December at last in Scottish Meanderings
- Jan. 27, 2023, 10:22 a.m.
- |
- Public
I seem to be constantly chasing my tail these days and never getting out of the bit - I'm determined to keep the 'one entry a month' goal going though so here's December's jollies.
It seems weird to be talking about Christmas in January - it always seems to be such a stressfest for ages before the event then a few days later it's all 'Christmas? Oh yeah that thing that happened last week!' and it's all forgotten about!
I started the month off with a meal with the Italian class - or as many of them as could manage that day. I've missed a few get togethers they've had so it's nice to be able to join them in events like that now.
We went on lots of freezing walks with Alfie and played Pooh Sticks whenever we came to any bridges.
We went to the flicks with the kids to see Matilda the Musical - it was pretty good - took me a few minutes to realise Miss Trunchbull was Emma Thompson - she looked very like her mother I thought which is a total insult to the beautiful Phyllida Law but it was something about the facial bone structure I think.
Here's Lilah doing her best Matilda impression - I can totally see her in the rôle actually!
Ruari got a new haircut which lasted for all of about five minutes.
He was a King in the Nativity Play this year and I was able to get out to see it. I was soooo disappointed not to take any photos or a video though - there was a member of the nursery staff taking one so of course I thought I could just watch a copy of that and get stills from it. She was sitting next to Nikki and after it was over and she'd moved away, Nikki told me she was so frustrated because she realised the girl wasn't panning the screen round - she just kept it in the centre of the stage and the kids at both sides were completely missed (she could see it out of the corner of her eye). Ruari was at the left-hand side at the front so he's not in the video! How stupid is that?? So I've just got this pic of him afterwards before he went back to nursery.
I so felt for him though - he was all gung ho with the actions and singing for the first half then I don't know if he'd had enough or found it all too much but he started to shut down in the second half and just stood there, eyes down, occasionally glancing at Nikki and he just looked so totally pissed off with the whole thing - but also so uncomfortable. My heart was breaking for him! He was fine afterwards though.
And we went to a light show in Brechin - about an hour's drive away - on Christmas Eve - and it was just magical! Nikki had decided to do something that night to keep the kids going till bedtime but was regretting it because she was shattered by the time the 24th rolled around. It was also outside and the lovely Scottish rain came on just as we got there so we thought the whole thing would be a bit of a disaster but it was really lovely even through all the rain.
It was a big garden centre and the whole of the outside was decorated with all sorts of lights and light related stuff - it must have taken them absolute ages to do it all - but it was very well organised I must say. I'm not sure photos can do it any justice.
All set to begin!
All the trees were lit up in different colours like this round the whole place.
And there were lights in the trees which had the effect of a starry night - not sure how they did that.
And there were even lights in the ground with words from Christmas songs. Not sure how they did that either.
Cute little touches as you walked round.
A real fire breathing dragon! (sort of)
A snow machine (because obviously the real life rain wasn't enough!).
Lily Angel!
Warming up with roasted marshmallows - yum!
There was a laser light show as we came in but it was over a stretch of water quite far away and we couldn't get nearer - a couple of swans made a timely appearance though!
They had kept the outdoor play area open and lit up so even when we'd been round it all the kids had go-karts they could go on, sleighs on a track they could go down and there was an inside play area with a tractor track for little ones, a play house and table tennis. It was well worth the money I would say. We had so much fun despite the rain and finished the night off with chips from the café :)
Christmas Day was lovely - I went out to Nikki's and we took Alfie to the dog park for an hour before we had our meal then opened all the presents from each other. Lily got a virtual reality headset as part of her booty so I had a shot of it and made myself very dizzy going on a VR rollercoaster! (And looking very stupid with it).
Once everyone was in bed though, Nikki and I had a proper shot and I got more used to it.
