Holiday tales continued...

Wednesday was the one day when it rained last week. We had some more outdoor stuff planned but the rain wasn't enough to stop us hardy souls!

Firstly, we went to a local Ranger led Bushcraft Skills session. It kind of had 'ideal for little (and big) boys' written all over it.

The Ranger taught everyone how to build shelters using only what you could find in the forest. The boys (big and small) set to it with great enthusiasm. 

Here is the bare bones of the shelter.

Now here it is looking a bit more shelter-like.

Getting covered up with leaves.

And the end result.

After the shelter building it was time to learn how to light a fire without using matches. Given how damp it was this wasn't an easy task! 

You know the saying though, there is no smoke without fire!

After all of this we went to a nearby beach for our picnic, which I confess we ate in the warmth and comfort (and dryness) of our cars, but then we ventured down to the beach for a little run around.

Here is our David with his 3 year old cousin. Where-ever these two are to be found there is mischief to be found, especially when they are together!

Then it was off to Dunrobin Castle, which had been home to the Duke of Sutherland, he of the Highland Clearances notoriety.

We weren't so much interested in seeing round the castle (we've been round it before), but in the falconry displays that take place in the grounds. They are really amazing. The bird handler has the birds swoop right down over your head and you can often feel the wing tip swoop past your cheek!

Our little animal lover, Calum, was particularly excited about seeing these.

This is a Harris Hawk, the only hawk to hunt in groups.

This is an Ally Bally, as he is affectionately known by his 5 year old brother. (He's smiling here by the way, not grimacing!)

And this is some sort of falcon. I should really ask Calum which sort it is. It's very like a Peregrine, if that's any good to you?

Here is the castle from the grounds.

And again, with four princes by the fountain.

These are now the impressive grounds, taken from the castle.

Gaelic word of the day:

uisge (ish-ge) - rain

This is one of those words pronounced differently depending where you are from. On our island you would say ish-ge but elsewhere it would be oosh-ge. Not a big difference, but worth pointing out.

Just to confuse you all a bit more, on our island uisge is only used to talk about rain. Elsewhere it also means water, that's why whisky is known as uisge beatha (water of life). We have a special word for water, bùrn booorn, which as far as I know is only used by people from our island, though I should really check that with my dad, who was a Gaelic scholar!

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We're back!....

...and we had a really lovely holiday.

The weather was great, mostly. It only rained once and that didn't stop what we had planned for that day. We knew we would love the cottage as we have been there twice before. Two years ago and four years ago. It was the first time my brother and his family had been there though, but I'm pretty sure they would go back, as would we, again.

Seven boys under one roof wasn't as chaotic as you might think either!

I thought I'd share some of my favourite photos and some of what we did over the next few days, rather than try and cram it into the one post.



Sunday was really, really warm and sunny. Much warmer than you would expect for this time of year.



Our holiday cottage was about 20 minutes drive from Lairg, and that's where we went to church. We were all invited to have lunch with the minister and his family.

Slight tangent here - the last time we were up here I got talking to the minister's wife, we were the same age and expecting babies at about the same time (a month later), and she said, 'Don't you remember me? We were at church camp together'  - we had been, when we were 10!

Back to this holiday.

Before lunch we had a wander through the village, where the boys met this friendly 'local'.

Lairg sits in a beautiful spot on Loch Shin.

Here's another local.

Alasdair was so excited to see lots of 'mehs'.

Calum loved the eagle.

Daddy tried a spot of deer riding.

Then we went back for lunch. It was such a lovely day that we all agreed we should eat outside. The manse is right next to the church, and since there was no garden furniture we helped get some tables and chairs out of the church hall.

There was a lovely 'garden party' feel to the whole afternoon.


So that was Sunday.


Monday, we met up with my husband's uncle (my father in law and all his ancestors are from this part of the world, but more of that in another post).

On Monday evening we headed off for an evening stroll around the gorge near the cottage. 

The walk takes you up and up to the top of the gorge...

....where you get this view of the waterfall,

(I couldn't decide which was best!)

and then down alongside the river till you get to a calmer spot.......

...where a carved bear waits for you!


Before heading back to the cottage there had to be time for a spot of stone throwing.






Then once at the cottage it was time to chop some wood for the stove and fire.

OK, one more day in tonight's post.


Tuesday was quite a chilled day, and we went to a different forest for a walk.

It was very civilised. 

We stopped for a picnic lunch in the middle of the forest and the boys got to indulge in some more stone throwing, as well as log throwing and hiding in the trees.

 

Then it was time to hit the trail again......

.......before heading back to the cottage to spend the rest of the afternoon playing snooker.

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'Hi, this is the school calling.......'

Uh- oh, not what you want to hear at lunchtime!

But I did, yesterday at about 1.30pm.

'..............Calum's fallen off the climbing frame and hurt his hand. Do you want us to take him to A&E at the Sick Children's hospital and you can meet us there?'

