Returning to Old Haunts

I'm gonna start with that this weekend, well, the 3 of the 4 days rota off I have, has been a really good one. 

On Friday the hubby and I had booked into the 5 Sisters Zoo for a afternoon slot. Ordinarily I hate late starts, especially 4pm (the earliest slot we could get) but it worked out perfect. I got a lie in (if 6am is considered a lie in), took Missy out on a nice walk around Murieston which neither of us have done for ages and then I baked some cake and totally chilled out for the bulk of the day.

By the time 4pm rolled on round, I felt energised enough for the zoo and was in a super happy mood. We got lucky with the animals too; the otters were out and putting on a show, the lions were showing off as usual and the wolves made a guest appearance:

An awesome afternoon, and it put me on the right foot for the rest of the weekend.

Yesterday was a long overdue girls trip to Perth. I met my Inverness based friend alongside my more locally based one and we went to Brewdog for some pizza and then to the Brew and Chew, which we have decided is our Perth haunt. We always end up there - but the cake is just so reasonably priced, how can you resist?

Despite forecasted thunder and lightning, it was a beautiful day and we sat outside at both venues (which we were more comfortable doing, to be honest) and then enjoyed a nice stroll along both North and South Inch. It was a good day for dog spotting, which always makes a great day perfect, and we all had a really nice time. 

The evening was spent with a social distanced party as another friend celebrated her birthday. There was Say Anything, Jenga and Throw Throw Burrito - so a good day all in all! The cake (because there must be cake) was this Haunted Mansion inspired piece:

Which went down very well! 

Today has been a sewing day. I've gotten quilt fatigue, so I've put the Christmas one aside for now and decided on a single day make:

It's loud, but I'm loving this Lion King backpack. It's really a test run of the pattern as my eldest neice wants to make a drawstring backpack, so I wanted to make sure the pattern was within her abilities. It was easy, it's fun and quirky, and best of all, it's deceptively huge in the inside.

I think we may see some more of this style of bag in the future! 

Mothers Day Gone to the Dogs

That sounds like it was a bad day, but it went very well!

Mothers Day Cuddles

Its been a crazy week. There was a midweek one day trip to Ireland for my Dads wedding which involved getting up at 4am, catching the first flight out, finding and gathering the clan, watching the vows, eating far too much food and then getting the last plane home. A quick turnaround owing to the fact hubby couldn't get the day off on the Thursday, but it was worth it! 

The green tea is extra green in Ireland!

Saturday however was a disaster. The car failed its MOT and parts wouldn't arrive till Monday, so there was a mad panic to try and rearrange Mothers Day and at the same time figure ou just how on earth I was going to get into work on Monday. Whilst I can work from home, Monday I'm chairing a meeting and I need to do a face-to-face handover with a colleague who's leaving the company and who's position isn't going to be filled straight away - somehow muggins here has been landed with taking on the extra duties in the interim. Public transport offered an hour and a half commute as a best case scenario (sorry Scotrail, but I've had too many trains cancelled to trust you on that let alone a connecting bus) so I was very grateful to be offered a loan of my sisters car. My insurance let's me drive other cars with third party cover and, to quote her 'its a banger anyway, third party is fine!'.

To be fair, it is a banger. Can only be opened manually from the passenger side and the petrol gauge doesn't work when the tanks more than half full. But still, it'll get me to and from work and hopefully I'll have mine back tomorrow evening. Hopefully. 

At least it's let me tick off another make of car off the to-look-at list - the failed MOT is the last straw, ours will be getting replaced before the road tax runs out.

So Saturday was a slightly outraged but quiet day for Missy and I. She's been stiff in the shoulder, so that was always the plan knowing that Sunday was going to be another play date with Maisie - our favourite Little Miss Pout Face. The quick revision of plans saw us organising a brunch at the Paw Stop, the little dog friendly cafe in Bathgate we went to the opening of with my mum and brother, followed by a meet up with the remaining Scottish leg of the sibling family back at mine.

The Paw Stop was pretty quiet, which suited us as it was Pouts first time in a cafe and we were quickly enamoured with the canine employees Tara and Nala. The menu suited us all well as we all found something to our liking (both pooches had puppy muffins and some ham at dessert time). We didn't feel rushed and enjoyed chatting as all the dogs played together or took turns chilling out. 