Nikki had told me you could see inside Anne Frank's house and I couldn't imagine what that would be like so gave it a go - I was gobsmacked! You could go through the bookcase and feel like you were in each room and could pick things up and walk right beside her bed and everything - it was absolutely amazing! To the extent by the end my eyes were filled with tears. It's a fervent wish both Nikki and I have to visit the house so if I can be moved with just a VR headset, goodness what it would be like to actually be there in real life!
There's a short trailer of the VR here which gives a flavour of it - the whole thing was around half an hour. (You don't have to download anything).
https://www.annefrank.org/en/about-us/what-we-do/publications/anne-frank-house-virtual-reality/
And I have a fence!!
The disaster it was at the start of the year.
Then this happened.
Lots more to do but Phase 1 complete. At least I don't have to lie awake worrying every time there's a storm outside now.
When I looked out the window after it was finished I realised it wasn't just a fence - it was something of a milestone because it represented the first big thing done to the house/garden in around 10 years. And that gave me hope that the other ten thousand things which needed done yesterday might all come to fruition one day.
I could have had the new summerhouse up at Christmas as well if I'd been more organised (well no I need to change that language - it's not being disorganised, it's just not having good enough health to get on and do what needs to be done). I'd mistakenly thought the landscaper would be building the summerhouse as well but apparently they don't do that so I got in touch with the company who were providing the summerhouse and this is their quiet period so they said they could come out and do it that week if that was convenient!
I had to explain (in more polite terms) that actually no it wasn't because there was a huge shed full of shit to be cleared first and of course that just increased the stress and pressure of getting that done. However I'm proud to say the process has at least been started this week so hopefully by the time I come to do January's entry there will be some progress to report.
Still having very variable days - no sleep at all on Monday night then diarrhoea and a very irritable bladder all day the next day - many days are like that making it hard to do anything. I was supposed to do another drop this week but I think I'll have to hold a bit longer to see if this settles down.
It seems weird to be talking about Christmas in January - it always seems to be such a stressfest for ages before the event then a few days later it's all 'Christmas? Oh yeah that thing that happened last week!' and it's all forgotten about!
I started the month off with a meal with the Italian class - or as many of them as could manage that day. I've missed a few get togethers they've had so it's nice to be able to join them in events like that now.
We went on lots of freezing walks with Alfie and played Pooh Sticks whenever we came to any bridges.
We went to the flicks with the kids to see Matilda the Musical - it was pretty good - took me a few minutes to realise Miss Trunchbull was Emma Thompson - she looked very like her mother I thought which is a total insult to the beautiful Phyllida Law but it was something about the facial bone structure I think.
Here's Lilah doing her best Matilda impression - I can totally see her in the rôle actually!
Ruari got a new haircut which lasted for all of about five minutes.
He was a King in the Nativity Play this year and I was able to get out to see it. I was soooo disappointed not to take any photos or a video though - there was a member of the nursery staff taking one so of course I thought I could just watch a copy of that and get stills from it. She was sitting next to Nikki and after it was over and she'd moved away, Nikki told me she was so frustrated because she realised the girl wasn't panning the screen round - she just kept it in the centre of the stage and the kids at both sides were completely missed (she could see it out of the corner of her eye). Ruari was at the left-hand side at the front so he's not in the video! How stupid is that?? So I've just got this pic of him afterwards before he went back to nursery.
I so felt for him though - he was all gung ho with the actions and singing for the first half then I don't know if he'd had enough or found it all too much but he started to shut down in the second half and just stood there, eyes down, occasionally glancing at Nikki and he just looked so totally pissed off with the whole thing - but also so uncomfortable. My heart was breaking for him! He was fine afterwards though.
And we went to a light show in Brechin - about an hour's drive away - on Christmas Eve - and it was just magical! Nikki had decided to do something that night to keep the kids going till bedtime but was regretting it because she was shattered by the time the 24th rolled around. It was also outside and the lovely Scottish rain came on just as we got there so we thought the whole thing would be a bit of a disaster but it was really lovely even through all the rain.
It was a big garden centre and the whole of the outside was decorated with all sorts of lights and light related stuff - it must have taken them absolute ages to do it all - but it was very well organised I must say. I'm not sure photos can do it any justice.
