Big Fun

Well it's certainly been that!

Both girls took part for the first time this year in the Easter Gaitherin, which is a week of music, dance and drama that has been run here in Aberdeenshire for over twenty years.  Youth work is a very important part of the Gaitherin, where every child is encouraged, valued and supported, and youth workers basically spend the week crazily loving on the kids.  Who often grow up and in turn become youth workers at the Gaitherin.

Participants choose three out of eleven activities, including nine instrumental choices (clarsach, pipes, fiddle, whistle, drums, guitar, ukulele, keyboard or accordion), dance and drama.  The Gaitherin runs all day from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday and culminates in a concert for family and friends on the Friday evening.

Toots chose the accordion as her first choice, then [tin]whistle and [bag]pipes (though children learn on an instrument called the chanter, which is basically the bagpipes without the bag and pipes, just the bit they blow into and make the notes) while Tiger chose the clarsach (which is a Scottish or Irish harp which you play from memory, rather than by reading music), the fiddle (the Scottish name for a violin) and dance.

And they had an absolute blast all week.  We weren't really allowed to take photos during the performances, but in fairness you can barely recognise our girls in theses pictures let alone anyone else's children!  I do have a few recordings of their music, but haven't yet figured out how to make them blog compatible.  And maybe they are sounds that only a parent could really love.

Toots even chose to bring her accordion home for six months, so watch this space...!

Meanwhile Lightning took part in City Church's MAD (Making a Difference) Spy S'cool holiday club every morning from 10-12pm before taking crash course swimming lessons every afternoon, since we can't get him into regular term-time lessons.  He also loved it all, while poor Joey was stuck at home, with me, every single day, as per usual.  Next year my son, next year...

Oh, but Oma did pop back up to stay with us for a few days in the middle of the week and we spent another two lovely sunny (if cool) days sorting out some more of the garden, including lifting and planting three large whisky barrels.  She also knitted Josefina a ballet cardigan, sewed on Lightning's first Kai Judo badge, ironed all of our clothes, and brought with her one of her former Greek lodgers who fell in love with our wee house and town and insisted that one day we go stay with him and visit his country.  Eh... ok!