Tara: Is everything alright with the food?

Then it was back to mine to see my sister, my eldest niece (14) and nephew (9) and Wee Ben. Wee Ben doesn't like Maisie. She's really calmed down since she first showed up in October (well, in a relative sense, she's still bonkers who has to say hi to anything moving regardless of its opinion in the matter and is constantly running about chasing balls or anyone who may try and play) so I was disheartened that he wouldn't even entertain a sniff from her. Hopefully they'll figure it out, Missy has certainly decided that Pouty isn't as annoying as she was at first and plays more with her now - a blossoming friendship. 

We took them around the local park, and we all had a quick play in the swing park too as it was deserted, and all three showed off their very different temperaments. Maisie running circles and loving life (even if that meant a wade in the bog of eternal stench, sorry bro), Missy stalking through the undergrowth looking for small furry animals and vermin and finally Wee Ben, plodding along with the humans looking like an extra from an 80s glam rock band (his fur desperately needs cut!).

Afterwards it was cake and a chat. The cake was uninspired this year and I stole the idea off the mothers day card I'd bought, before adding in one baby llama for each of us, me, both my sisters and my brother. Came out surprisingly well! Although I was so keen to make sure everyone got a slice to take home I forgot to save any for myself! 

Maybe next time!

A Chilly Start

Well, hopefully we wont continue the year as we've started! Everyone, Missy included, has the cold and generally suffering from January Blues, so I'll focus on the more upbeat moments of the week.

We saw in the New Year with friends and it was a real struggle to get to the bells. Missy gave up and was happily asleep for most of the night and we grown ups all decided to meet up again when the fatigue of Christmas had worn off for a take two of the evening.

Walk wise its been rather chilly and staying to the usual dog walks - we're hoping to get properly adventuring next weekend. We weren't stealthy enough with Christmas so Missy overly worried her paw and got an ear infection - thankfully that's mostly cleared up now so I managed to get Missy out for a photo shoot to model her Christmas gift from her aunty:

Every dog needs a Biggles inspired hat! Perfect for the cold weather adventurer! And if the doom and gloom brigade are right, we're going to have lots of snow again this year, so we may well need it.

The first week in January marks my eldest nieces birthday - shes (shock horror) now 14 and wanted a Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch which is officially her favourite Disney film) birthday cake. Knowing that she is truly of the Instagram generation, and that she had been up-selling her cake to all her friends, I knew my work was cut out for me:

I'm rather pleased with it! In addition to baking, I also decided that this was the week to blitz through my sewing "ignored-for-eternity" pile - we all have one, you know, that bundle of items where someones asked you to adjust something they could easily have done themselves, or you've bought something cheap and it needs tweaked a bit or previous projects that you hate the result of and need to just get away from it for a bit, that pile. Well, mines had gotten out of hand, so I decided that this was the week to get a dent in it.

Two dresses adjusted, a complete refit on a hi-vis coat for Missy (it was on sale for £5, it looked big enough for a pony but it was only a thirty minute job to fix!) and a reworking on a completely failed project. Background; I'd gotten excited about pinny dresses, I had a super cute fabric and was overconfident in my ability to self draft a pattern. The result was horrendous, it was like wearing a potato sack and was about as flattering as one. So I shoved it aside and vowed to get back to it.

Well, that was...two years ago? Must be. So I dug it out, popped it on my dress form and just took the time to see what was wrong and reworked the pattern. I added a waist, button side closures, tucked it in and shortened the hem and I'm pretty pleased with it (and totally regretting not taking a before photo! You'll just need to believe me about how awful it was).

Tada! And apparently they are coming back in fashion, so a double win!

Hopefully next week we'll have some adventures to share, so until next time!

Almond Valley

Its the most wonderful time of the year...

My house is officially full with my sister, BIL and niece (5) and nephew (1) and we are counting down the days to Christmas. Its the first year since I was about 19 that I have had the time in between Christmas and New Year off and I'm pleased to have family round to help fill in the days!

So today we did the Almond Valley Museum, Farm and Discovery Centre - more of a small city farm meets outdoor play areas. Its great, you can show the kids some sheep then move onto the trampolines then go and see the goats before playing in the sandpit. Despite a particularity chilly start, the day warmed up and, after a visit to Santa, everyone was warmed up and enjoying the day.

