The Rest of the week

Posted a lot this week, so not that much to add today. Yesterday was Kenna's birthday and we went to Edinburgh to go to Costco. On the way in we stopped at a shooting/fishing exhibition that was pathetically sad and small. We did a huge Costco shop that included American pizza and cupcakes, then ended up stopping at Bushwear to drop off the mirrors we'd bought at IKEA and ended up staying an hour while Alisdair helped out in the shop and Kenna and Isla played with rowan berries on the lawn. It was a nice day and we had to change two Isla diapers in that time, so it was probably best we weren't in the car the whole time.

Today we were lazy and Alisdair watched the Singapore Formula 1 in the morning and then we went to Grannie's to help out with some more firewood cutting. Alisdair also had to show her where all the fox snares are and Isla and Kenna walked the dogs. On the walk they found some freshly dropped antlers, which Isla thought were a great find and Alisdair agreed. She held them all the way back up the path and played with them while Alisdair and Grannie moved logs. Kenna spent her time hand stripping Charlie, who looks a million times better (although much smaller). She still needs her legs done, but doesn't look like some wild animal now.

It is Kenna's first week in the office and Isla with Claire or Shona, so we're waiting to hear what kind of accent Isla ends up with in a month or so. She's already started with "mummy" and all the words Grannie teaches her, but is "bi-lingual" in her own sense as she uses some words with Kenna, but others with everyone else...

Damsons

Just so you know, the damsons were a BAD, BAD idea...today after getting mom's eyebrows waxed, she went to put Isla in the car only to realise Isla'd had a "blowout"....the spa lady had to open the window in the room once we left and Isla went straight home for a bath and both she and mom needed new clothes....we'll stick to bread and cheese for Isla for awhile.....

Thursdays

The great laundry helper...ah, the concentration...she loved "shaking" the clothes out first and trying to get them to stay on the drying rack...she resorted to using clothes pins for her little socks as they kept falling off...Charlie supervised...(and enjoyed the warmth of the fire)...Grannie Ella has also knitted some new cardigans!

So, today was catch up day...five loads of laundry, with one put in front of the fire for drying, thanks to Isla's "helpfulness," one on the pulley in the mudroom and the other three outside for the day and then "topped up" in front of the fire, it was a productive day. I know why Brits iron everything. It's the only way to get all the dampness out this time of year!

Isla's Carhartt overalls arrived from Wyoming yesterday too. They're a hit and she can hide EVERYTHING in them.

We stayed home most of the day, but just went down to the farm to check fox snares for Alisdair and walk Grannie's dogs. The plums have all passed, but now it's DAMSON season. Isla LOVES them as they look like big grapes, but unfortunately have a pit....we'll see what her diaper looks like tomorrow...she stuffed them in the cuff of her overalls while we were walking the loop and she was in the stroller and then when we got in the truck, she stuffed them all in her mouth and did her Isla grin...

Alisdair is off to a meeting tonight in Pitlochry (up north). Last time he was at one of these until late, the shop got broken into...so fingers crossed it's not a repetitive thing!

Tomorrow we're off to Active Kids in Stanley. It's a big farm where they have lots of indoor toys for kids to play on or a big wooden castle for (older) kids to play in..we're going with the toddler's group from town, so imagine we'll be indoors most of the time.

Isla has also now taken part in her very first political cause! The Strathern Herald did an article about the pathetic play park in town that the council has taken down the "dangerous" slide in, leaving two swings and a bouncy spring thing. Shona (the lady who runs everything in town and watches Isla) organised all the mothers of the toddlers play group to go up for a picture...all the other kids looked somber...Isla yelled "Cheese" when it was time for the picture...this is the link...it's hard to see us, but Kenna is the only mother holding her kid, in the middle...

http://www.strathearnherald.co.uk/strathearn-news/strathearn-news/2009/09/25/don-t-forget-about-our-park-64054-24765985/

Pictures!

