Good News

Well, after much trouble we found a microwave repair-man locally, and he managed to do the job in a day for £22. And considering that a comparable microwave would have cost about £122 we are very pleased.

Now we just have to work on getting a new oven. But at least we have something to cook food in if it finally gives up the ghost. Although it has been behaving well recently (which is why we still haven't managed to replace it).

We are on half-term in our neck of the woods, which means no school for a week.

We went with 50 of our nearest and dearest Church Family members to a Youth Hostel at New Lanark for the weekend. We took over the whole place and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. There were about 20 kids and of course they enjoyed each other's company immensely.

It rained quite a bit while we were there, but that meant that we got to see the nearby waterfall of Corra Linn (the hostel overlooks the River Clyde) in both gentle

and torrential

modes!

After that we went over to visit a friend in North Berwick, just to the right of Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth. His garden backs onto the beach, and so the boys were in 7th heaven!

This was the view from our bedroom window. Lovely!

The Island of Fidra, which was the inspiration for RL Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' was just down the coast, and easily visible from the house. We visited the beach nearest Fidra one evening...

These sunset pictures were taken from the North Berwick beach, within minutes of each other. Look at how the colours change!

Appliance Suicide

Our kitchen appliances are all dying, one by one. I am beginning to wonder if we have a gremlin! Or maybe they're complaining of overwork?

First, the fan in the fan oven is temperamental. It seems to only turn on when the oven temp reaches 'hot enough' (whatever that is, I don't know. I have just learned to turn it on and eventually the fan will kick in). We do have plans to replace the oven, but seeing as I am lazy I haven't done it yet. Bad idea to wait until it dies entirely? Probably, but hey...

May be definitely a bad idea, since our microwave seems to be giving up the ghost. When I say 'giving up' I mean, 'has given up and is just faking it'. It looks fine (no burn marks, no funny smells) it looks like it's working (turns, light on, makes noise) but nothing heats up. Hmmm.... Time to get a new microwave? Probably, but have you seen the price of microwaves these days? Yow! Beginning to wonder about calling a repair-man.

Which is exactly what we had to do for the washing machine last Thursday, when after acting wierd (stopping mid wash and not spinning) and being forced to spin a load of clothes that seemed clean, just sopping wet it started moaning loudly, followed by a burning smell... EEEK! Pull out from under shelf! Unplug! Unplug! Luckily we have this little beauty insured. We bought it when Pip was a wee baby and so it's now about 8 yrs old. It has had its drum changed, and its bearings changed already, so the insurance is worth it (also cheaper and more environmentally responsible than buying a new one). They sent out a nice man on Monday and he fixed it in 24 mins!!!! Apparently the motor had gone (hence the lack of spin) and in doing this it fried the control panel (behind the buttons) and the door lock mechanism (hence the burning smell). But lickety split it was all replaced and good as new...

Jubilation all 'round! Clean knickers once again! (tmi?)

So anyway, now considering the cost of calling a repair-man for the micro (surely less than buying a new one?) and which will be the best new oven for us... Our current (ancient - came with the house) model has the controls up high, against the wall above a 'back-splash' sort of thingy. Which means that little fingers can't fiddle. These days they seem to be built with all the controls just at the eye height of a 3 yr old... Brilliant design. Ho hum. Also want a A-rated one for energy efficiency. Which narrows the field.

Anyone (in the UK) have any recommendations for ovens?

Spiders and Dogs

Look who we found scuttling across our kitchen floor the other evening. He was a biggie. You can tell because that's a drinking glass he's under! Dude christened him 'goliath'.

Spiders seem to be everywhere at the moment. If they're not making sparkly webs in the bushes (where they should be) they are wandering around the kitchen or hanging out in the shower. Not really the best place for a spider to be.

I don't mind spiders... I don't want to cuddle one, and I don't want one to walk on me... but in general I am happy to have them around, just at a distance. We have a pact. They don't bother me, I don't bother them... It even goes so far as the embarrassing fact that when at school they did a project about their pets (we don't have one) Pip did his about his pet spider! (I am sure there was an alternative project he could have done... children without pets would not have been ostracised!)

But never-the-less, I don't really want big hairy beasts sitting down at the kitchen table and demanding dinner. There are enough of those who I actually DO have to feed! So goliath got sent outside to hunt for his own dinner.

In other news: driving home from school the other day and Dude called from the back 'Mummy! Look! It's a rainbow sun!' And so it was... the conditions were right to produce a Sun Dog! It wasn't a brilliant one - and my photo of it is even less than brilliant... note to self: take a picture that includest the sun next time! In my defense it was quite small, and so I zoomed right in.

They are so amazingly cool, and we see them so rarely, and if the clouds change between when you spot it and when you find your camera, or someone to show, then it will have gone... so I rushed the job. Good thing I did though, because in this photo it is less bright than it was, and in the subsequent photos I took it was even less visible.

So there you go, your weekend activities: spider hunting and keeping an eye out for sun dogs...

Oh, just remembered... Pip is having a friend over tomorrow night for his very first sleepover... wish us luck!