Category: Living

Winter Solstice Reflections

Taking some time on the Winter Solstice to reflect on the build up to Christmas so far. December has been a bittersweet month, our festive preparations and fun bookended by funerals at the beginning and end of the month, it’s a very pertinent reminder that the most important things cannot be bought and never to take our loved ones for granted.

I’ve shown remarkable restraint in not overbooking our calendar and dragging my family to every Santa’s grotto, light show and pantomime. Yet we have enjoyed trips to the Christmas markets with full family rides on the carousel, waltzers and ferris wheel. We also attended our oldest daughter’s first nativity and Christmas show at preschool, which was lovely, if a bit overwhelming for the young cast.

Decorating the tree was no mean feat with our one-year-old daughter stealing the baubles, our cat chasing the tinsel and our nearly four year old daughter “helping”, but we got there in the end. I added two new ornaments to our collection for the tree: a wooden Santa, that I found at the Christmas Emporium in Pitlochry back in October when we went to visit the Enchanted Forest, and a Nordic Gnome (or Gonk) because our youngest daughter is fascinated by them.

We had a couple of snow days in early December, waking up to the muffled silence of snow blanketing our corner of the world. I was every bit as excited as our kids as we wrapped up to tumble outside throwing snowballs at each other and making Angels on the ground. It was a wonderful reminder that sometimes the most fun can be both spontaneous and free.

The festive season can feel stressful and overwhelming as we rush around buying presents and trying to squeeze in all the magical experiences, forgetting that the true magic of Christmas is often the warmth and comfort of our homes contrasted with the cold and darkness outside, waking up to the world blanketed by snow and just enjoying time together with the people we love most.

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas when it comes. X

Into the Embers

We’re into the embers of the year, which for us are always a balance of wrapping up warm for walks to feed the squirrels and ducks at the park, kicking our way through crunchy leaves and splashing in puddles before heading home for cosy evenings of warming meals, cartoons, crafts, bubble baths and bedtime stories.

We’ve been making an effort to get outside as much as possible whenever there’s a break in the rain to feed the squirrels and birds, or to play at the park. Our local park is particularly lovely at this time of year when all the leaves turn, and the fallen leaves create a colourful, crunchy carpet. I love the Scottish seasons and how they remind me to pause and pay attention to nature and the world around me.

This autumn has been filled with little adventures, time with our extended family and so many of the ordinary little moments that we often take for granted that make up the fabric of life. Reading the news lately I’ve been struck by how lucky I am to be able to play in the park with my girls, take my oldest to her football class and my youngest to sensory group, read bedtime stories together and tuck them in every night, it’s easy to take our relative comfort and safety for granted when it’s all we’ve ever known.

As autumn treads towards winter, our calendar is filling up with festive plans and we’ve made a few small preparations for Christmas, buying a few new baubles and decorations, baking our Christmas cake and picking out presents for people.

Have a lovely week. X

A Little Big Birthday

This week has been a big one in our little family as we celebrated our youngest daughter’s first birthday. We had a little party at home with her grandparents, she needed a bit of help to blow out the candle on her cake, but enjoyed chasing the balloons, unwrapping her presents and playing with her new toys.

In many ways she still seems like a baby, but in other ways she’s grown and changed so much in such a short time. In the last couple of weeks, she’s taken her first wobbly, wide-legged steps (though she still prefers to crawl most of the time), and shouts “Mara” whenever she sees our cat (and sometimes at dogs and squirrels too). She’s a curious, little explorer, who is usually into every unlocked cupboard and drawer while I try to keep up with the housework, and she’s covered in bumps and bruises from tumbling around, but she loves anything noisy or musical and playing peekaboo.

Our youngest adores her big sister and follows her around trying to join in with whatever her sister is doing, often wrecking the game in the process. For her part, our oldest has also taken the adjustment from only to oldest in her stride with only the odd wobble, and we’ve been so proud to see what a generous and fun big sister she’s become. It’s not always easy juggling the needs of two young children, but it’s definitely worth it, and I’m so grateful for it all.

