Right then

We’re back from Skye, and I’m glad to report that it was a really nice holiday; the weather was perfect – despite the fact that it was the extreme North West of Scotland, it was so warm that we spent much of the holiday outside and I even ended up with some sunburn. The scenery was – as you might expect – stunning, the cottage well equipped and the company decent. D discovered long car-drives, car-seats, long walks, horses, cows, daisies, chickens, freshly-laid eggs, sand, beaches, sea-weed, wind, chips, lime cordial, restaurants, Scottish pound notes, freshly mowed grass, freshly cooked lamb, castles, formal gardens, cannons, and what its like to listen to live music in a bar (his presence in a bar is not illegal in Scotland), amongst many other things. Aside from showing D as much of the world as we could, C & I also managed to do some stuff on our own too - such as a trip out to the restaurant on our own as adults for the first time in over a year & doing a 10 mile hike (with me carrying D in a backpack carrier) etc. I also tried my best to look after C & help her relax as much as possible by doing a lot of babysitting of D, allowing her to go out to see several arts & crafts places & a trip to the cinema etc – I, after all, will be back in the UK this coming weekend (attending Willows naming), whilst she’ll be at home, which is a bit of a shame, so I went out of my way to look after her.

Several pipe-dreams were raised (by C’s aunt, of all people) about moving there permanently, and, whilst I don’t want to dismiss these fantasies out of hand, I don’t think that they would solve anything – if nothing else, most people I know would be able to get to Canada quicker than they would be able to get to Skye (seriously, London / Manchester / Leeds to Canada ~ 7½ hours, give or take – whilst Manchester / Leeds to Skye ~ 10 hour drive [or an 8 hour fly drive combo], London to Skye… well, you get the point). Ok, yes, I admit that the 6 hour drive after you get to Scotland is one of the highlights of the trip (especially if you live in a country that lacks landscape), but I can see that it does act as a natural deterrent against the casual visitor! Still, apparently the Highlands & Islands have the highest per-capita percentage of telecommuters in the world, and, frankly, I can see why as the quality of life there was excellent. It must be miserable as sin in the winter – the trees attest to the strength of the sideways howling rain that you get (you can see it in the way they have been sculpted to lean precariously), but it was beautiful and much fun and neither C nor I wanted to get back to doing the jobs-that-pay-the-mortgage …

Having said that, being back at home is going to do wonders for my stress levels; the trips to & from Skye involved bivouacking at Great Aunt Sara & Great Uncle Steves house in Glasgow, and, as they have no children, they have instead lots of rare & expensive & memorable & fragile artifacts from their trips around the world, not to mention lots of very expensive adult toys – mainly a gargantuan Hi-def TV, about 18 different PCs, a completely white (ie stain attracting) sofa & at least five £600-plus speakers scattered around the house – mainly on the floor and NONE OF WHICH are improved by being repeatedly hit by a pan or wooden spoon or grubby hands) – also there is the complete lack of stairgates & the super-abundance of tripping hazards & the matter of all glasses & porcelain & telephones being stored in or on ground-level cupboards! As you can imagine, leaving there without actually racking up a huge bill for repairs / cleaning etc is a major weight off my mind as I don’t have to hover nervously in front of the most likely item to be ‘investigated’ next!

In other news, my sister has given birth this morning to a baby boy. Mum & baby doing ok, though she was sent home within an hour of giving birth, and she’s still bleeding & pretty much immobile. We’re rather worried, tbh, and formal complaints are being started as my dad (a doctor) hit the roof when she staggered through the door with the new arrival at 6-30am without having had any post-delivery check-up. The story I got is that her waters broke at 8-am yesterday, and she spent much of the day in the hospital – to be sent home at 6pm – to be readmitted at 9pm – to be sent home at midnight – to be readmitted at 3am, to be sent home at 5am, after the 4-am birth, arriving at 6-30ish, after a taxi ride. I am hoping that this is my mum making it sound more dramatic than it actually was, but my sister is definitely home already and they are trying to get her seen by a maternity department, though (last I heard a few hours ago) they are not getting much success. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t think that there’s anything wrong (thank goodness), but there is a need to get her checked out by a maternity specialist, rather than by A&E who (apparently – and not unreasonably) had to take charge due to the late hour & immediacy of his arrival, so… watch this space. It looks as though she’s fallen through the administrative cracks somewhat, but we are hopeful that she & the newborn can be checked out properly. Soon.

S