Away to the seaside

This is me signing off for 3 whole nights. Have a great weekend and I see you Monday afternoon.

For my fellow blog hoppers I'll check out your wee hoosies when I get back :0)

This moment

Click to see Mossy's face!!
{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

Day 119 of 365

Pond reflections

Day 118 of 365

An old mangle outside the museum on the corner of our main street.

I think this is possible farm machinery.

Anyone remember using one of these? I can remember using one at my Grans (but not as posh) to wring out the sheets on wash day.

Kisses on a Postcard

I heard the author of this book on the radio last weekend and it sounded such a good read I had to go and get it. It was really the title that intrigued me. Terry and his brother were evacuees in WWII and their mother told them that they were going on an adventure but she couldn't tell them where. She said that they would have their own secret code to tell her if they were OK once they got there. On the back of a postcard she had already addressed for them, they were to write their new address and then on the bottom they were to put kisses. One kiss was to signal that their new home was horrible and she would come and get them, two if it was all right and three if it was nice. Within hours of going to live with “Auntie Rose” and “Uncle Jack”, the two boys, aged seven and 11, sent their card covered in kisses.

Day 117 of 365

Everyday essential

Look how it picks up the dust!!!

Day 116 of 365

Sunset flare

Day 115 of 365

Dreich Sunday

What do you do on a dreich, overcast, grey and drizzly day in Scotland?

Go fishing of course!!
This morning was a bit miserable but we thought we'd brave the weather and head out for a spot of fly fishing at the local Trout Fishery in Rothes.

Samuel and John are old hands at this but I've only ever had one go and John did most of the casting!!

This is me trying to get the first catch of the day with little success.

Samuel knew what to do and quickly got on with the job at hand. He's getting better each time and isn't afraid to have a go by himself without his Dad watching his every move.

Good casting technique. A little more practice and the fish might think he's a professional

The fish weren't biting so out came the "big boys". This is a "Daddy Longlegs" and if you didn't know it was a fishing fly you could mistake it for the real thing!

The weather held out for almost 2 hours and then the heavens opened and the fish scarpered so we called it a day and came home but not before the boys landed their one and only trout of the day. (I would have had a photo but it was way too wet to get the camera out). I think next time John and Samuel are going to take rod each and have a competition to see who can catch the first fish.

Day 114 of 365

Taking a dip

Back in the day....................

I haven't taken part in Pink Saturday in a long time but while I was hunting through my old photos the other week I found this!!

Oh Dear - What were we thinking? This was the end of a fortnight in Gran Canaria with the girls back in 1994. Back when we were young, single and would do anything for a laugh!! We all decided to wear these pink hats, very short pink dresses and hihg heels for the flight home to Dusseldorf. What the other passengers thought Lord only knows!! One young lad laughed as we were headed for the departure gate and said "Ha Manchester!" meaning we were on the Manchester flight (being English speaking) - we laughed too and said "Ha Ha Dusseldorf" to which he quickly stopped smiling :0)

Those were the days!!

Day 113 of 365

The War Memorial and St Giles church in Elgin town centre.

Day 112 of 365

My gym locker.

Stuffed Peppers

With John being away more I'm having to learn to cook for myself. Today's offering was stuffed peppers as that was what I had in the fridge.

Ingredients:

One red pepper
A few mushrooms - chopped
Half a red onion - diced
Low fat soft cheese
and (as I cheated)
Half a packet of cous cous
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan oven 180C. Cut the pepper in half through the stalk and scoop out the seeds. Put the pepper on a baking sheet. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the pepper, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes, until the pepper is just tender.

Make up the cous cous as per the packet. Stir in the mushrooms, and red onion. Season with salt and pepper and spoon into the pepper halves. Add a tablespoon of soft cheese to the top and sprinkle with a little cous cous. Return to the oven for 15 minutes, until the topping is golden. Serve with a mixed salad and garlic bread. Or just salad if you're on a diet!!!

Day 111 of 365

Field of Daffodils

Day 110 of 365

Time to count.

Day 109 of 365

Rescued from the "reduced" section

Day 108 of 365

:: I finally have some good "Tunes" for the gym. Snow Patrol and The Human League. An easy way to pass the time ::

Britain HAS got talent

You have to watch this. She 10 years old and is amazing!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc8p-H3TUzo

Day 107 of 365

:: Teenagers - Says it all!!! ::

Day 106 of 365

On my way to 5 a day.

