Project 365 week 26

Another week of being waaaaaaayyyyyyy to hot. The tar was melting on the roads some days and this has seriously limited the amount of dog walking time. More than once this week I have not managed my 13,000 steps. Far to hot to be alive.




Sunday

No over time so a walk after 9 tonight. Sadly at 9 the midges are out. It might not look elegant but it is effective.









































Monday

On standby to pick the children up from nursery as Bob had another appointment but daughter back in time. The last Monday run to gymnastics as he has been moved up a level so will be a Friday for 90 mins instead of 60 on a Monday. Can't say as I relish the idea for another year or two doing this but he enjoys it and it gets him out in amongst people his own age so I don't want to say no.

I parked in the shade, left all the windows open, sat in the car and did some cross stitching and listened to my audio book.

Were fascinated by the size of the size of these tiny tiny frogs we spotted on our evening walk round the fishery, no bigger than your finger nail.

Tuesday

Picking up the twins as today's hospital appointment for Bob was in Glasgow. These appointments are tedious for everybody but what a difference the medication is making to his skin. Sadly they have other side affects and make him tired and nauseous but very worth while.


A walk down the woods to see how well the community payback have been doing, they have made a massive difference since we were last down.
This has been placed in honour of Ian, aka Peem, who died suddenly last week. He is one of the main leaders in the cubs/scouts group ( to name but one of the things he did)  in the village and has been for years. He has made it possible for Bob to be fully integrated into the group including only having food safe for Bob to eat when he is at Scout camp. Everybody eats what he can eat and nobody is allowed to bring food that may present him with a danger. I think that is an amazing undertaking. he will be sadly missed in the village.

Wednesday

Took the car into the garage, when I picked it back up just before 6 it was 55oC inside it, and still we are reading of people leaving their dogs in cars.

Had Bob for a few hrs in the morning while DD1 went to the twins nursery leaving concert.

Went and did a supermarket shopping and stopped at the chip shop on the way home, had no notion to cook anything.

Another walk round the fishery just after 9 again.


Spotted this parked up and it made me laugh, so sharing it to cheer you up.

Thursday

Away to look at spending a large ( well for us anyway) amount of money. Hopefully all will come together nicely next week. Babysitting Bob and Spud this evening as DD1 and SIL1 were watching the dancing show. Fifi was roped into helping behind stage with changing outfits on the young children.

Was lovely to spend some one on one time with Spud, she is so much calmer without the influence of Minky and we had a great time  playing games, drawing, singing songs and generally having a good time. Bob volunteered to read her bedtime stories and put her to bed.

Bob and I had a conversation about the funeral tomorrow and he said he was not looking forward to it, he did not really want to go but he knew that going was the right thing to do. So he did himself proud by going along.

I got back home for 9.30 and out for a walk with the dog for an hour.

Friday

One of the joys of late evening walks is the sunset.

Saturday

The lily has been brought round to the front of the house and put in the driveway while it flowers.

and today I have an extra picture for you, please meet grandchild No8, a little brother/sister for Ziggy. No blog name yet. He/she is due January 6th. .

We only want what’s best for the Grandchildren, Don’t We?

As a grandparent, we watch on as our children, now full-grown adults, raise their own children. We are on hand to offer advice when and where possible, while doing our best not to seem as though we are taking over. After all, it is up to their parents to decide on how to raise them.

We can, however, offer our thoughts – as well as mountains of gifts to spoil the precious little ones – on what might be best for them. Clothes, toys, schools and other aspects are often areas where grandparents are sought for advice and we are always more than willing to share because we love our little families.

Day’s Out

my sister, brother and gran, and me ( right) 

One of the best parts about being a grandparent is being able to take the grandchildren out for the day. We, as grandparents, love it because we get to enjoy quality time with the grandkids, and their parents love it because they get to enjoy a few hours of peace and quiet! Even better if we have the kids overnight.

As grandparents, we feel it is our duty to take the little ones out on an adventure. To make them
dream a little and come back with a multitude of stories to tell. We want them to look forward to spending days with us because we remember when we were younger how much we loved spending time with our grandparents.

