Life at the Gables

This is a picture of the main road to Aberdeen I need to go along tomorrow to take Samuel to the Ortodontist. At the moment it's closed and it has just said on the news that it might be open by the morning!! He's waited 18 months for an appointment, a few more days won't make much difference. Picture from Traffic Scotland > Live-Eye

:: Crochet update ::

I had originally intended to paint Samuel's room after Christmas but with John having to go away I couldn't move the furniture by myself. I'm now doing it this week as 1. The hall work isn't being done. 2. Ruth and my nephew are coming to stay next week and 3. It really needs doing. It is just going to be Magnolia with red, white and blue bedding. Very teenagerish. Before = Pale green. It's also a good excuse for me to put to charity all those games, books, toys etc he hasn't looked at in the last 3 years. Less is more is my motto 3 hours later = first coat finished I hadn't realised when I started this morning just how difficult it is to paint embossed paper. I normally like plain, plastered walls, but the walls in Samuel's room are so uneven that we had to use embossed. I can see why John went to France today on business!! Tomorrow the second and hopefully final coat.

We had unexpected bad weather today. Rain, sleet, hail and snow!! The drop in temperature steamed the windows in the porch.

:: Surveying the damage :: The building inspector came yesterday and hopefully the claim will be finalised in the next few days. I hope so as my floor boards are getting very bouncy!!

:: Flat as a pancake :: Samuel's bike has a flat tyre and he's non too happy about it!!

:: Heaven ::

Today is the first day of the Easter holidays, even though Easter isn't for another week. I love being at home and today was the first of many where I can choose what I like for the day. Today was hanging the washing out in the sun, making chocolate muffins, a bit of crochet and watching the new Andrew Lloyd-Webber programme to find a Dorothy for the new West End musical "The Wizard of Oz".

One of the teachers at work was leaving yesterday and she gave flowers to all the girls in the office. Mine were beautiful pink and 'lime' green. She will be missed, especially by our plants as she was the only one who watered them!!!

:: These boots have walked their last. They have served me faithfully for 7 years but the fabric on the inside is worn and nearly gave me a blister. I have new ones on order already ::

So here we are at the beginning of the old railway line that leads from Elgin to Lossiemouth. It's approx 6 miles long and if I'm honest not that interesting!! There's not a lot to see apart from farmland, the old Spynie Loch (marsh land that is thick and difficult to see through), a small section of the river Lossie and Spynie Palace . This place, I love and have walked past here many times in the last 21 years. It was originally the Palace of the Bishops of Moray and had the original Cathedral attached to it (although that has long since disappeared). Some evenings in the Autumn the Moray Rangers do talks about the bats that live there. Unfortunately the time we went some one had taken their brood of 6 kids and let them run riot so you couldn't hear what the ranger was saying. But that's a whole different story!! It took the last group just under 2 hours to walk there. That was because they were the slowest group in the school (and they were the seniors!!). Aft

I'm off on a sponsored walk today with the whole school. 12 miles to Lossiemouth and back. See you later if I'm still standing :0)

:: Two of my favourite things. Daffs and crochet ::

I thought that while it was tidy I would show you my favourite room in the house (so far). If you had seen this room before you would know why I love it so now. It had a horrible blue carpet, a wardrobe with white wooden doors that didn't close and mirrors that were too low down (the lady who owned the house before us was only 5ft) and a light above where the bed goes that had a cable running down the wall. John did a fantastic job of redecorating it all himself. Now it is a lovely place to be and many a person has had a sneaky afternoon snooze on my bed!! This is what it used to look like when we moved in. Sorry about the quality of the picture but I had to copy it from the PDF copy of the house details!!

:: Getting ready for my nephew's visit :: He's only 3 and mad about planes!! Lucky me as I LOVE Memphis Belle.

"Wall Art" I'm loving some of the wall art you can buy at the moment. This one is destined for my hall (if they ever get the claim sorted) but for now is hanging in my bedroom.

Trying to "Cat Proof" the garden. I have nothing against cats but when they sneak along the wall and try to sit on the bird table I get a bit miffed. Hopefully the trellis will stop them coming in. I really must paint that wall!!

