One down

As Sharon's recovery continues, the International Babysitters are down to one. Marie returned home early this morning, leaving Michael to do a bit more driving. The four of us went out to the Sun Inn for a final thank-you meal. Sharon has previously arranged for Marie and Michael to spend an afternoon and overnight at Stobo Castle, partly for their birthdays and partly as a thank you for helping us out. They both seemed to have really enjoyed that and lunch at Osso in Peebles.

The boys have been getting a bit cheeky with their Nana and Papa though. Familiarity breeds contempt. Finn reportedly called his Nana "smelly pants". Maries's cries of "Easy!" were going largely unheeded as the boys ran rings round her at bedtime, especially Angus and Rowan. Angus is a noisy tyke at the moment, never content with saying something once when five times will do. He's tending to the early starts again too, so it's time to cut down and phase out the afternoon nap.

I took the boys and Marie for a walk in the Botanics on Sunday. They estimate 60 trees blew down and 400 panes of glass were smashed in the recent high winds. They've been pretty quick at tidying up although some areas were still roped off. Finn enjoyed seeing the squirrels. He has a liking for birds and wildlife, that boy.