Apart from the cafe, everywhere in te heritage centre is dog friendly, so whilst Missy and I missed out on the Santa visit, she was able to keep up with her cousins looking at all the animals and running about all the different activity areas. I've done Almond Valley quite a few times now, and the favourites amongst my God-kids are the sand pit and the trampolines, so it great to discover that the sledge slide and the many play parks were the top priority of my niece and nephew. 

My sister was most pleased with the special Santa entry price, as well as getting to pet all the bunnies and my BIL seemed to just enjoy the easy going nature of the place - it was that perfect level of busy where there are enough kids about that the place doesn't feel like a ghost town and yet quiet enough that they aren't fighting over getting on things...

We've also managed to fit in some festive baking and, whilst I very much took charge, I am pleased with the joint effort of the cake I made with my niece:

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I have the joy of seeing what new traditions my sisters family have taken on - there is a much talked about 'Yule Cat' who is set to be a big part of tomorrow night and I've made some stockings to hang up for my niece and nephew. I hope they are pleased with the outcome!

 

As a final note, Missy finally got to meet her doppelganger in Cerberus form:

Until after Christmas!

Time Flies

Four years! This week marks four whole years since Missy waltzed into my life and decided to make herself the centre of it. I had a look through my previous adoptiversary post, and even on the very first post of the blog, and realised that I have never actually relayed the story of how Missy chose us.

The hubby grew up with greyhounds and lurchers and, whilst I have a soft spot to mongrels owing to the little mutt that was my childhood pet, I liked the idea of getting a dog and knowing what I was going to get. There are several rescue greyhound centres about the place, so we decided that the time was right and we'd go window shopping at some dogs and see if there was anyone who would fit into our lives perfectly. Of course, I over analyse everything, so by this point I had put more thought into this greyhound that I was going to own than most people do about having children - I'd scoped out dog walkers, I'd decided on what would be the best local walk and the nearest nice bigger walks, I had a short list of names and had exactly where I wanted the bed and the bowl to go.

So we looked at the greyhounds, had a very nice chat with the people running the place and they effectively matched us to the dogs. We took a lovely black pair on a walk and said we wanted to think about it before committing, but I didn't get that feeling of window shopping. I remember vividly the day my sister and I walked through the kennels staring at all the puppies before we were struck the need to have just that one there, the wee one with the diamond...

And I never got that feeling. The hubby too, I could tell something was up and relayed my thoughts. I was surprised at his response.

He wanted to go get a real rescue. Something from a pound. Did we have one of those? He too recalled walking through kennels and looking at all the sorry dogs wanting homes, but rather than that element of finding the right one on sight that I had longed for, he wanted to find the right dog he wanted to rescue.

So to the Edinburgh Dog and Cat home we went. I laid down ground rules on route, knowing my hubby is a complete sap and would pick the most flea bitten thing he could - no projects, I understand whatever we pick will have issues, but no long term projects, we did not have the time to train an aggressive or mentally upset dog, we needed one we could trust near children and other animals.

And so we walked through the kennels. First the boys and then the girls. There was dozens of excited little faces and wagging tails. The noise was terrific and then, in all the chaos, sitting peacefully on her own and just watching us calmly, was 515. Fresh off the streets and not yet named.

She's friendly. We were assured. The rottie that shrunk in the wash was the joke. I was smitten already and didn't want to get too close - I hadn't thought until just then that we might take to different dogs. The hubby popped his hands through the bars and the little stray looked at him before hopping onto her back feet and gently putting her paw into his hand.

Yes, you two will do, was written plain as day across those little brown eyes.

I think it's safe to say that none of us have looked back since!

First post of 2018!

As I said in my last post, this is a funny old time of year with work stopping and starting and the majority of people being on holiday. To bring in the bells we met up with some good friends of ours and, whilst their little ones gave up long before the clock struck midnight, as did Missy who snored away in her bed, we managed to see the New Year in.

With nothing being open on the first, we settled on going to the National Museum for a few hours – a surprise find as I have lived in Edinburgh pretty much all my life and never knew it was open the public holidays! The hubby was back to work after that and I spent the second getting stuck into some small craft projects, including:

I got the game for my Christmas (brilliant game, really good fun) and decided that I needed little bags for the tiles to go in, just because. And I'm planning on making a matching bigger bag for the box to go in, for the original mixing of tiles!

