All over for another year...

At last!  The lack of a Broadband connection in Edinburgh put a halt to my geeking activities and induced mild panic attacks, cold sweats, the shakes and some paranoia.  It is only now, back in the comfort of my home, that I am able to reconnect with the online community and am beginning to feel human again.

So, without further ado. a summary of the last few days.

Saturday 11th August

Activity - Essentially travelling from Drumnadrochit to Edinburgh via the beautiful Falls of Bruar.

Highlights - The scenery and the flat when we actually arrived at Marchmont Rd, which was amazingly spacious.

Lowlights and Dramas - Nothing major, only the usual "I'm going in that car" and  "I'm sleeping in that room" type arguments.  And that was just between me and Dawn.  The girls were fine.


Sunday August 12th

Activity - Seeing Dawn's sister and her family.  The girls loved seeing their cousins for the first time in three years and we had a lovely pub lunch in town, where the children, to their absolute credit, behaved impeccably, and then went to the Meadows (a large park) where the kids played on the swings and roundabouts while we just relaxed.

Highlights - The aforementioned lunch and family catch up, plus the weather which was bright and sunny.

Lowlights and Dramas - After Dawn's sisters family had left, we decided to just have an evening in.  This wasn't good enough for the girls who wanted to go out to see more shows, for dinner, to the park, to do anything except stay in the flat (understandable - but sometimes you just need to rest a bit).  Then we had a huge battle as to whether they could watch TOWIE or not with a further argument over bedtimes.  They had to be up early on Monday as they were off to Moira and David's for the day whilst Dawn and I spent a rare day ON OUR OWN, which just doesn't happen very often.  It seemed that the behaviour was beginning to revert to how it was at the beginning of the holiday and is just totally exhausting.


Monday August 13th

Activity - A day ON OUR OWN in Edinburgh, meeting up with some friends in the evening and seeing three shows.

Highlights - A brilliant lunch at The Dome, some funny improv and sketch comedy plus an evening spent with adults doing adult things and not having to break up fights and arguments (well, not between children, anyway).  Pappy's sketch show was excellent and the show "Briefs" turned out to be an all male Burlesque which was so incredibly camp and outrageous... but pretty entertaining.  Oh, and a phone call I received letting me know I'd won top prize in a draw I didn't even remember entering. That was a lovely surprise.

Lowlights and Dramas - Surprise, surprise, the children did NOT get up early.  In fact, one of them just refused to get up at all, then stropped and stressed completely about something to do with make up (an incident almost funny enough to be included in the highlights section to be honest) before Megan developed stomach cramps and was sick.  Consequently they were over an hour and a half late in leaving for the Grandparents, which disrupted the day quite a bit. Tomorrow they were warned that they MUST get up on time as we had to be out of the flat by 10am and if they didn't, I would throw a glass of water over them.


Tuesday August 14th

Activity - The day we come home.  Hang around Edinburgh until about 2, go to Moira and Davids (they took our cases yesterday to save us lugging them around as well) and then a taxi to the airport before flying home to arrive hopefully about 9.

Highlights - Difficult to recall too many.  The street performers were good.

Lowlights and Dramas - With glasses of water poised, I'm pleased to say it wasn't necessary to deploy the weapons of mass soaking.  The girls did all get up when asked although one only really thought of herself and was consequently still getting ready whilst everyone else was helping to clear the flat up.  Words were had.  But they were all tired, grumpy and stroppy and on top of that Dawn and Megan weren't feeling too good either. The "day at Granny's" punishment card was played but Dawn managed to behave and the girls followed her example.

After a wonderful breakfast in the Olive Tree (and an unscheduled return almost an hour later to collect the bag Anna had left and which was miraculously still there), we got soaked watching a show before traipsing around Edinburgh looking for Tom Daley's book (to no avail) and then having our taxi snaffled by another family.  We finally arrived at Moira and David's to collect the cases before enduring a horrible taxi journey back to the airport in heavy traffic with Megan feeling travel sick and everyone else sweltering.

