Marching through March

Oh my, I've just realised it's been almost a month since our last update! It's been a busy one with not much to show, to be honest.

At the start of the month I was in London for a conference, which meant that the post holiday cold I had almost shaken off returned as a post London cold. If you know, you know.

Then it was a run of seeing family and friends and just trying to recover before having my nephew over for the weekend. We played lots of games and worked on his kimono and then that takes us up to this week.

It was another week off, this time to get some adulting done; deep clean the house for spring, start the next big project in the garden and generally all the boring things. We did sneak one nice day out:

The seabird centre! Gotta love it. The weather was beautiful too for us.

Then hubby was off to Manchester with his brother for Transformer con and I got to have a few quiet days to myself to mostly drink tea, eat biscuits and sew.

I also saw an old friend and Maisie wasn't going to let my brother have a day off and not include her favourite cousin:

I think it's obvious who tired out who!

And that's been it. Lots of seeing people and adulting, but not many adventures. But soon, the season is on the horizon!

Until next time!

A Swift Month

How is it almost the end of the month? Spring is still teasing us with one day that's almost mild, only to be followed by a hard frost of wind coming from the side! So with that in mind, of course we decided it was a great idea to book a staycation!

Well, buckle in, it was a week!

So we decided to go away primarily to spend some time together. Both hubby and I had fallen into the pattern of "I need to do this job first, then we can do something nice..." To the point we did lose one of the few days we've had off together literally taking turns to wait on the other, get bored and start a job, just as the other finished. I floated the idea of a hot tub and, I won't lie, I set up the search parameters and went for the nearest one that had good reviews whilst still being cheap.

Probably a wise choice, despite 4 nights, we got in the hot tub all of two times! On the first and then the last night, which were the only 2 dry evenings we had! And by dry, I mean, it wasnt tipping buckets.

Our first proper day was out at Dundonald Castle, a partnership site with Historic Scotland, so we finally got a chance to use our passes. The visit came with a guided tour (as we 3 where the only ones there, a private tour!) and Missy had access to the castle, the cafe and museum. A good choice as it was an on-off drizzle sort of day. The castle itself was lovely and in enough repair you could imagine it as a stronghold. And the lady doing the tour was smitten with Missy who apparently looked like a rather long legged version of her Jack Russel! Another tally on the jack-weiler theory for Missy!

This will age me. All morning as I was making a picnic, it was nagging me that I'd looked at visiting Dundonald before. And then I remembered. It was the closest historic site that allowed dogs to one of the very few Wimpys left in the UK. If you know, you know. So yes. We packed the sandwiches up and put them aside for dinner as we were getting a wimpy one way or another!

Our second full day was a bit of a disaster. We were technically staying in Darvel, if one can count a 5 minute winding drive to the foot of a wind farm as part of a town. It wasn't the best weather to start with, but there was a promised reprieve in the forecast for 2-3pm. So we went to Darvel, birthplace of Alexander Fleming, he of terrible microbiology practices, to find absolutely nothing. 4 barbers. 2 funeral homes. 6 takeaways (all shut). The only nod to Fleming was a slightly creepy bust on a pillar in the town square.

Problem was, we'd booked lunch for 1pm, and had a lot of time to kill. We went on a quest for fuel, found a crystal shop in a neighboring town and then went to Loudounhill Pizzeria for no other reason than they had a dog menu. It was the highlight of the day. Missy got scrambled eggs, was treated like the queen she is, and we had some absolutely amazing pizza.

Then came the allotted "break" in the weather. A drizzle, we could cope with, so off we went to Loudoun Hill to see the Sprit of Scotland monument. Missy had her photo taken and then 5 minutes later she decided to hell with the now sideways wind and torrential rain, and turned around back to the car. We followed, thankful for a fairweather dog.

The weather decided to do it's best in asking for forgiveness and gave us spectacular weather the next morning. I could tell when I woke up that something was wrong with my eye, so blaming my blepharitis (my eyelashes are too cold, so don't correctly secrete the oils we need for the eyes) I donned sunglasses and went on for the day.

Culzean Castle is like a fairytale. With palm trees, a coastal setting and an exterior straight out of the 18th Century Mediterranean, we could have been in a pirate movie. Honestly, it was amazing. We had our first picnic of the year and just wondered the grounds for hours. There was a deer park, a swan lake, pagodas and a walled garden. Almost too much to see and do!

A fantastic end to our wee holiday. You might ask about the final day when we usually find something to do on route home? Well, by this point my eye was swollen shut. I risked a romantic sunset in the hot tub to see if the damp heat would help and, although it relieved it for a few hours, by Sunday morning I was ready to get home again.

Eye was fine Monday morning, still not sure what set it off! Missy slept all of Sunday, and the weather was awful again, so we made the right choice to have a quiet day on the sofa at home.

Our run into March is very busy, so I shall see you in the 3rd month!

Sneaking through the Snowdrops

I know time goes faster as you get older, but how are we mid-February already?

Long time readers will know that Valentine's is not the most special part of February; Missy's adoptiversary is the most important day of the month! This year marks 11 years that Missy has been part of the family and that number does not fail to shock me every time I see it. She's 12 now, how did that happen?

We celebrated early this year owing to schedules. Like the queen, Missy had two events, one as a photoshoot in her new jumper with the most delightful "cake" (sugar and dairy free waffles with dog friendly chocolates on it) and then again last weekend where we did a nice walk and she was spoiled with her favourite "dead things".

The cake did not last long.

The weekend before last, we managed a trip to the circus with my mum (always a good day out) followed by a really chill Sunday with lots of snuggles for Missy.

