Christmas Day

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas is coming...

Christmas is coming

the Goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

This is the first year I've managed to catch on about this  Christmas lark... it seems to involve a lot of eating.  Here we are - an early Christmas dinner - Granddad declared it the best pudding he had ever tasted - which given he is exceptionally old, is something of an accolade!

This is also the first year I've managed to make some Christmas arts and crafts - a whole set of plum pudding Christmas cards, a paper plate angel, a number of pictures, a crown and a gaggle of little toilet roll penguins.  I won't bore you with pictures of all those things.  They are however exceptionally good - just look how pleased Granddad is to receive his!

Grandad and Gran Kat took me to the fair with Mummy and Daddy.  It's not the first time I've ever been on a carousel - but it is the first time I was thrilled to do so.  I also rode in the front carriage of the rollercoaster - Granddad bought the picture that they snap of you as you round the fastest loop!  That shows he is mellowing out in old age... (according to Mummy!)

This is me at the Christmas Market at Santa's Post Box - I'm finding Santa a little bit overwhelming this year - maybe next year I'll be more interested?

Moving swiftly on, I'm more than happy to give Stollen and sweet German biscuits a try....

Finally, this is our tree - all the presents are for me!

Stir Up Sunday

Stir-up Sunday, the Sunday prior to the first of Advent, is the traditional day to begin preparing the Christmas Pudding.  Spices, dried fruit, alcohol and sugar - all mixed together and steamed gently for many hours - then reheated on Christmas Day.  Traditionally everyone in the house should stir the pudding - I think because it is jolly hard work to get it mixed together properly... but it is also meant to bring luck, and give you a wish too.

What a difference a year makes....

2011 - Madeleine aged 4 1/2 months

2012 - Madeleine at almost 17 months. This year she was mostly interested in tasting the ingredients, but became most proprietorial when she was given her own spoon!  

Nanna and Granddad are moving....

 I know it is too late to make this point, but for the record, Birmingham is definitely too far to drive with a hyper one year old.  I initially thought my parents had taken leave of their senses - instead of winding down to do bath time and stories they put me in the car, and drove for hours.  I protested vigorously and woke Mummy at frequent intervals thoughout the night to protest.  I enjoyed breakfast at the Premier Inn in the morning... all those choices, but that is all.  Long distance diriving is not my thing!

It was however wonderfully good fun to visit Nanna and Granddad before they pack up and move to St Albans.  I like playing with all of Nanna's ducks.  I enjoying grinding my food into the clean carpet.  I liked trying to turn their huge television on (and off).  I loved spending time with Nanna and Granddad.  Now that they have moved to St Albans I hope my parents have the good sense to fly!

Of Ducks and Dances.

Up on my feet!

Today, officially marking my transition to toddler-dom, Mummy and me attended my first professional dance class at Dance Base in the Grassmarket, the impressive Scottish National Centre for Dance, nestled in the shadow of the Castle in the Old Town.  With a mission to encourage the potential for dance in everyone, I certainly felt inspired to participate.  Having been on my feet for all of 4 weeks, I can now confidently totter across the room, though I am still stopping half way to allow my audience the opportunity to clap appreciatively.  Dance? Of course I can.  I'm already feeling I could have something of a talent.

It must be admitted that things did not start well.  I was a little unsure of the lift, the reception and the fabulous play area.  Who knows what might happen here, I thought, before letting off a piteous wail to make completely clear that I wasn't having any of it.  The play area looked harmless enough - a huge bright wall of interesting sounds and textures; a big play mat - and a big boy who came and nicked my toy.  It had all been a bit knife edge up until that point... but by the time we went into Studio One I was already at full pelt blub, and Mummy was beginning to wonder if it had all been a terrible mistake.  Now don't get me wrong - it is an amazing space.  So light, so airy, so VAST...   but who could know what terrible things might befall you there?

