My Beautiful Neice

Happy Birthday Lovely Pants!!

My Best Friend Ever Forever

Sharon is Awesome!! Really, she is the coolest person I know. I don't even mind driving four hours to her house on the far north east coast, and when I get there she and a few girls have got runny noses. I don't mind catching their colds. It's all worth it!

Boke

Just last week we thought it was going to be a

And then Mae got worms.

Hence the title of the blog, which is Scottish for puke, bark, vomit, etc.

But they are gone now (fingers crossed and NOT in mouths), so life is a bit easier.

And she chopped her hair off! It looks great!

And we are so busy with stuff at the moment, Geoff is hopefully finishing his dissertation soon, and I will be so happy when it's done, it will be nice to have him back at weekends after two and half years. Maybe we will get away for a nice weekend....

And at Christmas, we may be eating some brussel sprouts from the garden. The tomatoes, below, just popped up out of some compost I spread earlier in the year- anyone want to make chutney??

Winding down and clearing up

We're not really winding down at all, we are busy as hell and trying desperately to fit in cleaning up the garden!! Roses are still blooming but now we have the autumnal plants coming to life- these are by far my favourite: nerines. I must get more. Where to put everything is the problem!

I do, however, need to get something started on my new birthday trellis (thanks Lilian and Ross), maybe a honeysuckle and I have another climber, Chilean Potato Vine, growing in my newfangled nursery bed.

In other news, and to get said crap out of the garden, I have just purchased this new car! Well, not new of course, as I got in in Glasgow and through ebay, but it will be handy nonetheless. It's not yet too handy, as we have to get it to our mechanic, Mr Huntley, already. It idles really low and seems to be on the verge of stalling a bit. Mr Huntley will be able to sort it, if anyone, but I hope he doesn't give me a lecture. He's a bit stern if you leave something too long and I heard a legend of him stripping a length off a consultant at the hospital for letting his tires go bald. So he will be honest, anyway. Everyone join in in hoping that I haven't thrown good money away!!

Stuff and Nonsense

We have been busy, I have been using Facebook, and the blog has been suffering. I wait for really new things, not things we have done a million times. So, onwards and upwards!

Mae is back in school, in a P3/4 class, which will hopefully mean she is pushed a little harder this year. She put herself up for Eco rep for her class, and got voted in! So many other kids went for it that in getting only 5 votes, she still won! So she is proud of herself, rightly so.
She is also reading loads at the moment, which really is great- I think I would struggle if she wasn't interested in reading, I know that's terrible of me as a parent but the world of books is wonderful. Here she is reading Peter Pan on my Kindle. If any of you have any other recommendations for her age, please let me know! We (mostly reading to her) have been through all the Roald Dahl books this summer, and she recently finished Jacob Two-Two and the Hooded Fang, which was one of my childhood favourites. We are awaiting some Madeleine L'Engle being sent from a friend in Canada, I hope she likes that as well.
I know I am bragging, but who knows how long she is going to enjoy school, must make the most of it! She did well in Maths today, her teacher said she was a 'Mathmetician'- she doesn't get that from me, that's for sure!!


She's also glad to see her school friends again, as although all us mums have the best intentions at the beginning of summer, by the end of it we realise we haven't seen each other at all! So Mae is here with her friend Rory, whose mum took them both in town this afternoon to get their picture taken with the Olympic torch. Pretty cool!

We took another of Mae's friends out the other week to a play in the grounds of Drumlanrig Castle, The Fantastic Mr Fox, which was brilliant. In the car on the way up, Mae called me Jennifer for some reason. Her friend said ' Is THAT your name..? Huh. I think I will still call you 'Thingy''

Thanks, Lizzie!

Thingy.

Smiling

Mae takes a while to smile when we are out, and doesn't always show that she is enjoying what we are doing. Usually later she will say what a good time she has had, how brilliant something was, or how funny she found it.

This weekend we went to visit friends and had a lovely time. We spent time just hanging out and catching up, and there was a lot of catching up to do, as well as relaxing and sitting in the sun. Mae tagged along to Beth's horse riding lesson and got a half lesson herself where she even learned to trot (it looked hard!), and later we went to a really nice country park and the girls went on a highwire course in the woods. Mae was a bit nervous, but did complete it.

