it's been a while

Well hello, it has been a while. 

I've been quite busy with life and have neglected this blog (and yours!) a little. Where to start?

We went to Edinburgh for the kids' Swiss passports. This only took 30 minutes but we stayed in the capital city for the day, enjoying a nice lunch and revisiting the Camera Obscura. This has to be a favourite with my children. The actual Camera Obscura is probably not their favourite part but I loved it. The weather was clear and the air clean and the image projected of the surrounding neighbourhood was just astonishingly clear. If you have an opportunity to explore a local Camera Obscura, you should. Fascinating how it works so marvellously. Victorian? I am not sure. The children preferred the optical illusions that are an integral part of this interactive museum. Their favourite was the vortex. This is hilarious, it is essentially a short walkway through a room in which lights are spinning around you. It is probably the most disorienting experience I ever had. I held on tightly to the railing to stay upright but didn't manage. We all feel I think and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. Felt a bit sick to be honest but by then, my lunch had completed its passage through the stomach and I was able to hold onto it.

I am helping Sam looking for a flat in Glasgow. He is moving back at the end of this month. It is not easy, there is not much on the market in his price bracket. Some letting agents require a guarantor and a completed application form before even agreeing a viewing. Sam says it is like applying for a post with MI6 ... but we persevere. He might have to move in with us and put his own furniture into storage for a short while but it is what it is. 

I am also looking for my creativity. It has been missing for a few weeks and I rather miss it. Please do send it my way if you come across it. I promise to look after it well when it returns. 

I celebrated my birthday on the 5th. It was just a normal Thursday but I did manage to get away from work after lunch, first for viewing of a flat (cancelled before I got there), then a coffee and chat with a lovely, lovely friend. I have asked a few other friends over to celebrate on Sunday afternoon. Cheese and wine and a cake made by Annie. 

The garden is exploding with colours and is bursting with life. It is a fabulous time of year for colour, everything is fresh and vibrant and wonderful. I am planning a wander through the garden with my camera, just as soon as our white lilac is blossoming. A day or two at most. 

I am off for a walk now, before my friends arrive. I'll be listening to a podcast about a Burmese python dissection. No snakes were harmed in the process, it died of natural causes. There is so much to learn about the world. I listened to a similar podcast about a sunfish dissection. This animal had washed up on a beach. Interesting creatures, sunfish. Flat and upright with a pouty mouth comes to mind when trying to describe them.

Thanks for visiting xx

P.S. Is anyone using Bloglovin' to follow and read blogs? It does seem to work intermittently only these days. I rather like this tool but I may need to find an alternative way to find updates on my favourite blogs. I also use the Blogger Feed but this is only for other Blogger blogs.