She's here!

Over the last six weeks life has been just a tad hectic.

I got to 35weeks pregnant and then things started going a little weird.  Baby and I had an episode of tachycardia (elevated heart rate), a week later baby hadn't moved for hours and my blood pressure was up, we got emergency plane'd to Glasgow.  A week after that I had had chest pain and was emergency helicopter'd to Glasgow in case I had a clot.  The week after that my blood pressure was up again, but I was due to go off island to the flat we'd booked anyway.

Monday the 23rd May was gorgeous!  Sunshine, light breeze, smooth seas.  My parents had rented an estate car and we packed it full.  Baby things, my things, big bags, the works.  I was expecting to stay anything from two to four weeks, so I had packed clothes and entertainment and all sorts really.

We had a lovely sail across to Oban on the Clansman, I was feeling pretty big and had swollen feet, so I spent most of the journey trying to unswell and having a rest.  Then we drove from Oban to Glasgow.  Gorgeous views, gorgeous weather, lovely!  We arrived in Glasgow and met the landlady and settled into the flat.  The bed was a bit low, but the frame was solid enough I could sit on it to get out.

The next day I was booked into the day unit for 2pm to do a check on me and baby.  Two hours later, the tests were back and it was decided that my body had had enough and time to induce baby.  I spent the night in the hospital and then the fun began!  Wednesday afternoon was a little tablet to "get things started", by Thursday morning I was definitely ready.  Five and a half hours of pains, then 15 minutes of pushing, and we had our baby!

She spent about an hour or so on my chest and then was transferred to a cot so I could change beds and be moved to the maternity unit...


Once at the unit, Daddy got a cuddle:


The first few days didn't go so wonderfully.  I was on a blood pressure medication that messed with her blood sugars and my milk was taking the usual time, so we had to supplement with formula.  But we were finally released on the Monday.   Jo had a meeting the following Friday and as we had the flat prebooked, we spent the rest of the week there.  It gave the grandparents time to visit, the grandmas were very happy to meet Rosemary and have a good natter.

Thursday evening, Grandma Bennett helped us do Rosemary's second ever bath:


She didn't scream or grizzle, we were petrified!  But all went well, and she was clean and happy.


Saturday the 4th June, we headed home.  The trip through the airport was snoozed through:


She woke up towards the end of the flight, demanding food, but completely unphased by the loud plane or the changing pressures.  The pilot and co-pilot were great, they did a slow ascent and descent that allowed Rosemary to adjust her ears.  I also got the baby liferaft and instructions, bit unnerving when your baby is nine days old.

Not the best view, but we came home to gorgeous weather!


She then proceeded to scream down the Tiree airport and all the way home, until she got fed.

That afternoon, she claimed the bed!


Yep, we have a crib, but she spends the bulk of the night cuddled up to Mum.  It wasn't worth the screaming hissies and sleep deprivation.  Plus, the angle of the bed helps avoid huge spit-ups.  We still get spit-up, just not huge ones.

It's rather interesting trying to use your laptop when a baby is sleeping on your chest/stomach; you can end up with unexpected limbs "assisting":


We've been to register her birth at the council office.  I wore her in my wrap and as we don't have a summer hat for her yet, we did the knotted hanky trick:


Rosemary has a thing about hats, she refuses to keep them on!


We also learned that you MUST pack a change of outfit as well as nappy changing kit, when going out.  Fortunately it was a hot day, so I put her nappy-only in my wrap after nipping into the public loo and using the changing table.


I'm still trying to reconcile that this is 50% my DNA and 50% Jo's.  That we are responsible for this tiny, helpless, human.  But, oh boy is she cute!  I'll leave you with this photo of her stunned face:



TTFN

Erm...?

Last week I was due to fly to Glasgow.  Nothing new there.  What WAS new was the weather I woke up to!



Erm...  April...snow?  Funnily enough, the morning plane was cancelled (no visible airstrip), but the evening plane was delayed enough that I got to fly.  But not before I got these photos:





The airport staff had somehow managed to clear the runways.  After living here for over four years, you forget about things like snow ploughs, we just don't need them.  But apparently they keep something that can do the job, just in case.

And just to really confuse, I took this photo of Mummy song thrush and her babies the day before:


Today is bright, but windy.  Perfect laundry weather!

TTFN

Lots of new

New house, new camera, new beach, lots of new.

New house:

Yep, we moved.  Hynish View has been sold and so we have moved to one of the school houses.  It's huge, centrally heated, and has stairs.  And a lovely set of gardens with hedges!  I can now hang out my laundry without everyone who passes by seeing what colour our underthings are.

In the hedge near the laundry poles we have a nesting birdy.  She's a song thrush and has at least three little peepers to raise:



I check on her (from a distance) when I hang out laundry and she doesn't seem fazed by it all.

I've got my own room!  No longer am I camping in the living room, I now have my own room to make a mess in.  I have treated myself to a shoe organiser thing to hold all my wool fibre for needle felting:



and I also treated myself to a painting by Grom that I collected after we moved and now lives above my desk.  On the left is Grom's lighthouse, on the right is a mixed media that I got for my 30th from Blue Beyond.



Somewhere, I have a framed painting from when I went to Paris with my parents; that will go in the middle when I find it.  It's very nice to actually be able to hang things here.  So long as we neatly fill the holes before we leave, it's allowed.

