Snow Much Fun!

      The snow is still falling quite heavily today. I'm not a great fan of the snow so I've opted to stay inside today.
         But my Mum decided to go out and build a very jolly snowman complete with wellies! I think he's rather sweet.

School Days

          There is not much at all that I'm going to miss about Scotland when we leave. But one thing that does make me nostalgic is my old school. I live very near it and pass it on a regular basis. My Mum and her brothers went there, I went there and I always thought that when I had kids they would go there too.
         I have a lot of funny memories from school. Like the time I was walking out of my BT classroom, tripped on the blackboard and fell flat on my face in front of the whole class. And when we were in Home Economics the boy I really fancied gave me some of the sausage rolls he'd made then I gave him some of mine. I thought that was great at the time!
      But this is without doubt the funniest thing that ever happened to me. The fire alarm went off unexpectedly while my class was in Science which was at the top of the building. Everyone got out of the class before me. One of the Science teachers came in and before I knew what was happening, he'd lifted me off of my stool and put me over his shoulder!
      He was very tall and as he was running along the corridor I kept thinking I was going to hit the roof. I was gripping on so tightly and eventually we made it through the corridors and down two flights of stairs.
       We got to the exit and he refused to put me down. He burst through the door with me still dangling over his shoulder. The whole playground erupted into laughter as they saw us coming out. My friends said that the reason it was so funny was because all they saw was a pair of legs coming out and then they realised it was me!
        I remember feeling quite embarrassed that so many people saw but at least everyone got a good laugh that day. And I don't suppose many people can say they've had a fireman's lift from one of the best looking teachers in the school!
     Hopefully I can pop into the school for one last visit before I leave. 

Unusual Christmas Gift Ideas From Urban Outfitters

      If you are looking for a Christmas gift for someone who has everything, then take a look at what Urban Outfitters has to offer.

Festive Flat Cat £8.00

Christmas Teabag Pack £8.00

Noel Santa moustache Rug £12.00

Santa Slalom Fold And Play Christmas Card £3.50

Magic Tree To Santa £6.00

Scottish Slang

         Having made the decision to move to England, I'm finding myself thinking about the Scottish language more and more. There are lots of words we won't be able to use because we probably won't be understood! Another thing I have noticed is that we really do "sing" a lot of things we say.
        For my non Scottish readers I thought I would share some of my favourite slang words.
(Please note although I am Scottish, I don't speak like this!)


"Pick yer claes up aff the flair!" - Pick your clothes up off the floor!
"Em a'wa hame, em no goin' to your hoose".- I'm going home, I'm not going to your house.
It's dreich ootside. I went oot an' now em drookit!" - "It's miserable, cold and wet outside. I went out and now I'm drenched!
"Gie that a wee dicht, it's boggin!" - Give that a little wipe, it's dirty!


Something that people used to say when they went into a famous pie shop where I live is:

A bridie a peh an' an ingin' ane a'na.  I'm not going to put up the meaning for this, I'm going to leave you wondering!


   But there are some Scottish words that do slip into your everyday vocabulary. These are some of my favourites:

Hackit- ugly
belter- very funny or entertaining
minter- the process of blushing or feeling embarrassed
fleg- fright/scare
dub- puddle
bump- to steal something
bampot- prat/idiot

Another word which I didn't realise until very recently is a Scottish word (I thought this was used all over the UK) is squint. e.g That picture is a wee bit squint.

    If there are any English slang words you think I should learn before I move there, let me know.

Temporary Shopping Retirement

        If shopping qualified as an Olympic sport, I think I would be in with a pretty good chance of winning a gold medal.
    But as it's the start of a new year, starting February, I have decided to cut right back on my spending. I would like to try and cut down for a year (or more realistically 6 months!)
       I have enough clothes for about 4 people to last God knows how long, so that shouldn't be a problem.  I may even... GULP... try to sell some things. Anything but my black cat collection and my beloved Birthday, Christmas and Halloween presents from the year just past.  Hmm... I don't know if that leaves very much to sell.
    So come the 1st of February I will cease my training for the Shopping Olympics. I have trained for years to perfect the art of shopping. Hopefully I won't get too rusty! Surely it can't be that hard to remember the basic moves:
1) See it
2) Grab it
3) Dip hand into purse
4) And pay
        
    Now there is an opening for the gold medal. If you decide to pursue the medal, I wish you the very best of Luck!  

Boxing Day Bliss

Today is Boxing Day and in some ways I enjoy it more than Christmas Day. It gives you a chance to relax and really appreciate your presents. I don't go out to the sales, I'd rather have a pyjama day! I hope everyone had a great Christmas. It was my little kittens' first one and they had a great time too.

                                        

Some of the girls' Christmas presents

Ruby claimed the base of the new scratch post as her "throne".

Violet relaxing after playing with some of her new toys.

Ruby goes mad with the catnip Christmas tree.

This video is of Ruby's first taste of her "chocolate" catnip Santa.

Kitten Mischief

Just thought I would share a few pictures of my two beautiful kittens.

Violet is a very beautiful girl. This little basket is one of her favourite places. Although she is struggling to fit in it, the more she grows. But that doesn't stop her trying!

Ruby is much smaller and skinnier than her sister but she has a big appetite for most "human" foods. In the second picture, she has just finished sticking her head in my almost empty yogurt pot. But she still managed to get herself in a fine mess.

They are half Siamese, I think you can see it quite a lot in this photo. They remind me of the two cats in Lady And The Tramp. Everything about Ruby is very Siamese, her face, her build, even her habits. The only thing she doesn't have is the voice. Unfortunately she rarely speaks.
      On the other hand Violet is much more vocal but doesn't have as many as the physical characteristics of a Siamese. But she does look Siamese some of the time.