its odd how looking back at old Christmas photos puts you in the mood and brings a smile - even in the midst of frantically trying to decide what to do this year (my husband is on shift both 25th and 26th) - so plans need to be made so that he doesn't miss the high spots (mainly the meal!).

Winter Wonderland?

full credits :

http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=130842&cat=532

More Christmas memories: this one was when youngest was given a rocking horse one year - her face is brilliant and I can still remember her joy

_The Glen

2009 11 29_The Glen_0099_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

We went for a walk today in our favourite spot, Pittencrieff Glen, when they were young the kids used to call this the 'Monster Run' because of the number of small holes alongside the path , which they were sure held monsters THAT WOULD LEAP OUT AND CHASE THEM!

Nowadays its just the two of us walking there usually. Today the burn was running very fast and makes this waterfall look impressive, so I played around with shutter speeds - this slow (about 1/15 so am impressed that it was sharp)

The Glen

2009 11 29_The Glen_0100_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

and this fast!

The Glen

2009 11 29_The Glen_0118_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

Early winter. There are still some leaves. Today was grim and grey so it was a real pleasure to see some colour

Merry & Bright

this is made with the new kit from Sue Cummings at Oscraps - a great idea - looking forward to the surprise every day

full credits at http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=130448&cat=500&ppuser=16696

New curtains after many years of the previous ones failing to stay up, also a rare photo op!

for credits see:http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=129818&cat=500&ppuser=16696

With Thanks

2008 12 11 043-2_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

Several years ago (well, about 8), we went to a concert by this singer. Her name is Lucy Kaplansky. It was  in a small venue in rural Scotland called The Bein Inn. We, my husband, daughter (age14) and myself decided to stay overnight as it was the middle of winter. After the concert (brilliant) we got talking with the star of the show, she was amused to find that a teenager was listening to her music, American singer-songwriter, and curious to know what other music Alice liked. When Alice had to say that she didn't know much about the genre she promised to rectify it.

Since then we have been to many more concerts by Lucy in Scotland and I admit this photo was only taken last year, but she is still just as good.

Winter in Scotland

IM_A0127_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

When we woke up the next morning (after a very cold night), it was several degrees below freezing. This was the view from where we had parked our car. all was frozen. We had a very cautious drive home.
Several days later a large parcel arrived through the post for Alice, it was a selection of about 10 CD's from the USA, all different singer-songwriters. One of them was by a singer we had never heard of before, Dar Williams. Since then we have bought all her albums and I can definitely recommend them.

Dar Williams

2009 11 21_Dar Williams_0061_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

and so this is how we ended up at this concert last night. This was the first time we have seen Dar Williams live and it was excellent, a fabulous mix of songs together with just the right amount of talking to keep things going.
Thank you Lucy!

Day out

I went to Edinburgh for a conference today, travelled on the train as the thought of parking in the centre of town at the moment gives me kittens. For the uninitiated, Edinburgh is in the process of having a tram line installed, right down the middle of Princes Street, which means that the traffic chaos is even worse than usual, and every time I go they seem to have blocked off a different set of streets. They (the council) say it will all be wonderful soon (maybe in a year or so) but in the meantime - oh dear!

The conference was about autism - dear to me for both personal and professional reasons, and also very interesting, with a good mixture of the highly scientific and the more practical, with even a good verbal fight thrown in at the end. It always amazes me how heated academics can get if you tread on their toes (metaphorically, that is).

Edinburgh

2009 03 31 023-1_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

These are the tramworks down the centre of Princes Street - not exactly very scenic, and a downright nuisance for getting around Edinburgh at the moment

Edinburgh Castle

2009 03 31 006-1_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

This is the fantastic view you get if you stand with your back to the roadworks

Not this type of Kitten!

This is Frankie again - a much younger version
LO made for the Designer Spotlight Challenge on Oscraps and lifted from Zenobia with thanks
full credits:http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=128443&cat=715

Childhood Memories

The next few posts should all be in the reverse order, clearly this blogging needs more advance planning to make sense!

The Trundle

Day 6-aug 2007010-2_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

This is the view in the other direction, looking south from the South Downs over the English Channel. On a clear day you can see the Isle of Wight. If you look beyond the steeple to the coast that is where I lived as a child, I always used to imagine that you could see our house if you had a good enough pair of binoculars.

