Big bang

And so, with the boys' return from Ireland, the hot spell of weather has finally broken. Well, it's still hot (warmest spell since 2006 when Sharon was sweltering, carrying Rowan in her tum), but the thunder clouds have gathered and the rain has started to make a regular appearance, much to the relief of the parched plants in the garden.

Sean had a day at the Virgin Active gym yesterday with Ross, at which he used the treadmill, a cross-trainer and a rowing machine (1400m in ten minutes - not bad). Angus has returned to his tantrum ways. Possibly a lengthy spell of too little sleep is the root cause, but he throws temper tantrums like none of the others did. His latest, this morning, was in defiance at returning to Fairmile Nursery after four weeks away. Yesterday, Sharon took the wee three with Marie (Michael has returned to Ireland after his driving duties) for a walk down at Braid Burn. There were in the burn, too deep for their wellies, and squelched their way home.

In the evening, I took Finn to Melville driving range to hit some balls. He still can recall what Ollie Morton taught him up at Swanston and sets up and swings very naturally. Not only did he manage to hit his metal wood about 85 yards on one occasion, but he had a few decent strikes with his 7-iron off tha mat, without using a tee. "Golf is like football. I'm good at it but not really interested in it," was Finn's comment. I do hope he comes back to the game as he gets older because he could be a decent player and I want company on the course in my dotage!

While we were there, a thunderstorm kicked off, very close by. I taught Finn how to count between the lightning and the thunder to gauge the distance to the storm. We were stranded in the golf shop as the torrential rain hammered down, flooding the putting green and car park. Finally we made a run for it as the rain eased to a downpour. Back at the house, Sean and Rowan were being rather nervous about the storm, compared to the bold Finn. Apparently there had been a strike on a pylon by Swanston golf course (just as well we didn't go there to practice!) as the storm rumbled westwards along the Pentlands.