Once upon a time John owned a Subaru

Once upon a time John had a Subaru.  To make up for going suburban with a Volvo estate I took him to the Rally Cross at Knockhill Circuit

The Circuit has some magnificent views over the Fife countryside.

You can even make out the cars on the Forth Bridge.

And they're off!

I took quite a few pictures of cars but I have spared you and only picked out a couple.

I'm especially proud of this one.

Keren, Jason, Tristan and Angus come to visit

Keren, Jason and their two little boys, Tristan and Angus have been visiting from Australia.  It was great that they found the time to spend a few days in Scotland.

We couldn't let them go without playing tourist for the day so here is the Graham clan outside Edinburgh Castle.

Tristan enjoyed playing a leap frog on the way down the Royal Mile.

Keren and Angus survey the Scottish Parliament. 

 Love it or hate it, it's quite a landmark in the capital now.

Angus seemed to enjoy himself anyway.

The next day the Scottish weather got the better of us and so we decided to explore the Museum of Flight.

Tristan admiring the cockpit of one of the many planes on display. 

 A future career in mind maybe.

The museum was chosen as the home for  

Alpha Alpha, a Concorde that is sadly no longer in service.

Jason and John admire the engineering. 

Anyone would think they knew something about aeronautics!

The pre-cursor to the smart car. 

Apparently designed by an aeroplane manufacturer to offset the downturn in the market.

Lonach Highland Gathering & Games

This year was the 169th annual Lonach Highland Gathering taking place at Strathdon near Aberdeen.

We attended this year to represent the Clan Milne along with some of Pippa's Mum and Dads friends. The weather wasn't great but fortunately we were well prepared - with a couple of Gazebo's.

An excellent lunch was of course provided and enjoyed by all.

The day's events start with the March of the Clansmen at 8 am where, carrying pikes and standards, they visit prominent households in the area claiming a wee dram of whisky at each stop. This includes a visit to Candacraig House owned by comedian Billy Connolly and his wife Pamela Stephenson. A horse and cart follows behind for those that don't make it...

Eventually, after lunch at the village hall, the Clansmen make it to the arena and march to great applause.

Other activities included tossing the caber, throwing the hammer and the tug of war and well as traditional scottish dancing and pipe bands.

Traprain Law

A few weeks ago we did a walk up Traprain Law. This is a large volcanic outcrop not far from Spott.

It wasn't a great day but even so the view from the top was impressive.

We decided to come down from the top via a route with various signs - 'Footpath Closed' and 'Loose Rocks'. Still, we didn't let this put us off......

A couple of people near the top stood and watched as we came slithering down. We decided to call our new activity 'Bumbling' as it involved use of that part of the anatomy.

A pub lunch in nearby East Linton soon revived us.

Breaking News!

We are a bit behind with our blogging but thought that the sale of our house in Leeds and the purchase of a new little car deserved a quick update to the site.

Some of you may recognise our previous house in Elmete Grove, well we're pleased to say that as of Friday it now belongs to Mr and Mrs Smith. Honestly!

We are now looking for something in East Lothian.

We also have a new addition to the family. After some bad experiences with our well travelled Volvo we decided that a new backup vehicle was in order. Here is our new Smart car, Hildie, on a trip to the beach.

Melrose 7's Rugby

This weekend we went to the Melrose Rugby 7's Tournament with Pippa's Mum and Dad. Rugby 7's were invented in Melrose - it's a game of rugby played by 7 on each side, each half is 7 minutes long and it's played on a full size pitch. The whole tournament is played in one day.

We were blessed with the best weather of the year, the sun shone and it was a beautiful warm day.

The four of us in the stand.

Lots of people came in fancy dress. As well as this bunch of bananas there were Santas, Penguins and superheros!

The Army Parachute display team dropped in to deliver the ball for the final game.

Easter at Neil & Clair's

This Easter we flew down to Bristol to visit Neil and Clair. On our first day we hit Bath. It was a cold but sunny day and so inevitably we found a pub in which to warm up.

All the pictures are taken by Neil as we remembered our camera but forgot the memory card - oops! Neil also does great Wood Cut Prints - His website (Inky Fingers) can be found in our links section on the right hand side of the site.

What you don't see in this picture is the technical issues associated with the self timer.

Nor do you see the impressive catch Neil made when the camera fell off table!

On our second day we headed to Wales and the Welsh Heritage Museum.

They have reconstructed houses from across Wales all dating from different eras.

The school house.

John and Clair taking in the history lesson from one of the guides.

Day three and we visited Snowshill Manor. It was owned by Charles Wade. He lived in the Priest's House and used the Manor as an exhibition space for the many items he collected.

On our final day we braved the cold and wet and visited Windmill Tump (an ancient burial site).