kkk

it kind of looks like that doesn't it....

an evening walk

headed out for a walk this evening- it was very pleasant - but cold. Took the camera - and just for a change, didn't take a picture of either Grace or Joseph.

JoJo

harrison park

I took Grace for a walk today - down to Harrison Gardens - to see the ducks - Lamby came too.

play time

bath time

give us a kiss!

blue stuff....

Starting to get used to buying blue stuff - makes a welcome change from pink!

proud big sister!

Joseph Benjamin Rhys

Got a name - were thinking of Benjamin as his first name - but it wasn't quite right. Joseph it is.

it's a boy!

We nearly didn't make it to the labour ward....a hell of a lot quicker than Grace - the baby came out within 50 minutes of arriving at hospital - and was nearly born in the coridor. He was born at 12.50am. Currently nameless.....

ice cream in November?

well, yes, Grace will always have one if she can get one....

the clear-out begins...

We've been making way for the baby today. My wife has started her "nesting" and has had a bit of a cull of stuff that is "clutter". Getting rid of stuff is strangely therapeutic - and brings back some happy memories - notably when she pulled out a tiny outfit that my daughter wore (for about 2 days) - we don't know what we are getting - but to be honest, another girl would make life easier (and cheaper) - we have so much pink stuff - the thought of doing the whole thing again - with everything blue is more than my bank manager can take - either that or my son will be wearing pink for the first few years of his life and blame me for why he's always felt more like a girl...

another one bites the dust

Have been very lucky the past 24 hrs or so....Prestonfield House one day, and a wedding at another posh hotel - this time in Glenrothes the next. This was made even better for the fact that my daughter wasn't invited, and so my wife were reminded of what life was like before children - but as we're about to have another in 4 weeks time, it was more a slap in the face than anything else. Still, it was good to see lots of friends again and enjoy good food (I drank substantially less as I had a slightly sore head after too much red wine and rich food the previous evening). And to see a friend get married after all this time....couldn't be more happy for the chap....and he'd done so well to evade marriage for such a long time!!!!

Prestonfield House

Went for a posh meal at Prestonfield House Hotel in Edinburgh on Friday night (I wasn't paying, so enjoyed it even more). Tried to see where Mike Watson tried to start a fire - but failed. Suddenly had a sense of paranoia while taking a pee in the gents as I thought I was being watched by cctv...A very good evening - child free, great food and wine and company. Doubt I'll be doing that again for a while though....

what no lights?

Got on my bike this morning - and started cycling to work when I looked down and something was missing. I then realised that some bastard has stolen my light - just in time for the winter too. Coming from a stairwell with 6 flats - with a locked main door, I can only presume that the culprit is someone from one of the other flats - 4 of which are families, which I can safely rule out. One of the people in the stair has had his bicycle seat stolen twice, so it's becoming a bit of a habit - but it's infuriating...I'd like to catch the little toe-rag in the act and give them a good kicking.... Could do with this chap to help solve the crime:

Edinburgh - dirtiest city in UK?

Edinburgh must be one of the dirtiest cities in the UK. I always feel shame once I come back from holidaying in cities where you can eat your dinner off the pavement (not that I do that), Walking or cycling through the Meadows to see overflowing bins and litter and broken bottles everywhere is a depressing and shameful sight. The council are mainly responsible for this - they could get the 12,000 traffic wardens they currently employ (this might be a slight exaggeration) and get them doing something useful, rather than purely vindictive. But the main problem lies with us, the general public. I'd give my full backing to the council to clamp down hard on the little toe-rags who throw litter all over the place - give them a £20 on-the-spot fine (it's usually spotty teenagers) - or else make them do some sort of community service - cleaning the Meadows for example. Another thing that would help is for the council to provide more bins - and to actually empty then once in a while.

Sunday morning

Had I not had my alarm go off at 6.45am this morning (my 2 year old daughter), I might have fancied a lie-in. Now, I'm not actually big on lie-ins but had I been lucky enough to choose to have one, the 4 pneumatic drills outside my flat window at 9am probably wouldn't have helped. To get 4 or 5 council workers (especially those who work on the roads) working is unusual in itself - the irony of it being a Sunday morning was not lost on me...but then I cynically realised that they were probably on double time - on a Monday (or any other weekday) no doubt they'd have been having a tee break for the first couple of hours before even thinking about actually doing any work...the roads in this city are a joke - I cycle to work - a journey of only about 20 mins - but reckon that the roads to Basra are probably in better condition than those in Edinburgh -pot-holes the size of small children are common - but bizarrely, they have chosen to dig up my street - which is in pretty good condition. The logic of the council never fails to amaze.

Edinburgh council are a joke

This morning - they are digging up my street AGAIN. I cannot believe the incompetence of this council - we must have the worst roads in the UK. My street didn't have a pavement for 4 months while they "re-surfaced" it (not that we can tell the difference) - and now they have in their wisdom started to dig up the road. Is there any "joined-up thinking" in that place (or thinking at all for that matter). I think that as they lost the vote for the car charging - they are determined to piss everyone off who lives in Edinburgh. MORONS!

Flickr

Any of you guys and girls out there discovered the joys of Flickr? If you are a budding photographer (and even if you're not) - it's a highly addictive and very time-consuming way to share your photos with friends and family all over the country/world.....check out photos by a chap going by the name of Lord Voldemort....David Bailey he isn't!

