Monans to see the castle ruins and have a play on the beach. Ellie was particularly taken with all of the underground rooms at the castle as I told her they would probably have been the children's bedrooms and how would she like to have a room like this? Mean old Mum! she decided she liked her bedroom better but was still fascinated with it. Fergus the kamakazi dog had a whale of a time jumping up and down the cliffs into the sea and up the banks, Mum meanwhile was having a heartattack every time he lept off a 10ft drop!

Euan and Uncle Chris playing statues in the afternoon light.

The light yesterday afternoon was just amazing and the coastal wind was quite warm, a rare treat for the end of October. We were all quite hot in our fleeces but it was just a bit nippy without them. We came across a very large dead seal on the beach which was sad but very educational for the children.

I will desperately miss the sea and beaches here when or rather if at this rate we move back down south. There is something quite magical about the seaside with its noises and calming effect on the soul. The children went out like lights last night when I put them to bed, I always feel like they have been exposed to something special and healthy when we have had a walk at the seaside. The evening was rounded off with fish and chips sat in Anstruther harbour courtesy of Chris and Helen (thank you very much!) which the children devoured, even Maddie took the remainder of her chips home in the car to finish!

Today was spent getting covered in orange paint with the nursery children and then over to my friend Hilary's house for lunch. I got a wonderful cuddle with her little six month old Corey who is just edible, you want to squeeze him and kiss him constantly! Tonight I have finished painting my robins and twisted their wire feet. 20 more Cranberry hearts have been threaded and Fergus has been sneaking cuddles on the sofa all in front of a wonderful log fire, quite devine.

Tomorrow or should I say today nearly as I am always late to bed must be a work day as I need to get some crafting done. Thank you to those who responded to my email about the blog, I hope I don't bore you to death over the coming months.

Sweet dreams to all and to all a good night.

Anyone who is crafty and fancys doing an ornament exchange this christmas check out this.

HOUSE FOR SALE STILL

Okay it has been 7 months now since we have put the house on the market, fate possibly has kept me here while John has been away in the Falklands. I'll be honest it has suited me not to have moved yet. I have a good set of friends who are there when things get to bad and my inlaws have been coming up once a week to give me a hand and a break. I have even managed to let them help me with things (don't faint) yes I am learning to ask for help and take it! Finally got around to taking some fresh pictures of the house yesterday, up a ladder to get the height and have sent them off to the estate agent with a note to drop the house price by £5,000. We will see if it makes a difference. I hope so because I am sick of trying to clean the house to show, I have wasted so much time this summer cleaning and clearing the garden, shouting at kids to not mess it up again before the viewing. Poor little devils don't understand what is going on either.

LESS THAN ONE WEEK TILL J GETS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe that we are almost at the end of this 19 week stretch, I can't wait to get J home, the poor man is going to be hugged to death by the family when he gets off that plane and probably for the next week! Euan has been writing a list of things he wants to do with Daddy when he gets back, I think he is up to number 30! Ellie has plans for baking cinnamon rolls and sunflower seed rolls and Maddie I think she is still to young to understand. Me I just want some crafting time and a break from the day to day stuff like cooking and cleaning.

Talking of crafting I have finally got around to making a few things. I have a sale scheduled for the 15th of November at a friends house. I figured I had better set a date or I would never get around to doing anything this christmas. The house sale and J being away has really drained me more than I thought it would. Work in progress below (excuse the quality of the photo) has now been finised. 26 penguins inspired by the Falkland visit were completed, 15 sold already argh maybe I wont have stock. I have since made 15 camels (2 gone), 18 tissue holders (2 gone) and 20 christmas puddings. I have some wooden and fabric robins in the pipeline, around 10 peghooks half completed and a few bird index boxes constructed but not painted. Poor old J back into the fire when he gets home.

Well I had better go and get out of my pj's since it is 11am and we are heading over to Auntie Helen's and Uncle Chris's this afternoon for a trip to Anstruther harbour and a fish and chip treat for dinner. Oh how I love not having to cook! I also need to prepare the art projects I am doing with Maddie's nursery this week as I am in two days this week instead of the usual one. We are making pumpkin paper plate masks and halloween ghost footprint cards (Messy but fun!). I will post some pictures of the completed works when I get chance (um could be a while my to do list is so long!).

Missing Photos!

Daddy and his Jet
Gentoo Penguins at Sandy Bay, Bleaker Island

Yeah I think I might have got the photos where i want them. Surely there is an easier way to get the photos were you want them without uploading them first? Oh the joys of computers and a very limited knowledge!

Well I suppose I had better get dressed as we have a busy day planned, making toiletroll tube penguins, dog walks and then the girls are coming for wine tonight!!

Looks like another grey day here John so you are not missing anything.

Things have been rather busy round here!

Well the plan of keeping a blog while John was away in the Falklands seems to have fallen by the wayside but hey life with three children is never predictable! Less than three weeks now and John should be flying home - Yeyyyyyyyyyy can you tell that we have done 16 weeks on our own, possibly the twitch in my eye and the fixed grin/grimace lets it slip. All in all the kids have been okay, poor old Euan has struggled with his Daddy being gone and we have had a few temper/behavioural issues but whos to say we wouldn't have had them anyway.

The visit to the Falklands was a resounding sucess. I was rather concerned at taking three young children on two 9 hour flights back to back on my own but they were fantastic. Yes we did have a few spilt juice issues and some tired babies when we landed but I didn't see too many people getting off giving us dirty looks. I was really glad I went to see the Falklands it is a bleak and yet beautiful place. We had a helicopter ride (Euan grinned from ear to ear) to Bleaker Islands where we stayed for two nights. Bleaker's population is 2 and rather a lot of sheep and cattle! Euan loved the Sei whale bones found on the beach and the plethera of skulls around the island. The girls liked the forces ration hot chocolate!! Our departure was rather special except for the two hours spent sat on the runway because the pilot had gone down a taxway and got stuck (would this worry you?). John managed to get airborne and fly along side the 747 in his jet and wave us off, the kids thought it was amazing, Mum thought it was lovely but heart breaking at the same time. Then home for a further 14 weeks of solo parenting.


Unfortunately for me I picked up a bacterial infection on the flight which was quickly followed by a sinus infection which took two sets of antibiotics to clear. I still seem to have a cold lingering.

Okay I am having a problem getting my photos where I want them and now I can't seem to find two, hmmmmmmmmm. Oh why couldn't this be simple! Right I shall post this and see what comes out.