Summery/summary

 I've been too hot to blog :-D. Never thought I'd get to say that!  We have had a heatwave, though not as hot as down south (and apparently Scotland doesn't officially get heatwaves, in that we don't get a heatwave warning - 'code red - drink water, stat!' - in the way that England does) but that's probably as well or I'd just melt. And it's all relative anyway - unaccustomed as we are to sunshine and heat, pushing into the mid 20s deg C is a bit of a shocker.  It started, conveniently enough, the week that My Beloved had a week off work and we did 'staycation' things, i.e. what used to be called 'going out for the day'.  Such as Largs (above and below) - it was tremendously sunny and the Boy and I were scuttling from one patch of shade to the next. My Beloved and Miss M cope better with the heat. But we had loads of drinks, went to the playpark (where Miss M scared the living daylights out of me by climbing to the very top of the very high climbing frame), watched the ferries come and go (though not talking of Michelangelo), paddled, looked for sea-glass, ate ice-creams and sorbets and then came home.

 Then a couple of days later we went to Stirling Castle..

 ..which is always fun. Miss M joined in the excellent children's tour and to her delight got to be the queen (had a plastic tiara plonked on her head).  The Boy happily drew plans of the castle and tried to work out if he could build it in Minecraft.

The day after that we went to Edinburgh, parked in a park & ride carpark on the outskirts (nobody in their right mind drives in Edinburgh when they're unfamiliar with it - not more than once anyway), got the bus into the city centre and went to the castle. Now this would have been a tremendous disappointment if we weren't Historic Scotland members and would therefore have had to queue for a while and pay a lot to get in. As it was, we are members and got fast-tracked in so it didn't matter that we didn't really enjoy it. I think the problem is it's such a martial castle, and if you're not into military history, well, it's just a rock on a hill. It's all very well presented and the staff were pleasant and helpful but it just didn't grab us. As my Beloved commented Stirling Castle is all 'come and see how much fun history is' but Edinburgh Castle is more 'come and be impressed by our history'. We had our picnic, admired the views, were there for the one o'clock gun, mooched around for a bit trying to be interested, then gave up and pottered back down the hill. I took the picture above in Ramsay Lane which takes you down from Castlehill to the Mound, purely because I liked the shape of the metal balustrade.

Since that week it has stayed hot, which has been, well, weird. We've been out and about a bit but have been taking it easy. It's the longest hot spell of Miss M's life - I think it was a fairly nice summer the year she was born, but she was born in October so she missed it and I had all the joy of being pregnant in the summer. A winter pregnancy is much more bearable! It's the longest hot spell in the Boy's memory too, though I remember his first summer being pretty hot at times, such as the day he had his 3-month jabs and it was stifling in the health centre.  All the babies were stripped down to their nappies and they were all miserable even before the needles got near them.

Consequently the kids have got fed up with this heat and having been hoping for rain and cooler weather.

 It has cooled a bit now but has been very muggy so we've had some thunderstorms, luckily in the daytime so no sleep has been disturbed. Miss M was a bit nervy about them initially but has relaxed now. We just switch off the computers if they're on and retreat upstairs to read on the big bed, which is quite peaceful.

 It was lovely on Monday though and my mother-in-law took the kids and me to Culzean Castle.  Actually we didn't go to the castle itself (really more a grand house than a castle) but parked at the far end of the park, next to the play area and the Swan Pond, and then headed down through the trees to the beach, where we had a great time eating our picnic, paddling, exploring the rocks, drawing in the sand and so on.

And the really good thing about the warm weather is that our strawberries are doing well this year!

Mmm, delicious.

There's just under three weeks left of the school holidays - it's gone so fast, I suppose partly because we've packed so much into it for once. So much a for a knitting-ish blog though - it's been too warm for much knitting!

going out and doing things

The kids and I went to Edinburgh yesterday - we met up with my mum and dad who came down for the day, and my cousin, his wife and their kids who were on holiday in the Borders and came up for the day. It was the great convergence! The kids had never met their second cousins before but they all seemed to hit it off - that's them playing in Princes Street Gardens.

We went for a coffee and a trip to the loos at the Scottish National Gallery and I rescued someone who'd got stuck in a toilet - my good deed for the day. Miss Mouse got trapped in a loo at the swimming-pool a couple of weeks ago so opening doors from the outside with a 5p coin was fresh in my mind - useful! I really must go to Edinburgh by myself one day (or without the kids at least) and have a mooch around the gallery. I haven't been there properly for years. The last time was for the Turner exhibition they have each January and that was probably about ten years ago.

It was a beautiful bright day, but absolutely baltic. I'd planned ahead and we were wearing multiple layers. I've been Cold In Edinburgh too many times! I was there once with a friend who had a badly scarred hand from a car accident the previous year and his scars actually turned properly blue with the cold which was a bit alarming.

Princes Street Gardens was looking very pretty yesterday. Gorgeous daffs, of course! And more blossom than I've seen so far on the west coast. We had a brilliant time - it was so good to catch up with family, especially so many at once! Our family are all quite scattered, so it doesn't happen often.

Here's a couple of pictures from today. Do you like the knitted egg thingies? Not sure they should be called egg cosies when there are creme eggs inside! Mum and Dad brought them down for the kids - somebody they know had made them. Aren't they cheery? Especially next to the daffodils. Yeah, I know, I'm daffodil-obsessed..

Here's Miss Mouse with her Easter basket kit, tackling blanket stitch and doing very well actually. It always surprises me when she proves to be quite dextrous, I suppose because she's my youngest, my 'baby', but she's quite a capable little thing really.