And she said she loved it. Can you tell?

Strawberries

Yes, it's been a long time and yes, I know I am lazy- but we have been very busy!

Mom was here for 5 weeks, during which time we had a great break in London. We have had visitors and we have visited friends. Mae has finished grade two and we are now having a little summer break. We have grown and eaten lots of spinach and strawberries. And raspberries. So we decided to stay with the berry theme and colour Mae's hair! Geoff hasn't seen it yet so I imagine there will be some sense of shock later today!!

But we will be doing some of the same things we always do in the summer: beach, garden, visits here and there and I really need to know if people are interested in seeing all this AGAIN. Let me know or I am going to have to have a really extended holiday from bloglife.....

Holiday Holiday Holiday

April has been like that. Two weeks off, then Easter long weekend and next weekend the Royal Wedding and May Bank Holiday, so all in all, Mae will have been in school for a grand total of eight days (yes, Eight) this month.

BUT! If it means we have a great birthday and a grand weekend with the Mitras, then that's fine. These kids get along so well, and just do their own thing for their visit that we dread the day when they might not have anything in common!! But it was lovely, so much so that this is the last day and the only time I thought of gettting a photo of them. See you in August!!



By the way, Mae has not got a squint- this is her default goofy look, although I did warn her if she kept doing it, it might get stuck that way!! I am turning into my mother.

Holy Cow it's a birthday!

Well, she said it was her best birthday yet, and no way am I ever having a big party again! I didn't even have to make a cake, as she wanted a birthday Pizza!! And, it was 6 hours long. Amazing, eh? Mae and her two best friends, it was great. They are nuts and have a great time together.

They got to open their party bags right away as they had matching pyjamas. Gorgeous!!

Even the games were quiet! Jelly eating contest and a memory game.

It was a close run.

But Lizzie went the extra mile and gulped down her Jello in record time.

Mae blew out candles on her pizza. The guy who delivered it was surrounded when he arrived, he was out of there like a shot. Nothing like girls seeing how much power they have.

Then it was movie time and you would think they had never eaten in their lives. I really should have given them each their own bowl of popcorn, competetive eating is never a good thing...(except for Jello). After this it was mini sausages, jam tarts, Pringles, grapes, etc etc!!

Mae started to lose it very slightly about 15 minutes before the others went home, so I cracked out the glowing jewellry and sorted it. What a brilliant day!

Headgear

Well, it's the school holidays and the sun has decided to come out! Of course it is meant to rain again next week but that's why we were out all day yesterday and are now sunburnt. Get it while you can. It's been a nice week so far though and Geoff had Friday off so he took Mae to the local farm park where she has had her first go on the quadbikes!! Yikes! But apparently they can make them go slow and Mae did quite well up until she ran over the guy running it (he must be used to that I am sure!). I am glad I wasn't there- that kind of thing freaks me out, yet it was when I was with her last week she ended up with a shiner. so....anyway.

From heavy duty helmet to daisy chain! We are getting lots done in the garden because Mae's default wish on a day off is to be lazy. She got out of her pyjamas at 3 pm and we went to the football field and splashed in some muddy puddles. Then she wanted me to make a daisy chain and wore it home proudly. I like lazy days.

Black Eyed Sweet Pea

Mae has a shiner. She rarely hurts herself, but it's my belief that it's okay for kids to hurt themselves so I like to document it when it happens.

She was at the Farm Park the other day and insisted on swinging on the rope swings in the hay bale barn, which is a step too far for me because it looks like head injury central. I let her do it a few times but she insisted once more on the big swing and after falling straight on her head stood back up to smile at me while the knot of the heavy rope was flying back at her face. I actually heard a 'cork' sound.

Yowch.

busy weekend

Oh my god. Am so tired. And I didn't even really help with the building of the playhouse! I was finishing off the curtains for the spare room.

Seems we're all a bit nutso these past few weeks. And we will be the few to come as well, I think.

Mae's off for two weeks (culminating in a birthday party), plus we still have some fence panels to put up, Geoff has to finish a paper before said birthday, I still have things to cut back and move in the garden and the weeds are coming and I still want to do some veg (that might have to be next year), but the raspberries need trellis, the honeysuckle has nowhere to climb, the asparagus need replanted after the cats dug them all up last year, and what about sweetpeas should I do that this year, plus under the playhouse needs landscape fabric, we still need flooring for the new room, AAAAAAAARG. I need my mom.

