That was one busy week ....

 but first, here is the picture of the Kandinski yarn that somehow didn't appear on yesterday's post. I did put it in there but obviously missed a click at some important point. 

So, I mentioned our visit to Stirling castle and covered the film. Next up was the Scottish deer centre which sounded fabulous but in the event was expensively disappointing. I knew they no longer had wolves, although the word on the street is that they will have some again shortly - I won't be going back to see them. I love wolves, but honestly, it would take more than the promise of a possible wolf sighting to drag me back. Grandson no 2 was all excited at the prospect of the lynx, the otters and the brown bears, none of which deigned to put in an appearance, although we did catch sight of a few wildcats and he got to feed some deer. Also to use one of the play areas and get a ride on an electric go-kart. Both feeding the deer and the go-kart were extra. We'd given him the choice of this place or the Scottish owl centre and honestly I think we'd all have enjoyed the owls much more. That said he seemed pretty pleased with his day so who are we to complain? 

Another day was so hot that we just stayed inside, venturing out in the evening for a short local walk

We went to Doune Castle, also a very hot day. Doune Castle was featured in a Monty Python film, also Outlander. It  claims to have been used for filming of Game of Thrones too which surprised me, but it turns out that it was used in the never broadcast pilot, so I don't really think that counts. It was too hot for me to appreciate the place properly but I wouldn't mind going back another time for a proper look when it's cooler. It has a couple of spiral staircases and I discovered recently that they are  a long way from being my favourite thing; when I was younger and had better eyesight they were nothing but fun, but these days I just see them as   vertiginous opportunities for broken ankles. 

Our last day we spent at Edinburgh Zoo. At the risk of sounding like a miserable old bat I have to say that Zoos are not favourite places either these days, but this was a special request. Grandson No 2 had done a school project on a thing called a Pallas's cat, and was disappointed that he couldn't be taken from Toronto to Boston Zoo, which was the nearest place that actually had one. So we were asked to take him to Edinburgh Zoo where they also have one. They are generally nocturnal and we were warned by Zoo staff that our chances of seeing one were low; 'just keep going past at regular intervals is your best bet' was the advice we got , but in the end  we were in luck, as the thing was out on our first pass, and stayed out and moved around a bit as well. This photo was taken by the OH - it's better than any of the many I took. 

The penguin photo of two little rockhoppers however is all mine! 

It was a long day because we went by public transport which meant a train and a bus in both directions. However it was worth it as it meant we got the grandsons into the Zoo free. And thanks to a current Scotrail promotion we got their return train tickets for £1.00 each. 

I am still not quite 100% recovered although definitely getting there. Managed a few chores and a trip out today. The trip out was registration day for the local U3A, but I was a bit disappointed that there was no-one there to give me any help with most of the groups I'd be interested in joining.  There was a man who organises the Wee Walks Group, but when I stopped to ask him if their wee walks were circular he said yes they were but the group was full.  He did add that they were looking to see if they had the numbers to start a second group so I suppose I might hear something about that over the next couple of weeks. The lady at the stall for Literature, Reading and  Writing, knew nothing about any of the groups the heading covered except her own thing, which was creative writing, so that wasn't much use.  I wasn't impressed with the overall  organisation of the event at all tbh, but I'm trying not to rush to judgement. 

I'd like to think that from next week we could start what I would think of as 'normal life' here, but September looks so busy that I suspect we won't. I want to find somewhere where I can swim regularly, I need to sort out an exercise class and possibly some Pilates as well, and get fixed days once a week for a walk and a trip out to a place of interest. Ah well, maybe October for that then!