Monday 12 September 2011

Finn's party

Finn had his small party this weekend. It wasn't really a party as such, as he only invited Zoe and Brodie, along with Sean and Rowan, to the cinema to see the Smurfs movie and then on to Papilio in Bruntsfield for a birthday dinner out. Sharon was the sole parent on duty but reported they behaved well, once Rowan calmed down and stopped running around at the Omni cinema. After the meal they came home around 9pm and Finn, Zoe and Brodie slept in the playroom. They were tired enough to fall asleep quite quickly, although Sean and Rowan upstairs, especially the latter, were more vocal.

While the rest were partying I took Angus out in the car. He fell asleep so we took the long way round to Dobbies Garden Centre. As we approached the Cockpen roundabout at the south side of Bonnyrigg, it became apparent that an accident had just occurred. A man was lying on the centre of the roundabout receiving CPR from the driver of a van that had pulled up. There was a motorbike on its side and one or two other people standing about. I drove on as there wasn't much I could have done and didn't really want to stop with Angus in the car. Today I found out the motorcyclist had died, apparently after hitting the kerb, coming off his bike and suffering a neck injury. Just goes to show how quickly things can happen. As I was driving through Rosewell the chap was probably still alive and biking his way home to Loanhead: by the time I got to the Cockpen roundabout he was dead.

In the event, Angus and I had a good wander about Dobbies, looking at the fish and rabbits and then outside to survey the sheds and summer houses. Our two huts are in a real bad way and while they'll probably last a few winters yet, we're not really making use of them. The one by the side of the house has a floor that is in danger of collapsing into the inky blackness beneath, whatever terrors that may hold.

Despite having six children in the house overnight, the Sunday morning wasn't too noisy, although I had had to go up to Angus at 5am and ended up sleeping fitfully upstairs. The sound of children in the morning in our house travels more from top to bottom than it does from bottom to top. Sharon and I should really think about relocating our bedroom upstairs. Before lunch and heavy rain curtailed any outdoor activity, we went for a family walk up at Flotterstane. Finn was showing an interest in some of the plants and wildlife (not that we saw any of the latter, save for Angus's tantrums once he felt he'd walked far enough) as he is covering Scottish plants and wildlife at school just now.

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