Buying Quality

As we enter our senior years, we are fortunate enough to have a nice pot saved up after years of hard work. We have the mortgage paid off, proudly owning our home outright, meaning that we have more money to spend on those that we love than we did many years ago.

With extra funds means that we can afford to buy quality goods, which is something that we like to do for the good of the grandchildren. When we were younger, we were thankful when our parents helped us out with buying things for the children, and that’s something that we want to do for ours.

Whether it is clothing, pushchairs or anything, we are always more than happy to dip our hands in our pockets when we know it will be appreciated. We would never do so if we didn’t believe it would be appreciated, as we certainly wouldn’t want to come across the wrong way or unintentionally hurt anyone’s feelings.

Education

It goes without saying that we want the best education possible for our grandchildren. We want them to have the best chance in life, to have the opportunity to attend one of the most prestigious universities in the country. We could have a future Prime Minister in the family!

We never had that opportunity because universities, particularly for those of us from a working-class family, always seemed out of reach. Now, though, there is much more opportunity to earn yourself a place at a top university, studying your passion and giving yourself an advantage in your chosen field.

Why do we want the best for our grandchildren? We want them to get as much out of life as possible. We want them to enjoy all of the things that we couldn’t have, to be whatever it is that they want to be.

All that we have ever wanted is the best for our grandchildren.

This is a collaborative post.

Project 365 weeks 23, 24 and 25

Having been away for a holiday I was not wanting to commit to having to blog while away, or comment for that matter and so I decided to put a halt to blog posts until I got back. So here you have my three weeks in one.

I have done another post on a week with Ziggy and Dixie dog's holiday  feel free and have a read if you wish too.


Sunday 3rd

No overtime today so an evening walk round the fishery. The coots were off of the eggs so we got a good look at them.

Monday 4th

Picked the twins up from nursery as DD1 was a way to Glasgow hospital again with Bob. Just made it in time as took longer in the supermarket than I should have. Spud now has the chicken pox's.

Took Bob to gymnastics and walked dog round Auchincruive and then another walk round the fishery later.

Tuesday 5th

Was suppose to be picking up both the twins from nursery but Dinky was sent home unwell, so just picked up Minky.
Here he is running around in circles on the grass.

Wednesday 6th

Headed north to Oban for a holiday with DD2, SIL2 and Ziggy. Stopped at Loch Lomond to use the toilets and let the dog out.

Thursday 7th

We had a lovely morning out. Were going to go across to Kerrera on the ferry but timed it badly and would have had to wait for approx an hour to get across so headed back to Ganavan beach. Was far to warm and so we headed home again and took the dog back out later on in the evening.

Friday 8th


Another hot day, some time in the garden and walks with the dog in the evening again.

Saturday 9th

Walked down to the local Rockfield Centre to meet with Fee from one of each me and mine, took a photo of the lego bricks so as not to include any of the children in the picture. Amazing to think she moved from the same street in Bo'ness as I lived in back in the late 70's early 80's for four years.

Decided to head for some shaded woods to walk. Sadly the midgies are making my life hell and you can play dot to dot with the bites.

DD2 was away to a birthday party with SIL and Ziggy in the afternoon.

Sunday

We all went for a walk to Appin to see Castle Stalker and walk the dogs along the cycle path.

Monday

DD2 had an appointment so I took Ziggy to the park.

Tuesday

DD2 and I took Ziggy to the park and then was going to meet hubby for lunch at 'spoons, but he decided he wasn't coming so we went without him. It had cooled down a bit today and the wind was thankfuly a bit cooler.

Wednesday

Had originally planned to come back home today but as it was their wedding anniversary I volunteered to babysit for them so they could go out for a meal. Ziggy was happy until bedtime but I could not get her to settle in bed so just brought her back down and let her fall asleep on my knee.

Hubby and I headed out with the dog to Dunstaffnage Castle again to walk her under the trees. We played piling up rocks down on the shore. Would not call it beach as such as no sand in the area just hundreds of beautiful rocks.

Had to take the dog to the vet as she had seven ticks on her, never had a dog get ticks before this.

Thursday

Headed home, Storm Hector was suppose to hit hard but luckily enough it was not as bad as they predicted. Some leaf and twig debris on the roads and we saw one overturned vehicle with nobody hurt.