Goodwood Race course

Day 6- Aug 2007110_edited-1-2_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

This is Goodwood Race course. This has changed hugely from years ago - it used to be very basic, now its all fancy buildings and flags. I assume the horses and races are much the same though, and, most importantly, the excitement!

The Trundle

Day 6- Aug 2007107_edited-1-2_edited-2, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

This is the view from The Trundle that I was looking at on that day many years ago. It hasn't changed at all. We went there in 2007 when I took my husband and youngest daughter down south, on holiday, to where I was brought up. Neither of them had ever been there before.
One of the oddest things was that we stayed just down the road from where I lived as a child, but all the distances to everywhere seemed so much shorter. Things I thought of as a long distance away were really fairly close ( certainly within 20 miles).
This place is the tallest viewpoint for miles around and has had a series of forts built on it over the years - culminating in a watchpost during WWII. It is now deserted again, and incredibly windy

full credits:http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=127841&cat=500&ppuser=16696

Memories are odd things, I have some very clear ones from when I was young and other great periods of blankness. This photo is one. It was taken when I was about 10 or 11, my stepfather was a professional landscape photographer in the days of film, when every shot was precious, and you had to wait days to see the outcome. So we would spend hours waiting, on the sun, on the clouds, for people to move out of the way (no quick photoshop fixes).
Nowadays the kids tend to complain if I keep them waiting even a short time, 'Mum's taking pics again', and that's even with iPods. Good or bad?

This was made with the help of the Faded Dream Action by The Coffee Shop
full credits see:http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=127823&cat=500&ppuser=16696

Still working at watery repairs. I have spent most of my precious Saturday am scraping down grout in our wayward shower, and I expect I will spend most of tomorrow re-doing the grout.

On a rather more pleasant front I have also been re-installing actions on my PC, I had optimistically hoped that they would still be there from before, but no such joy. Luckily I use a handy action adder 'Add-O-Matic' from graficalicus.com which makes life much easier

http://www.graficalicus.com/index.php

I also found some great new actions at 'The Coffee Shop'. This is a fab site.

http://coffeeteaphotography.blogspot.com/

2009 11 13_Culross_

2009 11 13_Culross_0010_edited-2, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

We, that is myself, husband and youngest daughter, managed to get out for a short walk today. It wasn't raining and was beautifully sunny when we left the house, but as soon as we started driving the clouds came over. This is known as the 'curse of the camera'. However managed a few pics, even power stations can look good near sunset.

Cats

It occurred to me, that, for a blog called 'Life with 4 Cats', I have said very little about them, so I thought that it was time they were introduced. These 2 are Frankie (the cream one) and Bernie (the tortie). They are both British Shorthairs and totally live up to the breed characteristics i.e. lazy, soppy and very affectionate. Sleeping (next to eating) is their favourite hobby, preferably on someones lap, but curled up together will do at a pinch

Leaks

2009 11 13_water problems_, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

OK - this looks very small and unimpressive - but I am now paranoid about anything to do with water

Leaks

I love our house - but it has a curse. Water. The roof leaked big time a week after we moved in (inspite of us having it well checked). The pipes above the kitchen leaked and ruined the roof. The shower has leaked into the walls (twice) and now the other half of the roof of the roof is causing problems. We have just had it redone and there is a leak again today, admittedly a small one - but the gremlins are out to get us!

We will win.

Plan:
1) get the roof fixed -again
2) get the hall repainted
3) get a bedroom repainted
4) fix the shower (again)
5) a whole new bathroom is the major plan for the future - but - do we dare?

More books

2009 05 08 books 001-1_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

Books

2009 05 08 books 003-3_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

Reading - almost anything, I have been known to read the words on the cereal packets (now that's sad) at breakfast if stuck. Our house is permanently full of books in various stages of readness (if that's a word). I am forever starting a book, putting it down, loosing it and then starting another. Recently I indulged in a Sony e-reader, but this is actually only one more thing to loose.

So - at the moment I am reading 'The Gone-away World' by Nick Harkaway, this was a serendipitous find at a charity shop and is just fabulous. Recommended if you like Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett or similar.
The plot is complex and very dark but also funny (in a dark kind of way). It seems to be a first novel and I will watch for more.

Well, the reasons I'm posting so much at the moment are two-fold:

1) I'm at home with a nasty fluey bug, no, not the dreaded swine flu, at least I don't think so. But it does mean that I haven't a lot of energy, especially not for doing useful things like housework, so I am spending most of my time sitting (wrapped in a dressing gown) in front of my brand new, ultra fast PC. Who could resist the opportunity to catch up on photoshop, LO's and surfing the net!