Um. What else was there to say really? 

'OK.'

Alasdair and I got in the car and drove to the hospital, where we met our brave wee Calum.

He had landed on his hand but it was his finger that really bothered him. His right index finger was purple, swollen and he couldn't feel the top third of it. 

The doctor took one look at it, and sent him for an x-ray.

This was very exciting for Alasdair!

The x-ray showed that he had broken his index finger. He had been so brave, that despite the swelling and colour I was still surprised it was broken.

Because of the awkward place where the break is, he has been put in a plaster cast from the tips of his fingers to almost his elbow!

For 10 days.

Just in time for the school holidays.

We are off on holiday for a week tomorrow to a cottage in a place called Lairg, up near the very north of Scotland. It is a really beautiful part of the country. Lots of forests and rolling hills. 

We have been to the same cottage twice before and love it so much we keep going back. This time my brother, his wife and 3 boys are coming too so it's even more exciting! The cottage is nice and big.

I'll be back next Saturday, so until then.........

xx

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Recipe of the Week - Chicken Fajitas (with wheat-free tortilla wraps)

I love chicken fajitas. Back in the days before I had boys with allergies, I used to buy the boxed fajita kits. You know, the ones where you cook your own chicken & onions then add the sachet of spice mix. The tortillas and salsa are also included in the box.

Unfortunately the spice mix also contains wheat, and the tortilla wraps are obviously a no-no for Calum & Alasdair.

So, I read what spices were in the mix and set about making my own version. At first, I would serve our fajitas with the wraps and cook some potato wedges for Calum, or give him some of his own bread rolls to have with his, as I have never been able to source wheat-free tortillas. Even the corn ones have some wheat in them.

Then one day, after reading an Indian cookbook about making chapatis, I thought if chapatis are just flour and water then tortillas could work the same. They were a success, and Calum loved his own special wraps. I should point out that they won't be as pliable as the flour ones. They are a bit firmer, but you can still put the fajita mix in the middle and fold it over into a wee parcel. 

For the fajitas you will need:

500g (roughly) of chicken, chopped into thin-ish slices

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 sliced pepper, green, red or yellow

1/2 tsp (or more if you want) chilli powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

3 tsp paprika

1 lime, zest of half of it and the juice of all of it

handful of chopped fresh coriander 

For the tortillas you will need:

8oz Doves Farm SR Wheat-Free flour

cold water

~Heat a wok or frying pan with a little oil until hot and sizzling and heat another frying pan or griddle for the tortillas.

~Add the onions & garlic to the oiled pan and soften, then add the chicken, stirring often.

~While the chicken is browning, mix in enough cold water to the flour to make a dough. I find the best way to do this is to add a little at a time and mix the flour around with a knife.

~Take a little handful of the dough, roll into a ball, place on a floured surface and roll out quite thinly. These are quite easy to break so don't make them too big. 

~Place on your other pan/griddle and cook for just a couple of minutes each side. Wrap in a bundle of foil to keep warm while you make the rest.

~Once the chicken looks like it is properly browned all over (about 10 minutes) add the chilli, cumin, ground coriander, paprika, and sliced pepper.

(I also have a pan of broccoli steaming in the background as little Alasdair loves his broccoli!)

~Continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked throughout.

~Add the lime zest, juice and chopped coriander.

~Put the wraps and pan of chicken on the table, along with some salsa, guacamole, lettuce and sour cream (for those who are allowed it!) and let everyone assemble their own fajitas with whatever they choose.

~I'm afraid to confess that my boys are Philistines and choose to add tomato sauce instead of salsa! 

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Work in Progress Wednesday - Cards & Corsages

This is a collage of the Gaelic greeting's cards I made last week to sell at the Mod. Some of them are new designs while others are ones I have been making for a while.

I have a website for selling my cards which I am busy updating with the new cards.

I also made up these little crochet flower corsages/brooches which proved quite popular. I'm thinking of getting an Etsy store up and running too, to start selling a few wee crochet creations.

One of these days anyway!

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The Local Mòd

It seems like I have been talking about this for weeks, but the local Mòd  took place here on Saturday. 

The Mòd is a Gaelic music/arts festival, well competition really. Our local one has competitions for children only, but the National Mòd has competitions for adults as well. The National Mòd takes place in October, in a different place each year. This year it will be in the Western Isles, where I am from. You can read more about the local Mòd here and the National Mòd here if you want.

Our local Mòd competition categories include; solo singing, poetry recitation, story-telling, unseen Bible reading, conversation, solo fiddle playing, solo clarsach playing, solo chanter and pipe playing, choral singing, group instrument playing. There are also written competitions such as poetry and short story and a short film category which are all submitted in advance. Each category is split into age groups to make things fairer.

James and David both entered the solo singing competition. James also entered the chanter, unseen Bible reading and conversation competitions. He had entered a poem, short story and short film in advance.