I'd forgotten how good these taste!

Good old Postie

Didn't I get a lot in the post today?

A DVD called State of Play from my sister which is supposed to be excellent.

A kit for a Blog Hop I'm taking part in and for which I have ideas already (to be revealed in May)

and

The next Kiki Lowenstein mystery by Joanna Campbell Slan called Photo, Snap, Shot.

Where to start?

Day 105 of 365

:: Beautiful Begonias ::

Hard to believe that the blue background is actually the grey back wall in our garden!!

Gym-tastic

Photo taken by my sister, Ruth.

I can't believe that I'm actually going to admit to this........... but I like going to the gym!! I know! Who would have guessed? I had my induction last night and got my fitness routine added to my gym tag and today I was all set to go. Induction? Gym Tag? Strange words indeed. Gone are the days of sit-ups, press-ups, medicines balls and lots of running. In instead are running machines, bikes, cardio monitors and abductors. (The last one I always thought were people who kidnapped other people). What do I know?

One of the things I like is that there are all shapes and sizes, all fitness levels and not a scrap of Lycra or a leg warmer to be seen.

My routine takes about an hour to and hour and a half but I only did an hour tonight as I had to get home for Samuel (who was at the park with his mates when I got in).

I've got my bag packed already for tomorrow and I'm raring to go.

Day 104 of 365

~It's mine. All mine!!~

John is in Aberdeen tonight and Samuel will be off to bed sooner rather than later.

Day 103 of 365

:: The next step on the road to fitness ::

I've dug out my 'trackies', dusted off the sports bra and I'm off to the gym in a while and if I survive I'll be back here tomorrow :0)

Day 102 of 365

:: The diet starts today ::

Day 101 of 365

:: A view of Lossiemouth, taken from the bridge across the river ::

A trip to the beach

It has been what can only be described as "Gorgeous" today. At one point it was 19 degrees. As it was Ruth and nephew H's last morning here we took him to the beach at Lossiemouth. It was perfect. Not too many people, no wind and plenty of sunshine.
Just look at that blue sky. It's a long time since we've seen one of those for any length of time.

This view is Prospect Terrace and used to be the most expensive road in Lossiemouth. Not so sure now with house prices the way they are and all the new houses that have popped up in the last few years.
If I ever win the lottery I'm asking the people in the house on the right if they'll sell up as it's my favourite house in the village.

As usual Mum gets to carry the shoes and socks!!

While the teenager goes paddling! Apparently it was freezing. Oh dear, how sad, never mind!!

And finally......................3 boys on a mission.

Day 100 of 365

:: Never too old to feed the ducks ::

This moment

{this moment} – A Friday ritual. A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

Thanks to my friend Val for the idea.

Day 99 of 365

:: Daffodils at Brodie ::

Day 98 of 365

:: Early morning dip ::

Size matters!!

Remember these? Remember I said they were HUGE?


Well here's proof.........Samuel posed by the wheel of one so you can see just how HUGE they are.

Spring at last

We seemed to be behind with Spring this year. My sister has had daffodils in bloom for a few weeks.
Yesterdays walk with Moss revealed that we seem to be catching up at last. The 'conker' tree is in bud..........

and the daffodils are blooming.

We're hoping for a few more daffs tomorrow at Brodie Castle.

A compulsory trip to Baxters

Whenever we have visitors we always have to make a trip to Baxters. It's only 5 minutes away and the pancakes are very tempting. Today nephew H had his first pancake and a dip into Samuel's ice cream!!
After eating our own body weight in pancakes we headed outside to the play area. Nephew H loves the train and Samuel being 10 years older loves to climb on top of everything!! Here's nephew H and I searching for Samuel. I wonder where he can be?

Oh yeah there he is....on top of the train. H loves his cousin and follows him everywhere at the minute (apart from up there!!)

and here's me........................ I thought it might be a good idea to help nephew H drive the train but the entrance had shrunk since I got in the cab and I couldn't get my butt out of the doorway on the way out! With a little help from Samuel I managed to squeeze out, leaving the doorway intact for future train drivers.