All Hallows Eve....

It would be a very determined Guiser who made it up to our house so hopefully I am quite safe in having only cooking chocolate in the house....The girls and I toned our biceps yesterday with a bit of carving  and now the smell of slowly charring pumpkin is wafting through the house.
Boot camp tonight was interrupted by a fire alarm and never resumed.  Now feel cheated of an exercise session but not as bad as the friend who succumbed to cheesecake knowing she would work it off......"Never put a pudding in the exercise bank"- it should be a motto but isn't. My new plan is to save all the money we pay into various exercise participations for the whole family i.e.. races, clubs etc and blow the lot on liposuction...just for me obviously. The others would sacrifice themselves and the great God of fitness for the cause I am sure.

What a weekend!

Monday morning again and the weekend has sped by on roller skates. A Monster Mash at Naomi's on Friday night where a huge quantity of sausages were consumed (Nine by one person), games were played and laughter flowed. Up bright and early for guests and Toby's birthday. The guests appeared on cue for a full cooked and home made rolls but Toby was a little later.....Into posh frock and heels at 5pm for the trip to Glasgow for the Scottish Athletic and jogscotland Awards evening. This was at the oh so posh Marriott hotel in Glasgow hence the 5pm start. Initial nerves at attending a function where we knew no one was initially soothed by free bubbles and then some charming dinner guests including the manager of jogscotand himself Alistair Currie. The invitation had specified that I had been asked as a guest of honour to recognise my role with inveraray jogscotand this year. Being a trusting and self effacing kind of girl I believed this not questioning why i should be seated at a very good table etc. Good food and great comparing by Rhona McLeod followed with awards galore to the fast, the good and the downright committed of Scottish sport at every level. Jogscotland awards came after a fantastic talk by The Guest of Honour Roger Black. Jog Leader Award, Community group, Work place and Achiever of the Year Award rolled out and were duly collected, inspected and appreciated. then came The Inspirational Award with some very nice things said about some woman from Inveraray who got an award for doing what she loves...chatting and running. Received from Roger Black and definitely the Highlight of the Year. Rest of the weekend was okay too...run out on Sunday missing the rain with Liz, Matt, Garret and Naomi.

Piglets!!

Not the best picture but will get another one soon. In case sentimentality sets in... Two are already sold for a hog roast and one promised to a wedding feast.

Blogging by iPad

Exciting times as blogging becomes still more portable. The iPad arrived just in time to accompany us on holiday, Toby's jealously guarded machine never leaves his side, nor apparently has a silent mode. For accessing e mails and the all important Facebook it was invaluable. Portugal:- (we were in The Algave and on the glorious western coast) where the fish is fantastic, the waves are big, the weather fabulous and Toby can get the drinks in at the bar. One day he may even pay for them too. The contrast with Scotland works both ways,the dry heat and very different landscape is wonderful to visit but despite the rain home is good too. Guests keep on filtering through Claonairigh, a deerstalker here, a touring couple there and hopefully soon the odd horse rider too. What more news? Ah yes we have piglets and I shall try to get photos tomorrow, alas I cannot yet access other apple products/ documents/ photos through my " cloud" - how apple savy am I- because we share an apple account with Toby. The piglets are a remarkable and bright set of porcine youngsters and have set up house in the barn (stronger than straw, sticks AND bricks) unaided adopting a large plastic feed sack as the ideal inner sanctum. Enter the barn and peek in the sack to see several piggy bottoms pointing outwards. Obviously if you cannot see approaching monsters they are simply not there... Even if they scratch your bottom. Well my Oompa loompa ( a 6'2" tall son) is now home from the school halloween disco and washing off orange paint in the bathroom and so my day draws to an end. The legs are weary from
many a run this week, on Tuesday 8 even did two but that is another story entirely.