All set to begin!
All the trees were lit up in different colours like this round the whole place.
And there were lights in the trees which had the effect of a starry night - not sure how they did that.
And there were even lights in the ground with words from Christmas songs. Not sure how they did that either.
Cute little touches as you walked round.
A real fire breathing dragon! (sort of)
A snow machine (because obviously the real life rain wasn't enough!).
Lily Angel!
Warming up with roasted marshmallows - yum!
There was a laser light show as we came in but it was over a stretch of water quite far away and we couldn't get nearer - a couple of swans made a timely appearance though!
They had kept the outdoor play area open and lit up so even when we'd been round it all the kids had go-karts they could go on, sleighs on a track they could go down and there was an inside play area with a tractor track for little ones, a play house and table tennis. It was well worth the money I would say. We had so much fun despite the rain and finished the night off with chips from the café :)
Christmas Day was lovely - I went out to Nikki's and we took Alfie to the dog park for an hour before we had our meal then opened all the presents from each other. Lily got a virtual reality headset as part of her booty so I had a shot of it and made myself very dizzy going on a VR rollercoaster! (And looking very stupid with it).
Once everyone was in bed though, Nikki and I had a proper shot and I got more used to it.
Nikki had told me you could see inside Anne Frank's house and I couldn't imagine what that would be like so gave it a go - I was gobsmacked! You could go through the bookcase and feel like you were in each room and could pick things up and walk right beside her bed and everything - it was absolutely amazing! To the extent by the end my eyes were filled with tears. It's a fervent wish both Nikki and I have to visit the house so if I can be moved with just a VR headset, goodness what it would be like to actually be there in real life!
There's a short trailer of the VR here which gives a flavour of it - the whole thing was around half an hour. (You don't have to download anything).
https://www.annefrank.org/en/about-us/what-we-do/publications/anne-frank-house-virtual-reality/
And I have a fence!!
The disaster it was at the start of the year.
Then this happened.
Lots more to do but Phase 1 complete. At least I don't have to lie awake worrying every time there's a storm outside now.
When I looked out the window after it was finished I realised it wasn't just a fence - it was something of a milestone because it represented the first big thing done to the house/garden in around 10 years. And that gave me hope that the other ten thousand things which needed done yesterday might all come to fruition one day.
I could have had the new summerhouse up at Christmas as well if I'd been more organised (well no I need to change that language - it's not being disorganised, it's just not having good enough health to get on and do what needs to be done). I'd mistakenly thought the landscaper would be building the summerhouse as well but apparently they don't do that so I got in touch with the company who were providing the summerhouse and this is their quiet period so they said they could come out and do it that week if that was convenient!
I had to explain (in more polite terms) that actually no it wasn't because there was a huge shed full of shit to be cleared first and of course that just increased the stress and pressure of getting that done. However I'm proud to say the process has at least been started this week so hopefully by the time I come to do January's entry there will be some progress to report.
Still having very variable days - no sleep at all on Monday night then diarrhoea and a very irritable bladder all day the next day - many days are like that making it hard to do anything. I was supposed to do another drop this week but I think I'll have to hold a bit longer to see if this settles down.
42 Comments
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The Tranquil Loon ⋅ January 27, 2023
I love your new fence!It will be exciting to carry on with your other projects — I know things come slowly Between health and finances it's crazy. proud of you it looks great.
Marg The Tranquil Loon ⋅ January 27, 2023
Yeah it's a pain isn't it? But that fence has given me hope!😊
thesunnyabyss ⋅ January 27, 2023
I'm glad you've been able to have a nice December despite the up and down health.
The photos are awesome, the lights are gorgeous.
The fence looks beautiful!
Marg thesunnyabyss ⋅ January 27, 2023
Thank you!
mcbee ⋅ January 27, 2023
Beautiful family you have! Great pictures too!
Marg mcbee ⋅ January 27, 2023
Thank you!
