Edinburgh to Visit Siobhan, Stuart and Rory

After skiing on Saturday we headed over to Edinburgh to stay over at Siobhan, Stuart and Rory’s.  We arrived at about 2:30.  We had a coffee and then went for a wee walk down to the park.  Back at the house the kids (and Mo and I) were enjoying playing with Rory.

While Siobhan and Stuart were busy making dinner the kids played the Wii and messed about with Rory.  The adults sat down for a lamb roast and potatoes – which was so tasty.  After dinner there was another few games of the Wii and a few glasses of wine before heading to bed.  The alarm was set for 8:00 to get up and watch Andy Murray in the Australian Open Tennis.  He didn’t beat Federer, but it was great sitting about in pyjamas cheering him on.

After we were all showered and dressed we went out a walk to a pond to feed the ducks.  Patrick was wanting to take some photos and he managed to get a good one of the swans.

The walk back Ella latched onto Stuart – his ears were bleedin’ by the time we got back to the house.

After a quick coffee we headed west again to sunny Houston.  It is Laura’s 16th birthday on Tuesday and we were going to have dessert at their house.

A great weekend – great to spend some time with wee Rory and just chill out – cheers Siobhan and Stuart.

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The Monks’ Burns Supper 2010

Last Sunday Jean and Eddie had invited us all over for a Burns Supper.  We had one last year and it was a great success, so they had decided to do it again.

After Craig had toasted the haggis and Patrick had given us the Selkirk Grace, we were treated to Haggis, Neeps & Tatties for starters, Steak Pie for main and Cloutie Dumpling for pudding.  After dinner the kids (and Gordon) treated us all to some Burns music and verse.  Gordon’s recital of Tam O’Shanter is over the 10min limit of YouTube!!  I will split it and put it up later on. Meantime you can enjoy the weans …

Gordon’s recital of Tam O’Shanter is over the 10min limit of YouTube so I had to split it into two.

Bunch Of Phonies Mourn J. D. Salinger

J. D. Salinger died on the 27th of January.  He is best known for his novel “The Catcher In The Rye”.  This was a popular choice to study at higher because it was easy to read and at times it was laugh out loud.  I came across this announcement on the web, which is written in the same style as the book.

In this big dramatic production that didn't do anyone any good (and was pretty embarrassing, really, if you think about it), thousands upon thousands of phonies across the country mourned the death of author J.D. Salinger, who was 91 years old for crying out loud.

"He had a real impact on the literary world and on millions of readers," said hot-shot English professor David Clarke, who is just like the rest of them, and even works at one of those crumby schools that rich people send their kids to so they don't have to look at them for four years.

"There will never be another voice like his." Which is exactly the lousy kind of goddamn thing that people say, because really it could mean lots of things, or nothing at all even, and it's just a perfect example of why you should never tell anybody anything.

This has just reminded me of how good the book was – will need to read it again soon.

Quick Post

I have been busy at work and in the evenings over the past few weeks, so no blog.  I have the Monks’ Burns night to do from last Sunday – I will try and get it done and updated over the next few days.  Meantime I liked this …

See it bigger here – warning, you might end up on this web site for hours.  Calvin and Hobbs – fantastic!!

Andy Murray has just made the final of the Australian Open.  Will need to be up and watching the final on Sunday - It is good to see all the Jimmy Hats in the crowd – come on Andy!

Mikie’s Learning to Ski

We got Mikie a taster session at the ski school for part of his Christmas.  This is a 1/2 hour lesson to see if you fancy taking more lessons.  We all went along to watch (Ella couldn’t go – she has got the Chicken Pox!!).

After the lesson he went to TK Max after with Mo and bought a ski jacket, salapets and a pair of ski goggles!! He has booked a set of lessons starting on Saturday.  The kids start the following week so it will be coffee and a cake at the ski centre for the next 6 weeks.

I will keep you updated with all their progress.

Skiing in the Cairngorms

We have had quite a lot of snow recently and we had thought about trying to go skiing a some point over the holidays.  Jean & Eddie, The Mejury’s and the Edinburgh Monks’ were up in Aviemore for the New Year week so we were keeping in contact with them to see what the conditions were.

On Hogmanay (Thursday) in Aviemore, it snowed all day and basically stopped all skiing because the roads were all closed until Sunday.  On Sunday we picked up skis from the Ski centre and headed up about 2 o'clock.  The road up was clear, but as we got closer to Aviemore there was a lot of snow around.

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Happy New Year 2010

Happy New Year Everyone.  We met Rosie & Stephen and the kids in Paisley at 5.  We had a great dinner in Raeburns Bistro & Grill, before walking down the road to the Paisley Arts Centre – we were all off to the Panto!!  What a belly laugh it was – the best Panto/Show/Concert I think I have ever been to – the main star, “Silly Billy”, was fantastic. 

Ella, Zoe, Patrick and Luke all ended up on the stage at one point to help sing a song! I must admit I wasn’t sure what to expect, but we will be back next year.  Fantastic!!

After the show we headed back to the Halpin’s to bring in the bells – few drinks and a Roll and Pork with the best cider gravy before going to bed at 3 – the older kids got sent to bed then too!!

Up in the morning to the usual full Scottish Breakfast, before packing up and heading over to Mum’s for dinner.