I've just started reading The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory. I got it for Mother's Day from my Mum and so far it's really good. I have to own up to not knowing anything about the War of the Roses back in 1400 and something!!! Hands up who does?

Isn't it nice when something you're not expecting arrives in the post? Today I received this cute bag from my Mum. Perfect for putting my magazines in to take to work (to read at lunch time of course!). She bought it at a craft afternoon my Auntie was having this week and it's right up my street :0)

:: What is it with boys and their hoodies? ::

My last Scrap-a-Go-Go kit. I don't seem to be doing a lot of scrapping recently and have decided to save the money for something else. I don't know what yet but I'll know it when I see it :0)

From John.....Just because

:: A spot of Retail Therapy :: A new pink cardigan

Believe me these things are HUGE but we love them as they are helping with the bypass.

I meant to post these yesterday. These are the felt hearts I made for Mother's Day.

:: The tree we had to hide under when the heavens opened while walking the dog ::

I've had a good day today which started with breakfast in bed, John went a little overboard with the toast and butter but it was the thought that counts and check out the icing sugar heart. followed by the ironing, changing the beds, helping with Samuel's homework, getting soaked walking the dog and general tidying up. Still it was all worth it as instead of getting a present I asked for afternoon tea and the boys did a grand job making it for me. All I had to do was eat.

(0: Happy Mother's Day to all Mums :0)

"" Beautiful Iris ""

:: A family favourite ~ Toad in the Hole :: The recipe especially for Sherry: Serves 4 8 Pork Sausages 110g (4oz) Plain White Flour 300ml (½ pint) Milk 2 Small Eggs ½ tsp Salt Place the flour in a bowl, then make a well in the centre and break in the egg. Mix in half the milk using a wooden spoon, work the mixture until smooth then add the remaining milk. Beat or whisk until fully combined and the surface is covered with tiny bubbles. Allow to rest for 15 to 30 minutes, whisk again before use. Preheat the oven to 230°C; 450°F: Gas 8 Fry the sausages in a pan to lightly colour and remove excess fat, reserve the fat. Place the fat in a small roasting tin adding a little oil, if needed, to bring the amount of fat up to about 4 tbsp. Heat the fat until smoking hot then pour in the batter. Add the sausages and place into the hot oven. Bake for about 5-10 minutes at 230°C; 450°F: Gas 8, then reduce to 200°C; 400°F: Gas 6 and bake 20 to 30 minutes or until the batter around the sausages

:: Lying in our bedroom, waiting for his Dad!! ::

** A few minutes to myself while everyone else is out **

:: Lambing Live BBC 2 :: There aren't many good programmes on the TV just now but this is one of them. Kate Humble on a sheep farm in Wales waiting for 600 lambs to be born.

Renewing Samuel's passport. It's going to cost nearly as much as the holiday as it's £49.00 (Approx $73.00) and it only lasts 5 years!!

The next installment. Squares 2 to 7. I'm really getting into making them now. I just have to figure out how to sew them together as some are a lot bigger than others!!

:: Samuel in the local paper for being on the school newspaper team ::

:: No trip to Cullen is complete without an ice cream :: Mr Whippy with strawberry piping. Could John have bought a bigger one? Did we manage to eat it?

This morning we've been out to Cullen. A small fishing village about 15 minutes away from us that is famous for being the home of "Cullen Skink" (or a John says "it's just fish soup!"). Instead of a walk along the beach we walked along the top of the viaduct. It's about a mile from the golf course to the village square. We'd gone out early as the sun was out and it was lovely and warm walking along the top. I was so busy looking at the view of the village that I didn't notice this little Folly on the other side of the bridge. It's actually across the road but it looks like it's right next to the viaduct in this photo. I love the way the old houses are so tightly packed together. I assume that's because originally there wasn't a lot of space to build them but I could be wrong. In this picture you can just make out the harbour which was designed by Thomas Telford who was a Scottish architect and all round smarty pants! Cul