Our 'Speedy Boarding' facility whizzed us through check in and fastrack security but unfortunately three of our four bags were searched, so no time was saved (but at least they didn't find the stuff!)

Dinner was to be taken in the airport, but in our restaurant of choice the chef was out getting stock so we had to walk to the other end of the terminal to Wetherspoons where we did have something to eat and to cap it all I then  trod on my glasses.  But was this the last drama?  No. On a flight where ours was the only luggage on the entire plane, Easyjet managed to lose Megan's bag which, apart from containing her clothes, also had her phone and hair straighteners in.  No staff were on duty but we eventually managed to find someone to report it to who advised us that lost bags are "usually" found within 24 hours.  I asked what happened if it didn't turn up and was told that after about 6 weeks the airline will pay compensation but it will be minimal.  Joy.

Frankly, it was a relief to get into the car and I eagerly turned on the radio to catch the last 15 minutes commentary on Southend United's first competitive match of the season against Peterborough in the cup only to find we were 4-0 down.  For the last half of the journey the girls were singing songs, which sounds quite sweet, doesn't it?  Until I tell you that they were singing four different songs. Individually. At the same time.  When we got back, Dawn and I were like the walking dead.

And so my annual two week holiday has finished and I feel as though I need another one to recover.  It has been a rest but also with quite a lot of stress attached... so let's call it a "strest".  There is another trip booked for the Algarve in October which was meant to be in half term but due to an administrative error (mine) the holiday is actually for the week before. Damn. I will have to sort that out with the school as I don't have "Imbecile Cover" on my travel insurance.

Sadly, we didn't find Nessie on our travels but (I hope) the girls all had a good time.  All joking and moaning aside, we did as well.  I'm not sure what we'll do next year though.  Sending them on a PGL holiday while we just chill is the favoured option at the moment.

Highland Fling

Weather watch - 20 degrees, blue skies and sunshine

It sounds a bit funny to say that it was all a bit of a rush this morning as the girls weren't going horse riding until 11 but their refusal to get up when called meant that everything was a bit tight.

Still, they had a great time and took in some beautiful views along the loch on a really lovely day.

Dawn and her brother walked along to Urquhart Castle and encountered a feuding German couple who were having a really good go at each other, much to their childrens disgust.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we seem to have been invaded with some wildlife visitors today, firstly a bat

and then a pair of similarly marked butterflies that became trapped in the kitchen

and to make matters worse, Dawn sat out on the balcony today for a little too long and will be paying the price for the next couple of days methinks!

Trying to get the kids to pack up their stuff and get organised for the (comparitively) early start tomorrow has been interesting.  They say they have packed their bags yet there are still clothes and shoes strewn all over the house so I'm just waiting to see how long they stay there and whether they'll notice.  At this time they are all too concerned with watching Tom Daley in the Olympics.

It's been lovely up here, with some of the most dramatic and beautiful scenery I've ever seen. I'm sure we've all enjoyed our Highland Fling and tomorrow it's back to Edinburgh, where I hope we'll continue enjoying good weather. We're staying in a different part of the city - Marchmont Road - and have a busy schedule, catching up with Dawn's sister and family on Sunday before spending the day at the Festival on Monday, meeting some friends from Leigh-on-Sea in the evening who fly up for a few days and then coming back home on Tuesday.

Wot, no Nessie?

Well, today was the day.  The search for Nessie was on.

We had booked our places on the Loch Ness cruise and the girls were very excited.  How cool would it be to witness a monster like head rise from the water... to hear the roar from some prehistoric surviving something-or-other as it opened its wide mouth, bared its fangs and then plumbed back into the depths of the murky loch...

Yeah, in our dreams.

We pitched up at Nessie Land (I kid you not) to pick up the minibus that took us to the launch and then we boarded "The Nessie Hunter" (still not kidding) full of anticipation.  George Edwards was our skipper and bearing in mind he'd just claimed to have undeniable photographic proof of Nessie's existence (available for sale as a postcard for 50p from George himself) I expected a trip full of romance and mystery, enthusiasm and gusto, especially as the trip was advertised as having sonar radar equipment, GPS and tracking software.

