Scotland

Here it is....

516 miles of glorious Scotland, starting in Edinburgh and taking in Loch Ness (Steve has promised he'll jump in!), Loch Lomond and the Isle of Skye.  We're off tomorrow and indulging ourselves by flying up.  I am so looking forward to Edinburgh, seeing the family I nannied for so long ago and showing this most beautiful city to Steve and the kiddies.

Around Billericay

Billericay is a great place to walk.

Most of the places we go are about 10-15 minutes away.  Emmy's school is a bit more of a hike, with a round trip taking just under an hour.

Apart from going to school, the supermarket or away on a trip the car doesn't get much of a work out.

This map might put it all in perspective.

Wedding anniversary

It was our 15th wedding anniversary on the 21st and guess who forgot?  Not me!  Although I have forgotten on 2 previous occasions so, as Steve quite rightly pointed out, the score is now 2-1, with me behind in the "must remember anniversary" comp.

In my defence though I reckon my first oversight was totally excusable.  It was on the day that we settled on the sale of our McKellar house and finalised the purchase of our Evatt one.  And as anyone who has been through the simultaneous process of house sale and purchase will know this can be just a little demanding.  So in my books that makes it 1 all.

But enough about silly scores and competitions, because let's face it - it isn't always about who wins and who loses.  But before I get on with the story I did very briefly just want to mention that when we had a running race way back in August last year I beat Steve.  That's right - in that event I ran faster (yes FASTER) than Steve, not once but TWO times.   Of course that's not important at all, but  if you are at all interested in a story where the wife can run faster than the husband then this blog entry has all of the fabulous details J

So anyhoo, on the day before our anniversary I ended up teaching an extra day at one of the local high schools, which meant I was a bit last minute on the present buying front. Luckily for me there is a tiny bottle shop on the way home. I'd never stopped there before, but it was the perfect option for a last minute purchase.  Hmmm - but what to buy?  Well - anything really - but I settled on 3 local Essex beers.  I got chatting to the lovely man who owned the shop and happened to mention the beers were for my husband for our anniversary.  "Hold it!" he said, disappeared for a moment and then came back with a beautiful stainless steel ice bucket and a bottle of champagne. "Here you go" he said, "you can celebrate with this!"

I was speechless, what a lovely lovely gesture and although an ice bucket isn't an easy thing to transport - it is coming back to Australia with us - mainly so I can relive the wonderful memories of how it came  to be.

And Steve, bless him, must have been feeling bad about forgetting because when I got home from dropping Emily off at school, the ice bucket was full of these gorgeous roses and there was some strawberries, chocolate and goat's cheese (perhaps a separate munch out for that) waiting for me J

More important that the ice are the memories this bucket will hold

Agent 006 and a Bit

I am fussy when it comes to kids books and there are many that I just don't like.  But in amongst the duds there are the gems, books that stick with you long after the last page has been turned.  It's been over 18 months since I last watched Bookaboo with the kids and many of the books that featured are still fresh in my memory.

Take "Pooh is that you Bertie?" for example, about the kid whose toxic fluffs cause him all sorts of trouble.

Read on Bookaboo by comedian Al Murray - a good one for the adults too if you like a good old fart joke or two (and let's be honest, who doesn't?)




And then there's the brilliant rendition of the 1829 Mary Howit poem - "The Spider and the Fly", read to perfection by English actress Emilia Fox.



Will you walk into my parlour?" said the Spider to the Fly,
'Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I've a many curious things to show when you are there.



And then, straight out of the Billericay library, there was this....Agent 006 and a Bit.  Read to Emily by Daddy.  It must have made quite an impression!

OK - Who pinched spring?

Here are some snaps from our weekend venture down the road to Stock.  Check out the glorious spring weather!

Still in those winter woollies

Colchester

It's about time we went to Colchester.  It's only about 40 minutes away and is one of the oldest towns in the UK.  Colchester existed as a Celtic settlement until the Roman conquest about 2000 years ago, when it became the first capital of Roman Britain.

