Too Cool For School

OK, OK, the Sandra blog is coming (Note to Sandra- I have had more than one request to do this!!)

In the meantime I will tell you that I am jealous of my daughter, aged just 4!! Because she went to the Wickerman Festival today (she has the best childminder!!), and went on the big wheel, got right up to the Wickerman (a 60 foot Wicker dude they will burn on Sunday, a homage to the film of the same name, made here in Dumfries originally), and even tried stiltwalking!!

She is a funky monkey. She is now recovering post festival- she just fell asleep as her head hit the pillow!

Holiday Part One- The Bright Red Mud

(okay, this has been a draft for days, I have to now post or it will never get done....ed.)

Well, we are just about over our jet lag from the journey back home, although I was getting some foul looks from Geoff this morning when he was getting ready for work and I hadn't even lifted my head!!

We landed in foggy Halifax on the 29th of June. Two days later the skies cleared as we crossed Confederation Bridge with Mom, Andrew and Sandra (more of her later!!).

Here are some pics of our cottage as well as the family:

Here's a new member of the family, the gorgeous little Brianna!

and here's a newer member, gorgeous Sandra (who gets her own blog later!!)

our lovely cottage where we TOTALLY chilled (see mom)

Mae and her uncle indulging in some retro cartoon viewing. Mae loves hanging out with her peers.....one of the many days out at an amusement park, although you wouldn't belive it looking at the kids faces....we even made it to Avonlea, home of Anne. It was pretty sedate but we enjoyed it. Carriage rides, crafts and a great kids entertainer.and a day at the beach: motherly love, brotherly exaxperation and jellyfish (sunburns later)

Guid Nychburris

I took Mae to see the "Riding of the Marches" on Saturday. Before we came to Dumfries, I only had a vague idea of what that meant but it seems common in most towns around here and in the Scottish Borders. It involves riding around the town boundaries on horses and usually some kind of symbolic pairing of a couple of lucky young people. In Dumfries you have the Cornet and the Lass and the Queen of the South and it all comes under the auspices of some kind of society called the "Guid Nychburris" (Think drunken young farmers rather than anything as sinister as the Masonic Lodge).

Apparently the "Riding of the Marches" goes back to mediaeval times when its purpose was to dissuade any greedy local landowners from encroaching on the town boundaries and I'm only guessing that the Cornet, Lass and Queen of the South has something to do with fertility. Whether this is the fertility of the land or the population, I couldn't say as nobody says much about it.

Anyway here's some pictures (they are not very good as we met up with Liza, Mae's Child minder who made me nervous by telling the story of when when her sister's horse (minus her sister) came galloping along the footpath we were standing on, so I had one eye looking through the camera, one eye on the horses and an arm around Mae. I'm no expert but I think some may have been already under the influence judging by the whooping and yelling.)

G.

PS. Happy Birthday Sharon

Solstice Sucks

Most of you would think that I mean the winter solstice: living so far north we have very short days. But NON! I mean the summer solstice.

You would think that longer days are great but I can't sleep! It's light until about 1:30 am, then dawn at about 3:30. It's crazy, but it's awful crazy.

Here's Friday nite in our garden after 10 p.m. (No flash!!)

But we are all trying to make the most of the bad situation; Geoff and Mae watched the Riding of the Marches, which is some old tradition in this area- where loads of horses mark out the borders of the towns. They watched the gallop at Kingholm while I was at New Lanark celebrating a friend getting older (see Sharon's blog for photos- good day!!). I was slightly nervous about the gallop as I have heard there has been various mishaps (human and equine) in the past. Alas, they survived!

I am also looking forward to the summer with Mae. It's funny, I don't have many early memories- they start at about Mae's age. One of my earliest? Playing in water sprinklers with my pals- how odd to see my daughter doing it now!!!