Then Gemma started the class - with hand shaking, body rolling, squibbling star jumps.  Oh boy - is that fabulous fun!  Isn't she the most exciting person in the entire world?  I was so delighted.  All smiles and giggles.  No tears at all.  We got to run away from scary snappy sharks; to scuttle like a crab; to row our boats and to jump and glide.  I was also the bravest small person in the world - not only did I go under the parachute, but I rode on top of it as the Mummies and Daddies pulled it round.  I had a whale of a time... boom boom.   As we left, Gemma concluded that I was a "very good dancer for a 16 month old".  There you go - a professional opinion - I just knew I had talent!

Afterwards we nipped into Helios on the Grassmarket - Mummy fondly remembers when they used to bake cakes on site, and had a little cafe full or delicious smells and cosy corners.  Anyway, I mention it because I found a fabulous duck - a pull along one.  Would you credit they have ducks you can pull along as you walk!  I really, really wanted to take it home, but Mummy said not today.  Sad Face.   I just want to make it clear that I can easily combine my new found interest in movement with my duck obsession and other more cerebral pursuits.  Christmas present anyone?

Dance Base offers drop in Dance and Play sessions for little ones every Wednesday morning at 10.45 am.  £3.50 for one adult and child.

LOOK whose walking now!

To my huge surprise, Madeleine took her first steps just after her dinner on the 17th October, at 15 months and 1 week.  This was just a little earlier than big sister Catherine, who first walked at 16 1/2 months.

Madeleine had been cruising round the furniture, and could walk if you held her hands, but she wasn't really showing any interest in walking at all.  

She is very pleased with herself now though.  Who wouldn't be?

How exciting it all is.  Now we can go dancing!

Should I take my toddler to the Isle of Mull?

 Madeleine has allowed her Mummy to write today's blog post.

~Madeleine having fun on the Isle of Mull
Possibly my most favourite picture of all time!

The Isle of Mull, the second largest of the Scottish Islands - breath-takingly beautiful, gob-smackingly remote.  Almost entirely served by single track roads with passing places, there is only one settlement that extends beyond a smattering of houses and a tiny shop, and then only to one street and a few tiny shops.  As soon as the ferry left Oban, our mobile signal was gone.  It never came back.  With no softplay, no libraries, no internet, and pretty much nothing aimed specifically at children, would we survive?  More importantly, on an island where the average number of rainy days each October is 22 out of 31, would we have any fun at all?

Of course, Mull is just stunning - even through the swirling mist and haze.  The light is fantastic.  It teems with wildlife.  Though small children are not exactly famed for their landscape appreciation, and Madeleine prefers to pat things, rather than watch them from 300 metres.  We rented a little cottage called But 'n' Ben on the Ardura Estate.   Miss Madeleine made the best of its lack of child-friendly safety features - frequently making a break to crawl up the stairs in the open plan sitting room, or trying to investigate the oven in the open plan kitchen.  No doubt we only survived by virtue of the amazing weather - 6 days of glorious, completely atypical autumn sunshine.

Don't despair - there are lots of things to pat....

Apart from the swimming pool at the Isle of Mull Hotel, there is pretty much nothing aimed at small children on the island.  The pool, built with private/state funding welcomes the public for a small fee and doesn't charge under 5s either, and at 31.5 degrees - is also the warmest pool I have ever been in.  It was a bit like a bath!  Nearly everything else to do seems to be a 6 mile hike over rough terrain to see another particularly interesting geological feature, or involves looking with binoculars or drinking whiskey.  Without some unseasonable sunshine, I think we may well have struggled through the week, but instead we had a brilliant time...  collecting shells on empty beaches... walking down deserted roads or across decently buggy-able forest tracks... lunching on good steak pie.. riding the ferry to visit Iona and watching the world go by...

Here are some photos we took...
    

The Isle of Mull Cheese Factory

We're all partial to a nice piece of cheese, and this home-produced offering is especially tasty!  We were surprised to follow the signs to the factory and farm shop and find it completely deserted.  Clearly the factory was working, but with hardly any visitors, they just left out some samples to try and some packs to purchase and an honesty box!  Miss M got excited everytime the packet came out.  It didn't last long.  The cheese that is, not her excitement.