Surprisingly the weather was cold and rainy.  It is spring but so far the only noticeable change has been the longer days.  It's still nippy and windy and damp and there are even forecasts for another sprinkling of snow!

Anyway - despite the freezing temperatures we all enjoyed Colchester.  There is a gorgeous park near the castle and museum (unfortunately both of which are closed for restoration) which kept the kids entertained until we called it a day due to impending hypothermia.  The park included an in-ground trampoline.  I had a go and thought all the bouncing would be a good test for the pelvic floor muscles.  I got off a few seconds later J

















There were large patches of crocus flowers dotted throughout the park and in the church yards, but they must be sun lovers because most of the flowers were thin and only partially open. Mental note - return to Colchester on a sunny day.

Another visit to Southend

If we don't get out of the house by about mid-afternoon on a Sunday things slowly but surely start to turn pear-shaped.  The kids get increasingly antsy and I start to get narrow eyes and deeper than usual frown lines.  Best for everyone to vamoose out of the hoose - hence Sunday's trip to Southend on Sea (although technically speaking Southend is not on the sea, it's on the banks of the river Thames).

Anyway, despite being an estuary-side and not sea-side town Southend is nice.  It has a happy feel to it and it was good to get out of the house and into the fresh (and yes cold and damp) air.  Again we played on the penny pushing machines, discovering a couple of new designs - one that catapulted coins at ledges stacked high with 2 ps and another with 8 or so individual pushers instead of one big one.  And I noticed, for the first time, a sneaky little slot on each side of the machines filtering off a mass of coins that would otherwise contribute to a win for the player.  You can imagine my disappointment.   I pointed this out to Daniel and Jem and they gave me the "Der Mum" look and said they knew they were there from the beginning.  Oh well.

Then (gasp, shock, horror) the sun came out and transformed the drab landscape into something that bore a smidge of resemblance to a tropical island, at least the sunset bit did (a bit).

Burnham on Crouch

About 22 miles East of Billericay is a small town called Burnham-on-Crouch which , funnily enough, lies on the banks of the river Crouch.  On the recommendation from friends we headed over for a visit.  It was a nice little place, but it was damp and cold and windy, which didn't help with the sight seeing or our outdoor picnic.   Luckily for us we discovered a fabbo fish and chip shop and ordered a large portion of chippies to supplement our cold picnic fayre.  Mmm Mmmm - those chippies got a huge double thumbs up and the poor seagulls ended up with the merest of crumbs.

Burnham on Crouch

Who's been playing with Mummy's computer?

No good denying it - I have evidence!

Ha ha ha - this makes me laugh J

9 Today!

Nine years ago today our two miracle babies were born. It is hard to believe it has been so long since that long awaited day. Where have the years gone?

Part of me wants to stop time's endless march and hang on tightly to these childhood years and all the joy that they bring. The boys still want cuddles, still say sweet innocent things, still give random kisses, still have their baths at night, still hold our hands and still cry when they hurt themselves.  They still need and want their Mum and Dad.  As parents we are still a big part of their world and although it may be a few years away yet I for one don't want that to change.

I remember when they started losing their baby teeth and how final it seemed.  Each report of a new wobbly tooth was met with genuine dismay.  Once those little gnashers were gone, there was no turning back.  The replacement of each tiny white morsel with a scarily large fang was irrefutable evidence that my boys are growing up.

Gone are these little fellas with their tiny white teeth

But today is not about the boys teeth or me and how much I don't want my boys to grow up.

No sirree - today is all about turning 9 and how exciting that can be - a snowy winter's day instead of a hot summer stinker, an indoor bowling party instead of splashing about in the pool, a new bunch of friends and two brand spanking new 5th generation iPods (weak smile about this present).

Happy Birthday to our beautiful beautiful boys.

