The End of Summer

Summer seems to have flown by in an alarming manner. Granted here in my new home it is half the time and typical summer weather is far less common, but I am still surprised to find it coming to an end. I was anxious to make the most of the time me and the kids would have together as well as any holiday time we had with my husband so I attempted to keep us occupied with activities and outings. Those that follow my blog know that I planned projects for the kids and I to do while my husband was away in addition to taking one previously written about trip to Scotland and another to London this weekend. I have hope that as the family looks back on our first summer in this country that we will remember fondly how we filled our time.

I will admit that planning and executing activities for a ten and fourteen year old was sometimes more like work than fun. At least once my daughter sighed and grumbled about having to craft everyday. In truth it wasn't always a craft. We baked, we created, we walked, we explored and we bonded, dang it! 

Not all of these things were complete successes, in fact some of them we cursed and crumpled but always completed. My way of making sure the kids didn't spend the last five weeks playing video games or texting, much to their general dissatisfaction. Despite this I found that I loved the time in the day when we would put away everything else and simply spend time together, and maybe the time will come that they feel the same way. 

Honestly, they didn't complain that much and sometimes really got into whatever new idea I pulled from other peoples minds. They were, all things told, very supportive of a needy mother. I am normally very okay with the school year, not one to sit and pine for my children to come home. Historically I have kept myself very entertained with work, school, books, projects and outings but since moving so far away from the familiar I have gained a new appreciation for family. Normally pretty bored playing stay at home mum it has been a nice surprise to realize how much satisfaction and enjoyment I can get from choosing this lifestyle. Will I work again, probably, but in the meantime I am soaking up every second of my time in the home and all the extra time I have with those that live in it.

So summer is nearly over and all that extra time will be shortened slightly. The flat will likely be cleaner, those projects I put on the back burner will get worked on again, new ones will be started and I'll probably be out and about a bit more but I will be looking forward to the next break and my next chance to do all those things with them again. We will be taking them into London this weekend, and have planned to use the most of this last holiday time and I will be back to writing about the things I see next time but this one was a tribute to my kids and the joy they bring me.

Scotland

I have often heard people compare Scotland, well the UK in general, to Canadian landscape. When we drove across the border into Scotland and the rolling hills popped up on either side of the road, B.C. terrain was certainly brought to mind. In fact we joked that it was a whimsical version of our former home, with its decades old stone walls dividing plots of land, the fields of sheep and somewhat unfamiliar foliage it was like our past views had been made up for a film. However once you drive through even one small town you are reminded how different Scotland is to any place I lived while in Canada. Castles dot hillsides in almost every direction, even the smallest of villages appear to have a qualified kilt maker, and of course boast houses older than Canada itself. We stayed in an estate cottage about an hour south of Edinburgh and used this as our home base for the whole time we were in the country. Although we were very happy with our little dwelling it was not all that conveniently located for us to reasonably visit lots of the places we would have liked to and so much of what the country offered had to be missed. We had a cosy three bedroom place that more than comfortably fit our family of four, but perhaps that is because it was so much larger than the flat we currently call home. The grounds it was on offered many walking trails, a pond, a spectacular view of the ocean and an ancient church that can still be booked for events.

We did spend our first full day in Scotland exploring the property we were on. We also did a quick visit to the ocean but as we got caught in our first of many rain showers, did not stay long. Rested and ready to explore we made a trip into Edinburgh, home of the first Fringe festival, which happened to be taking place the same time we were there. For those of you who are fans of Edmonton's version this would have swept you away in enthusiasm, the streets were lined with show schedules, performers rushing around, and throngs of people there to take it all in. For those who feel the Fringe is a crowded, noisy, and bothersome event, you have nothing to complain about. One friendly Scotsman we talked to told us that Edinburgh was home to about a million people but the with the fringe on it was about eight million and I for one believed him. Although I believe that this city is beautiful with many amazing things to offer, it was difficult to enjoy it the way we would have liked with queues running all through the city and the crush of people all around you. Not one to be generally put off by large crowds, I rather enjoy the anonymity they allow, we still followed through with our planned outings but even I was more than done with them by supper time. We stopped first at Arthur's seat, Edinburgh's very own extinct volcano. Much to the chagrin of our kids we took the challenge to hike to the very peak where we could enjoy a panoramic view of the entire city. Despite the initial complaints I think both the kids felt a sense of accomplishment to have reached the summit and collect some volcanic rock to bring home. After lunch we then headed to Edinburgh Castle, a rather impressive structure that as far as I could tell you would be hard pressed to miss if you are pretty much anywhere in the city. You could easily spent a whole day exploring the place and marvelling in the history told in every section. This is also where you go to see the crown jewels of Scotland and although you were unable to photograph them, rest assured they were pretty marvellous and did a good job of reminding the mass of people just how unroyal we all are.

Having been told much of its beauty we decided to take in Loch Lamond just past Glasgow. In truth it was pretty, worth the more than two hour drive - maybe not. It had some lovely walks, the lake was sparkling, and the kids excitedly played on its little playground but honestly it was a lake. We had a picnic lunch and then moved on feeling that the hour or so that we spent there was more than enough time to feel we had seen it. Which I suppose speaks to the fact that I have been spoiled by the lakes of the Okanagan where I called home for so long. 

