Spring has Sprung!!

"Hello! Hello? Hellooooooooo... is anyone there?" I"m sure that many of you have been asking this question is relation to the Causeys. "Where are they, what are they doing, and why haven't we heard any news from Scotland?" I do apologize for the long time between posts. I can offer up an explanation (read - excuse). Two words. Scottish weather. Winter time here is enough to make even the most joyful person a bit gloomy. Even if you're not gloomy, you're certainly not going out gallivanting across the countryside to see what Scotland has to offer. In short, we've been really boring and have not had anything interesting to write about.

But, as you may surmise from the title above, Spring has Sprung! We've had several good weekends in a row, and we've been out and about recently. There were photos taken, and now we have stories to tell!

Lets start out with a small home-improvement adventure we had about a month ago. So... no one likes changing light bulbs. It's just one of those things you never seem to get around to. Especially if your light fixture has, say, 5 bulbs. You don't even notice when one goes out. Well, this bulb-popping phenomena has been going on for some time, in many different rooms in the house, and finally we had had enough. We started in the kitchen. Now most people have a normal kitchen. Central light fixture, with or without a fan. 2-4 light bulbs. Not Aaron. Noooooo... he had to be all complicated. He installed 15 halogen lights in the ceiling. It's actually quite effective - no shadows cast on the work surface, even lighting, very dramatic styling. I was down to 2 bulbs before we did anything about it. The only problem with Aaron's kitchen is that it has 12 FOOT CEILINGS!!! We also don't have a ladder. (Aaron, if there's a ladder here, I'd kill to know where it is ;-) So, instead of getting up on a stool to change a light, we used a TV cabinet, with a recycling tub on top, then a 2-step stool balanced on top of that. And of course, there are 15 bulbs all 3 feet apart, so you can only reach one bulb at a time, then climb down off the contraption, slide it over, and climb up again. Luckily for us, Aaron had stockpiled light bulbs (why?) and we only needed to buy 4. So Matt changed the bulbs in the kitchen, and it was like a new room - hooray!

The other order of business for that day was the outside bulbs. We have a front porch light, a back porch light, and a motion activated light at the side. Not one bulb left burning. The side light was easy... after a fashion. It is directly beside a window, so it was a simple matter for Matt to HANG HIMSELF OUT and replace it. He had great fun, but the best was yet to come! The back light was not hard either, this time the blue wheely bin served as a ladder. The highlight of his day, however, was changing the light bulb over the front porch. It's 20 feet above the ground, because it hangs over a recessed garden, not over the stoop. It was also below the bathroom window, but 5 feet below - too far to reach. Matt's solution? Rappelling! "We have all this gear sitting around, let's use it," he said. I was game, so when Abigail went down for her morning nap, we tied Matt's 9mm static line to the banister, clipped him into the ATC, and over he went! Now as always, safety first - this is an incredible banister, and we weren't pulling across it - lots of support into the wall, it wasn't budging. So there was Matt, hanging out the window of our house, one hand holding on to his brake, while the other opened the glass, removed, and reinstalled the bulb. It truly made his day.

That was about a month ago, on one of the first nice days of spring. Easter Monday dawned bright and clear, so we decided to be impulsive, board a ferry and hop across the Clyde to Dunoon. Dunoon is a pretty little town, and very walkable. The ferry dropped us about 2 miles out of town, and we walked in right at lunchtime. Abigail was sleeping in the stroller, so we stopped in at a Tandoori restaurant, which had a 4 course lunch for £5.95! It was really good - better than the Indian we get over on our side - and we were stuffed when we left. We walked through a beautiful garden (lots of pics of Abigail's first flowers!) then walked around looking in at the shops, and wandered into the graveyard of a small, quiet church. The sun was out, and the dappled shadows over the church were calm and quiet. The birds were singing, a light wind was blowing, and it was a perfect setting. There was a very large flat stone in a sunny corner, and we took a break so Matt could check his work email - he was on call Easter weekend. Abby laid down for a nap, and I nearly fell asleep in the sun. We roused ourselves, and strolled down to the Esplanade, with a beautiful view of the bay. On our way back, we had a cup of tea and a biscuit (cookie) and heated up Abigail's supper. Then back down to the ferry and across to home! It was a beautiful and perfect day, and Abigail really had fun. We were surprised, actually, how much fun she had. I've never seen her smile so much or have so many giggles. Sometimes, a day out is hard on her, but not this day. Occasionally we would pull her out of the stroller, even while we were walking, and she loved for Daddy to hold her up high so she could see. It was so much fun, that we forgot to take very many pictures. But there are some good ones of Abigail with flowers ;-)

Last weekend was another gorgeous one, which was good because we had planned to go down to cycle on Cumbrae Island with some friends from church. Cumbrae is a tiny island in the Clyde, about 12 miles from Gourock. There were 6 of us - 4 adults and 2 babies - and the plan was to take Moms and babies down to Largs (the city on this side), leave us there to wander and look at shops, and come back for Matt and the gear. While Matt was down in the cellar getting our bike gear out, he noticed a bike carrier! Hooray for Aaron, he left one for us! We either didn't know, or forgot(most likely) it was down there, and this would greatly simplify our trip! Now we could fit 5 of the 6 people in the car, with the bikes on the back. The only problem was getting the 6th person down to Largs. Heroic Matt volunteered to cycle down. It's only 12 miles, and he can do way more than that, so he got a head start while we stopped at the store to pick up some last-minute groceries.