We started out towards the beautiful ruins of Urquhart Castle and Mr Edwards gave us his 20 minute commentary during which we were requested to listen as it was a live speech, not a recording and only once he had finished could we ask questions.

His accent was pure Highlands Scottish and it sounded sometimes as though he was doing an impression of Sean Connery ("Let'sh climb aboard the Neshie Hunterr").

He is clearly very knowledgable about the loch and provided some quite interesting facts, such as -

1)   It is the largest loch or lake in the UK, holding more water than every lake in England and Wales put together,
2)   If emptied of water and filled with humans, it could hold the entire population of the world three times over with room to spare, and
3)   The first recorded sighting of something was in 565 A.D. by Saint Columba, and since the mid 1800's there have been around 1000 recorded sightings by different individuals and they can't all be lying.

He certainly seemed convinced of the existence of something and probably 3 or 4 somethings. However, the sightings usually occur during the hours of dusk and dawn which almost seemed to make the datytime Nessie hunting trips a bit pointless.

After his commentary he turned on the sonar scanner to illustrate just how deep the loch was in some places and also how steep the shelf was very close to the shore.  It is over 800 feet deep at its deepest point (called "Edwards Deep" as he discovered it) and the Transponder was showing a depth of over 170 feet just 30 or 40 feet from the shoreline itself (so don't go paddling!).

The problem with the Loch, as he recounted, was that much of it was rich in minute particles of peat which made visibility underwater limited to just 2 or 3 feet around a camera.  Given that the loch was so big, dropping the camera in any particular place would be the equivalent of looking for a needle in a haystack and that exploring the loch was about as exciting as watching paint dry.  His words.  The underwater camera monitor was on for about a minute just before we came back to the mooring and I just think he could have made so much more of that.  It could have been on in 3 or 4 places to create a little tension or mystery.  I was sure he would be full of tales so I asked him what his best Nessie story was as he'd been doing this for so long and he just shook his head and miserably replied in his broad accent, "No detailsh."

That was disappointing actually.  Surely he could have built up the legend and folklore a bit, if only for the kids.

So we failed to find Nessie but we did then venture to the Loch Ness Monster Exhibition which provided much more insight and mystery behind the whole phenomenon... the kids seemed really interested as well.  Many of the famous photographs have been exposed as hoaxes and it was demonstrated how illusion can play such a huge part in people sincerely believing thay have seen something.  But without question, there is still a huge mystery surrounding the loch itself.

Tomorrow morning the girls are off horseriding with maybe some archery or abseiling in the afternoon if we can get booked up.  Just one day left of our summer Highland adventure before we return to Edinburgh on Saturday.

Wot, no Dolphins?

Weather watch - 19 degrees, cloudy with sunny intervals.

No more ghostly happenings in the house so far.  The girls did come down yesterday saying "The picture's on the floor again!" but no-one heard anything, no-one seemed bothered and no-one rose to the bait so I suspect on that occasion they were playing around.

Incidentally, has anyone noticed the recent trend, especially during the Olympics, to use nouns as verbs?  Various commentators have referred to so-and-so athlete as "I'm sure he'll medal" or "She should podium in this event". With this in mind, reference has been made to the time I spend writing this blog as "geeking". Has Dawn invented a new word here? In future, will we see PC World adopt "The Geeking store" as a marketing phrase?  Unlikely I feel.  And when she needed to check something on the internet yesterday, she was relieved I'd brought my geeking iPad with me!

Anyway, onto the main story for the blogpost on what was a slow news day.  The opportunity to do anything major was scuppered by the girls inability to get up before lunchtime which severely limits the choice.  Dawn and her Dad, David, decided to take the girls to the Dolphin centre at Inverness, where apparently it is an absolute hotbed for land based dolphin spotting.  Not yesterday it wasn't.  Even with the free binoculars provided, there wasn't a sight of anything remotely dolphin shaped.  Slightly disappointed, they went to the cafe there for some light refreshments and discovered that a portion of chips and a sandwich was £9.75. Unsurprisingly perhaps, they didn't hang around too long but they did take in some beautiful scenery though - check out the pictures below.