I'm working on something new for the babby.  It involves some sticks:


and needle felted bits:


It will be a mobile of sheep, but I need to make the heads and feet which is waiting for my urge to felt to come back.  Baby is waking me up at all hours and making it hard to sleep because of limited positions, so my energy levels are a little low.  It's lovely, and weird, to feel and watch your belly moving about, but Silly AM is not a time I wish to be awake.  Still, it's good practice.  Baby will be here in less than ten weeks.  Yes, we are down to single digits!  I have two washes to do and all the baby-related laundry will be done.

My little oak sapling has some lovely green buds this year:


I was worried it might not revive after last year's rather lack-lustre weather, but it's doing fine and has a sunny, yet sheltered, spot in the new garden.

and we have a new beach to roam!




The route we found to it takes us to the top of dunes, but I have been assured there's another route.

So, yes, new, new, new!

TTFN

Hello 2016!

Yes, I know it's the twelfth already but well, we've been busy!

October saw the Tech Wave but I was a tad "off sorts" so this is the only photo that's worth sharing:



Family of makerbots!

In November Jo baked a HUGE parkin, weighing the ingredients proved...inventive.



But those aren't the reasons I've been absent.  At the start of October I went to the nurse with some odd feelings and we did a little test.  One that comes back with either one line or two.

Two came back!

A few weeks later we had a bit of a scare, so Jo and I went to the early pregnancy unit at Glasgow.  After some anxious waiting and a lot of scanning...



That is an eight week old fetus!  It's little heart was going crazy and it already had the wriggles.  We are very much overjoyed.

Then in December it was time for the 13week scan.  Unfortunately, due to the rains and havoc that went on around Cumbria my Mum couldn't make it up and Jo wasn't going to try and get a work day off, so I went alone.



Talk about wriggly!



The little dear was doing kangaroo impressions and refusing to pose for the midwife scanning it.  But she was very happy with how it looked and I went home with more photos.

Today the pram arrived, Pippa is NOT impressed that she won't be the baby all year.



I must say though, even as an engineer, I canNOT fathom the waterproof cover!  I shall be Googling that one.

So, yeah, updates are going to be a bit sporadic this year.  Baby is due in June and we are attempting to pack things we don't really need because we dearly hope to have our own Tiree house this year.

It's all go!

TTFN

Big skies

One advantage of living on such a (relatively) flat island is the huge skies you get.  This evening saw a gorgeous sunset over Beinn Hough and me stood on the verge across the road snapping shots.

I did try to turn these into a gif but the quality was terrible, so you'll just have to scroll down to see the clouds shift across the sky and the colour drain towards the horizon.



























Just so you can see the difference, here's the first and last of the series:






There was a blood moon last night; amazing to watch the moon slowly get eclipsed and then go red.  Alas, I didn't have my camera in focus so I got blurry blobs.

It was weird to see a moon that wasn't white!




That's it for now, we've had the school gala day but I failed to take photos due to having my own stall to man and managing the money from Jo's ice cream stall.  Talk about busy!  The school did well though, they made roughly £2k.  Not bad for an island with 650 population and 330 of voting age.

TTFN

Odds and Ends

I've been busy with getting The Woolly Ferret going on facebook and Etsy, and getting more stock ready for the school gala day and going to meetings and doing the two treasurer jobs I volunteer at.  So much work for no pay!  I may not have a full time job, but I put in the hours.

So, here's a load of photos that have backed up in my album and the odd explanation.


"bee-ring"  I'm experimenting with doing Tiree bee colourings.




Dinosaur spheribeasts snacking on my basil.


The various types of beasty I now make


I finished the Týrvist shawl!  Need to neaten the pattern, get a nice day for a photo and I can start selling the pattern.


Stray tent, full of holes and most likely still flying about after TMF


Jo was doing trike maintenance and wanted me in ear shot, so I took my critters out into the grass.


Nearly knelt on this frog!


This huge bird pops by our back garden sometimes, handy fence.  Turns out it's a female hen harrier.

Oooh, yes, it was the Tiree Ultra Marathon last Sunday.  I volunteered to do finish times and had a *really* good day!  It was great cheering people and watching them perk up knowing the finish was finally there after just shy of 35 miles.

Last year there were about 50 runners, think it was less.  This year over 200!  Some were in teams, most were doing the whole stint.  Will, of Tiree Fitness, organised the whole thing and can be seen here on the phone finding out who was pulling out, times, how it was going, etc.


His lovely wife, Becky of Chocolates and Charms, ran the cafe, and oh, what a cafe!


Sitting at the finish line you were repeatedly wafted the smell of amazingly delicious lasagne.  Wonderful!

I think I shall forever remember the gent who finished and said, very honestly, "I never want to see another beach again in my life."


The winner won it for the 2nd time in a row, they went the other way round this time which added 15min to his previous time but he still finished around the 4hr mark.  Scary!


There was a big group called "Cani sports" I think, who usually run with their dogs, but this time the dogs got the day off, except this one:

"You've rolled up your paws!"

His little dog was VERY happy to see him complete.


Know how a lot of these people were running nearly 35 miles?


They were also cycling to and from their accommodation AND danced that evening!

With that, I am going to go snap the amazing sunrise. 

TTFN