Grannie has had some trouble with foxes. Night before last 17 of her chickens were killed but only beheaded by a fox so Alisdair has been down setting snares. He got one tonight and another escaped from a snare. He'll go down all week and check them out. Guess that means Grannie's free eggs will be stopped for a bit...
In other exciting news, the apples on our tree are ready and Isla is having great fun eating them, but gets furious at the dogs if she offers them some and they take her apple and run away with it. She likes to feed the bits when she is done to the chickens and turkeys though.Mom also taught her the "two little apples" song. Her favourite part is "So I shook that tree just as hard as I could"...we do that A LOT....

This is a picture from two weeks ago. Isla isn't keen on riding in her buggy much anymore and as it was a nice day (and she was sporting a new Grannie Ella jumper), she wanted to walk. Being Blackford we ditched the buggy up the path and just walked. Someone had left this stick on the pathway, and with her new glasses, it was a photo opportunity too good to miss. We need to get her a walking stick now as it was a big hit...but unfortunately the dogs chewed the stick apart once we got home :(

No, it's not been super warm here in Scotland, but Kenna's friend just sent her these pictures of our visit to NH this summer. This is Tara's dog, Bo...a Bernese Mountain Dog and although still a puppy, you can see the dog is HUGE! It's also quite obvious that Isla wasn't bothered at all by massive Bo and took to him like she does to all her dogs. It was pretty funny to watch. The dog is amazing with kids and just put up with it all. You can see Isla's curls on the back of her head too because she'd been in the sprinkler....a few months later, she's still struggling to grow more hair, but certainly enjoys getting it blow dried when mom does her hair.

This was Isla's first popcicle. Now she's an old pro and LOVES them...but here they are called "iced lollyies" so her excited chant of "popcicle" isn't always understood by others...

Today Isla went to the child minder for the first full session and she loved it! Shona said that it's been years since she had just a "vocal" and "not shy" child who speaks to everyone. I'm not sure she believed Kenna when she said Isla repeats EVERYTHING. At one point Shona stood by the baby gate and yelled to her own daughter Allison to hurry up or she'd be late for school....only to be halfway through yelling "Allison" to have her little shadow at her side yelling "ALLISON" as well...When it was time to go home Isla ran into the toy room with the other kids and didn't want to go. We're pretty relieved she is adapting so well and happy that she enjoys playing with the other children.

More pictures

A beater up on the Grouse moor
A hare Alisdair saw when he was up on the hill.
Some of my MANY clothes lines...
Isla's new fun is standing on her head...and then falling over...she also tries to kiss her shin (she fell in a rabbit hole) and it looks like some sort of odd pilates move...
Guess who found one of daddy's fox callers and loves winding up the turkeys with it?? (that's her "house" behind her. It's a summer house that she has taken over...
The other day the weather was great and I was sick of the front yard being a mess so Isla and I spent all day pulling all the weeds...I wouldn't have taken a picture except being slightly sad, I went out side with my camera to try and see what was up with the police drug raid....if you look REALLY closely, just past the corner of the neighbour's house and the red post box you can see the back of the police car....they were in full Swat gear and had a battering ram. Seems they did a drug raid on a rented flat up the street. The neighbour girls game me the 4-11 on it! Blackford is SUCH a happenen' town..hahaha
Monday is Playdough day and this is Isla giving herself a pair of antlers...

Thought I'd make up for the weeks without pictures!

Alisdair has been off driving the hagland again up on the grouse hills and has taken some great shots. Today he drove down to Wolverhampton (near Birmingham) and back in a day so he could go to the Midlands Game Fair. We didn't think Isla would be keen for 10 hours in the carseat in one day, so Kenna stayed home with her. We went to church with Grannie and it was a VERY long service with an Isla who wasn't keen on sitting still and kept saying "AMEN" when she wanted things to end....unfortunately in her world that actually has a meaning which is "I'm done"...so you can be reading her a book and if she gets bored she'll say "amen" and hop down...that and closing her eyes for prayer usually involves putting her hands over her eyes...which is a little different than most at church, but she sort of gets what is going on. The lowlight was her headbutting Kenna with 5 minutes to go in the service and Kenna's cheek bone starting to turn blue...Isla insists that any "owie" can be cured by a kiss, so she just kept saying "kiss, kiss" as her head hurt too.