This is the approach to the Mull Cheese Factory - just go through the Kissing Gate, the sign suggests, and cross the garden...  not your average factory setting...

But n Ben - possibly the least child friendly cottage in the world... ok, I exaggerate, but  Miss Madeleine's interest in the stairs did take several years off my life

Is it a Kestrel or an Eagle?  We saw an immense variety of birds.  Miss Madeleine declared that everything bird like - no matter what it actually was - was a duck, even the gulls.  To be perfectly honest, Mummy and Daddy weren't much clearer, but they were magnificent to watch...

Mull traffic jam?  Madeleine was very patient and slept conveniently though a 2 hour scenic drive of the island.  Other than that, Teletubbies on the in-car DVD kept her suitably entertained.  I also now know all the words.

Evie Waterfall

Waiting for fish and chips at Dervaig Inn.  What could be more exciting than an old cracker box filled with  shells - you won't need to look hard for these on the beach.  

We asked in the local tourist office if there were any paths suitable for a buggy.  Apparently there are not.  Total rubbish! There are lots of back roads where you barely have to break off to let a car go past.  It has to be said, the remoter roads in Mull are the worse roads I have ever seen in my life.  If I wasn't reading the map, I would not believe they are adopted, let alone classified.  Yet, despite the grass growing up the centre, they are fine for a pleasant stroll with a buggy.  This is actually a forest bike trail - lots of those too - but it is in better condition than some of the roads. 

Tobermory - famous for its connections with the Womble of the same name, and also as the setting for Balmory - the children's tv show.  We sang Balamory's theme tune a lot, which apparently distresses the local. I can understand why.  Although it is the biggest place on Mull, it is infact no more than a simple High Street with a handful of shops and a brewery.  Strangely enough, nearly all the shops are tat shops - you know, they sell ornate candlesticks, and twee scarfs and modern prints.  There isn't a butcher or a fishmonger or a deli.    The odd farm will sell you some local meat, we managed to find a wholesaler who will sell fish to the public in Salen and the aforementioned cheese shop, but you really need to take your food with you.

Madeleine was very taken with this deer head.  Don't worry - it's paper mache and priced at £100. - so £20 more than the return trip on the ferry for all 3 of us and the car.  Tobermory is full of shops that sell stuff like this - but no butcher!  Hrrumpp.  We didn't buy a deer's head anyway.

The Old Post at Lochbuie - if it looks a bit like a shed, that is because it is a shed.  It has no staff - just an honesty box, and a kettle to make a cuppa for 50 pence.  You can help yourself to the home baking or the frozen local meat - zero food miles, the sign boasts.  Quite.  I loved it.  

We were all amused to find chickens on the beach.

Softplay island style - the grassy dunes were great for bouncing and sliding over.

After a hard day's playing, nothing much to do except back to But n Ben to play with your shells and have your dinner...

So the verdict?  A good time was had by all!

St Abbs

Yesterday was the most amazing sunny autumn day.  Mummy thought we should make the most of it and go to St Abbs.  We have to confess that the 3 mile route along the coastal path is completely impassable with a buggy.  I ended up riding on Mummy's shoulders while Daddy dragged the buggy up and down the hills.  However, I enjoyed riding on Mummy's shoulders and playing with the stones on the beach.  Here are some photos we took.

Here I am getting read to go.  Do you like my new wellie boots?

St Abbs - pretty, isn't it?

The only way to get to this beach is via the coastal path.
Mummy says I won't be going again until I can walk!

Afterwards we went into Eyemouth for fish and chips.  When we got there the Coast Guard were doing a demonstration of hand brake turns.  I've never seen a boat do a hand brake turn before, and neither had Mummy!

Yummy fish and chips

They had iron bru icecream, but we opted for chocolate!

On the way home we noticed "The Contented Sole" fish and chippie, and in the background, the fish van was called "Eels on Wheels"