Blenheim Palace

We are in Oxfordshire for a few days, and today we visited Blenheim Palace. This cost us the princely sum of £82 for two annual memberships, the only ticket that they sell. Ouch. It was a beautiful sunny day and it was quite quiet which was a bonus. There are statues and fountains in the beautiful gardens, through which flows the River Cherwell. We visited the state rooms of the palace which were decorated with grand furniture, tapestries and paintings. We walked around the gardens along the river, and then visited the large walled garden and explored the maze, which was hilarious; I got totally lost and James had to rescue me! 
In the evening we went a cinema in Oxford to see the latest Bridget Jones film, which was fairly enjoyable although predictable, and inevitably rather sad in places due to its subject matter of bereavement. Our Premier Inn at Oxford Airport is only a twenty minute drive into the town centre, and also very near Blenheim Palace. 

Welcome to the family Harris!

I have a new Grand-Cat! His name is Harris and he is a wee brother to Skye. Not biologically, but in the same way as Tom and Floof. I’m so pleased that Davie and Chanel have decided to get another cat as Skye’s companion. Skye was a year old rescue cat when they got her but Harris is only nine weeks old and comes from a farm in Lanark. I went to visit him this afternoon- he is so cute! He is a black and white kitten and his markings are beautiful. He is very active and runs about constantly, playing with his toy mouse. James and I have both fallen in love with him. Skye was quite shy when I arrived, but she soon came out from behind the couch to say hello. Davie told me that she is already showing an interest in Harris although she’s not sure about his loud miaowing! I’m sure that they will soon be good friends. 
Alison and Hugh stayed overnight with us last night on their way back from their holiday to Tenerife. It was great to see them and they both looked tanned and healthy after their holiday. After breakfast they set off northwards to be reunited with their gorgeous cats Ash and Birch. 

70th Birthday Afternoon Tea

On Sunday I went to Janet’s 70th birthday afternoon tea (her actual birthday was Monday 24th Feb) at Prestonfield House in Edinburgh. This lovely hotel is very near Janet’s house and we have walked in its grounds many times when the boys were wee. There were about a dozen of us from different parts of Janet’s life and she had helpfully put our relationship to her on our placecards! For example mine said Susan Anderson, Cousin; while others said “Walking Group” or “Neighbour” or “School Friend.” It made for a good conversation starter as we all discussed where and when we had met Janet. The afternoon tea was delightful and was served on display stands, with copious amounts of Prosecco (including non alcoholic Prosecco) and tea and coffee. There was a quiz and a lot of chat and laughter; I really liked Janet’s friends and also enjoyed reconnecting with her sister-in-law Jill who I haven’t seen for many years. And it was great getting the chance to chat with Anne, what a delightful young woman she is. 
Monday was intense. I spent the morning observing three Children’s Hearings. They were virtual hearings but I managed to join the meetings ok; there was a really good virtual support person who ensured that everyone was signed in and sent them new links if there was a problem. It was all very interesting. 
And today James and I went over to Morag’s, it was very nice to see her and Gordon, and she made us a brilliant lunch. It’s the first time that we have visited her home, which is absolutely beautiful. 
It will come as no surprise to those who know me that I lack self confidence and can be hurt all too easily. But today James said some very kind things to me. I was very moved; he really has my back. And coincidentally three separate people all happened to reach out to me today to arrange to meet up. I felt touched; I’m really very lucky. 

A visit to Crail

This week has been busy because as soon as we arrived back from holiday I had to throw myself into preparation for my third Children’s Panel training day. This took me all of Monday, and then Tuesday was the training day itself which was intense as usual. On Wednesday David and Chanel popped round after Chanel’s hospital appointment about her injured hand. The specialist hopes that it will heal without needing surgery which is good news. It was great to see them both and we had lunch and a lovely chat. 

And today James and I travelled through to Crail to see Margaret and to visit her new home for the first time. I have already seen photos of it but of course it is even better to actually be there. It is a fabulous house with views of the sea, and less than five minutes walk to the beach. It is also in walk-in condition, beautifully decorated and with a huge garden at the back. It has a garden at the front too and is situated above the level of the road so it’s nice and private. We walked to the nearby Crail Harbour Café for an excellent light lunch. We have been there before, little did we know that one day Margaret would be living a stone’s throw from it! We also briefly met Margaret’s gorgeous cat Kenzie, who has travelled all the way from Arizona with Margaret to her new home in Scotland. 