We've been making the most of our new clothes line....and yes, was that bored that I took pictures of them so you can see the plethora that we have. Today we hung out bedsheets at 4pm and it was so windy that by 5:30 they were dry! Slightly damp because it was so cold, but pretty darn amazing and we're pretty psyched at the money we're not spending on the dryer. I think it's an outrage in the States that communities like condo associations ban clothes lines...it's ridiculous! It saves money, helps the enviorment by not using energy and I think it very theraputic to force people into the outdoors. I just realise how disconnected you can be with the enviornment and seasons when you can get fruit any time of the year, anywhere, and you don't have to pay attention to the weather because heaters/ac/etc mean the climate never varies and you just throw your clothes in the dryer...it's all very strange and I'm convinced unhealthy...my little soapbox schpeel for the day...

Mid September News

Isla LOVES being out of her stroller and is super keen to walk both Charlie and Kiwi these days. We have an "agreement" that the dogs get to walk the first half of the loop off the lead, and Isla rides and then the second half they put up with her "walking" them. She has learned to run now, so enjoys the thrill of being pulled by the terriers.
Poor Charlie....on our Saturday walk, she got so excited chasing a rabbitt she ended up stuck underneath the green building in the other pictures....she was firmly stuck. Thank goodness for Luke who ran all the way back to the house, got a shovel and ran back so Kenna could dig her out. Perhaps next time Charlie will remember she IS a terrier and can dig herself out, or find another way out next time.
Isla and Luke (Neighbour Anne's nephew). She adores Luke and does everything he does. They are really funny together and he is a really nice kid.

We got the wagon Isla got for her first birthday out of the garage and used it for our Saturday walk. It goes REALLY fast down hills!Isla now enjoys wearing her sunglasses...


So, this week Isla cut THREE new teeth, our fish had babies and Kenna got a job! Last week Isla was being pretty whiney and had a clear runny nose. This morning, at Neighbour Anne's suggestion Kenna checked and sure enough, of the four missing teeth that Isla has, three have cut through. We gave her Bonjela today and she took the whole tube and ran away with it. I guess they were sore. It makes me feel a little less guilty about letting her eat ice cream last week, but explains why she was such a fan of that and chewing on everything in sight.

If you remember we bought "bob" and three lady fish a few weeks ago. Only Sally survived, and saturday morning we noticed little fish swimming in the tank. We think there are 5 of them and they are so tiiny we struggle to see them unless they are in the front of the tank, but it's kind of exciting to have tiny baby fish.

Kenna also applied for a part time 4 month post as a Substance Development Officer, dealing with the management of the Council's and NHS's Substance Abuse program and was asked on Thursday to start next week. "Auntie" Claire is going to watch Isla two days a week and then Isla will go to a childminder for one morning a week. We're confident she'll enjoy being with some other kids as she seems pretty lonely with just Kenna and the dogs. The childminder lives on a farm with pigs, chickens, cows and cats, so as long as Isla doesn't show too much "love" to them, everything will be fine.

Another Busy Week

Sorry, no picture this week either. It's been a crazy week with Kenna back to London to have her eyes checked and to take the Praxis Teaching Exam, Grannie and Alisdair juggled Isla and kept her on the run. She did Coffee Morning at the Cathedral, went plum picking (and delivering!), tea at Dobbies and seemed to go all kinds of exciting places. Alisdair said she was totally bushed each evening and went straight to bed. (that probably applies to both Grannie and Isla!)

Tiny Talk (Baby Sign Language) started again this week and unfortunately it was a small crowd, but Isla still knows all of the songs and its fun to see her 4 months older and so much more developed at doing signs and participating. She loves Einsty Wintsy Spider lately...

On Thursday Emily, Eva and Isla (her little mates from town) all went to Grannie's farm and picked plums, walked the high loop through the larch trees and picnicked with the bubble machine for entertainment. It was a great time and the other kids had great fun with acres of space to run in and so much mud to get into!