And this weekend we managed a quick trip up north to the in laws for a quiet recharge and a play in their campervan - after many years, they have decided we can be trusted to take it for a wee holiday. First of all though we had to camp on the drive, just to be shown everything, all the buttons and dials and trays and hidden compartments (I did not appreciate how much storage their actually was!) Next step is for us to join them at a site (we'll camp) but to be shown how it's set up and how to cook etc in it. 

I feel some of these steps are to encourage us to see them more, but it's always a really chill visit seeing them, so I don't mind!

 

Missy has been removed from the set up team though, after this attempt of tidying up! I think she's best lounging about as foreman and queen than continuing to "help".

One can't forget Ruby who, after her initial excitement, proved she remembered her manners and was very well behaved. Missy has a sore ear at the moment, and her dislike of the winter cold has made her less willing to put up with nonsense from other dogs than usual! We are all very eagerly awaiting spring.

Perhaps we will see a mythical "doggit"!

We have some exciting things lined up for the next update, will see you then!

Through the Stargate to February

We did it, we survived January - the longest, crappiest month of the year! The days are noticeably longer (I mean, still dark before 5pm, but I'm not chasing the sun on the dog walk now) and the weather is ripe for adventure.

This weekend Missy was joined by Maisie and my brother as we explored the Abandoned Fife Earth Project, Scottish Coal ran out of money before completion. If it looks similar to the Crawick Multiverse or Jupiter Artland, well, it should, it's the same artist! It's free to wander about and we clocked up 3 miles in our slow meanderings.

It was very windy (as an abandoned coal mine/quarry should be) so we were quickly chilled to the bone, but otherwise would probably have spent longer there. Missy was tuckered out by the time we got home, which is always nice to see.

I am a month down on my cross stitch journal, and as you can see February is already started. Lessons have been learned, I pivoted too hard on the small stitches, so January almost feels a bit gappy at points. I'm not precious about the segments touching, so the gaps at the edges will get filled in later.

But why is February snow leopard print, not all hearts and cutesy?

It has taken literal years, but I finally got the perfect snow leopard photo at the zoo when we went on Saturday, so of course I had to commemorate it!

I expect February to be a busier month, and we're now in adventure season, so I'll hopefully see you all again soon!

Weathering January

Well, I'm not gonna sugar coat, January has been a bum month. After the initial excitement of snow and sledging, the novelty wore off with a 2 week deep freeze. I have never been more thankful in my life to see the green grass again.

Then came COVID. At least, it's uncomfirmed, but my husband and I definitely had it. No cold or flu leaves you with effectively jet lag for weeks.

Missy bounced back from her injury quite swiftly, although she has hit brumation point. Each year I see her enter a sleepy phase, where she eats like a horse and does nothing but sleep and demand cuddles, preferably in our bed. I used to panic about this, that she had some form of malady, but it's normal for her, normal for a lot of dogs according to the vet, and so I have designated Missy my new barometer. She'll let me know when spring is here and we can be excited again.

The photos, if you haven't guessed, are the aftermath of Storm Eowyn. After the rattling we took last year (14 named storms!), I think anything that was gonna break would have done so. There are some wobbly fences and the greenhouse, though intact, took a rattling and has upended everything inside, but overall I'm pleased to say we got very lucky.

Dog walks will be interesting for a while, each photo is of a separate tree I had to find a new path around.

And that's us for updates. We survived the once-in-a-generation storm and are on the mend from our illnesses. I actually managed to bring myself to get the sewing machine out, so definitely feeling better!

Hope all's well with you, dear reader, stay warm and stay safe!

Until next time

Hello 2025!

Let us not start as we mean to go on, at least, on Missy's behalf? 6 days in and we're nearly over the worst of a paw injury. It's partly my own fault, I was caught out by the bad weather and hadn't shaved her paws in time, and I know from past experience fluffy paws attract salt and grit and cause sores.

Still. Thorough washing and bed rest and she's almost as good as new. So a minor hiccup to he new year.

It's been good otherwise. We started the year sledging. And I've finished my first project of the year - I put the rest on hold for a "me" project and, whilst quite loud, I am pleased with how it's turned out. 

Here's a little sneak peek:

I've almost finished rewatching the classic 90s Gargoyles and I've blown the dust off my knitting needles and have started a jumper for Missy. If I am to embrace my inner grandma, then my child needs knitwear!

And that's me. I've also started a cross stitch journal, that I aim to share on here each month as a way to hold myself accountable. I feel a good crafting year coming up!

And hopefully a good year for adventures too, we have lots of plans in motion - but let's wait for the snow to pass first!

Until next update!

Farewell 2024!

It's the time honoured last post of the year and I'm going to start by wishing you all a fab 2025. I have some modest plans and hopes for the year ahead, but I'm keeping it low key.

Missy intends to repeat her resolution from every year. To eat, sleep and try and keep out of mischief! Her plans of conquerong the squirrel overlords are in hold these days, though she still gives the scouts a good run for their money should she get the chance.

It's been a funny old year, too fast and yet so long at the same time. We went on our first cruise, Missy sailed first class to Ireland and there were many ribbons won and new adventurs had. It's been nearly a year since we lost my sister's MIL, and her family is still trying to find it's new normal. 

Still, we all have to make the most of things. Missy was bamboozled at the amount of gifts she recieved this year. The Christmas season was a delight this year, ice skating made us all merry and the day went perfectly.

My Manchester based sister arrived boxing day and we had a tremendous time in the chaos.

And that's that. Another Christmas over and a new year ahead.

So, I raise my mug of tea and I'll wish you all a Happy New Year. To many adventures ahead!