It has been a difficult summer, a sad summer. Thommy died and Dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Let's face it...this summer sucked.
On a brighter note, Sophie came for a two week stay which coincided with a visit from the yanks. Hallelujah! I was saved. Just for a bit anyway.
David, Terry, Liz and the girls. We spent the night in Oban which is a small town on the west coast of Scotland. Notice that Kat Kat is wearing her princess dress even in the rain.
Here they are on a roller coaster when we went to the Safari Park. Notice that they're in the first (and best) car...way to go girls!
We finally got around to going to a pub! Once again, notice Kat Kat's attire.
The girls feeding baby Hammish. I've made peace with Highland set this summer.
Here's the story behind this picture and why I am swimming in freezing water when it's shit cold outside. There is a long standing tradition in the Callander family, that if you want to be able to go out in the boat by yourself, you have to be able to swim from a certain point on the shore out to island. Sophie, who is 12, is one of the few remaining in the Callander family that hadn't accomplished this task and so I stupidly said, "Well, if you do it then I'll do it with you." This was during the first few days of her visit and as the days went on, with her time in Scotland ticking away, she didn't mention it again. And neither did I. I was seemingly off the hook until David called me on Friday at work (Sophie was leaving the next day) and said, "she's going to do it." It was cold, it was raining but all the Callanders were in agreement that it was a good day for the family tradition to carry on. Andrew, David's nephew, was assigned to 'Sophie watch' as I haven't had the opportunity yet to display my great swimming abilities and I'm sure the Callanders were thinking that, under my supervision, Sophie was at high risk for drowning. Needless to say, we all made it and I actually enjoyed it. The unfortunate part of this story is that, even though Sophie can now go solo in the boat, she can't quite manage to get the boat in and out of the boathouse and so she is still shore-bound!
Puppy and gazelle at Safari Park (I was a gazelle too and Sophie was a guinea pig.)
We finally got around to going to a pub! Once again, notice Kat Kat's attire.
The girls feeding baby Hammish. I've made peace with Highland set this summer.
Here's the story behind this picture and why I am swimming in freezing water when it's shit cold outside. There is a long standing tradition in the Callander family, that if you want to be able to go out in the boat by yourself, you have to be able to swim from a certain point on the shore out to island. Sophie, who is 12, is one of the few remaining in the Callander family that hadn't accomplished this task and so I stupidly said, "Well, if you do it then I'll do it with you." This was during the first few days of her visit and as the days went on, with her time in Scotland ticking away, she didn't mention it again. And neither did I. I was seemingly off the hook until David called me on Friday at work (Sophie was leaving the next day) and said, "she's going to do it." It was cold, it was raining but all the Callanders were in agreement that it was a good day for the family tradition to carry on. Andrew, David's nephew, was assigned to 'Sophie watch' as I haven't had the opportunity yet to display my great swimming abilities and I'm sure the Callanders were thinking that, under my supervision, Sophie was at high risk for drowning. Needless to say, we all made it and I actually enjoyed it. The unfortunate part of this story is that, even though Sophie can now go solo in the boat, she can't quite manage to get the boat in and out of the boathouse and so she is still shore-bound!
The glorious Castle Stalker on the way to Oban.
Puppy and gazelle at Safari Park (I was a gazelle too and Sophie was a guinea pig.)
