Catching Up

A few pics of our holiday in Mull and Iona in September - a chance to show Lucy the isle from where she gets her middle name, and for Paul and I to revisit it for the first time since we meet there in 2005 - seemed a long time ago.

On the ferry

A pod of dolphins was there to meet us when we arrived from Fionnphort and put on quite a show - don't think we had ever seen them in the wild and it was magical, but we were too busy enjoying the sight to get many good pictures.

Checking out the nunnery in the rain

We had to walk all over the island to work up an appetite for a very fine dinner at the St Columba's Hotel (Lucy did a minimum of walking, letting Daddy take the strain, but somehow still had a healthy appetite)

The Abbey - our accommodation last time we were here.

The boat back to Mull in slightly better weather

Playing on Calgary beach

Picnic weather in Tobermory

And a beautiful walk to Aros Park, with stunning, sunny views back over the Bay.

And the Egon Ronay starred fish and chips in the evening sunshine to finish a pretty perfect day.


Hope we come back soon.

We made it!

We are safely in Ireland and apart from a wee jaunt back to Scotland for a few days over Christmas, here to stay. Lots to decide, organise and settle, but it feels good to have got this far and lots of relief that the logistics worked and we fitted everything in the van!
Looking forward to catching up with all our Irish friends in the coming weeks and months, and to seeing where this new adventure takes up. Also to visit our Argyll friends before too long, hopefully.
Growing pile of boxes...
Lucy driving the van...

Lucy loves her wee bear from the Oban Times...

preparing for the big move

Yet more blog silence - life just gets in the way. Right now we are up to our eyes in newspaper, boxes and packing tape as The Big Move approaches - just five days to go!
After two years in Oban (three for Chris), we are heading back to Northern Ireland next week for a bit of a new start, hopefully with a bit more time for family life, and of course blogging! Sad to go, overwhelmed at how much there is to do before we are ready to move and looking forward to our next adventure.

Glencoe

Great to have Dawn Marie come all the way up from the Welsh Marshes to visit us - she even had jetlag! (though I guess that's from coming back from the US a few days earlier).

We had a lovely day out with Dawn Marie in Glencoe last week - Lucy walked a bit of the way with us, but with so much fun stuff to stop and look at (grass, gravel, twigs...) we got nowhere fast. That was fine, the only place to go was the cafe for tea and cake, so we were happy enough. Later discovered Brad Pitt had been in the village that weekend, but we didn't see him...

Other summer adventures

Turning one

I don't suppose anyone will be surprised to hear us say 'I don't know where the last year went' or how did Lucy get to be one year old? There are so many things that are hard to believe - that it's been a year, that we had such a gorgeous wee girl, that being parents could be so much fun and so much hard work, that I'm back at work already, that Lucy can walk and dance and go and get things you ask her for (occasionally, when it suits her)...

Birthday breakfast...

Checking out the new presents


Day out


With Granda Jim

And in a lovely two storey tree house

And finishing as we started, more food, this time very healthy and virtuous birthday cake.

Sunny days

We have been blessed with the most awesome weather this past week or two - lots of sunny walks and trips to the beach!






And lots of visitors too - including Grandpa Clem, Granny Felicity, James and Nalini and Noreen, Pat, Ann and Liz!