When friends come to stay.

Edinburgh Tattoo 2013

Blogger Pal Indigo Roth is here with us again just now. He was here for a week in January and didn't seem put off by the weather so decided to come and have a look in some better temperatures. While it's nowhere near as warm as recent weeks and the wind has been more to the fore, we've had a few nice days.

 

 

It's nice to see familiar places through the eyes of someone seeing them for the first time. When we do have visitors we have a few places we always like to take them to see. At this time of the year it's Edinburgh in festival mode - we're leaving shortly to spend the rest of the day there - and this week we were lucky to get tickets for the preview night of The Edinburgh Tattoo. Our friend appeared to have a ball. At this rate he might be going home wearing a kilt!

 

Although I've had to work a couple of days I've also been able to spend time out and about with our friend. Luckily like me he enjoys photography and again, it's nice to see familiar places interpreted by someone else in their photos. Somehow it gives you a wider perspective when you realise they often see things you don't in your well known places.

Concentration.

It will be interesting to see how he views the crowds and places in Edinburgh today. I can hardly wait.

Lindisfarne.

The photos here are some taken over the last few days. Some of Indigo's can be seen here.

Shed made from boat, Lindisfarne.

 

 

Lindisfarne

 

 

Lindisfarne Castle

 

 

Fireworks Finale Tattoo.

 

Tantallon Castle.

 

 

Take care folks. See you soon.

Listening to:

The Sunday Posts 2013/Sink Song

This weeks offering is chosen by blogger pal Indigo Roth who's staying with us at the moment. {Strange that - I thought I'd managed to put him off  for life the last time he was here!}

I imagine he chose this because of all the lovely porage I make him - not the amount of porage-pot washery I've made him do, although you can tell what's made the biggest impression.

Scouring out the porridge pot
Round and round and round!

Out with all the scraith and scoopery,
Lift the eely ooly droopery,
Chase the glubbery slubbery gloopery
Round and round and round!

Out with all the doleful dithery,
Ladle out the slimy slithery,
Hunt and catch the hithery thithery,
Round and round and round!

Out with all the obbly gubbly,
On the stove it burns so bubbly,
Use the spoon and use it doubly,
Round and round and round.

Poem by J.A. Lindon

Photo of Indigo Roth by Indigo Roth {because the man loves a 'selfie'.}

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

I wonder what she was thinking?

It's nice when visitors come to stay. Sometimes in fact, it's brilliant!

Passports please!

We recently had our Swiss niece Julia come to stay. While we were on holiday in Switzerland during the summer we visited the lovely G’s cousins and while there 12-year-old Julia had asked if she could come to stay with us in her October holidays. We said it would be fine as long as her parents were happy and they replied that they would be quite relaxed about it as long as Julia realised that for the first time she would be travelling completely on her own, which is no small thing when taking an international flight from a major airport. Her parents were confident that arrangements could be made to ensure that Julia could be escorted and kept watch over during the journey to make sure that she was okay, if we could make sure that she was met off the plane in Edinburgh.

Unusual sheds, Lindisfarne.

Over the following weeks flights were investigated and arrangements made to make sure everyone was happy and, after what seemed like no time at all, the time arrived for Julia's visit. The lovely G and I had just returned from holiday in France the day before and luckily the forecast weather for the week of Julia stay looked promising for the most part. Numerous texts flew back and forwards between us and Switzerland making sure that we knew of Julia's progress with her parents to the airport, on to the departure gates, then onto the flight and that the flight had departed on time. We arrived at the airport in good time and make sure that the lovely G was in place to meet her with all the proper required documentation to ensure that the airline would relinquish their charge into her hands. This done, Julia was free to enjoy her holiday with us.

What goes up must come down and get wet feet

Julia had been to the house before, on holiday with her parents and her older brother couple of years ago and had loved being in a place so different from her home. That holiday introduced Julia to the nearby beaches, coves and coastline of East Lothian, something that was entirely new to a wee girl from a completely landlocked European country. Julia had probably never seen the sea before, only beautiful Swiss lakes. She was amazed to look out to sea and not see land on the far shore, in fact she was amazed not to see a shore at all. Much of the hot summer fortnight spent with us back then was spent on beaches and in particular on rocky shorelines investigating rock pools at low tide or watching breakers crash down onto the shore in front of them. These things, ordinary to us, completely fascinated Julia and she soon amassed a collection of shell's and stones as well was the odd empty crab shell or claw which were carefully packed to be taken home as treasured possessions.