I have a good friend who told me that he found Glasgow to be a bit dull and grey, and as I have a lot of respect for him I expected to be a bit disappointed by the city. I will say that as you drive into the outskirts of Glasgow there is not very much nice to look at, in fact I laughed that maybe he meant that there were many actual grey buildings, however once we parked and came out into it's down town core I was taken aback by the life of the whole place. I fell in love with the history, architecture, museums, art galleries, and of course it's shopping. As we were unsure what there was to see and do here we opted to take one the guided tour buses that took us all over city and had a live commentary of interesting historical facts and tips of what was worth stopping at. The tour gave us two days of on and off privileges and so we rode all the way around the first day and did a little transit hopping the next. We visited a transportation museum, the botanical gardens and explored the shopping district that is apparently second only to London in all of the UK. The whole time we were there I heard people talk about the things we would do next time we were there and so I although I would never try to change his mind I do hope that my friend might consider giving Glasgow another chance to impress him.

We are tourists, that has to be our excuse, but we madly decided to make the four plus hour drive across Scotland to visit Loch Ness. The kids were anxious to visit this famous landmark and I admit to having a mild curiosity to see the place as well. We parked the car at the Loch Ness exhibition centre that has a hotel, restaurant, several gift shops and a interactive museum all dedicated to the mystery of the monster in the lake. So to truly enjoy the experience, we ate at the cafe, did the two mile hike to get the best view of the lake and overlooking castle, spent money in the gift shop and toured the museum. I in no way came away convinced that the creature exists but did enjoy the hype around the whole thing. Would I make an eight hour drive to spend four hours caught up in the mystery and hype again, as a die hard romantic, absolutely. The lake itself had a very Okanagan feel to it, except for the depth and temperature that is. The Loch holds more water than all of the rest of the UK and Wales combined and apparently could cover the worlds population with water three times. As you can imagine that kind of depth makes the water fairly frigid in the summer and makes it unlikely to ever freeze in the winter, it also makes it quite easy to hide a massive sea creature so one can see how the myth survives.

By the dawn of our last day in Scotland our previous exploring had left its toll on us and we opted to have a much more sedate day. We chose to use some of the day to drive to Dalkieth however as this is where my husbands family came to Canada from. Despite our best efforts we were unable to locate even one tartan type item that actually bore his family name so visiting this place gave us a moment to really feel connected to our ancestry. We found a pretty little park to wander around and speculate if our long passed family had walked the same paths.

True to its reputation we enjoyed plenty of rain while in Scotland and despite it being August the weather seem to think it was April. I know I end these blogs often by saying that I would of course go back and see more and perhaps you think I can't not like a place. Maybe that is true, I do fall in love with pretty much all the places we visit and I have been to very few that I wouldn't happily go back to. Perhaps like the Mumford and Sons, I too am a Hopeless Wanderer doomed to ache to see the next place and the next. I did love Scotland and I would go back but know this, I also am in love "with the sky I'm under". 

      

 

Blenheim Palace and more

This week was wet, really wet. We had rain pretty much everyday and more than once got caught outside in a thunderstorm. In my defense it is cloudy here often and doesn't rain so I haven't completely prepared for the times that clouds turn to rain or in the cases this week thunderstorms. We do now own a couple of umbrellas but they aren't always grabbed when leaving the house as they should be. The point is this week found us indoors more than I would have liked and to fill the time I baked, a lot. Which teaches me something interesting about myself, the winter months here are going to be very hard on my waistline because I am told it rains here all the time. So apparently when I am getting out for exercise less I compensate by filling the house full of home baked goods, yup, no problem.

I also made some chocolate chip cookies, cinnamon scones and I made the buns twice, so really a lot of baking for one week. As I mentioned last week I have planned some activities for the kids and I to do over summer holiday and as last week was treat heavy this week I tried some crafts with them. 

One day we came up with a bored bag, so they listed activities to do alone or as a family, some that cost money and some that require a bit of extra planning, wrote them on Popsicle sticks and put them in a bag. Now whenever they don't have an idea to keep them entertained they reach into the bag and do the activity written there. A couple of the days my daughter was away at camp and my son and I were on our own. One day we played with Lego, setting it up in various situations and I would take a picture and later we put them into powerpoint and then wrote a story to go with the photos. We also did some shirt design and you will see that my son took the job a little more seriously than I did.

We have about an hour away from us in the city of Woodstock a place called Blenheim Palace that right now has a deal on that if you buy a days admission you can upgrade to a year long pass. Last Saturday we went there before we hit Oxford and purchased our passes. As it is a fairly easy distance from us we returned this Saturday to do more exploring.

You can tour the palace itself, picnic on the massive grounds, visit any of its many manicured gardens, spend money in the shops and restaurants, or take a run at a hedge maze. They also host a number of large special events through the year, some seasonal like the ones held at Halloween or Christmas and some that show off the history of the area. The one that drew us there this weekend was an all out, Knight's tale feeling, jousting competition. They had rowdy squires, a loud mouth King, and fully decked knights ready to dazzle us with their medieval skills.  We got to witness sword fights as well as several events done from the back of a horse. It was during this demonstration that I was caught for the second time this week unprepared for what our announcer called a fine English summer. Fortunately the rain didn't last long enough to drive us away from the exhibition or the park so we were able to see the winner crowned and ramble around the grounds.

The grounds offer miles and miles of walking trails that if followed will lead to a rose garden, a lake side stroll, a waterfall, and many other outdoor wonders. You can also catch a little train to an area that they call the pleasure gardens, which seems to mean children's area. This is where you find the hedge maze, butterfly house and adventure playground. The train runs every half hour and is painfully slow. Since it only takes about fifteen minutes to walk from the palace to the pleasure gardens, we decided to make the hike rather than wait the extra time to hop on the train. 

  

As one of the more costly places that we have paid to visit, I am awfully glad that it allows us a year to explore the place as we still haven't set foot in the building or tried any of the cafes. I am also interested in the Halloween entertainment, Dickens Christmas and seeing more of the massive grounds and this would certainly been less attainable without it being free for us to continue to go.