Done

Well, except for the flooring and coving, the former which will be ordered tomorrow and the latter to be completed at some unknown date in the middle-to-distant future. And the matching curtains (what have I become?!) will be done soon as well!

And for those of you who think this is a small room and therefore easy, I stripped two to five layers of wallpaper, then lining papered it horizontally, then filled the bumpy bits, then wallpapered again vertically. Not fun at all. And it is staying this way for all eternity.

on the ning nang nong. (by Spike Milligan)

on the ning nang nong wher the cows go Bong and the monkeas all go boo.
thers a nong nang ning
wher the tree's go ping and the teapot's go jibbir jabber joo.

What Mae likes and what Mae doesn't like

I like:
Apples, escargot, tomato soup, chocolate covered crickets.
I love, I just love:
Meatballs, lemons, kiwi, limes.
I do not like:
Marshmallows, squid, octopus, donuts.
I really do not like guacamole.
And the hairs on my chinny chin chin.

Procrastination Station

I have a week off this week and need to crack on with the guest room. Ugh. There is only so much wallpaper scraping I can do. So I am sitting here with a coffee and will tell you an uplifting tale...

Sharon came all the way from Aberdeen on Friday night, staying for one night only and heading out on Saturday at 6pm. We decided to take Mae and her friend Lizzie to dance class then hit the charity shops for bargains, and we would follow with lunch.

We went to Lizzie's and had to wait while her mum tidied her hair up. It was nice that Lisa and Sharon got to meet as the Rowe's are such a nice family and Sharon is of course, my BFF.

Anyway, on the way out Lizzie's dad David came home with two take out Mark's and Spencer's coffees and some millionaire's shortbread. For the Candians that's shortbread with caramel and chocolate on top. Ugh, me no likey.

So we go to dance, drop the girls off, hit the charity shops. Sharon buys loads. Have a chitchat, catch up.

Then we go pick up Mae and head over to Barbours to meet Geoff for lunch.

Mae says, hey there's some money. She has found two ten pound notes! One had a receipt in, and I think to Mae's dismay, me and Sharon discuss how to get it back to it's owner.
I say no to bringing it to the police, no one will ever claim it.
Sharon thought that we should take it to Mark's and Spencer's as someone had used their card. So we head that way and I think how the hell are they going to get the person's name? They withdrew the 20£ at the shop....?

Then we look at what they bought. Two coffees to go and some millionaire's shortbread!!!
It was Davids!!
What a crazy lucky find! Mae got two bags of sweets and a lovely thank you card. Crazy huh?

Then we put up our new fence yesterday and Mae surprised us with some scrambled eggs and strawberries for a snack. Her specialty.


And here's some cute pictures of Rumpole who I am now sure is a vampire and immortal. You need to invite him into the house when he is outside, even when he is meowing his head off. I am sure I saw that on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Gurn, gurn, gurn

Unsurprisingly, Mae has turned into a fool. I think this is normal in kids her age, and I think it was always there. But we are having a laugh at the moment. But isn't it crazy that when she crosses her eyes one goes in more than the other- nuts and a bit freaky, but she has only just learned how to do this so I can't complain. And she still can't really roll her eyes at us, but flings her whole head in a circle, which remains endearing, not annoying (yet).

And she is still very unself concious, although a boy at school made fun of her 'goofy' teeth the other week which upset her. He is lucky I don't know who he is or it would be a knuckle sandwich for him, the little turd. But I showed her an article about models so desperate for a gap that they now wedge something between their front teeth to get one!! Insane, huh? But she is a bit happier, thank god.

Although the night I found her in my bed with MY nightclothes and jumper on, with a Cat-in-the-Hat-with-a-wedgie costume and her OWN satin pyjamas under it, I thought it was taking it a bit far. You could have friend an egg on her belly it was so hot.

How to get a cat to love you.

Step one:

Share your chicken and bacon tortellini.

Jiun May Lin

PDA alert

Happy Valentine's Day, husband!