I stayed back at the house with Moira and Mark, chilling, reading and taking part in one of the activities I find most therapeutic - cooking - and prepared a Mexican feast for everyone's evening meal.

Tomorrow we will actually be searching for Nessie in a glass bottomed boat with sonar radar.  The captain of the ship is George Edwards, the same chap who claimed to have already found the beast (see earlier blogpost - Normal service has been resumed) and he has spent 26 years looking for him so no doubt will have a tale to tell.

Things that go bump in the night...

Weather watch - 14 degrees, overcast, heavy rain and drizzle.

It's not often that you get to sleep in a haunted house.  If - and it's a big if - we do have a resident ghost it's certainly a friendly one and there is nothing spine chilling about the experience.  But what else could explain a particular door rattling for no apparent reason, a picture lifting up off the picture hook before dropping to the floor and the smashing of 6 glasses?

Ok, the last one was down to extreme carelessness on our part. But certainly not the other two, both which happened in the same area of the house and with no-one around.  Very, very strange, especially the picture incident.  I was in one of the lounges and the girls were playing pool.  There is a landing above the pool table area which leads to a small TV room, 2 of the bedrooms and a bathroom.  All of a sudden, there was a loud crash and my initial reaction was that the children had broken something.  I looked up, rather annoyed and ready to castigate someone, when I saw them all playing pool and gazing upwards.  "It came from upstairs" Izzy said, slightly nervously.

"Who's up there?" I asked.

"Nobody."

We ran upstairs and found the picture on the floor.  It had fallen off the wall next to the same door that for no apparent reason had rattled for about an hour the previous evening.  (That had woken Dawn's brother Mark up and after trying to ignore it and get back to sleep, he got up to investigate but found no cause for the rattling; it just stopped.)

I looked at the wall and saw the picture hook firmly in place.  Picking the glass framed picture up, I expected to see a broken cord or wire but no; the picture cord was intact and, more surprisingly, the frame was also undamaged despite having fallen 5 feet off a wall and onto the same style of unforgiving floor that had seen 6 glasses meet their doom.

I replaced the picture on the wall and to do so had to lift the cord over the hook.  For the picture to have come off the wall, someone (or something!) would have had to have physically lifted it up off the hook.  That section of the house is a dead end so no-one could have been up there without coming back down and in any event it's a galleried landing and staircase so you can be seen at all times.

Spooky.

There have been no other incidents since but I'll report any future events or happenings for budding ghostbusters out there.

In other news, the kids (who have been angels) stayed in their pyjamas all day and made cakes and scones with Moira whilst Dawn, Mark and I went to the Tomatin Distillery.  It was very interesting indeed, even though they were in what they call the 'silent season' and no whisky is currently being produced.  It's not a brand I had heard of but it's award winning and owned by a Japanese company who bought them out a few years back when they ran into financial difficulties.

We sampled the 12 year old single malt and bought a bottle back together with a 12 year old blended whisky "The Antiquary", which was the Distillery's first blend when it was established back in 1857.

In the evening, after a rather delicious home made chicken curry, cauliflower and potato bhaji with parsley and sage rice we all played charades.  To my astonishment, no-one had heard of the song "Little Does She Know That I Know That She Knows That I Know She's Two Timing Me" which made it a rather painful mime.

The Nessie search is booked for Thursday with horse riding on Friday.  As for tomorrow... we'll wait and see what the weather's like.

Big Brother has a point...

Weather watch - 17 degrees, cloudy with sunny intervals.

<Geordie accent on>

Day 3 in the holiday house. Today, Moira and David are staying at home whilst the other residents go to Eilean Donan Castle and the Isle of Skye.  Tonight there is an unexpected eviction and all the girls have received nominations...

