Gifford and Calton Hill

Fridays are a busy day for Sharon, especially when she has Angus and Finlay for mini-kickers in the morning, then feeding them and dropping them off to pre-school in time to pick up the skiers and feed them before taking them up to Hillend. To top that off this Friday she had a show in the evening. There's not much time for sitting about Chez Wallace.

This weekend we had Nina Butler up for a visit as special guest at Sharon's grand-a-month dinner. I took the big three out to Gifford in the afternoon to let Sharon get on with chatting and cooking. Angus was at Finlay's 4th birthday party at Bonnyrigg. Me and the lads had fun down by the river in Gifford, clambering over a rake of recently fallen trees and throwing stones. Finn learned how to skim a stone properly and was pleased with his efforts. After some see-saw fun and "base-jumping" off the big wall that bounds the playing field, we picked up Angus but the boys wanted to play more at Bonnyrigg, spending a further ninety minutes at the playpark there. So by the time we arrived home for a chilly patio picnic they were decently tired out for once.

On Sunday morning I tidied up the aftermath of the big dinner and prepared brunch then we drive into town with the boys giving Nina the guided tour. "There's the doctor's", "There's the shopping village (Buckstone)", "There's the dentist"... We parked up at Regent's Road and made our way up Calton Hill which Sharon had never been up in her twenty years of living in Edinburgh. Despite the indifferent weather the views over Edinburgh and down the Firth of Forth were still quite special and there seemed to be a Beltane Fire festival rehearsal going on, with plenty of drummers and strange types hanging around in cloaks. Local colour for the tourists!

We popped in to Stockbridge Market to spend far too much money on chocolates, fudge, pies and venison. Sharon acceded to demands from the boys to retun to Bonnyrigg while I cooked dinner - at least it's good to see them wanting to play outdoors for a change. Finn twisted his ankle quite badly on the boulders on Calton Hill, however, so he's hobbling with a swollen joint today. Angus and Rowan have been very whingey and grumpy of late. Angus was barking with a cough during the night, so he may be coming down with something, but Rowan seems to be in over-reaction mode, wailing every time something goes against him, which can be very tiresome.

Caerketton climber

Mrs. Henry, Finn's teacher, had told Sharon that Finn had been acting up a wee bit in class. He has been constantly ignoring us, especially Sharon, and generally being a pest in the house, but usually he seems to save his bad behaviour for home. We had a chat with Finn about how he's been behaving with us and at school and he was very upset, which is often the case when you try to talk to Finn and he perceives it as us giving him a row. It can be difficult to communicate with him at times.

Anyway, Sharon took him and Zoe out for lunch, as we decided he needed some one-on-one time with us, and he had a great time in Toast, reprising his birthday breakfast from last September. Previously, in his personal learning plan, I had set a goal for him of climbing one of the Pentland Hills. On the Sunday, despite it being rather wet and the cloud low, I took him for a walk from Swanston Golf Club up past the Village and on into the Pentland Hills Regional Park. Finn was a bit apprehensive about the sheep that crossed our path early on but we carried on and looped east around the top of Lothianburn golf course until we were above the Hillend ski slope.

The cloud was descending by this stage and the way up on to the ridge was quite steep but despite the inclement conditions and a complaint about a sore heel, Finn persevered like the achiever I know he is until we got to the flatter ridge and a gentler ascent westwards to the summit of Caerketton Hill. He was beaming when we got to the cairn at the top. It may only have been a climb of around 900 feet from where we parked the car, but it was quite a long walk in tricky conditions, steep in places, and I was very proud of him for managing it. Finn phoned Sharon from the summit to say he'd got there but the cloud was preventing any possible sighting from the house far below.

We carried on westwards and descended to the west of the scree, marvelling at the orienteers who were jogging their way down and across the hills. The sheep and the rain didn't bother us as we made our way back down to the car and tucked into a hearty lunch prepared by Sharon, who was also very proud of her boy for achieving his goal.

The next day, Finn took the report below into school to show Mrs. Henry and she was so pleased he was presented with a Star Pupil Award at the Assembly, for achieving his personal goal. Finn said he felt proud. Mrs. Henry said she had a chat with Finn and thinks she's got the old Finn back.