Thingy

I am so not ready for this......:

Mae met a little girl yesterday, from the bottom of the next street over, which is just across the road and over the path. She wanted Mae to play with her but it was late so I said come over tomorrow.

At dinner time tonight she came to the door (Geoff answered) and asked: 'Can thingy come over to play at my house?'

So after dinner I walked her over and she (Erin) was nowhere to be found. Her dad didn't seem worried about this. He said he would tell her when she came home. Erin is 6.

So Erin comes to collect Mae and Geoff walks them over. He told Erin that Mae needs to be back in half and hour.

Geoff and I sit in the front garden (one eye on Erin's house in case of fire) until half six, when I wandered over. They weren't in the back garden so I knocked the door and Erin's mum said that she was walking Mae back.

I walked back home, panicking, as they were nowhere to be seen. Geoff went one way and I went back to their road, where Mae and Erin are strolling with ice creams. Mae said she had met all of Erin's friends and they were having a waterballoon fight but she didn't get wet.

I need to lie down now......

Survey question:

This happened in a distance (from one front door to the other) of about 275 feet. Would you let your four year old do this?

ugh

just sobering up after a night on the tiles with the girls from work last night. It was Carer's Week ( pic of me in the paper- that's twice in the paper in two years. I am officially a Doonhamer.) and we had a Body Shop party to cap the week.
Nobody believed me when I told them Nova Scotia was scent free. Once again I am getting a reputation at work for being a bit of a weirdo.
At 10:30 everyone had left so between that time and 1:15 we drank like fish- I can no longer keep up but I tried with 5 large glasses of wine. They kept going. I tripped three times on the way home and dropped my mobile twice.
But I survived to live another day.
Father's Day. Give me strength.

Patriot Games

Okay, the war in Iraq is probably illegal. But does that stop us from welcoming home the Royal Scottish Regiment? Hell, no- they follow their orders. Plus, Mae is a huge fan of pipes and drums so we just HAD to make our way to the homecoming parade.

Most of you know me to be an unsentimental bitch- but you would change your minds if you attended a parade with me. Yes, the pipes make my eyes well up, but I shed a tear at ANY parade. The first parade we took Mae to, I cried. Like really, at the stupid handmade floats of the Rotary Club and the Womans Rural. I have no idea why. I would cry at the parade in Disney World. And not at the cynical, corporate horror of it all- it just makes me weep. There you are, my soft spot.

Oh my goodness. This one's for Bruno.

Entreprenurialism at it's best. This is the kind of thing I would like to have thought of. Although I am not sure it would have been MY thing (maybe Bethanne's....?), this one is going to take off.



Have a glass of HOTmilk.

Rosie

This is our new pet.
She drives a Tonka truck and eats lettuce.
She is much more docile, and slimy, than Rumpole.

Babies, boobs and bozoes

We are now recovering from a busy wild weekend with Helen, Shubo and the kids. More pics to follow when we get a proper photographers images.......

Mae is off from Liza's lovely childminding services due to baby Indi who we visited today and who warmed up the cockles of my womb. I thought the biological clock only went off once....I never want to see Coutty the cutie!!

So Mae and I visited the Glasgow lassies last week and had a nice day at the Burrel collection and Pollack house. Claire smiles at me which is also a relief after Heather, who blows so hot and cold. I know she loves me down deep....

On the train back Mae was getting bored and I let her use my camera- she got some action pics from outside the train and quite a few of my boobs, which is a contentious issue between busty me and my thin not-quite-flatchested friend Sharon. After all, she is the one who looks great in sweaters and never ever looks like a human- pigeon hybrid. Here's a picture. It hasn't been photoshopped, they are sitting on the table.....

Young at Heart

It’s about time for my annual contribution to the blog. I took Wednesday off to look after Mae. It was a bright sunny day so we decided to cycle to the park. Having the time to go somewhere with Mae without hurry is the best thing about not being at work. If you have to hurry her along she doesn’t talk as much but if there is time to spend you usually get some good conversation.