After that it was again and the first party of the year! My niece became a teenager (a part of me keeps dying every time I say that) and, as she’s daft on Pusheen, that was the theme for the cupcakes and the main cake.

I modified a blank template for the cupcake cases and, should anyone fancy making their own cupcakes, please feel free to use it and link back to me! Just print it on A4 with minimum margins and its good to go! I'm not gonna copyright it or anything seeing as Pusheen belongs to someone else!

Just a short one today, plans this week include rehoming all the baby plecs and the seond birthday party of the year (and yes, more cake!)

Hope everyone had a lovely time seeing in the bells!

A big readjustment

Just a short post today - its all been a bit manic this end, summer brings out weddings and gala days and I always somehow end up helping out with all of them!

Firstly (because I'm so eager to show it off!):

Wedding cake! My old high-school bestie got married at the weekend and asked if I would do the cake as a wedding gift. I'll confess that I got really stressed out about it as it all became rather last minute but I got there in the end so super happy!

My other big time consuming task was gala day dresses for my niece and her fellow Bauer girl. They started off like this:

I'm not sure who I blame most - my 12 year old niece and classmate for deciding that they were too old for kids clothes, or their parents who let them buy the dresses. Either way, as you can see my pre-pubescent niece suddenly (to her absolute horror) had a dress giving her gigantic boobs (and they really were gigantic on her). As usual, the buy was last minute so they had no other option other than to ask me if I could do something to fix it and make the girls presentable to the public.

So this happened:

Missy found that the boob made a good skull cap. The dresses were basically demolished. The only seams not ripped open were those holding the loops for the ribbon back. My hubby did ask if I would have been quicker making the dresses from scratch, to which the sad answer was yes, it would have been quicker.

Anyway, the 12+ hours effort paid off:

I was at the above mentioned wedding, so missed the gala day, but I was reliably informed that the dresses held up well and that both girls were very happy with them!

Until next time.

All seasons for the Otter Party

Well, it is Scotland.

I think we can all conjure to mind at least some version of that classical postcard that shows that as a country, its always raining, or snowing, and that all four seasons in one day is not uncommon. Well, this week started with the promise of spring:

The snow drops are out and the crocus flowers are coming up in swarms. That promises good weather, right?

No. 

Forget Winter is Coming, it just wont go away!

These photos were legitimately taken 2 days apart. Whilst unwelcome to myself, the snow proved to be a great hit with my 3 year old niece who, living on the opposite side of the border, very rarely gets anything that amounts to actual legitimate snow. Whilst she had fun, I think she was rather surprised at the fact that we have many kinds of snow, including, unfortunately, the horrid, driving, soggy stuff that met us on our first outing out! Our second outing was more successful, as it had frozen a bit and wasn't driving down as hard.

With a baby on the way, this visit is the last one we're expecting from my sister before she pops in June time. To make a fuss and celebrate for the sake of having a nice time, I organised an "Otter Cuddle Party" - the idea of course belongs to my niece (I got her the Finding Dory pyjamas with the cuddling otters and a cuddly otter toy for Christmas, which she has now decided is the best thing ever). I don't think my sister expected me to actually go ahead and have one, but we did and it went down brilliantly.

To start the day we got all the cousins together (meaning a 3, 7 and 12 years old respectively) and took them swimming at the local pool which is really a glorified water park. Otters like swimming, right? And I wanted to get those kids tired out!

Next we had an otter magic show which my hubby had organised - as the wizard of the clan, we felt he should do something fun and silly and we picked a trick specifically for each child. The classic egg bag was for the 12 year old, we had some magic appearing (and replicating!) pikachus for the 7 year old and finally the 3 year old got to help make an otter magically appear in the special box (after some difficulties with a floppy wand)!

By which point it was time to eat. I had previously asked my youngest niece what kind of cakes otters like, to which she replied kelp cakes, like the ones in Octonauts. 

My sister sent me this as reference:

And I pulled off:

I will admit to a certain smugness about those otter cakes. The squids were slightly more splats, but you cant win everything. And all the biscuits were rolled, cut and decorated by my niece, and she was very pleased with them. 

After the food it was time for everyone to leave and go on and do other things. There was lots of washing up to do, but it was worth it!

Till next time!