Autumn days

October is a busy month in the Wallace household as Sharon goes full throttle for the fund raising Help Whip Cancer Pampered Chef shows. It is traditionally the peak period for PC sales anyway, so there are plenty of hosts to be coached, shows to be delivered, kit to be washed and, hopefully, orders to be entered. Generally I'm passed the baton to overseeing the boys' feeding, ferrying and readying for bed as soon as I'm in the door. There are late nights and no long lies and just not enough hours in the day to get a good balance of family life, rest and work. Usually it is productive though and we just make the effort to do what we can as a family.

With a burst of decent weather emerging at the start of the month, I took the boys out for a castle double header weekend. On the Saturday we headed east to Dirleton Castle, a first for us all. It has the longest herbaceous border in the world, apparently, and it was an interesting combination of castle and gardens that kept the boys amused, along with the playpark outside the castle walls. We lunched in the Inn across the road from the castle, but the food was pretty average. Taking the four of them, hungry, into a busy lunchtime eaterie can be a challenge and you want it to be worth your while. This probably wasn't. A raid on a supermarket would have been a better option.

We rounded off the day in North Berwick, with a pik'n'mix, rather than ice-creams, the treat of choice. I doled out the items one by one (else Rowan and Angus would have them all stuffed down their throats before we had gone ten yards) as we sat and watched a yacht race out in the bay then walked round to the quay and headland. It was good to catch some sea air and the boys were predictably dozy on the drive home.

On the Sunday I drove across to Fife, to Aberdour Castle. Once more, the boys had a good run about and we moved on to the playpark afterwards. I was plagued by demands for a drink and something to eat. Sometimes the boys just don't seem to get the fact that continually saying "I'm thirsty!" or "I'm hungry!" when I'm driving and have explained there is no drinks or food in the car, does not make for a happy father. I am aware I cannot conjure provisions out of thin air whilst driving along a motorway and imploring me to do so will not change that fact!