Back to Toulouse

Our time in Toulouse has flown past. On Friday we had petit déjeuner at a restaurant in the main square which was lovely and very French. Then we set off by car to Carcassone. It is an absolutely beautiful town in two parts; the medieval city on the hill and the town across the river. We walked right round the ramparts, which was about 1.4 km, and explored the castle. The views across the red roofs of the town were so beautiful. There is a great legend about how Carcassonne got its name; after Charlemagne besieged the city the lady of the city, Dame Carcas, fattened up a pig with the last of their supplies of grain and then had it thrown from the castle wall; it landed in front of the attackers and exploded. Charlemagne was convinced by this that the residents must still have plenty of supplies so he gave up the siege. As they rode away Dame Carcas started the city bells ringing in triumph. One of Charlemagne’s knights said the him, “Dame Carcas sonne!” We walked across the bridge to the lower town and then had lunch in a wee square at the top of the hill just under the castle walls; James and Ally had cassoulet which is the local speciality. 
Since Friday was Valentine’s Day we encouraged Ally and Cat to go out for a romantic meal in the city by themselves. James and I went to a nearby restaurant which served tapas and had our own wee romantic meal!
The highlight of Saturday was our much anticipated trip to the Airbus factory. James has fancied visiting this for years so he was delighted. I had managed to book us two tours; one of the A400M and a longer tour by bus of the manufacturing area of the A350. We also had plenty of time in the museum and went on the Concorde which was on display. 
On Sunday we went for a walk all around the centre of Toulouse and had breakfast at the main square again. It was good to get to know the city better; it is very attractive. We visited the Basilique Saint-Sernin, a prominent Romanesque church, and crossed the Pont St Pierre and the ancient Pont Neuf (well I suppose it was new once!) My favourite place was the Couvent des Jacobins with its gorgeous cloisters and colourful stained glass which made beautiful patterns as the light shone through it on to the pink walls. 

Snowmobiling!

Davie and Chanel left Pas de la Casa at 3 a.m. this morning to travel to Barcelona for their flight home. When we went down for breakfast without them I really missed them. James, Ally, Cat and I checked out of the hotel, and went by car to Gras Roig for a special treat; Ally and Cat had booked a Snowmobile session for James’ birthday! It was a breathtakingly beautiful morning and we had great fun. We have never been snowmobiling before and it was both exhilarating and very speedy; at some points I thought that I was going to bounce right off the snowmobile.
Then we went to Andorra La Vella, the tiny capital city of this tiny country. Set in a steep-sided valley it was a prosperous looking town with lots of sculptures and high end shops. We had lunch in Restaurant 120 in the main shopping street where Cat and I had tasty Escalivada, a traditional Catalan dish of smoky grilled vegetables, served as a toastie. We travelled back through the mountains and over the border into France, and on to Toulouse where Cat had booked a smart apartment near the city centre, so we could walk everywhere. We had dinner at a wee restaurant called La Binocle where the waiter was absolutely determined to impose his terrible English on us even though I was speaking to him in my perfectly acceptable (if I say so myself) French. He also seemed nervous about the process of being a waiter and said things like “I’m going to clear away your plates now. Is that ok?” The food was excellent and we headed to bed replete and tired after our exciting day. 

Fondue

This morning was our last ski day and we headed over to Grau Roig. I was delighted that I skied the big red so much better this time, encouraged by Davie who led me down part of the way when it was particularly steep. Then onto some blues which were in great condition and uncrowded. I split from the others at this point and skied on my own for a bit, finishing with the long blue run Pista Port which took me right to the wee café where we exit the slopes. It was such an excellent last run of the holiday for me, I felt full of confidence, used all of my skills and as a bonus I had the run almost completely to myself. 
I returned my skis and met up with Chanel at the ski hire shop, and we travelled by bus and minibus to Grau Roig. We had our lunch with the others at the same wee restaurant that we ate at on Monday but this time we dined indoors because it had started to snow quite heavily. After a hearty and tasty meal the others went off to ski some more and Chanel and I made our way back to the hotel by bus. I was strangely tired and had an hour’s nap before getting showered and ready for dinner; we went to El Provençal where we had a delicious fondue. 

