The Scottish Lass

6.11.13

Gunpowder Treason And Plot

The Fifth of November

Remember, remember!

The fifth of November,

The Gunpowder treason and plot;

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot!

Guy Fawkes and his companions

Did the scheme contrive,

To blow the King and Parliament

All up alive.

Threescore barrels, laid below,

To prove old England's overthrow.

But, by God's providence, him they catch,

With a dark lantern, lighting a match!

A stick and a stake

For King James's sake!

If you won't give me one,

I'll take two,

The better for me,

And the worse for you.

A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,

A penn'orth of cheese to choke him,

A pint of beer to wash it down,

And a jolly good fire to burn him.

Holloa, boys! holloa, boys! make the bells ring!

Holloa, boys! holloa boys! God save the King!

Hip, hip, hooor-r-r-ray!

Gruesome or what?

Anyway, thats why we have bonfires and fireworks on the 5th November each year. Its a bit odd really, when you think about it. The kids enjoy a flask of hot chocolate by the fire and the pretty fireworks (from a great distance in Oscar's case), so I guess its all right to go with it. I certainly enjoyed it as a girl.

It is a well known fact that it is virtually impossible to photograph fireworks from very far away on an automatic camera. I wont bore you with the rest of my blurry firework pictures. Here are the other blurry pictures instead ;-)

Valdree

xxx

5.11.13

Slowly Does It

For the most part, my week day mornings are much the same as each other. We rise at 7.30am, I have toast and butter, Oscar has Weetabix and warm milk and a drizzle of honey. We get dressed and hurry out the door at 8.40am and take the short walk to school.
After I leave Oscar at school I have a short window of time to myself, before I collect him at 11.20am. Most days I shop for any staples we need like milk or vegetables and then hurry home, where I plan or start lunch, plan or start dinner, have a cup of herbal tea, check my emails, read some blogs, sometimes blog myself, sort out a laundry and then leave again at 11.05am.
Some days though, I take the camera with me to school and meander back taking pictures. I always feel so much better when I do this, and I am much more thankful for the beautiful things around me which often go unnoticed.

A chilly November morning -

All very random, but what a shame it would have been to miss any of it.

Valdree
xxx

1.11.13

⋆{ THIS MOMENT }⋆

. . . . . . . . .

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

. . . . . . . . . .

Valdree

xxx

29.10.13

Gaining The Plot

The clocks went back last weekend here in Scotland and so it is dark by dinner time. With this timely change we have also seen a change in the weather. It has been cold and wet, (but no frost yet).

Our gardening this year has been practically non existent, due mainly to the tiny garden (with no real growing space). And we have been fairly sad about that, because not only is it economical to 'grown your own', but Duncan especially has found gardening a great way to de-stress.

As we brace ourselves for our 2nd winter in the cottage we have quite a bit of planning and plotting to do because we have been lucky enough to inherit a piece of gardening land, known here as a 'plot' or an 'allotment'..

The 'plot' is a few minutes walk from our church, so I am happy to imagine that I will be able to go there straight from church right through the summer, next year (and maybe some of the winter).

The plot has been left to get quite neglected (there is a grape vine growing out of the greenhouse roof, for example). So there will be quite a bit of work needing done as well as the digging and the planting.

The missionaries have been helping out there already, so they showed us where to go today.

We are really excited about the possibilities. We are going to throw some winter veg in and see how it does, before we really get stuck in with the clearing and mending.

I can see the Suttons Seed Catalog being a firm fixture around here again. Even Oscar wanted to get on with the digging.

A big thank you goes to the missionaries for their help, and a special thanks to Elder Lesuma who spent his last afternoon here digging (he was rewarded with Scotlands finest - aka Tunnocks Teacakes and Irn Bru.