Today we went to help Grannie move the old tup into the field with the ewes, fit his marking crayon and get some more firewood. Grannie was such a good sport she rode in the back of the Landie up to Field 4 so Isla and Kenna could be in the front, where Isla could stick her finger in every vent and pick damsons out the window. Isla also thought it was funny that if we opened the front flap on the sheep trailer she was eye to eye with the tup, which she continually said "HEL-----LO" to....as if she really expected him to reply...Isla then helped Alisdair "drive" the tractor (even after being accidentally elbowed in the head by daddy--oops) and had lots of fun lovingly scooping beatnuts handful by handful to the lambs in the field. She didn't quite understand that they were petrified of her due to her size and despite her best efforts to shake the bucket and yell "come here", with her tiny little hand movements (very South American, palm down) they were having none of it.

Not much on the docket for this week. Just glad the rain has stopped and we've had a couple nice days. It was so much easier to walk the dogs at the farm though in the rain. We might just go visit Grannie more and keep driving Alisdair's truck for now.

Word of the day

Today while walking the dogs one of them flushed a cock pheasant. It was about 6 feet from us and made Kenna jump. Isla thought it was WONDERFUL though and her new word is "pheasant"....we also saw two deer on our walk. However she is convinced they say "neigh" like a horse...we're working on that...

She also thinks "Three Little Speckled Frogs" is great fun to sing and we do it "again" and again, and again, and again...

She is OFFICIALLY a Troup now too. Thanks to Grandma Maughan, she now has a camoflague fleece vest (waistcoat) that she wears with pride and won't take off. She is Alisdair's daughter!

She has spent much of the day "loving" Cassie, who thank heavens is a very patient dog! Isla wants to sit on her, kiss her, play with her eyes, her ears, wrestle with her, look at her feet, figure what her tail is made of and every other annoying thing you could do to a lab...we drew the line when she asked mom to put her on Cassie's back so she could sing "Rockin chair" with her....Cassie just puts up with it all though! Kiwi runs away and Charlie has her moments of sainthood. Cassie is pretty consistently amazing though.

GOOORR-geous

Another week...of rain...the laundry is getting done, but in still trying not to use the dryer, we had made good use of the pulley in the mudroom and the drying rack being placed by the fire. It feels like autumn still and so we've had a fire going every day this week to take the chill off the house. We've put up another gate into the front room and done our best to scare Isla away from touching anything around the stove.
Yesterday Alisdair had to work (Saturday) and Kenna had another appointment in Glasgow for her jaw. Neighbour Anne came to the rescue and took Isla. Anne's brother and girlfriend were over and Isla had a great time! She went all over town with them and Anne taught her that she is "GOOORR-geous", which Isla now says with great delight. When Kenna got back around noon, Isla didn't want to leave Anne's house, but preferred to stick around and play with them!
It's rained hard all week and we're tired of the rain. The ground is like a wet sponge and we all have to wear wellies when we go out. Alisdair's been working on the new catalogue, so Kenna has spent her free time proof reading it. We're trying to get Isla into baby gymnastics in Auchterarder as she enjoys going down her slide head first and doing a roll at the end. Although Kenna had great dreams of being Mary Lou Retton in 1984, that never materialised, so she thought she'd be a horrible parent and live vicariously through Isla :).
Isla's neighbour friends Eva and Emily came over this week to play. Isla LOVES saying "Emily" so we've had that all week to put up with. She seems to pick a "word of the day." Monday it was "Michael"...ALL DAY LONG.....Tuesday it was "Wash your hands"...some of them we don't mind, others get VERY tedious when repeated over, and over and over and over.

She has learned how to climb up onto her crib, so it's only a matter of time until she learns to crawl out of it...that will be loads of fun...she also now tries to climb up on the kitchen table if you leave her in the kitchen alone and has figured out that with a stool she can get most anywhere.

She continues her diet of afternoon plums and the occasional rasberry we find on the walk with the dogs at Grannie's. She also takes great joy in singing lots of songs. This week it's been "Rockin chair, rocking chair," Eintsy, wintsy spider and I'm so glad when daddy comes home. She can do ALL the actions and sing along. She also likes ABBA Super Trooper as I've convinced her they are saying her name....so we hear "again, again, again" when it's on in the truck. Her favourite part of Toddlers is the songs and fits in great with the older kids. She watches them like a hawk and although they all jump up to get their coats when its time to go, she prefers to sit on the mat in hope of one more song with Shona!.....until Kenna comes and picks her up and forces her to put her coat on.