Ada's birthday bash...

My Gran & Papa brought this little number over from France...and sent me back to the seventies!

Me getting into uncle Paul's pressie.

Girl power - with big cousin May

My new scooter 

Still in Edinburgh...last full day but it should be great!

It's Ada's Birthday - she is a mighty 2 years old today!

She has been Adadorable since day one...

Her first birthday bash was a long day...now for number 2!

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

Helping with a little clear out here with a trip to the dump, sadly among the items to go Michael and Rose are parting with their seahorse heads, which made their first appearance here in this Kid Canaveral promotion video back in 2014. Unless someone could give them a good home?

No Monkey business...

Caught Mara's performance last night at the 'Monkey Barrel' comedy club here in Edinburgh. The Spontaneous Players' gave us some 'Spontaneous Sherlock' - very funny, they really are a talented bunch - if you get the chance, go check them out - they are there every Thursday night.

Stepping in from the cold and climate change.

Stepping in from the cold in Scotland into a warm house with glasses on can be dangerous, as Michael knows only too well

Family & friends...lost without them

The viaduct in the town centre in Kilmarnock

Back in Edinburgh after a whirlwind visit to Ayrshire where we manged to have 12 get-togethers between Friday evening and Tuesday morning. This included  4 dinners/suppers, 2 lunches, 1 brunch and sadly 1 funeral. Huge thanks to our niece Anne-Marie and her husband Andrew for allowing us to use there lovely home in Kilmarnock as our base...thus allowing us a bit of continuity on the bed front. It was great to catch up with family and friends  though tinged with some sadness.

Still mates after all these years...

Caught up with my best friend John last night in Galston we go way back - to 1960 in fact!

Still chums after all these years...

On Saturday Pauline met up with friends in Prestwick who were at school with her from 1966 and have kept in touch ever since,

In winter you do not come to Scotland for the weather...

Last week we woke up to this scene after  a night of high winds, plus the sight of snow in them there hills is maybe a taster of things to come!

A bit of 'armless surgery before heading over to Ayrshire,,,

   

Ada is blessed with many toys and of course she has her favourites. When she visited us in France one of them was 'Baby' who,since then, has moved down the pecking order slightly but still popular.During one of my 'playtime with Ada' spots I had one of those "It came away in my hand governor" moments and somehow managed to sever her left arm!, so before heading of for our sojourn to Ayrshire I thought I should bring my surgery skills to the fore and reattach said limb...much to the delight of 'Baby'. BTW here is the look I got when she saw what I'd done!

Hopefully 

A touch of Scotland in York

When we stopped off in York on our way up to Scotland this hotel sign caught my eye and made me wonder what the connection was to our National Bard. Don't know what it is but do know the city has a 'St.Andrews Society', a Scottish country dance club and a pipe band so there is obviously a strong Scottish connection

More reflections on our recent visit to Wisley gardens...

A dreich day in Dundee...

As we were near, we decided yesterday to pay a visit to the 'regenerated' city of Dundee. Its waterfront now plays host to the V&A Museum of Design Dundee among other things but as time was short we opted for a look at the town centre where we had not visited for many years.

Perhaps a dreich day in January wasn't the best time to visit as even at mid-day it looked rather dark and miserable.

Did like the street art however, especially the one of their local heroes 'Desperate Dan'.

The work they have done is a credit to the city but perhaps a a visit in summer is necessary to fully appreciate it. One thing we would say is the people are very friendly, we met quite a few as we tried to negotiate with the overly complicated parking ticket machine which we almost abandoned with Pauline saying they obviously do not want visitors!

St.Andrews in January...

Visiting family in Fife...popped into St.Andrews on route - should we have been surprised at the rain in January?

Ruins of the old cathedral

Cheers to a family dinner outing and bad selfies!

Star Wars, Star babies and great-great-aunts

Yesterday we took Ada out  to visit her great-great-aunt Cathy in the city and for the adventure we took her there on the bus (20 stops) and back on the tram. It also included extensive buggie time as we walked the length of Lothian Road down to Princess street but true to form she was great for pretty much the whole trip. Taking her out allowed mum & dad the opportunity to catch the new Star Wars movie.and get some 'me' time. 

Cathy was enchanted from the first 'hello' as she entered her flat and for the rest of her visit before Ada decided with a walk down the hall and a "back" announcement that it was time to return home!

Good day in Edinburgh yesterday...did a bit of 'sales' shopping, met Mara for lunch at 'Mum's' restaurant where I had some haggis.

Then visited the National Museum for a visit.

Walked back to the tram over the bridges and through the ciy's festive market.

Ended the day by baby-sitting for Rose & Michael which with Ada is a joy!

Yesterday Ada took us up Corstorphine hill...

With great views over Edinburgh...

Could there be a better start to the year?

We gave mum and dad a lie in this morning so had the pleasure of greeting Ada on the first day of the new decade - could hear her happily singing and chatting to herself just before we lifted her...what a joy!

We were joined in the afternoon by Frances and Jim her other gran and grandpa and she took us all to the park!