Balamory the show rides into town

Balamory have just been touring Edinburgh - much to the delight of hundreds and thousands of kids (my own included) - and getting the chance to see Miss Hooley, Spencer, Josie Jump et al proved both memorable and something that they'll remember for all of 25 minutes.... My daughter absolutely loved it - but was sadly traumatised when they all sang goodbye...which caused tears and tantrums for the next half hour or so (no she's not a teenager - although she does sometimes behave like one). I had (wisely) decided that only one parent was required for this excursion - preferring instead to go to Thomas the Tank Engine (or some other some-such event) that might be up in this part of the world in the not too-distant future. Instead I had the opportunity for an hour or so of quiet reflection with all that is right and wrong with the world walking up the crags overlooking Edinburgh - and pretending to be a tourist, snapping away with my camera. Call me a miserable git, but is £17.50 is not an extortionate price for a ticket to see a children's show? This is not just the price for an adult - but for a child too!! I had expected the show to cost about £8 for kids and £15 for adults - which would have seemed a fair price...not only that, but both the original Miss Hooley and Josie Jump (the 2 stars of the programme IMHO) were not even in it!! - a couple of look-alikes were dragged in to replace them - this is kind of like taking out Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher from Star Wars and replacing them with complete unknowns......fortunately, for my 2.5 year old couldn't discern the difference - although there were quiet mutterings among some of the parents - in hushed tones so as not to spoil the party. Anyway, mustn't grumble - it was a great show (so my wife tells me) - and we managed to get out of the place without having bought any of the extortionately priced "goodies" that they were flogging to folk as they were leaving - giving parents that wonderful feeling of guilt and meanness that they won't (or can't) buy their wee Jonny a 22nd dolly of Archie the Inventor....oh the joys....

and we're off....

Well, I've managed to go wireless - which wasn't as straightforward as it should have been. It involved considerable angst - a few choice swear words and the eventual white flag to phone a friend - who actually knows one end of a computer from another. One simple thing took him all of 30 seconds - when I'd spent almost 2 hrs on the problem.... Anyway, I'm up and running now (well crawling) - and the world is my oyster...I've even attracted a couple of comments by 2 poor souls who took pity on me. Well, I'm not proud and will take all the sympathy I can get...

My first comment!

My 1st comment!! Yippee!! I'm so excited....what could this first post be about? Someone welcoming me to the world of blogging? Someone maybe giving me some tips as to how to get this blog on the radar?....No - it was from "Tim" in the New York area asking if I was lonely, looking for "love" and wanting to know if I was interested in sex, porn, gadgets etc.....well thanks Tim - but I think I'll politely decline...there really are some sad, desperate people out there... Anyway, what else has happened today? Well, I actually discovered a blog of someone who I found to be reasonably interesting - and will follow that blog for a while (and even made my first comment on their blog - which is a first for me). I was quite excited doing it - how sad am I?! Get a grip! I'm turning into a geek...and can see that this new-found habit could become obsessively addictive - as if Flickr wasn't keeping me busy enough! Anyway, I'm gonna have a trawl through Scottish Blogs - and who knows, might even be brave enough to join them...well - I guess that's the only way someone is ever likely to read this thing.... Golly! I'm a techno-nerd....

I'm not going in there!

bedtime story with cousins

Blair Drummond safari park

Phoebe's birthday party

noddy

Grace loves all things Noddy at the moment...tv, toys. It's driving us mad!

breakfast....yum!

chasing the cat

soccer star

pink shoes

ice cream at yellowcraig

in-laws tour of the parliment

home-made lollies!

gypsy girl

good job I don't dress her every day.....

let's swap dummies...

Powles family in Edinburgh

the long journey home

Nel

I hope we're still friends...

praise the Lord....'tis done!

My speech went down pretty well too...

we mean business......

Women were running scared. Never realised how damn sexy I am in a skirt. Must do this again....Clutching the ring....don't want to make that schoolboy error.....

any last requests?

Stu is finally getting married tomorrow. A day that I and his mother have been waiting for for some time. Let's hope Meriel is up to the task!

From Welford, we drove to Ioan & Anita's in Acton. I then headed off to see Stu and we went out for a rehearsal at Duke Street, before going out for a meal at Browns in Twickenham with the fossils and Stu's new outlaws (and his wife-to be of course!)

Blenheim Palace with the Quicks

Worcester & Evesham country park

Went to Worcester today - popped into the cathedral and then we went on a wee train trip round Evesham country park.

Cotswold Country Farm Park

Grace enjoyed feeding the lambs...but it was freezing!

Hidcote with Grandma & Grandpa

Stratford

here's Lamby....

Grace's best friend.

a horde of Holsts

yellowcraig

England v Scotland (sorry Stu - your team took one hell of a beating...)

stag party

Leith Hill...somewhere down south

Jakob & Tara

Grace's 2nd birthday party

cold and miserable in the Botanics

Grace might be warm - but what sort of mother will she be if she takes her baby out in the cold wearing just that?!

chocolate crispies!

Can't get this top of my head though......

maxi bubbles planning night

Cat pissed off with work, threatening resignation.
I head down to Ruth Stewart’s house on Learmonth Gardens in the evening for discussion for the next term of Maxi-Bubbles.

lunch at the MacLean's

Church in the morning (where both Cat & I actually are in the service!) – Dave preaches very challenging sermon.
Lunch with Duncan & Esther and children – tickle Katie….Relaxing evening watching some Friends dvds.

ceramics

High winds overnight and rain – golf course closed. Instead Cat, Grace & I head to Ceramic place near Ocean Terminal where Grace does hand & foot print on plate and paints a snail. I join her in the “soft-play” area.

back to square 1

Cat’s period arrives – so we are both feeling pretty flat.
Look after Grace. Head into town where we meet up with Cat for coffee in Waterstones, then get a taxi back home. Grace is a nightmare in the afternoon – but an angel in the evening when she keeps trying to put me to bed…Cat out for evening for Fi’s birthday party (Harvey Nich’s then Valvonna & Crolla).