Snow Day #that thing that happens mostly when mum works

 

For sake of Auld Lang Syne #BurnsNight

I LOVE celebrations, especially Scottish ones (all those drums and bagpipes!), except for Burns' Night. I think know it's the haggis, neaps and tatties bit. I dislike all of them.

The advantage this year was being able to celebrate online with the Stirling School of English (and family members who also joined the livestream) and eat w-h-a-t-e-v-e-r we wanted.

We've got some up and coming ceilidh-dancers also! THAT's what a good Scottish celebration is all about.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star #anodetoturning3

Kaching, we have a 3 year old. She loves stars and pink and ballet and barbies and baking with Oma. She does not like anyone who tells her what to do or having her hair washed. She always supervises parental trips to the bathroom, and tries to not let them sleep a full, uninterrupted night. She loves giving them attention as soon as they're sitting down and starting to look comfortable. 

Crevette is the cutest tyrant ever. Even my work colleagues call her The Boss as she appears fairly regularly on camera.

Before:

During:

After:

Some awesome pressies:

Pre-birthday activities:

 

3 year olds are draining but fantastic. Her latest funniest thing: an evening elbow massage before she goes to sleep. What a shining star.

Sun in the Sapphire Sky #lockdown21vol1

Aaaaand we're in lockdown again #so2020. A proper one: schools shut and everything. 

Some people seem to enjoy homeschooling more than others. "I can be truly me" he says.

It's also been very, very snowy. Like last lockdown it was very, very sunny. But just the opposite.

I do enjoy a bit of snow. But mostly I enjoy snow because of sitting by the warm fire afterwards with homemade cinnamon buns (thanks Oma, and Small Fry, Fingerling and Crevette).

And another reason to love January: the 6th. Because you get to eat more yummy things like a homemade galette des rois (thanks me). 

Finding the fève for the first time:

And when all the restaurants are shut, we still get to 'go out': Fingerling's take on a Japanese dinner.

Lockdown doesn't mean lockedDOWN though. We're allowed out for exercise, which means kids thrown outside for about 2 hours a day in this house. Or one very long walk, taking in our beautiful hills.

And sometimes slightly further afield. I could write a bit more about the Flanders Moss National Nature Reserve* but the best bit was the sub-zero temperatures which froze the entire bog, thick enough to walk on (against all the rules of course).

And then here are some extra photos for free.

Crevette testing her curly curls.

Me all dressed up (well, half dressed up) for a zoom interview (for a Board position). Slippers optional.

*oh alright then. Flanders Moss is an area of raised bog lying on the Carse of Stirling. It's a National Nature Reserve, managed by NatureScot. It was formed on the Carse of Forth over 8000 year ago and is an internationally important habitat currently undergoing active restoration. The eastern part of Flanders Moss is the largest raised bog in Europe remaining in a near-natural state. As well as being important for wildlife, it plays a key role for carbon sequestration acting as a carbon sink. Around 8000 people visit the reserve every year, with a viewing tower and way marked trail over the bog. The other fun thing is that we passed by the Lama Trekking Centre on the drive out. Bonus.

Auld Lang Syne #newyeartheysay

And so the long return journey began, possibly a little earlier than we would have otherwise planned #thanksBrexit* but also a little later than planned #thanks broken fuel flap. We had spent the day in Nantes building Fingerling's bed, cleaning the house, enjoying hot showers and heating, and packing up, as well as fitting in the dentist (something we can't do in Scotland yet), so it was a late start anyway. Thankfully El Puma wanted to get fuel first, so that we knew before we'd even left the city that we had a problem. That meant we could find a garage before closing time and get it sorted. The drive up to Paris was late, dark, in horribly stormy conditions, and past the curfew, but still so.worth.it.

It was the first time for the kids since we left 18 months ago #thanksCOVID. We have managed to keep in touch with so many good friends, but it was still so wonderful to see them in person. We managed a breakfast, lunch, gouter, dinner and breakfast before leaving again, and as we couldn't see everyone, it was extra special to spend time with those we could.

Arriving into Paris: it will always be an iconic city to us:

And an extra special thanks to Ashling who loaned us her beautiful apartment:

Making merry on the extended line 14. We spent 3 years living with its construction on our doorstep, and of course now we have a metro stop on our ex-doorstep, which is still where most of our friends live. Bonus! Like the line 1, the line 14 is fully automised, so the kids got to 'drive' the train from the front.

We hadn't been back to 102 rue Truffaut since we left, and catching up with Suelia and her family was extra special: she who looked after us (and our family's mail, hair and general wellbeing..helping me navigate the creche and school systems) for almost 7 years.

The time flew by (and I was talking too much so didn't get photos of the rest) and we were soon on our way to Calais - first time on the Euro Tunnel for everyone except me. 

No queues, no problem (apart from a forgotten COVID declaration which we quickly completed online), and also no rest....partly because the whole trip is about 27mins, and partly because we arrived in to an England in strict Tier 4 conditions, which meant our hotel booking had been cancelled.

I drove us off the train and began the 9 hour drive north. As on the way down, El Puma caught the Midlands traffic (which I can't stand) and I did the long, snowy, undulating north of England/south of Scotland stint (which he can't stand). The road conditions were worst in the Borders region, but I was able to get us all the way home. It really is a long way, and winter driving over those distances is not recommended. But the advantage of not staying in a hotel is that by the time we were home, we were truly home. No more driving. Yay!

And that meant drinking! Double yay!

And opening all the Christmas presents we'd left here from the family. Yay! Yay! Yay!

And we snuck out up the hill round the back to see the fireworks from the Wallace Monument ('first-footing for the whole of Scotland' as the BBC put it) to say GOOD BYE to 2020!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2021 started well with beautifully frozen and icy days bathed in blazing sunshine (you know, for the 6 hours of daylight that we have this time of year). We took our reluctant walkers (no change there then) for a mega-ice-slip each day, exploring Scotland in the winter and savouring the light we could get.

The Faery walk in Aberfoyle, our favourite local walk Dumyat, and of course the Wallace Monument (all of them quite treacherous in parts but most so was Dumyat - getting to the top would have meant crawling on our hands and knees to be met by freezing cold winds. I worried more about the getting down so we cut it short).

Of course, some things never change:

Anyway, wishing you and yours a happy, healthy and prosperous 2021, and hopefully not in lockdown.

*Long story short: both El Puma and I were travelling on our European passports and El Puma didn't yet have his pre-settled status confirmed.