Castle Douglas :: School's Out

We are now home but I thought that I would share some pictures from our time with Sara and Tom after we left Northumberland on Saturday.

 Kitchen Duty.

 Sharing a funny moment!

 Gorgeous vegetable tagine.

 View from the kitchen window.

 Our Saturday morning treat! inhouse Castle Douglas

 Lots of choice.

 Blood tests all the time.

 Yummy!

 Raspberry creams at the back, caramel bottom left and dark whiskey bottom right.

 Inside the hub ~ the lady in the shop very kindly showed us around this small but important space.

 Chocolate moulds.

 Coffee Grinder.

Pip finished school last Thursday and it was a day full of mixed emotions.  There was the  realisation that she had actually made it through the school year and we had achieved not only managing the school run but supporting her in her learning journey and sadness at waving goodbye to a fab reception teacher, Mrs Katrina Gale.  After having worked at the school for six years she is now moving on to a deputy head post at a village school north from where we live.

  In fact she was Benedict's teacher when he started school all those years ago and that too reminded us that Benedict's contemporaries were also moving on to secondary education.  Benedict would also have been making that journey, he would have shared in Pip's first year and then moved on, but it was not meant to be.  Sometimes life instances are not of our choosing and we can often wonder why things have happened and what will be, but I am slowly learning over time that things do work out and that God's plan is infinitely better than mine :-)

I will leave you with a smiley Pip enjoying a school's out fruit smoothie and some music that was blaring in her classroom when I went to collect her on that last day.  They were watching this you tube video on the interactive white board and Pip and I have declared this to be our summer anthem:

She was super happy to be starting a school holiday and she deserved it, her end of year report was very good, clever girlie!

She also has two wobbly top front teeth, I wonder if they will be missing by September 10th?!  If so she will have to smile with her mouth closed or my sister-in-law who is the wedding photgrapher will have to air brush some in!!

 

 So Happy!

Last Day

We have had a quiet day at "home".  I caught up on the laundry, used up food from the fridge, baked some goodies for the weekend, returned the borrowed books from the church next door, packed the car and helped Pip with a friendship bracelet!

 Al fresco breakfast.

 Pip helping with the laundry.

 Reading the friendship bracelet instructions.

 

 The finished article.

We have had a lovely holiday and instead of returning straight home, we are making a detour and stopping with Sara and Tom at Threave.  Catch up with you soon xx

This is also post number 500, quite a milestone!

Lindisfarne and Seahouses

We made it!  This time the kids were really great and engaged around the ruins and mum did not have a melt down, unlike last year! 

 On the causeway.

From the driveway.

 

 The entryway.

 

 "Hello mum!"

 Wondering if the vikings landed on this side and how long before the monks realised what was happening.

 

 And then we went next door to The parish church of St Mary The Virgin

 Wood carving of the monks carrying St Cuthbert's body as they flee Lindisfarne.

 Beautiful wood.

 Stained glass windows.

 Art Work in the church.

This was a whistle stop tour and after looking around the ruins and the church we had an hour before the causeway would be impassable due to a rising tide, so just enough time for a coffee stop and a peek at some of the shops:

By now we had twenty minutes left before our deadline and this is when everything went pear shaped!

Hiccup number one ~ the mobility scooter stopped dead, just as we were approaching the road to the car park.

Hiccup number two ~ I had lost my car and house keys, ack!!

So whilst Dave shambled along back to the car in order to move it and then load the defunct scooter, I ran (literally) back to the priory, church and visitor centre retracing my steps!  It was a good job I was not wearing Birkenstock Sandals, otherwise I would have been running barefoot!!

The keys were in the visitor centre and the scooter was loaded into the car, with ten minutes to spare!  It is not called a pilgrimage for nothing :-)

On the way home we stopped at Seahouses for a fish and chip supper:

 Remembering our holiday cottage from last year.

So glad to be back at the cottage safe and sound x