2) I indulged in Shimelle's new class on blogging - see:
http://www.shimelle.com
and started 7 days late - so have a serious catch-up problem, however it is making me think about memories and how to keep them. I have started diaries so often and they rarely last the year out, not for lack of interest but because of the interruptions from the real world. this time ......

2009 10 26_Magnum

2009 10 26_Magnum 09_1883_edited-2, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

the energy levels in this concert were enough to light up Glasgow, most of the audience were of advanced age (over 21) but that didn't stop anyone, this man is tiny, and totally manic and does a brilliant live show. Thats's not to say that his studio albums aren't great as well

Music - a very important part of my life. Its always been there, changed slightly over the years, but little has been lost, much has been added.
I love my iPod and am ashamed to admit have somewhat over 1000 albums stored on it - which would take me a long time to play!
Favourites change, they come and go, depending on how I feel, but some stay around for a long time:

Pink Floyd - The Final Cut
Lucy Kaplansky - Flesh and Bone
Mozart - almost everything
Eliza Gilkyson - Hard Times in Babylon
Queen - Innuendo

Live music, however, is just magic. The last concert I went to was Magnum, and i was bouncing up and down so much that I had great difficulty taking any photos that were in focus!

for credits:http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=127172&cat=500&ppuser=16696

I remember when I was young, it was a long time after WWII, but not so long that people didn't remember it and didn't know people who had died. My mother is German, so every time someone wanted to torment me it was 'Hun, Hun' or similar names. Nowadays people are proud of their language and teach it to their kids but German was never spoken in our house. Mum didn't even have an accent but that didn't matter. Racism isn't fun at any age - but especially not when you are a child. Even now it makes me angry to think about it.

for credits:http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=127149&cat=500&ppuser=16696

2009 11 11_Autumn leaves_0004_edited-1

2009 11 11_Autumn leaves_0004_edited-1, originally uploaded by Scottish Zoe.

Autumn is a good time for remembering things, also a good time to look forward to new options

Well, I've just joined Shimelle's project on blogging and scrapbooking. A bit late (as she is already 1/2 way though) but I don't think that matters. today is a particularly poignant day to choose as it is Remembrance Day and that, after all, is what both blogging and scrapbooking are all about.
So my aim for this project is to try and allow me to remember more, both present and from the past.

If we start with the present:
today I had yet another MRI scan, maybe eventually we will decide whether or not my back needs an operation, hopefully not.
the past - as it is Remembrance Day - my father springs to mind. I have so few pictures of him, either on paper or in my head, and I have difficulty deciding what are real memories anyway.

I am desperate to get out and take some pics, but have a chest issue (again) and even talking makes me cough, never mind going out in the cold.

I remember when he was this small and this full of mischief. Well he's certainly grown a lot, but I'm not sure the mischief bits have completely disappeared.

for credits::http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=126917&cat=500&ppuser=16696

for the Rocking Girls Challenge , this was a hard one to write as I always have mixed feelings about birthdays

for credits:http://ozone.oscraps.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=126893&cat=500&ppuser=16696

PC problems! New PC is fab - but managed to loose about 2000 pice while reinstalling PSE7. Now putting them all on by hand the slow way

Made with new special offer kit by Sue Cummings @Oscraps

Dunfermline Glen

Dunfermline Glen, originally uploaded by zoeandwilliam.

This reminds me that summer exists - its the first day today that i have had to scrape ice off the car, that was a nasty surprise. I really wasn't expecting it, and we have had to put the fire on this evening. Winter is clearly here

well - first LO done on new PC, i think a need to check the screen colours

well - new computer day yesturday - setting it up was the easy bit - now comes all the hard work of putting everything back on!!!!!!!!!!!!

, originally uploaded by zoeandwilliam.

this was done for the photo challenge group, but it reminds me of just how sweet Alice was when she was very small

Made with a QP from Sue Cummings as part of the Oscraps bloghop

Off work again today, silly fluey bug, but feel tired +++, not even concentrating on reading , hey maybe I can do some actual hands-on artwork

Evening Glory

2009 10 21_2114_edited-2, originally uploaded by zoeandwilliam.

Came home one evening and this was the view at the end of the street - WOW