Have a lovely week. X

Halloween at Glasglow

Last week instead of taking our girls out guising for Halloween, we visited our second light show of the season, Glasglow at the Botanic Gardens.

It’s always fun to see somewhere so familiar where we’ve strolled and fed squirrels during the day all lit up at night. The theme this year was “Ghostbusters” but there wasn’t any jump scares or other spooky parts that would upset the kids.

Our favourite part was actually inside Kibble Palace, a glasshouse home to the national fern collection, which had been filled with lasers for the event, it was spectacular.

Having been to a few different light shows over the years, and regular visitors to the Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry, Glasglow is one of the few that is worth visiting with a clear theme, making good use of the space, and conveniently located for us.

We’re disappointed that Elfingrove, the other winter event Itison hosts, will not be on this year as we all loved ice-skating and the ferris wheel but I’m sure we’ll find some other festive fun at the Christmas Market instead.

Have a lovely weekend all. X

Happy 8th Anniversary to Mara

After three years of managing to avoid it, our household finally succumbed to Covid19 this week, and we’ve spent the last few days recovering at home, which coincided with the 8th anniversary of adopting our cat Mara.

My husband and I were not long back from our honeymoon, when we decided we’d like to add a pet to our family. We had both grown up with cats, and already knew what affectionate, playful and quirky companions they are, so a feline was the obvious choice. We visited a couple of rehoming centres in our search, but we both felt an immediate connection with the tabby and white cat with the squeaky meow, and took her home with us the very same day. Through all the twists and turns life has taken over the last eight years, adopting Mara was easily one of the best decisions we’ve ever made.

We bought her a new feathery teaser toy as an anniversary gift and it’s been delightful to see her leaping, pouncing and catching it mid-air. Mara’s not as energetic or acrobatic as she used to be, but she’s still agile enough to jump onto the windowsill when she fancies a bit of birdwatching, or over the stair gate when she wants to escape the kids, and onto the bottom of our bed to sleep overnight.

Given that her original profile said she’d be best in a home without small children, I’ve been so impressed with how Mara has adapted to two noisy, little rugrats joining the family – both of whom absolutely adore her. Mara has proven to be a brilliant family pet, she’s been so patient and gentle with the little ones as we teach them how to care for and play with animals.

As we all seem to be recovering now, we’re looking forward to getting back out to our usual activities, but as always I love coming home to our sweet Mara for cuddles and coziness. Have a lovely week. X

Returning to the Enchanted Forest

This weekend we finally got to experience something I’ve been looking forward to all year – our long overdue return to The Enchanted Forest in Pitlochry! Strange to think that the last time we visited the Enchanted Forest was in 2019 I was pregnant with our oldest daughter, and we’re finally back in 2023 with our two little daughters in tow.

Jellyfish

The Enchanted Forest has been such a long standing annual tradition of ours and it’s hard to believe that it was ten years ago this month here in the forest that my then boyfriend asked me to marry him; our lives have changed so much since then, we’ve celebrated so many milestones, overcome so many obstacles and shared so many adventures together, and it’s wonderful that this annual event is still part of our story.

Stepping Stones, Kelp Forest Tangle and Slinkies

The theme changes every year and this time around it was ‘From the Deep’ which I thought would appeal to our mermaids and Octonauts loving three year old. Unsurprisingly, visiting The Enchanted Forest with kids was a very different experience than we’ve had before, they loved the interactive sections like the Kelp Forest Tangle that we walked through twice and the stepping stones that changed colour when stepped on, but our oldest found the Jellyfish and the Beastie in the Boathouse a wee bit scary, and neither had enough patience to stand and watch longer visual displays.