Football and Music

Day 3 of our lessons and unfortunately Chanel was not with us because of her injury yesterday. Santiago was dismayed that she had been hurt. The cloud was sweeping through the valley, sometimes almost completely obscuring the runs, and the next minute we were back to sunshine again. Santi said that when the cloud is low the ski instructors call the valley Mordor! After an hour my right knee was hurting quite a bit; I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and said my farewells and returned to the hotel. To look on the bright side this gave Cat nearly two hours of individual tuition, which she made the most of and enjoyed. 
Chanel and I took the Els Pioners gondola to meet the others for lunch at the open air restaurant at the top. Luckily the cloudy start to the day had transformed into a sunny afternoon so it was warm enough to sit outside, and it was very pleasant having our lunch while chatting and watching the skiers on the mountain. 
In the afternoon Chanel and I went for a walk around the town and had a look in the several small supermarkets to see if there was anything interesting. There was lots of booze and cigarettes and perfume; all I bought was a few snacks. It was a good wee walk. James and Cat arrived at the hotel shortly after we got back; they had enjoyed their afternoon on the slopes until they felt ready to head back. Ally and Davie stayed out on the pistes until closing time as usual; I’m really proud that they are such good skiers. Cat and I went for a swim and jacuzzi in the spa, which helped to stretch and relax my tired leg muscles. 
We had such a great evening. After a delicious dinner we arrived in the busy bar just as a family was about to vacate the best seats in the house; the two big couches beside the fire. As we settled in with our drinks a football match between Manchester City and Real Madrid started on the big screen across from us, and an excellent singer / guitarist sang in Catalan, Spanish and English. I felt very happy. 

Grau Roig

Today we girls had our second ski lesson while the boys again skied far and wide around the mountains and valleys of Grandvalira. This time Santi took us on blue runs while we practised what we learned yesterday. I wasn’t skiing as well as I did yesterday for some reason, but I still enjoyed the lesson. Meanwhile Cat and Chanel continued to make excellent progress. Both girls had changed their ski boots yesterday afternoon and felt more comfortable, and they were on great form. We had a couple of scary moments on one of the chairlifts; first of all I fell at the top when I was getting off and I think that I have bruised my coccyx because it feels very tender. Santiago claimed that it was his fault because he crossed one my skis with his, but I think that he was just being nice. My dignity was hurt worse than my backside as I rolled awkwardly out of the way of the next chair before Santi helped me up! Then we were getting onto the same chairlift later when Chanel suddenly slipped off the seat onto the ground in front of the chair. With a horrible inevitability, the chair hit her as we moved forwards, knocking her to the ground. The chairlift was stopped; I was absolutely horrified and thought that she must be injured but her helmet had protected her and not only was she was fine, she calmly got back onto the chairlift and continued skiing like a champion! 
The boys met us at the bottom of the gondola and took us over to Grau Roig for lunch. We skied down a big red which was steep at the start and I made too many turns at first, which annoyed me, but I improved as I descended, and then we skied a couple of blues. We had lunch at the excellent 3 Estanys restaurant (which is Catalan for Three Lakes.) We all had a lovely lunch and chat. Then James and I decided that our legs were tired and set off back to the hotel, ending with the nice long blue run Pista Port from the Diagonal chairlift. The only problem was that it was quite busy with other skiers heading back to Pas de la Casa so my skiing deteriorated again and I was glad to take my skis off at the wee café from where we walked the short distance back to the hotel. Meanwhile the young folk skied onwards with the energy of youth, skied into two further valleys, and were on their way back when Chanel fell and was injured; possibly a torn ligament at the base of her thumb. She had to get a plaster cast at the nearby medical centre and then our heroes Ally and Cat took the hire car to Grau Roig to collect her and Davie. When we met up with her and Davie for drinks in the bar before dinner she was being very brave despite the pain, and after our usual hearty repast we had a very pleasant evening playing cards in the bar. 