We met in Largs, took the ferry across, and Matt cycled the further 2 miles into Milport - the only town on Cumbrae Island. Matt and I brought our bikes, but Darren and Natalie needed to rent them. Cumbrae has only a handful of inhabitants, and it's most famous for it's cycle-road around the whole island - only 6 miles all the way around! They rented bikes, and we were almost ready to start. "Oh wait," you say, "what about the babies?" Glad you asked! Matt has had his eye on one of those bike trailers for a while now, and the plan was to get one anyway, so we used this trip as a good excuse to go ahead and get it. It's the coolest thing! 2 seats, side by side, with a full 5 point harness. The trailer is complete with a roll cage, spring-loaded attachment to the bike, and 20" wheels. Oh, and don't forget the 6' orange flag on the back! It also has a detachable front wheel and handle on the back, so if you need to take it off the bike - POW! - instant stroller!

It was a little rough getting the girls in. Casie is 11 months old, and has full use of her lungs. Abigail hasn't quite figured out that she should cry if she doesn't like something, so we put her in first. The idea was that we'd tuck Casie in, then take off right away. All the motion and cool scenery would calm her down, and she'd be too interested to cry. Well, our plan backfired right away. Abigail was not happy to be sitting so close to Casie. In fact, she wailed about it almost instantly, while Casie happily let us buckle her in. Then when Casie saw us leaving her in there with a screaming little baby, and folding the front flap down, and walking away... it was all too much, and she let out with a wail. So now we have 2 screaming infants locked side-by-side in a tiny car behind Matt's bike. We decided to give it a whirl, and took off. After about 2 minutes of constant screaming, we pulled over to make sure no one was pinched, or something. Surely something else had to be wrong! Casie had calmed down, but Abigail was still going full tilt. The moment we took Abigail out of the trailer, she was all smiles! Patting Daddy on the nose, grabbing for his hair - her normal, happy self. So we told her that she needed to be a good girl, and she had to stay in there, and put her back in. The change was instantaneous. It was obvious that she was just going to have to get used to it, so on we went. It was only a few more minutes before she finally calmed down, and started looking out the windows. We all took turns riding up beside the trailer to make sure that no one was pulling hair, or poking eyes, or fighting over toys. Actually, Casie has longer arms, so the toys were mostly hers ;-)

We cycled round the wee island with a couple of stops to give the girls a break. They took a nap in the trailer- each head resting on their own side of the seat - so cute! A nice woman took our picture all together at one stop, and while that was going on Abigail woke up from her nap. She was happy enough, but she decided that Casie's ear was just too inviting, so she stuck her finger in it. Repeatedly. Poor Casie was still asleep, but not for long. By now, I had decided to take a cute video of the sleeping Casie, and I tried in vain to keep Abigail's hand away. Casie woke up, with a finger in her ear, and was none too pleased. The video ends just as the crying was about to start. We jumped back on the bikes and rode on, which quieted her down. We had another stop later at some huge rocks at the coast, with the waves crashing around - the babies love it!

We got all the way around and back to Milport by the time Abigail was due her afternoon nap. She was quite cranky by this time, and sleeping while sitting up was completely out of the question, so we decided to call it a day. But the fun wasn't over yet! Natalie had bought one of those disposable grills, and we had planned a BBQ! Darren and Natalie returned their rented bikes, and we packed up the gear (except the trailer) into the car, and rode just a bit out of town, and stopped at a nice beach. The cooler and gear fit nicely into the trailer, and Matt towed everything to a beautiful grassy spot with a picnic table at the edge of the beach. We brought Abigail's car seat out, covered her with a blanket, and she had her nap while we started supper. Casie had so much fun crawling around looking at the grass and tiny flowers. On the menu for this evening were Cumberland Sausages, Hamburgers, Macaroni and Cheese, Potato Salad and Coleslaw! Darren cooked the sausages ahead of time, just to be on the safe side, but they took on a great smoky taste just re-heating on the BBQ. Matt brought his camp stove, and I made the cheese sauce ahead of time, so we cooked the macaroni fresh. We had lovely rolls to eat the meat on, and full plates of creamy sides. Just about the time we started to eat, the sun began to set over the bay. The whole day had been picture perfect, and it ended the same way. Darren and Matt rolled up their trousers and ventured out into the waves for a quick chill. And chilly it was! They carried the babies out and let them stick their hands in, which was a great delight. Darren got a wee present dropped on his head by a passing bird, and had to go wash it out in the water - after chasing his poor wife around with it first! Check out the videos for evidence of that one ;-)

We headed back for the ferry, crossed to Largs, and started for home. Matt had planned to let us have his bike, and to take the bus home, but it was going to be 45 minutes before the bus would pick him up, and he would be home by then, so he just rode back up. Abigail was an hour late for bed by this point, so I whisked her upstairs, had to stick her in the tub due to an explosive diaper, and by the time I got her in bed, Darren had completely unloaded the car into our front hall. Natalie had unexpectedly been called into work the whole night before, and she was bushed after the day's events, so instead of waiting for Matt, Darren decided that he had better just head home and put his girls to bed.

Another beautiful day, full of fun and festivities. May and June are supposed to be the nicest months in Scotland, and we are very much looking forward to many more weekends like this one! Please leave us some comments on our blog, and check out our Photos and Videos!!! For the photos, don't forget that most of our albums have multiple pages - you'll miss great pictures if you don't click next!

Photos Of Lightbulbs
Photos of Dunoon
Photos of Milport - this one might be wrong. Abigail in grass = backwards, start at the other end!
Videos!!