The Beastie in the Boathouse

We were fairly lucky with the weather which was mild and clear for the most part, though it was raining fairly heavily by the time we trudged back to the hotel, my husband and I each carrying a tired child. Back at the guesthouse, we all slept together in one big bed in the family room, which was very cosy.

I’m so glad we were able to return to the Enchanted Forest after such an unexpectedly long hiatus, to revive old traditions and start new ones with our daughters too. Have a lovely week. X

September Sunshine and Storms

September has always been one of my favourite months, usually offering a gentle transition from summer into autumn, as the last of the warmth and light fades into crisp cool mornings and darkening evenings.

It’s also one of the loveliest months in the garden. The hardy geraniums have passed their best but they’ll stubbornly continue flowering until the first frosts, the roses have caught a second wind, the pink aster has flowered and there have been butterflies fluttering around the garden in the sunshine.

In one week I gathered over 600g of cherry tomatoes and my husband has conceded that I was right to salvage the plants he’d given up on. I’ve picked a single sweet sugar pumpkin, as always slugs and snails appear to have gotten most of the others before the skins had a chance to harden. Most exciting of all was harvesting a dozen small cooking apples from our Grenadier tree planted in 2018, enough to bake a pie or eve’s pudding.

Time outside at this time of year feels precious before the cold, dark and inclement weather sets in. We’ve been enjoying trips to the park kicking a ball around with our energetic three year old, gathering fallen leaves to press and acorns for the squirrels that visit our garden. We’re an outdoorsy family but it’s easier to get out when the weather is fair than foul, and I’m determined to find ways to get outside through the winter months.

After the mini heatwave earlier in the month, the weather has definitely turned this week bringing the first named storm (‘Agnes’) of the season, so we’re making ourselves cosy at home until it passes. Take care and have a lovely week. X

Bittersweet Changing Seasons

Autumn is upon us once more, a transitional season that reminds me of the inevitability of change, and this year feels particularly bittersweet. At the end of July, my blog turned seven. I originally named my blog ‘Lovely and Grateful’ because I wanted it to record all the loveliness in my life that I’m grateful for and even the not-so-lovely parts that remind me not to take anything for granted, but I’m not sure if the name still fits. I’d love to know what you think in the comments.

There have been other milestones too, our youngest daughter started crawling at 7 months, then pulling herself up and crabwalking around furniture, she is just so desperate to join in with her big sister’s games and to see what we’re doing. We’ve had a fair few disrupted nights because of teething, but she has taken to weaning with great enthusiasm, willing to try anything and enjoying most of the same meals we eat (without the salt or stock). At nearly 10 months old, she’s still petite and cheerful, but curious and determined too. Over the last few months, we’ve been getting out to bookbug sessions at the local library and baby sensory, which we’ve both really enjoyed. As her first birthday draws near, I’m already feeling the nerves and guilt about returning to work but she’ll have her big sister to look out for her at nursery.

As for our oldest daughter, she is as boisterous and independent as ever but also surprises us with her caring and generous side. We’ve finally started getting to know the parents of our 3 year old’s nursery friends and have had a few playdates together, that we’ve all enjoyed and that I really felt we’d missed out on because of Covid19.

There has been a big change in the garden too, and I’m still getting used to the new view. When our new neighbours in the house attached to ours moved in they asked to replace the privet hedge that separates our gardens with a fence, we politely declined citing the wildlife such as nesting sparrows and hedgehogs passing through. Unfortunately, we’ve had to reconsider recently as they now have a dog that regularly strays into our garden, and he’s a large, reactive breed that scares our kids.

As it happens, I suspect the sparrows had already abandoned the hedge, and we haven’t seen any hedgehogs this year, but it does make me sad that we’re making our garden inaccessible to any that try to visit in the future, but we’ll find other ways of making the space wildlife friendly.