Smugglers in Pas de la Casa

Here we are in the very comfortable and friendly Grand Pas Hotel in Pas de la Casa in Andorra! James and I are having a pre dinner drink in the bar, where we will soon be joined by Ally, Cat, Davie and Chanel. Today was our first day of skiing in Andorra and it did not disappoint. Cat, Chanel and I had the first of our three lessons from 9 until 12 with the truly lovely Santiago; Santi for short. He is Argentinian and speaks excellent English, some of which he learned from his favourite television series Outlander. This led him recently to address one of his clients as “Mistress” which she pointed out is no longer used to address a lady in the way that it was in the 18th century! Santi soon got the measure of where we each are in our skiing journeys and taught us accordingly. It was great fun. I was very impressed by both Cat and Chanel, neither of whom have skied for a good few years, and who were soon making beautiful turns down the slopes. As we went up the chairlift Santi was telling me that the little river right beside the pistes is the border with France, and smugglers regularly cross it and then climb up into the mountains with contraband, mainly tobacco, fastened onto their backs with duct tape. He showed me a cardboard centre from a roll of duct tape which he had just picked up from the piste. This is because tobacco tax is lower in Andorra than in neighbouring Spain and France.

After our lesson we met the boys at the outdoors café at the foot of the gondola and had lunch sitting outside in the warm sunshine; it really felt quite like springtime. Then the boys and Cat went to ski some blue runs while Chanel and I went back to the ski hire shop to swap her ski boots which have been causing her calves to cramp. By the time we got back to the hotel James had just arrived back, Cat was practising on the green runs, and Ally and Davie were continuing to ski - which they did until 5 p.m.! 

No time Toulouse

Here we are back at Glasgow Airport for our second ski holiday of the season. It is very rare for us to go on two ski holidays in a year, in fact we have only done that once before I think, the year that we skied in New Zealand. However we couldn’t resist joining Ally, Davie, Cat and Chanel for a wee extra holiday to Pas de la Casa in Andorra, a new ski country for us. We are flying to Toulouse via Amsterdam. 

It didn’t really sink in how close the holidays were to each other until we washed our clothes from last week and realised that we needed to pack them straight into the cases again! Meanwhile it has been a busy week. We had to get the car repaired again - it was damaged in the garage car park so we didn’t have to pay thank goodness. I had Day 2 of my Children’s Panel training on Tuesday with the associated preparation, evaluation and “Quick Quiz” which is definitely a misnomer because it took me three hours. I enjoyed the training more this week; I was feeling better after my holiday and I’m beginning to see the logic of all the procedures. There’s still an awful lot to learn.

We caught up with a few people and James did some gardening and I did some booking tickets and admin. We started a new tv series called Severance which seems to be a lot of nonsense, and we enjoyed spending time with the cats. And now here we are in Prêt having coffees and pastries. 

You can't please everybody!

Our journey home on Saturday commenced at the civilised hour of 1.30 p.m. which meant that we had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast and a stroll into the village centre for some last minute shopping. Of course the down side to this was that we didn't arrive home until about 9 o'clock at night, but the day passed smoothly and even the inevitable queue at check in wasn't too disheartening. The luggage belt broke at one point which halted the check in process temporarily but it got going again fairly quickly. Heather niftily nabbed us a wee table for four in the café after we went through security and we had drinks until it was time to board our slightly delayed plane. 

Just as I was returning from a last minute visit to the toilet I had a last minute encounter with Mr & Mrs P from our hotel, who were heading for their flight which was slightly before ours. Their table in the hotel restaurant was next to us and our ironic private nickname for them was Mr & Mrs Positive because they couldn't find a good thing to say about Madonna di Campiglio! They didn't like the layout of the resort, the quality of the piste maintenance or the lack of nightlife in the village. At first we were rather taken aback by this because we all genuinely thought that it is a truly lovely little village with great skiing, but we ultimately found it quite amusing. I bade Mr & Mrs P a pleasant farewell - some people just cannot be pleased!