After spending most of the week feeling scatterbrained and like time was disappearing too quickly for words, today's duties kind of fell into place--at least so far.  I cleaned this morning, did the budget stuff this afternoon, and have meals planned for the week.  (One can at least hope that things run smoothly enough during the week that I can cook what is planned.)

Yesterday the kids and I went for a walk before breakfast.  As always, when I go out at that time, I am so thankful that I don't have to scramble around in the mornings to get the children ready to go on the bus to school.  We walked down to the park, and watched the geese on the river.  I was delighted to try out my new camera on some outside photos. 

Yesterday was also our children's first time ice skating for this winter.  Belle ventured out without any support at all, from the beginning.  She fell a few times, but not nearly as many as I thought she might after not skating since March.  Boo took a chair on the ice for support, but soon gave it up as he got his "ice legs" back.  They both did very well.  Skating happens Monday and Friday afternoons, however I don't plan to go on Mondays until I finish the history Core that we are still working on.

I have finally found a pair of shoes that are wide enough and comfortable enough that I can wiggle my toes.  My orthotics fit nicely.  I still have pain in my feet, and I have to do stretches before I get out of bed in the mornings, and during the day, but the situation has improved immensely!  I don't have nearly the same amount of pain that I had when I first started seeing the chiropodist in the summer.  I am grateful to the store for ordering a wider size for me since they didn't have it in stock.  I was still able to purchase them at their sale price. 

Now if I don't get off the computer I will be slipping behind for the evening.  I still have to plan lessons for the week, finish making cinnamon buns for tomorrow, see that the children are bathed,  and hopefully spend some time cross-stitching if I'm not too tired this evening.

Oh dear!  Just realized that what I thought was chili leftovers from the freezer happens to be pasta sauce!  So glad I hadn't already started the rice!  Surprise supper.

Geese flying just after taking off from the river.

Still a few autumn colours around.
 

I've been so busy lately that blogging has gone low on the priority list.  But I did promise photos of the Scotland trip.  And I suppose that an update on life might be nice too--at least it might provide me with the sense that I've been doing something lately.

I do have to apologize for the camera though.  It was acting up a lot, and I don't think the colours in some of the photos are perfectly true.  Still, I have picked the best of the lot to show you.


Cawdor Castle.  We've been there before, years ago.  I think perhaps it may have been my first trip to Scotland, or maybe the second, when Belle was a toddler.  If you know your Shakespeare, this is supposedly the scene of MacBeth.  It is an inhabited castle--so one isn't able to see the entire building, however the rooms we were allowed to see were very interesting.  One thing that helped a lot was the quiz the children were given to fill out.  It drew one's attention to details that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.


This is the countryside around Inverness.  I really really love this area.  My husband's Aunt lives up in this area, and we had a lovely visit with her.
The Fisher Woman statue in the town of Nairn, and the beach beyond.  It was a grey day but the sea was beautiful anyway.  The pinkish hue to the photo of the statue is due to the camera rather than the lighting.

Chatelherault, a former hunting lodge of the Duke of Hamilton, and now a country park with play area.  I believe the building, and grounds are often used for weddings.
The last three photos are of Bothwell Castle, again a place that we have been to on nearly every trip.  It is located about five minutes from my sister-in-law's house.  It is a very old castle.  We were actually there twice this trip.  The last picture is from the first visit, a late afternoon walk with Granny's dog.  I have a lot of good photos of the ruins from previous visits.  The castle is very photogenic with the red sandstone walls.  This time the weather didn't permit great photos, but I like this silhouette, even though the lines are caused by...you guessed it...the camera.

It was a bit rainy the second day we visited, when we actually went inside.  We climbed up a very steep, slippery, narrow, winding stone staircase to the top of the tower.  I didn't get photos of that because I was a) holding on with both hands to the rope attached to the wall, and b) because every time I looked at the stairs, I felt a bit dizzy.  Going up was difficult, and going down was SCARY.  But the view from the top was beautiful.  And yes, the kids went too--Daddy in front and me in the back, watching every step they took.  For some strange reason, nearly all of us had sore leg muscles the following day.

We had a great time browsing the wee shop in the castle and making some purchases to bring home, among them a book of castles (Usborne), and a fridge magnet for my collection.  The gentleman in the shop chatted with us for a long time.  I believe he probably hadn't had another visitor all day.

So a few photos of the trip.  It was a lovely visit, and fun to reminisce about it.  Just sorry the pictures didn't turn out better.

Well, the Fall Fair was most enjoyable.  As a family, we entered 18 different items.  In a nutshell, we won 6 first places, 6 second places, and one third place.  There was quite a bit more competition in some categories than there has been in previous years.

Belle won first place for her oatmeal raisin cookies, and second place for her skirt.  The beaded bracelet she made didn't place, but as that was her first attempt at anything like that, I am still pleased with what she made.
Here is the skirt.  Isn't it pretty?  She wanted it quite long.
Boo placed second in both the Lego category and the "My Favourite Collection" category, in which he put his collection of fishing flies.  He had taken the time and made the effort of carefully writing out the name of each fly.  I was proud of him.  He placed third in "A Big Cookie".  He had made M & M cookies, and they were delicious.

Here is his Lego effort.
It is a cutaway of a mobile police/emergency mobile station.

My husband took first place in both the Tea Biscuit and Cheese Scone category, and second in the Shortbread.  We have to chuckle over the shortbread because for some reasons the judges seem to prefer "whipped" shortbread (which looks to me like those buttery cookies you get in tins) to the real Scottish style shortbread.  Oh well, two pounds of butter as second prize is nothing to sneeze at.

I managed to do pretty well with my Pineapple Upside-Down Cake and Breadmaker White Bread--taking first in both again this year.  The winners in that category get auctioned off to raise money for next year's fair.  The same lady who bought my cake last year, bought it again this year!

I also earned one first and one second in the Amateur photography section.  That was a first for me this year, and I entered 6 photographs.  I was pleased that a couple of them placed well.

Last but not least, was the cross-stitch.  I didn't have time to get it framed (nor did I really want to frame it here because I plan to take it to Scotland).  The competition was quite stiff and the first-place piece was very pretty.  Mine placed second.  And for those of you who have been waiting....

Borders, borders and more borders!  I do still like the colours though!

So that is the Fall Fair for this year.  I am a week late in posting about it because I hadn't gotten around to uploading my photos until this evening.  One forgets how busy life gets when school is on.