Calum entered unseen Bible reading, conversation, poem and short story competitions.

The results:

James came 3rd for Bible reading and conversation. He came 2nd for his short story. He was so excited to find out the result of the short film competition (his entry is here for those who haven't seen it yet) but there was some problem with the judge returning from holiday and so we are still waiting for the results of that one!

Calum came 2nd in Bible reading and conversation. He was 1st in his written poem and short story.

Here are the boys wearing their medals when we got home.

A close up of Calum...

........and a close up of James.

Just to add to all the links I already have in this post, if anyone missed an earlier post about our different tartans (and is remotely interested!) it can be found here.

There were a few craft stalls in the cafe area, one of which I had to sell my Gaelic cards. I was really pleased with how many sold as I don't really go to many craft fairs. Just the Mòd and a couple of Christmas fairs really. This was definitely my most successful sale so far.

A good day had by all!

Gaelic word of the day:

seinn (shu-een) - to sing

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Mother's Day

Being the only girl in a houseful of boys means that on special days you are treated like the only princess in the house, which you are!

On Friday afternoon I was forbidden to enter one of the bedrooms as the boys were busy up there making something.

That something was this little treasure chest for Mother's Day (which in the UK, was celebrated yesterday).

It was made from an empty tea-bag box, covered in fabric scraps and then filled with love-heart sweeties and some promise slips. The sweeties had been collected over the last few weeks. Every Monday the oldest three boys go to Monday Club at church. At the end of Monday Club they get a little bag with a handful of sweeties in it. Often there are love-heart sweeties in there, and for the last few weeks the boys have been keeping back these ones and making a little collection of them for the treasure chest!

I haven't cashed in any of my tokens yet, but I'm looking forward to my '20 minutes peace and quiet' or 'help in the kitchen' or even 'looking after Ally for an hour'!

They also gave me these fridge-magnet flowers that they had made at Monday Club. There was even one with a photo of Alasdair. Since we have an integrated fridge in our kitchen then we can't hang magnets on it so I have them on the bread-maker instead.

Another present was a little collection of Playmobil and Lego (what else?) figures to represent my roles. These are quite funny.

There are, from left to right: a mum, a cook (a medieval one with a rather fetching corset!), a tennis player (no, I'm not sure why she's there either. James said it was because she was sporty like me, but don't believe that for a minute!), an ice-skater ('because you used to ice skate lots when you were younger' - I did), a secret agent (??) and a police lady (perhaps because I spent half my life trying to keep the peace?)

There was also a lovely bunch of flowers and some hand-made cards, breakfast in bed, and Sunday dinner was cooked by the boys and my beloved.

A very special mother's day from some very special boys.

And, finally, Alasdair's skin is sooo much better. I couldn't get a clear shot of his worst hand as he won't keep still for me, but even though it's blurry you can still see the improvement. His body is clearing up nicely too, as is his face. I have only been using steroid cream on his hands so the flare up on his body was obviously down to the infection.

Gaelic word of the day:

màthair (maaa-hair) - mother

Mod results in tomorrow's post. The Mod, for those who were asking, is a Gaelic music/arts competition.

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Goirts and gee-yachs

It's been a bit of a busy week in our house this week, hence the slight neglecting of the blog the last couple of days.

I was busy making lots of cards to have on my craft stall at the Mod today (more about the Mod next week) and then Alasdair's eczema had a major flare up that quickly became infected. This resulted in even more scratching and even less sleep than usual. Wednesday and Thursday nights he (and I!) hardly slept at all.

He almost always has eczema on his hands, and the last couple of weeks he has had some really nasty looking cracks on them. I think it was through one of these that the infection started. By Wednesday night his hands were really puffy, covered in pus-filled spots, and the cracks were weeping.  His eczema everywhere else escalated too and was beginning to weep.

This was his poor little hand at the start of the infection. It actually got worse than this!

On Thursday I got an emergency appointment at the GP who prescribed a course of antibiotics for him. He really hates the medicine, which he has to have four times a day for seven days, but he is being very good about taking it. I told him it will make his 'goirt nas fhearr' (gorsht na shar) [sore better] and so he will open up and take a spoonful. He always follows this with a 'Gee-yach!' of disgust :0)

When he was smaller he seemed to have an infection every couple of months or so, and this is actually the first time he has needed antibiotics for nearly a year. This is one way to see the improvement in his skin, when at times it really doesn't feel like there has been one at all.

After only 24 hours of the antibiotics the weeping had settled down and the pus-spots had gone right down. He had scratched so much that there is an awful lot of sore-ness and broken skin left, although it isn't bothering him nearly as much. Last night he only woke up twice!

Only four more days of the medicine to go, and counting!

Gaelic word of the day:
goirt (gorsht) - sore
tha làmh agam goirt (ha lav agam gorsht) - my hand is sore

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