Lucy Lou

I just got an email from Mum and an update on Lucy Lou.  

Apparently she recently turned her nose up at these - her special Chunkers treats.  And while we're on a "products with funny names" roll, perhaps she'd prefer a Jammie Dodger (ha ha).

Bernese mountain dog modelling bag of Chunkers  

You are a scallywag Lucy Lou and boy do we all miss you!

Our gorgeous, fussy little morsel!

Barcelona Day 6

Our last day in Barcelona and still recovering from yesterday's hiking effort we got off to a late start.  We indulged in a final churros and chocolate at a cafe on Passeig de Gracia opposite Gaudi's Casa Battlo.  It was a good spot for people watching and Emmy got into the swing of things....

Casa Battlo (looks a bit crooked to me) and Emmy people watching

Barcelona Day 5

Montserrat, with its unique rock formations, dramatic mountain monastery, and connection with the Catalan people and their struggles, is a popular day trip from Barcelona (30 miles away).

The Shrine of Our Lady Monastry at Montserrat

Montserrat has been Catalunya's most important pilgrimage site for a thousand years. Hymns explain how this "serrated mountain" was carved by little angels with golden saws. Geologists prefer to blame 10 million years of nature at work. While only 2,400 feet above sea level, the mountains seem higher as they rocket right up from the river valley.

The monastery is Benedictine. Its monks (around 80 today) wear the Benedictine rope belts with three knots (symbolizing the three rules of St. Benedict: poverty, chastity, and obedience). Since 1025, the slogan "ora et labora" (prayer and work) pretty much sums up life for a monk here on the serrated mountain.

Access to the monastery is via train and cable car, with the option of additional funicular train rides from the site of the monastery. Here’s the last stage of our trip up there...

Out voted on the cable car vs funicular decision!

 and our first look around the site…..

Look how steep that funicular on the left is.

and the monastery.......

Beautiful

We decided to go for a bit of a hike instead of catching the funicular further up the mountain. It was steep, really steep and even the kids stopped bounding around at one stage.

Good thing the railings are there.

The views were spectacular along the way…..

Spectacular

Lunch on top of the world

Wildlife included some birdies, some (not at all wild) cats and the absolute highlight – mountain goats, perched so very perilously on the rock face!

Such a friendly kitty cat, and those goats! Amazing!

One thousand, two hundred and ninety nine steps down and we're almost down......

View of the monastery on the way back.

Then back in Barcelona it was dinner time.  Another try with Spanish cuisine and no luck again!  Seafood paella and seafood fideua (similar dish to paella but made with noodles instead of rice) and both very very ordinary L  Good thing the location was such a winner J

Great location

Barcelona Day 4

Tibidabo is a mountain overlooking Barcelona.  Getting to Tibidabo is good fun and includes a metro ride, train trip, funicular and bus.  Ideally once at the top, you can take in spectacular views of the city, but today was misty.  Emmy was keen to try out the binoculars but you can see the "view" behind her!

The misty top of Tibidabo

On the way down we stopped at a little park....

Park and houses near Tibidabo

We didn't end up staying all that long at Tibidabo, so headed back into the city in search of Montjuic Park and this is what we found.....

Cactus garden at Parc Montjuic

Then it was back into the city for a bit of lunch.  Can you believe it but we went to an Italian cafe.  Barcelona is not cheap and eating out here is generally more expensive than in England. But not today. We managed to sneak in to Cafe Rossini just before their lunchtime special finished at 4:00pm. It included starter, main, dessert and a drink for €8.50, which compared to some of the prices we've seen and paid is excellent value.

Everything about Rossini's was good.  The service (the waiters are very impressive!), the wine, the food and the atmosphere.  Again the location was perfect, with the kids able to explore the courtyard between courses.

Plaça Reial and Rossini's

We all ate way to much so walked half of the way back to the apartment and I even took the stairs not the escalator in the metro J