<Geordie accent off>

Sorry, sorry, sorry.  I said I was going to focus on the positives so I won't mention the fact that within a minute of getting up one of the girls was moaning about us going out today.  Neither will I mention the fact that all four were so hyperactive at the Castle that they attracted the attention of the entire gift shop and cafe before treating the place like a playground and I definitely won't recount that as a result the horse riding and canoeing has been cancelled until the behaviour improves.  That also scuppers the story about one of them having a major strop after dinner and leaving the house, vowing not to return (until the midges started biting her after approximately 15 minutes when she came back).

However, what I will refer to is that we have had the best day yet - a wonderful trip to the most romantic and photographed castle in Scotland followed by a nice hour or two in the Isle of Skye, skimming stones (we'll ignore Anna accidentally hitting Megan in the shoulder), supping single malt whisky and watching the kids finally get down to enjoying themselves on the beach and taking a rather curious enjoyment in dissecting dead crabs and jellyfish that had been washed up on the shore.

A full blown weekday afternoon on Skye has less activity than Leigh-on-Sea at 4am on a Wednesday morning.  I don't think I have ever visited such a quiet and tranquil place.  There is an eerie, horror movie style silence but the scenery is incredible... I've seen  nothing like it anywhere else in the world and I'm fortunate enough to have visited Kauai, the Hawaiian island once voted the most beautiful place on the planet. And when everything isn't handed to the children on a plate and they have to use their imagination a bit, they find a way to stop being bored, start amusing themselves and then, lo and behold, they behave better.

I can't expect them to enjoy the beauty of Eilean Donan Castle or the incredible Highland scenery - I remember being bored stiff by such things as a child and only finding appreciation for them once I'd got into my 30's - but I think children should show a level of respect for others in public places and it annoys the hell out of me when they don't.  Manners and consideration cost nothing and are often overlooked or ignored by parents who simply claim "But they're just being children!"  That's no excuse in my book.

I don't know what's on the agenda for tomorrow but I am hoping that we continue in the same vein, wherever we end up going.  Weather permitting, we may end up on Loch Ness, searching for Nessie.  We shall see.

In the meantime, enjoy these beautiful photographs from today.

Enough is enough.

Weather watch - 15 degrees, overcast and grey with rain forecast.

Today was a lazy day, so there shouldn't have been much to report. Everyone had a long lay in and some didn't surface until gone 11:30.  A recharge of the batteries was required and the activities will start tomorrow.

We spent some time reading the papers, books and local attractions leaflets whilst drinking tea, coffee, whisky or anything else that we fancied and basically just chilled out.

There is no phone signal up here and everything is eerily quiet.  There are two televisions at opposite ends of the absolutely enormous house and when they aren't on it is totally silent, save for the screaming voices of teenage girls.

Dawn, Izzy and Mads all went down to Loch Ness for a walk and took some lovely pictures.  So far, so good.

A rare moment of calm

Yoga by the Loch

On their return we unfurled the rather nice full size snooker and pool table, stressing the basic rules for the girls playing on it, i.e. no greasy fingers, no food or drink in the area, preferably have an adult present and trying to play proper shots so as not to tear the baize. After a few nice games, it almost degenerated into warfare and blood was only averted after some grown up intervention.

The arguments and bickering went on into the evening and this turned into downright open defiance at 11:00pm when they just simply refused to go to bed. 

Traumatised and weary, we therefore summoned them to a bit of a family meeting when we told them how it was going to be from now on. This went better than anticipated as there was no argument or backchat.  After we had released them from their shackles and removed their gags, they did actually go off to bed, calm was restored and the adults had to crack open a large bar of Galaxy chocolate in order to cope with the situation.

It may seem as though all we go on about is the kids behaviour and I'm sure most of you will be thinking "What on earth are you moaning about? It's normal."  So with this in mind I'll try and focus on the positives from now on.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, we hope to go West to visit Eilean Donan Castle and the day will be different.