Justlovely ⋅ January 27, 2023
Oh, you've done so much! Pooh sticks! I know what that means! I adore Emma Thompson. Her mom is famous? I didn't know that. and you got to see the kiddo in his play! He's a little guy, still. Probably just longer than he could sustain energy and attention. I love your fence. It's got a low part so you can still talk to your neighbor? I am a huge advocate for fences. Ours here is just iron bars. When we are out in our yard, we and all our neighbors are on display to each other like a zoo. I hate that. We're also on display to everyone who drives by on the street. It's one of the very few things I dislike about living here. I'm glad you had so many days over the holiday that you felt well enough to get stuff done and do fun things.
Marg Justlovely ⋅ January 27, 2023
Yes Phyllida Law was an actress too.
Yes Nikki couldn't understand why I didn't get the whole fence done in all the same size panels but the low bit was like that before and I quite liked the fact that it means you can still talk to your neighbour. I often used to think of Open Diary then Prosebox of us all 'chatting over the garden fence' - in our case a very long garden fence!😁
Justlovely ⋅ January 27, 2023
Stupid question I should just google. Do you get hard winters with super cold temps and lots of snow? I thought of this because I never heard of holiday light displays when I was growing up, (New England, USA). We might drive around the neighborhood to see the lights people put on their homes, but it was only after I married JackRyan, (from a southern place with almost no snow), that I learned light displays were a thing you did as part of the holiday. His neighborhood growing up, they were actually required by the neighborhood rules to put out light displays. They do them, here, too, where I live now, and we tend to get mild winters with little snow. I just wondered if it's a tradition that comes out of not getting snow.
Marg Justlovely ⋅ January 27, 2023
Oh I don't know - that's a good question (and not stupid)! I wouldn't say we get very hard winters - I mean they're dismal and grey and we can have low enough temps and snow and everything but nothing like you get over there in the States. The big light shows seem to have sprung up just recently - there was a place in Scotland which was well known for it (Pitlochry) but I hadn't heard of anywhere big doing it until the last couple of years and now there seems to be quite a few. As kids we would often drive round the neighbourhood to see other folks' Christmas lights too but it was more to see Christmas trees because people just didn't have the sort of displays you can put on nowadays. In fact Nikki and I still do that - there are some houses who put on a fantastic outdoor display and welcome people to come round and see it - they will often put out a box for donations to charity and hope nobody steals it! I would hate to live in a neighbourhood which made you do that though!
Justlovely Marg ⋅ February 04, 2023
Yeah, it's these communities that are called "associations". Everyone agrees to pay fees and then agrees to common rules, like that you can't put old cars on your front lawn, etc. and only make noise at certain times, cut your grass every week. It's supposed to make communities better, but in my experience, (only through people I have known who live with them), it's awful. They have stupid "mut do" rules and "can't do" and in my opinion if you buy a house and a plot of land you should be able to just be reasonable about how you care for your space with regard for your neighbors.
Marg Justlovely ⋅ February 05, 2023
Exactly!
noko ⋅ January 29, 2023
Many good things here. You must be so relieved to have the fence done. That sense of overwhelm can be so hard to manage and making a dent it it is so positive. What a fun Christmas outing. We have here what they call "The Winter Festival of Lights" with all these creative light projects all over town. It is great you got yours concentrated. The kids all look so happy. (Not counting the play meltdown). Continued good wishes for more good days than not.
Marg noko ⋅ January 31, 2023
I really was so relieved to get that fence up!
NorthernSeeker ⋅ January 30, 2023
The tile floor at the spot you met your Italian classmates is beautiful. Was it an Italian restaurant? I love Ruari's mohawk but I know that the hair wax they use for that style doesn't stand up to trials with real kids. The light show looks really pretty and quite impressive with the bonus is getting outside for the evening. The laser effects were spectacular. Your backyard is looking really tidy.
Marg NorthernSeeker ⋅ January 31, 2023
No it's just a normal restaurant in town - it's a nice wee place though.