It’s been a summer full of family trips to beaches and playparks, our first family holiday together and lots of time in our garden, and I’m a little sad to say goodbye to the season. So many of the summer highlights have been the pure and simple joy of gardening and watching our daughters learn and grow, and the ordinary moments playing, dancing, reading stories, crafting and swimming together that is the fabric of our family life. As the weather cools and the nights draw in, we have a couple of autumnal light shows to look forward to, as well as our youngest daughter’s first birthday, and all the seasonal loveliness to be found in nature at this time of year. Have a lovely week. X

Summer Harvest

I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch lately, but trying to find little joys everyday, and one place that I can always find a sense of purpose and peace is our garden. As summer is almost over, it seems like a good time to reflect on some of the successes, failures and lessons of the growing season.

We’ve built two new raised bed in the front garden, and filled them with soil from digging out the pond. We had dried peas from ages ago, so decided to use them as a cover crop to improve the soil in one of the new raised beds. Next year, my husband plans to turn this bed into a permanent strawberry and asparagus patch.

I find courgettes and pumpkin will grow almost anywhere so I’m growing some in the other new raised bed in the front garden. The slugs got quite a few of the early yellow courgettes so we’ve only picked a handful that made it to a reasonable size. Next year, I might grow them in the greenhouse.

Our oldest daughter is always an enthusiastic little helper in the garden, we let her plant carrot seeds in some tubs, which turned out to be one of our biggest successes. I’ve never had any luck with root veg, but we were all thrilled when my daughter pulled up the carrots she had grown all by herself.

The biggest disappointment were the brassica, the sprouting broccoli, brussel sprouts and kale that all got devoured by the slugs.

We’ve been gathering handfuls of strawberries through June, then a few blueberries and wine berries. The rhubarb has been disappointing, I suspect it struggled with too much sunlight and heat early in the season.

My husband lost interest in the tomatoes; some become pot bound, the ones in the greenhouse were dehydrated while the ones outside were drenched by the rain. I’ve never grown tomatoes before but I’ve taken charge of the survivors. My husband says we’ll get 10 tomatoes if we’re lucky, and I say challenge accepted!

August often seems like monsoon season in the west of Scotland, hot and wet, but I noticed rowan and elderberries, horse chestnuts and acorns on the trees, and I’m so looking forward to Autumn and hopefully harvesting a few pumpkins and apples too. Have a lovely week. X

Wildlife Watch in the Garden

One of the highlights of the summer has been watching all the wildlife in our garden, particularly the front garden since we’ve added the pond.

I’d read worrying reports of a lack of insects across the UK leading to chicks starving, but I was so relieved to see our blue tit and sparrow fledglings in the garden in June. In previous years, the blue tits nested in a disused pipe on the side of our house and invariably at least one chick would either shuffle or be pushed off the edge, last year we lost three chicks from either the fall or dehydration before we could return them to the nest, so the birdbox has been a huge success in that regard.

It made my day when I spotted a pair of goldfinches bathing in our pond because we’ve never been able to coax them into our garden before. While chatting with a neighbour, I also spotted a bullfinch in her garden and I’m wondering if I can lure it to our garden just a couple of houses further up.

Many of our most interesting wildlife finds have been in the front garden, my husband spotted a lacewing for the first time and I spent half an hour watching a red damselfly flit around the pond. My husband was beside himself with excitement when he found grasshoppers in our fairly wild front garden, giving him the perfect excuse not to mow the grass for a while longer.

The Kilmarnock Willow was covered in aphids in early summer providing a feast for ladybird larvae, and we also spotted a very hungry and very fat green caterpillar crawling around. None of these insects are particularly rare or unusual but it’s wonderful to see our garden becoming a thriving habitat in an urban environment.

I know one little garden is not enough to stop the rapid decline of so many species across the UK, and I feel so out of sync with my friends and neighbours who are replacing their lawns with artificial grass or paving over front gardens to create driveways, yet I have to try, and I’ll keep trying to create a little safe haven for everything that finds its way here (especially if it eat slugs!). Have a lovely week. X