Is this still lockdown? - week 20, Wednesday to Friday

It's been a busy few days with this cherub. We went to the Botanics, which is a ten-minute drive but fraught with difficulty with the little one because she throws up on any form of transport. Daughter 2 tried dosing her with something-or-other which had been recommended by a friend and right enough, she didn't throw up, but after a bit it made her so woozy that she kept falling over. So that wasn't a huge success.

At home, we've been Very Busy doing things such as... making a hedgehog,

eating and sharing "doughnuts",

weading stowies,

playing with Big Grandson's Brio,

playing in the paddling pool and sandpit,

and extensively cuddling. She's enchanting. But exhausting... . And the house is not its usual self, with everything that might be tempting crowded on to high shelves. But she's worth it.

It was Middle Granddaughter's 4th birthday today, but sadly we couldn't be with her because Son is shielding from any possible nasty London virus germs. He has lowered immunity because of the drugs he takes for his arthritis.  We did see her on Face Time, though, which was a lot better than nothing. Happy Birthday, equally adorable Middle.

It hardly feels like lockdown at all now... except that we're not really going anywhere much.

Disappointingly, though the Edinburgh housing market is rumoured to be very busy, we've only had two viewers at the flat so far in the week it's been on the market. Let's hope for more people soon.

Still with virus restrictions, week 20 - Littlest Granddaughter is in the house

Yesterday we went to a playpark, which was fun,

and did some mildly educational stickering, among other things. 

Today, however, it poured all day, and was windy.

 We ate snacks,

played doctors (my finger was a wiggly worm which needed an injection), 

put a cat to bed,

drew - and many other things, all indoors, which is somehow harder work. She's enchanting, but full of ideas, strong views, chatter, lovely smiles, cuddles, desires to touch everything (and our house is full of things) - and now I'm off to bed, before midnight, which is unusual for me.

This is week 19 - Friday to Sunday - lovely grandchildren

Daughter 1 and SIL 1 took the children down to see SIL's parents on Saturday, so we had the children on Friday and for the night, to allow their parents to get organised. It was a hot day and they played in the paddling pool and the garden.

And of course Big Grandson made a Brio layout. Meanwhile I sat looking at the crossword in the newspaper - most days, Mr L and I do two cryptic ones as a joint effort, mainly (but by no means always) solving them.

Me [mumbling to myself as I read a clue]: "Presumably he knows when to draw the line".
Big Grandson [instantly, from the other side of the room]: Ruler?
Me: Oh. Yes.
BG: Try me on another one.
Me: "Scour men's organisation for users of articles". That probably means it's an anagram of "scour men's".
BG [instantly]: Consumers?
(Yes.)

I think it was largely beginner's luck but still - quite good for a newly-nine-year-old.

Then they left after lunch on Saturday and a couple of hours later...

Daughter 2 and Littlest Granddaughter arrived from London. Littlest enjoyed playing with the Brio too.

This morning we went to Saughton Park, played in the playpark and walked among the flowers. 

And in the afternoon we played in the garden. Littlest is rather good with a ball.

This is a big heavy basketball and she can throw it quite high!

Is this week 19? I forget. Anyway, lockdownish Thursday

I've made a cake because DAUGHTER 2 AND HER LITTLE PEACHY DAUGHTER ARE COMING HOME... WELL, HERE... FOR A FORTNIGHT!!! I'm so excited. They do have to come on a bus, a tube and a train, but I'm hoping that they won't be near anyone germy. (And if we had another lockdown, which seems altogether possible, at least we'll have seen them.) I've made a coconut cake out of the coconut milk (which has been in the freezer) left by her extremely irresponsible tenants when they departed. It seemed appropriate.

It's also been an exciting day because her Edinburgh flat has gone on the market. This was not without incident, because the posting on the ESPC (Edinburgh Solicitors Property Company) featured the marketing chap's original blurb, not the greatly improved (by us) version. This mattered because he got the address wrong, which we had pointed out. The flat is 1/3 (ie ground level, flat 3) and he called it 3/1 (ie third level, flat 1) - not the same at all. This did eventually get changed on the website. And then Daughter 2 noticed that the front of the printed brochure made the same mistake. Grrrr. I assume they'll put stickers over them or something. But really.

Annoyingly, another flat in the same block went up for sale today too. Competition!

She also noticed that two flats in their development in London are for sale just now. The language used by the estate agent is hilariously over-the-top. They're quite nice flats but not Buckingham Palace. For example: You'll be instantly impressed by the abundance of ornate original features from when you push the dazzling stain glass 1930's main entrance door and make your way up the hallway, which features original tiling. As you enter your perfect vintage paradise, you'll notice the amount of care that has been taken to retain key Art Deco features, yet the flawless finish makes your home marvellous for modern living. There are so many original features to marvel at, including your vintage mahogany front door with original lead diamond glass. This gorgeous glazing repeats throughout your home, as does the beautiful brass fixtures and fabulous wooden floorboards that flow through all 785 square feet.