Treasure

Two years later Julia was just as excited at the prospect of spending time by the sea. As young girls do, she had prepared an itinerary for her holiday which covered almost all the available time with things she hoped to do. Many of those meant being by the water – not necessarily the best place to be in Scotland in October. Luckily for Julia (and for us) the forecast good weather came as scheduled and even managed to crank up the temperature a notch or two above expectations. This gave us the opportunity to spend lots of time with Julia outside doing the things she hoped to do, as well as gave us the chance to do things she hadn't thought of and show her places she hadn't been before. There was plenty of time to indulge her fascination with rock pools, investigating seaweed draped corners and carefully turning over stones to investigate the wildlife hiding underneath. Julia and I spent hours on the nearby coast scrambling across rocky shorelines in the hunt for the perfect pool as we collected and examined shrimps, hermit crabs, starfish and all the other creatures that can be found on the local coastline. As I trundled across seaweed draped rocks, slipping and sliding at almost every step, she skipped like an elf sure-footedly across wet rocks and water filled channels, fearless and unaware in her excitement. More than once I'd to call her back closer to me so that I felt more in control, or to remind her of how quickly incoming tides can come in and the dangers of being left stranded on rocks, especially when accompanied only by an overweight middle-aged man, no matter how proud that same man may be of his junior Lifesavers badge earned 40 years ago in a lovely, heated indoor swimming pool.

......... and wildlife

                                                                               

Julia's gone back home now. A week goes very quickly.. If I was a curmudgeon I could mutter on about how nice it is now to be able to get into the bathroom when I want, to have a shower without checking where our guest is, or to be able to walk around the house without switching off lights as I go, but I won't because those things are unimportant. I miss her smiles and the dozen grateful hugs I received across each day of her holiday. I miss her frantic energy and her enthusiasm. But - I don't miss the responsibilty of being a parent - no matter how temporary it's been.

To busy to pose for photo's

Sweetheart! Should we take her to the doctor??

It's good to have visitors. Sometimes in fact, it's brilliant!

Thanks Julia.

see you later.

Listening to

Visitors and Virtual Friends

Hullo ma wee blog,

I've been off-line most of this week while my laptop has been away getting repaired and so, now that it's back, this is the first post for a while that takes place at my normal typing speed and not in a stuttering, cursing under my breath thump, thump, thump on the keyboard trying to get sticking keys to work kind of way. It feels like a new me to be honest......

The lovely G did offer me the use of her laptop while mine was away at the repair geek shop but although I did try, and used it to post any comments I've made to blogs this week, somehow it just didn't feel right and perhaps as a result I have been lacking any kind of inspiration for a post. That sad state of affairs - and missing my own laptop - actually made me feel quite down, which is disturbing in its own way, and I was glad that my week had been busy with Children's Hearings and the like. {the 'like'  included crashing the garage courtesy car that I have while my own car is also in for repairs! Twenty years driving with no accidents then two in a fortnight!!!}

My week perked up considerably though when I was contacted by Scottish Nature Boy a fellow blogger who's output on Scottish natural history I'm an avid reader of.   SNB was on a few days holiday and in the area visiting his parents and his brother CoastKid, who's fabby blog on cycling hereabouts I also follow , and asked if he could drop in and meet me as he would be out with a pal cycling nearby. It sounded too good a chance to let go so of course I agreed and on Friday morning found myself sitting here at my kitchen table sharing tea and biccies with SNB and his cycling pal.

Any similarity to SNB purely accidental!

This is the first time I've physically met anyone through the blog although I've been promising Scudder to meet for a pint for far too long and have also promised to meet up with Coastkid to talk about his blog and his blog films which are beginning to get noticed and win awards from those who know about these things. The anticipation in the lead up to the visit was actually quite an exciting time. I mean it's all very well to post a few comments about stuff you've liked on a blog and all that and to have that reciprocated, but it's truly another dimension to actually meet someone who's previously only been a virtual acquaintance. What if you just don't hit it off for some reason? What if he's a nut job or clearly thinks your not the sharpest tool in the box? And of course he was coming with back up and I would be all on my own.........

Of course none of those things applied in reality and I was pleasantly struck by the ease of conversation around the table as we explored our shared experience of blogging and the multitude of topics that end up being part of the experience of our own and other blogs. We share several similarities in attitude which were very obvious from the start and I'd like to think we were both comfortable in each others company from the off.

His cycling buddy hopefully was reassured that I didn't turn out to be the mad axe murderer he was forecasting either........... Friday's my day off on that pastime luckily for him.

Although I'd seen his picture on his blog profile, he'd never set eyes on me until I opened the door as of course I have a strict no personal photo's rule on the blog and use a cartoon { Dad and Mom from Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Waterson - or Oor Wullie } as an avatar. It was amusing that he had clearly an image in his mind and I was quite different to what he expected. I certainly look nothing like Oor Wullie or Calvin's Dad. Maybe that's a bit unfair of me but they represent part of my personality.

