Bounce Back #sunnyspring

Oh the sun, sun, sun, how we looove yoooou. You make everything sooo much better. Stay a while please.

That's been my sing-songy morning refrain when the sun has woken me up by blasting through the ill-fitting blackout blind, wooden slats and curtains, because really, the sun doesn't make everything so.much.better.

So basically, lots of sunny photos coming up...

06.43, and my little shadow has joined me for a morning yoga class. Because she does EVERYTHING with me.

What the weekend means is LONGER and FURTHER bike rides/walks than during the week. Mama always carries a stash of bribes snacks for these ones...

 Crevette is BY FAR our best walker. She wants to walk everywhere and it's a delight knowing I can leave the backpack at home. She is so motivated to keep up with her siblings. Bonus: everyone sleeps better.

We have also tried to tie in some vaguely educational aspects to these walks (cough, sometimes). Small Fry collected these bits of vegetation on one of them, made the frame and declared it art. I like it.

Got the photo in before the wind blew them away.

 And dinosaurs feature strongly at the moment...anybody's guess.

Juggling home working and home schooling still has its ups and downs. Many more ups when the sun is out and the kids can TRAMPOLINE (best neighbour gift ever).

One Step At A Time #Refresher

Easter. I love Easter and have celebrated some amazing Easters in years gone by (think 2012). I don't think I could have ever imagined an Easter (or any other festival) under these conditions, but some things don't seem to ever change, thankfully:

Helping make easter nests... 

Hunting for eggs:

And even our Easter Sunday morning service:

And this year we found a GREAT egg rolling hill. A new tradition me thinks :)

 

Not sure a 2 year old should eat quite so much chocolate...

Her baby comes with us wherever we go

After Easter El Puma and I took a bit of annual leave and we really enjoyed the benefits of the gorgeous spring weather, time together, and almost no pressures from work.

Castle Campbell is a medieval castle situated above the town of Dollar in Clackmannanshire, about 13 miles away. It was the lowland seat of the earls and dukes of Argyll, chiefs of Clan Campbell from the 15th-19th century and was visited by Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. The castle was originally known as Castle Gloom, possibly deriving from the Scottish Gaelic glom, meaning a chasm, referring to the narrow gorges to either side of the site. In 1948 the then owners of the Harviestoun Estate gave Dollar Glen to the National Trust for Scotland, who restored it and now manage it.

The walk is a beautiful walk along the river and up through the gorge and we did it on a gorgeous day. Plenty of space to maintain social distancing in Scotland and still enjoy nature.

Gillies Hill by Cambusbarron

A new adventure and discovery up the back of the University (almost by Blair Logie)

The Wallace Monument

I also continue to practise my face-painting skills, usually directed by Fingerling. She is particularly obsessed with Cleopatra from Asterix & Obelix at the moment: 

Doing some blogging with my ever-present lap warmer

And a few further heartwarming images :)

Domine exaudi orationem meam #OLordhearourprayer

Be joyful always.

Pray at all times.

Be thankful in all circumstances.

1 Thessalonians 5 v 16-18

Be joyful always.

We are joyful at the unexpected extra time spent together as a family, without the usual hustle and bustle or rush to fit in activities, get kids off to school, make sure bags are packed and that we arrive on time. We delight in our rediscovering of nature, of a simpler life, of learning more about our children, how they work, their strengths and weaknesses. We are unexpectedly happy at how the curtailing of some freedoms have opened up others...online connections with friends, biking daily along the river, the joy of a trampoline, our health and our strength. We rejoice in the gift of time, and in the sacred spaces created. 

Pray at all times.

We cry out to God on behalf of those suffering, those grieving, those separated from loved ones either temporarily or permanently. We pray for those struggling, who have no sense of hope, who wrestle with their physical and mental health, who are outside current technologies, out of work, fearful. Those who have only the informal economy to rely on. We pray for those who fear globalisation, of the inward-turning and entrenchment of nation states, for those who live without the economic resources and health care systems needed to support them. We pray for better governance, for a re-evaluation of the environment, of essential services and how much we pay those who serve us, for a rethinking of competition in our schools, economic classes, businesses and the international system. We pray for solidarity, an awareness of our mutual dependence, a growing sense of our common humanity, protection for the vulnerable, increased value of the things that really matter. And a fundamental change in our systems and structures - things like added decency and sustainability across future food supply, value chains and investments.

Be thankful in all circumstances.

We are so grateful for the technologies that facilitate our exercise, new social lives, Church meet ups and support networks. We thank God for a sustained sense of community, for the opportunity to learn new things in the areas of art, meditation, exercise, mindfulness, banking and chatting. We are grateful for those who check in with others and who volunteer their help. We are thankful for a greater appreciation of what we have, as well as both the fragility and preciousness of life. We are grateful for what this crisis has taught us about ourselves, about education, about community, about our national structures, our international systems, about the global system. We thank God  for what we have learned about nature, the media, and the inter-linkedness of this planet. We thank God for his blessings - our garden, neighbours, friends, our river, hills close by, sun, food, and a certainty that this too shall pass. And we thank God for the hope of Easter.

Time To Pretend #reasonstobelockeddowninScotland

Lockdown for us has meant neither 'locked', nor 'down' (at least so far), which has got to be one of the benefits of living in Scotland. Even a 'busy' Sunday afternoon walk in the hills has plenty of space to keep an advised 2m away from others not in our household.

So in the glorious weather we walked up our favourite walk, Dumyat.

 And we are adjusting to life in our way. We still go to 'school':

We still have playtime (although the park has since been closed. Good job we have bikes, a bike path along the river, and encouragement to get out once a day for exercise):

All of us maintain more or less the same activities, but from the comfort of our living room via Zoom:

Fingerling's dance class

We make sure we do our daily Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic, but we also get to try out new things, like felt picture making (making a comeback from the 80s, thanks Oma!): 

 

Baking with Oma

 And dressing up (and posing afterwards):

The odd moment of slave labour kind deeds:

Painting:

Painting faces...

 

 And of course we also throw in some tv time as us parents also have to work/cook:

 Some of us get into trouble while everyone else is distracted...

But pretty much make up for it in cuteness...

And then another week has flown by and we find ourselves outside again in wonderful nature. Could be worse, could be worse*

In fact, the worst part of this week has been actually leaving the house for things I used to do multiple times a week without thinking twice about...shopping. Now we have stand 2m apart and the attitude of others almost creates more fear...it feeds itself....so you almost feel like you should panic if you've gone too close to someone or touched a potato that someone else might/must have touched before. I wonder how long we'll take to shake that feeling...

*I appreciate we are very lucky.