Stepping into your sumptuous kitchen, you'll be inspired to create some culinary classics using your immaculate integrated appliances, set against a beautiful backdrop of dove grey cabinets, dreamy traditional deep sink, gleaming glazed teal tiles and amazing Art Nouveau patterned tiling. 

Dum de dum de dum de dum...

First of all, never mind what I've been doing - what do you mean, Lucille, that The Archers are being recorded from your basement???? You can't just say this without explanation! I mean, I remember that your - was it daughter-in-law? - is an actor. But an ARCHERS actor?? That's the most exciting thing I've heard this year. Do tell! 

I'm perhaps overdoing the punctuation but still...

There have been many interruptions, nearly all welcome, but I've started my African fabrics quilt. These are really not my colours, but the strange thing is that one does get slightly accustomed to them. I can't quite decide whether the very bright yellow I chose for the stars is needed - to contrast with the other bright fabrics - or whether a paler yellow would soften the effect.

I'm really not the person to judge, since this (above)was my first attempt at stars when I was doing a quilt for my nephew. I then decided on yellow instead of white, and some of the squares were more vivid, but you can see the sorts of fabrics I normally use. I'm struggling a bit here...

On Sunday, o joy, we went up to Son's house and so did the Edinburgh Two and their parents. The children had a lovely time together.

Here's Medium Granddaughter with her little brother. Look at how she's holding his arm protectively.

We had their local playpark to ourselves.

Here's Son with his son on the slide.

And Biggest and Medium Granddaughters had a cousinly cuddle. Aaah.

And here we are walking back up the road. It's pretty where Son lives. Just not at all convenient for us.

The Edinburgh Two came to us after lunch yesterday and a lot of Brio got played. It's a bit of a shame for Biggest Granddaughter, since the Brio should be for both of them, and she quite wants to help her brother, but he has a master plan in his head and you can see he doesn't really want her messing with it. He does nobly let her. Mostly.

They spent the night, and today we had a lovely walk in the Botanics

and drove home via Daughter 2's Edinburgh flat so that they could see it. Big Grandson thought my claim that the buyers would be particularly impressed at the cushions on one of the beds was hilarious - the cushions are from our dining room sofa and happen to match the new curtains Daughter 2 has got us to install in the flat. He fully ran with this idea and, pretending to be a prospective buyer, was effusive in his (feigned) admiration for them.

They're such good company. But the house is now nice and quiet... .

Not really lockdown any more - week 18 - Thursday to Saturday.

Oh, look at that: three days since my last lockdownish post. Things are strange now - there's still a crisis, we're wearing masks in shops and buses (not that we've been on any buses since we bought Bluebell the Car) but it's harder to remember that we're in the grip of a pandemic because Scotland is doing well and we don't know anyone who's been ill here and we can now see the family - except so far, Daughter 2 and Littlest Granddaughter. In fact we could go and see them now, except that we're about to be selling (let's hope) her Edinburgh flat by showing it to lots of enthusiastic buyers. Anyway, to that end, Mr L has been videoing it, using the very complicated and heavy gimbal sent for by Son-in-Law 2. SIL 2 will then edit this film together, because that's one of the things he does professionally. As instructed, Mr L and I went on Friday morning to the shore at Leith, which isn't far from the flat, to shoot a bit of film which will give a brief air of look-where-you-could-stroll to the video.

Then the Edinburgh Two came round. They did the usual things - they still, at 9 and 7, enjoy the sandpit, except on this occasion it was a bakery. They made cakes, and "coffee with mush". Very appetising.

In between coffees with mush, I took pictures of the garden,

which is

in full

flower.

Then, for a while, Biggest Granddaughter became a wild woozer (they said) and chased her brother round the garden.

There was much hilarity.

And some drawing took place.

Big Grandson has very specific interests.

These mainly involve transport.

But he did go back to running a cafe for a while, taking careful orders. Prices were very competitive. Biggest Granddaughter and I were the customers; she took on various personae. 

It's so lovely being a granny. When you're a mum, in my case of three children within five years, you don't have that much time to sit around being part of a fantasy cafe drama. Now... all the time in the world. 

Today, for the first time for weeks (blame the flat) we walked up the hill. 

Currently...

it's all about the willow herb

and ragwort.

So pretty.

And such weeds. The hillside is covered with a sea of pink and yellow. I don't normally think these colours go with each other, but here: beautiful.

And then we went back down to the road. This is a very steep path; one's knees are slightly wobbly by the bottom. But home's not far.