As you would expect we were soon deep in conversation about how we blog, what about and blogs we follow and that led us to talk about the kind of boundaries we set for our blogs and how we protect the integrity of what we are putting out there. It's something I think about a lot as my blog is a very personal one, reflecting me and my values and although I don't censor myself consciously, I'm very protective of what I am writing. We both agree that as our blogs are basically open to the world it's great that we have never had any disrespectful or inappropriate comments. { I have only once refused to post a comment - it was a spam commercial advert}

It was a nice affirmation of the blogosphere to meet such an unassuming and enthusiastic guy, obviously intelligent and thoughtful, as shows in his blog, and with a good sense of fun and it was all too soon before the lads had to saddle up and head off on the journey back west and home. Before he went SNB invited me to visit him in Stirling and go to the castle when the restoration to the banqueting hall ceiling is unveiled.

You can count me in on that one.

Now where's his brothers phone number????

See you later.

Listening to Madonna 'Frozen'

dreich, dreich, dreich........Braw!

Hullo ma wee blog,

Happy New Year to you by the way.

Oh well, the forecast about snow I made came to nothing and the weather instead has been as curmudgeonly as me lately, sending sleet, rain and strong wind to batter the house and buffet the trees in the garden. Sunlight has been sparse and most of the days have been cold, grey and dreich, not the sparkling start to the year I was hoping for.

But on the bright side its been perfect for staying indoors listening smugly to howling winds and hailstones pattering windows. So far we have quietly been catching up on movies bought but not watched. Yesterday we caught up with 'Mamma Mia' - one the kovely G had seen at the cinema and had been given as a present during the year. {for maximum brownie points I might add. Clever boy, Al} I had successfully resisted attempts to be present for a ceremonial screening {thus losing any hard earned brownie points} until now. Grudgingly I had to admit that I had quite enjoyed it but not that I was humming along quietly {which I was} Then we watched 'Burn After Reading' which, like most of the Cohen bros movies, I found hilarious and totally fascinating, and finished up with 'Beowulf' which we enjoyed too but both agreed that Ray Winstone was miscast - even for an animated version - as his East end London accent exclaiming "I have come to kill your monshter!" was hilarious.

After a late breakfast we didn't feel like anything other than some cheese, fruit and biscuits for dinner. Its not been a holiday of gorging ourselves this year at all and the freezer is still groaning with Christmas goodies.

Today we ventured out between vicious wintry showers for a wee walk down the cliff path to the harbour at Cove, well wrapped and protected from the worst of the elements. A short stay to watch the waves crash over the harbour wall and marvel at natures strength and the ability of seabirds to cope in such extremes and we slowly made our way back up the hill, thankfully with a tailwind, to warmth and sanctuary once more, able to feel virtuous as we took off hats, coats and gloves, stamped our feet and began to rub life back into tortured cheeks and frozen noses.

Now having thawed out we are getting ready to go and visit some friends locally. They should have been coming here but sneakily hubby managed to break his leg in two places at work on Tuesday.

What some people will do to avoid coming to see me.........

see you later.

Listening to Madness 'Welcome to the house of fun'

A lovely day and a visitor

Evening over Torness.

Its been a cracker of a day today weather wise and one of the lovely G's friends has come to stay over. G and I always enjoy visitors and its nice to catch up with folk again. Miss C arrived at about 10.30am and after a quick catch up cup of tea I took her and G off to drop them so they could walk along the headland to Fast Castle, a nice walk of about half an hour downhill to the fragmentary remains of what must have been an amazing sight. The site of the castle, jutting out into the sea atop some rugged cliffs covered in sea birds is absolutely stunning. And of course it comes with its own legends of fantastic treasure just waiting to be found. Not that I'd want to lug it back up that hill mind you as its a bit steep in parts.

After a couple of hours I picked them back up {although I was late - what can I say, I'm a bloke!} and we all went to a local hideaway restaurant for a { on their part} well deserved lunch and a nice bottle of red wine. The weather was glorious and we ate outside, a leisurely affair of a couple of hours before coming back to the house, a seat on the patio and our special sunny day treat of Asti with lime - a couple of limes squeezed into a jug of Asti spumanti - which turns a bit of a howler of a wine into something quite spectacular. Give it a go you will be amazed. { thanks for the tip Nigella!!}

While they chatted I went to a local supermarket to pick up some stuff for dinner in the evening and lunch tomorrow, forgot my wallet, had to leave the shopping in store and come back home for afore mentioned cash holder, dash back and pay - typical. I had managed to find some nice cheeses and biscuits for a late supper and I got everything I wanted to make some thai fishcakes which we will have for lunch at some time before C has to leave to go back to Harrogate on Mon.

As it should be with friends, wine and banter flowed freely, music played in the background and a great deal of lifes problems were put to rights in a happy, reflective way. Even with a short trip out to the headland again as I thought the light looked great and wanted to take a couple of sunset shots, soon we realised that midnight was on us and the ladies decided that it was a good time to head off to bed before I turned back into a frog or something. I stayed up for another hour or so going through the photos I had taken today and others that I had put onto the laptop, organising and editing and generally tidying stuff up into folders etc before eventually calling it day and heading off to bed too.

Looking forward to what today will bring.

see you later.............