Stopped for a McD's on the way home, here is Dixie getting the meat from her burger, I usually shove some chips in her roll and eat that bit myself - no point in wasting it.

Friday

A walk round the woods and there are masses of leaves and twigs down as well as a few trees. This one is across the path at Auchincruive.

Saturday

Still off work this weekend, took the two weekends together

to give us more flexibility as to when we went away and came back. Had a lazy day and did some cross stitching and made some chocolate cakes. I found a small snack bag of peanuts and cranberries so threw that in with some sultanas for added nutrition. Tasted better than they look.

Sunday

Took the dog a walk down to Irvine beach park and had a nosey round a charity car boot sale and bought a few bits and pieces.

DD3 took us out for a meal for Father's Day. This was his card.

Monday

I was on standby to pick the twins up from nursery, Bob away to ophthalmology at Ayr but shock and horror she was in and out on time. A gymnastics run with a walk at Auchincruive and a walk round the streets after tea.

Loved this family of geese.

Tuesday

Bob was away for more blood tests at Glasgow again so picking up the twins from nursery.  Here they are running on the grass at the side again. Daughter is truly fed up with not just the amount of times she is having to drive to various hospitals but the cost of actually doing it.

Wednesday

we went to restock the freezer with chicken and decided to walk along the river before hand. The water levels were scary high with the heavy overnight rain.

Thursday

Went for a walk along the path at the back of Dundonald Castle to the reservoir, and then up to the castle and back down. A nice 4 mile walk. Was amazed at how many mushrooms were on this fallen tree.

Friday

The wall was finished while we were away. Just needs a top coat now. The quote from the guy who built the wall was in our opinion to high so will get that done later on this year. We had no option with the wall it had to be done no matter how high the price was.

Saturday

This weeks cross stitching. I Have got a rabbit nearly finished but I left that in Oban by mistake.  Have to say I really like this one, it looks good. A few babies due shortly and I may well make one with the birth details on for one of them.

A week with Ziggy

We headed to Oban for a week to spend time with DD2, SIL2 and Ziggy. Sadly, by my standards, it was far to warm most of the week to be out and about and if we left the walks till the evening then the midges were out in force and you could play dot to dot on me with the amount of bites I had. So we tried to stick to shaded walks during the day'

So in no particular order here was some of our fun. 

We went to Ganavan beach, Jack ( the golden lab) decided in the water was the best place for him. 

at the waters edge

playing on the sand 

Ziggy and I 

Then we had a picnic before heading back.

granddad being silly 

After Ziggy's nap she went put on the patio to play.

on her rocking horse. 

had to laugh...she now comes towards the camera just like her older cousins. 

playing with the water table.

After tea we went up to the top garden area with the bubble machine and the dogs.

with her bubble machine

up to cut the grass with it

in the shade of the rhubarb leaves....a few people warned us of the dangers of these leaves when I shared this on Faceboog. 

blowing bubbles with granddad

pegs are a lot of fun

She willingly let Ziggy have her toy, there were no problems at all.

playing with Dixie dog and Dixies toy

on her slide on the deck. 

On Saturday afternoon Ziggy was a way to a birthday party. All the children got a plant pot with compost and sunflowers seeds to plant, so Ziggy planted hers.

planting the seeds, well playing with the compost anyway. 

and watering the seed, this made for mud fun

brushing Jack 

On Monday morning DD2 had an appointment and so Ziggy and I went to the park.

ooppps the hat blew off

on the slide, I am not so keen on this piece of equipment as a few gaps up the top she could fall from. 

on the submarine

standing on the roundabout, designed to take a wheel chair

sitting on the rocks 

pushing the roundabout 

Another day we went back down the park with my daughter.

she can work these herself

up the steps to the slide

peeking through the submarine window

on the double swing with her mum

When her dad got home on evening he got out some uncooked spaghetti and marshmallows and did some model making with Ziggy.

building fun

these two really took a shine to each other

On Sunday we all went out together to Appin to see Castle Stalker and take a walk.

Ziggy and her dad in front of Castle Stalker

having a rest 

picnic time 

trotting along slowly 

daddy with the back pack

crawling around

She did well, was over a mile to where we ate our snack and she walked all the way, but did get carried back in the back pack.