[at the park – a class schoolchildren pass by with their teacher]

Mae: “Who are they?”
Me: “Just some school kids”
Mae: “Are they from my school?”
Me: “I don’t think so they look too old”
Mae: “They must be high school kids….they must be teenagers”
Me: “How do you know about teenagers?”
Mae: [silent]
Me: “Do you know any teenagers?”
Mae: “Yeah…Uncle Andrew”

Here a photo of Andrew – the coolest 31 year old teenager we know! Roll on June and our trip to Canada.

G.

Aaaaaand!!! Sleep.

Another wild weekend in the Cranmer-Mark household. Well, that's if you think libraries and banks are wild....
BUT! that was only one small part of the weekend, which also took in a model train exhibition (Thank you, Lord, that I didn't have to attend. Well, that kind of luck MUST come from above), dinner with friends, a pal over for the WHOLE day Sunday, which also included a birthday party at Dalton Pottery, a trip to Dumfries museum, bike riding and do you believe the last photo used a flash? Me too. She was knackered.

Hot off the press

A new baby girl for Liza, Jock, Beck and Sonny. I think she was born within the last hour!

Happy Birthday Chris!

I won't say how old you are but here is a lovely picture of a 1968 Corvette!!

My first swap!!

Cool! I have swapped this book.....

For James and The Giant Peach! How cool is that? And I got another request, for On Chesil Beach (which I didn't like at all) but had to turn it down as that person only had crap books. I hope that isn't too rude. I am slightly nervous about requesting books in case anyone refuses me!

But I am going to wrap up The Bookseller of Kabul very nicely and send it tomorrow!!

PS- A Happy Mother's Day to all (well, to my mom, mostly!!)

PPS- I haven't commented on John's Johnny Cash blog because it was TOO funny and I have to call and tell you that on the phone, John- classic!

And PPPS- look at my big brother's new blog for a vid of my lovely neice and nephew.

And PPPPS (Last but certainly not least) Thanks to Chris, Elaine, and Lauren for a lovely weekend!

These are a few of my favourite things....

I love books. And I love this new fabulous website, Readitswapit. I couldn't text link it because it comes up with my details- but I am going to have so much fun!!!!

Summer is here!!!

The evidence?

Blueberries. Yum yum.

And to cool things off? A few frozen peas thrown in. Mae asked, and polished it off!!

Nuthin doin'

What a weekend, so far! Yesterday we went to Barbours, the coolest most vintage department store around, and went to their cafe where we met Sharon Young, with Emily and Finlay. Always exciting, although a bad idea to give them the sandwich swords.

I took a great picture of the club sandwich that is Geoff's main reason (besides Mae and me...?) to stay in the burgh of Dumfries.

Today we went to Portrack House, one of the open gardens for Scotland's Gardens. It's nuts. I took loads of great pictures. Only after about 50 photos did I realise that my memory card was sat at home on the computer table.

Thus brings me to my camera. It's great, except it doesn't let you know that there is no memory card in it until you check the screen. Stoopid Nikon. Stoopid me.

However the man behind the Garden of Cosmic Speculation is opening his garden for the Carer's Centre this year and I get to go again!!! That's in June and I will remember my card, and my camera.

Here's a funny show, Have I Got News For You, with Brian Blessed as host. Take 30 minutes this evening and watch it, before it runs out. It's hilarious. Here's a picture of Brian Blessed. He is a funny guy.

Look What I Made

I'm thinking about making this a regular feature, however my flashes of inspiration come so infrequently I would have to fill in loads of gaps.

I bought this dress off Ebay and when I got it I though it needed a little something. Hence the embroidery. Which was all done on the sewing machine, so it's a little shaky, but I think that adds to the piece. (Hee hee- see the designer bullshit in there...?) The dinos have sequin eyes. It's all linked up, which is why the dinos are going around the dress. It's quite cute, really.