Lumberjacking

We are in Kingussie today and with the help of Uncle Ian we did a little bit of surgery on Granny's cherry tree. The tree needed a bit of pruning, particularly after a couple of bad hair cuts (not by us!) in the past.

Dad wasn't up in the tree for long when I asked if I should join him for an #inappropriateparenting photo. You should see some of Dad's Instagram feed for more examples inappropriate parenting!

We did a good job though and the tree's looking a lot better. Dad and Uncle Ian plan to have another go at it soon to make it better still.

Creag Bheag

Today, while Mum painted my new bedroom at Granny's, Dad and I climbed Creag Bheag. This is the first proper hill that I've climbed and it was a lot of fun!

Near to the top we took a wee detour off the beaten path to get out to a ridge to look down on Granny's garden. Dad called Mum and she took a break from her painting to stand in the garden and wave to us and try to spot us so far away on the hill. We at least could tell exactly where she should be and we had binoculars with us. She on the other hand, was left gazing at a large hillside with her dodgy eyesight wondering where we could be! Amazingly, she did spot us eventually so we were all happy we were where we said we were!

Dad and I continued up the hill with me telling Dad stories and asking him questions all the way while he wheezed and panted just in front of me (holding me up). At the top we met a nice old lady who described the alternate way down the back of the hill and along the golf course. We continued up the little seat cairn and had some lunch before heading down the other side.

We stopped off at Lagan Loch to throw rocks in and then continued waving to the golfers as we passed. It was a lovely day and great fun - it's also one of my 50 things to do before I'm 11 and three quarters! Dad's really looking forward to walking more hills with me!

Rolling Down a Hill

Today it was pretty cold. But it was also mostly sunny. When it wasn't sunny it snowed, which was interesting, but it didn't snow for very long. We went to the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore to meet a friend of Mum's and her son who is a friend of mine. We'd been there yesterday and had a lot of fun so we thought it would be a good place to go again to play.

And play we did! We played at the park, we explored in the woods, and we found a nice hill to roll down. Rolling down a really big hill is one of the 50 things to do before you're 11 and 3/4. Dad's had me try it before but I've never enjoyed it because I always ended up rolling in circles. I managed to get a much better hang of it this time though and my friend and I rolled down the hill for ages while the Mums and Dads explored the 1700s township.

I asked my friend what his Dad did for a living at one point. The conversation went a bit like this:
Me: "What does your dad do?!"
Him: "He's a painter."
Me: "What?!"
Him: "He's a painter."
Me: "What?!" (we were running about and I couldn't hear very well)
Him: "He paints things!"
Me: "Well my Dad works at Sky and when we watch the telly we get it for free!"

We also found a few more wildcats. Dad had spotted these in Newtonmore the day before and while driving through we'd counted how many we could see in people's gardens, on garage roofs and elsewhere. We'd managed seven and figured we'd done quite well - there would only be about 10 or so, surely? We asked at the museum how many there are and it turns out there are about 150! We did find some more at the museum with my friend though!

Feshie in the Snow

This morning Dad and I took Mum to Feshie to see the cairns. It had snowed a bit overnight so they were looking particularly cool with their little covering. I also took the opportunity to work on another of the 50 things to do before you're 11 and 3/4 and skimmed a stone or two on the river. That took a *lot* of practice but I did manage it in the end! And I was able to throw some snow. So in this one location (admittedly over two days) I've climbed a tree, thrown snow, skimmed a stone and balanced on a fallen tree. It would also be true to say that very near here I've been geocaching, although that was another time (but it is one of the 50 things!).

Here are some more pictures...

Feshie River Cairns

On the front page of the Strathy this week was an article about some cairns that have popped up alongside the river Feshie. The article deliberately didn't give any detail about where exactly it was but with a little google mapping and an educated guess about where they were most likely, Dad and I went out looking for them.

Our guess was right and they were well worth the trip. Majestic little stone towers on the bank of the river. Lots of them. Someone had been extremely busy! We added our own and it was only while attempting this that we begun to appreciate just the amount of effort that had gone into building these. Some were as big as me! Dad and me couldn't make any nearly that big before they would fall over.

Also in the area was a fallen tree. This was perfect because just that morning there had been an article on the paper about the National Trusts new campaign of 50 things to do before you're 11 and 3/4. Dad had checked out the list and was pleased to see that I'd already completed most of them but there were a few still to do. One or two he was very surprised we hadn't already done at some point and here we had an opportunity to cross one of those off. That was walking across a fallen tree. It turned out to be a lot of fun and we spent about as much time on this tree as we did building cairns! Enjoy the photos (and see if you can spot me on some of the ones of the tree!)...

This isn't forced perspective - they really are as tall as me!

 Can you see me in the background building my own cairn?

Here we go!

The finished article!

One fallen tree...

I'm up there somewhere!

Kingussie Randoms

We've come up to Kingussie for the last few days of the Easter fortnight. Until now the weather on our holiday has been pretty poor but up here it's been amazing. Dad's spent ages in the garden and had the biggest fire burning for the longest time. I think with all the wood, including taking down Grandpa's greenhouse, he's kept that fire burning for 2 days straight!

Anyway, here are some random pictures he's taken...

Angry fire monster! It was me who pointed out to him that it looked like a face.

Me dressed as a pirate. Granny and Grandpa gave me this costume for my birthday - it was just what I wanted too!

Creag Dubh from the Highland Folk Museum. Been a while since we've been here and we only saw a tiny part of it this morning but it's really nice. Must come back soon and see more of it.

Moving

Everyone agrees I'm getting too big to continue sleeping on the floor in the same room as Mum and Dad when we stay at Granny and Grandpa's so Grandpa has very kindly agreed to relinquish his workshop. We all feel bad about this, and not just because it's going to be quite a lot of work to get all his gear out of there and then get the room decorated and carpeted!

So, after everyone had picked it clear of everything worth keeping, it was time to help Dad dismantle his workbench and lift the floor and then get all of that stuff out to the shed ready to be burned. Ah, I knew there would be something else worthwhile in all this - can't wait to burn this stuff!

Retro Games

It's a bit wet outside. Time to beat Dad at some retro games..!