Welcome to the Steven Family website

March

The month started with Euan and John hiding upstairs whilst trying to get a web server, ftp server and mail server running. So far we have completed the first two tasks.
We were very thankful to have had the opportunity to do some bits and pieces before the Coronavirus lockdown on the 23rd March.
At the start of the month, Wendy and her friend Jane headed off to Glasgow for a day out. They had a lovely time wandering round the botanic gardens, a superb lunch at the Ox and Finch and a nice wander round the craft fair at the SECC. Meanwhile, at home, John and Euan made pizza's...toppings included black pudding and an egg!
Before school abruptly closed, Euan had taken part in a Well Read quiz at Perth Academy to celebrate World Book Day (no dressing up at secondary school!) and did some tree planting near Stanley as part of his activities with the Climate Change club. We also had a letter home from Euan's French teacher congratulating him on his excellent results in recent French assessments and positive attitude to learning. We were very pround parents! (Euan doesn't even particularly like the subject...)
Wendy and Euan took part in a scout hike at Kinnoull Hill at the middle of the month. It was quite chilly but an enjoyable day. Euan and Shan cooked sausages for lunch...even for Mum.
Due to the lockdown, our opportunities for Mother's Day were limited, so we did an 18km hike and had lunch at the site of an ancient hill fort. The views were stunning!

John's comments.

We got a couple of sessions of rugby in at the start of the month. A visit to Kinross where Euan played some of his best rugby to date, well done.
The pizzas were very tasty!
Euan and I have been making the effort to do a 10km bike ride most days.
We ended the month by having a go at making crumpets, very tasty, but a bit of a faff!

April

Well, we are still under lockdown in an effort to control the Coronavirus pandemic but for Mum and Dad as key workers it's pretty much business as usual. Euan is coping well with not attending school and is enjoying the work sent electronically. He did have Easter holidays so there has been some respite to the homework.
Most of weekends have been filled with long walks or bike rides. We are enjoying investigating parts of the Carse we haven't been to before. Thankfully, it has been such good weather to allow us to get out for our exercise.
The highlight of the month for Mum is trying out shopping at Morrisons instead of Tesco's. The lure of a 10% discount to NHS staff was too tempting! Doing the shopping at the crack of dawn on a Saturday morning means that Euan is eager to see what goodies I have brought back for his Saturday breakfast/lunch.
Since they weren't able to do their planned Easter bothy trip, John and Euan camped out in the garden. The Easter bunny paid them a visit with M& S eggs!!
Mum's achievement this month was to knit herself a pair of socks. Hoping that the sparkly wool will prevent anyone else in the household from claiming them!

John's comments.

Lockdown hasn't made a huge difference, still driving each night, but have Euan at home in the daytime.

Euan's comments.

We are still going out for our 10km bike ride! It is getting a bit boring though.
It isn't that different for me, just more work from school than usual! We have been walking every weekend around the Carse.

May

A quiet month, still under lockdown, but still working. Lots of bike rides during week but weather not so good at weekends. This didn't stop Euan & John camping out in the garden.
Euan got a new laptop and is very pleased with it. He has done lots of work on his website. Euan & Shan's Website

Euan's comments

We are still doing the 10km bike rides, getting healthier. The walks are getting longer at the weekends!

June

We finished May with a long walk, exploring the local area, and we got a couple of nice photos.
We had a pleasent, socially distanced evening, round at the Scott's. Nice fire and thankfully they had a gazebo, to keep the rain off.
Euan, Shan & John camped out in some local woods, just to ease the boredom of lockdown. It was very pleasent.
John has been kept busy with various computer jobs and even found time to wash the cars, between the showers.

July

Busy month, Euan still off school so we continued to try and cycle every day, even when raining. Euan even went for a bike ride with Shan & his friend, unsupervised.
Walked out to Paddockmuir woods for another bivi, not as good a site as last ime.
Wendy had a week off work, because it was the school holidays, to look after Euan. They managed a visit to the farm but not much else.
We all went to the island at the end of Loch Tay. Excellent BBQ and campfire.
John was kept busy with computer jobs throughout the month, including a couple whilst away on the Great Bothy Trip!
More details on The Great Bothy Trip here!

August

Once we got home from the great bothy trip, we immediately went off on another adventure, this time taking Wendy with us. We went to the island on Loch Tay! Ok weather, nice campsite and excellent fire. Came home after one night as the weather was not as great as forecast.
Whilst we were away, Wendy managed to break the washing machine. The new one arrived and was plumbed in, by John, without too much hassle.
Euan started his kayaking course, on Saturday afternoons, he enjoyed it.
Euan had a night away at Cian's, wild camping in their garden and cooking dinner on a Trangia.
Back to the island on Loch Tay, this time with Cian. Shan should have been with us but he got a migraine and had to bail. Excellent improvised shelters and another good fire.
We had a day paddling on the river at Perth, lots of water coming down river, hard work but fun.
Wendy, Euan & John went to Blair Atholl overnight to do some cycling. Fish & chip tea in Pitlochry on way up followed by some wild camping, with more than a few midges! The next day we put all the stuff in the car and set off cycling. By the time we got to Bruar lodge we were starving so we stopped for lunch. A good plan as after lunch the track disappeared. We made it to the bothy, Allt Scheichachan, and it was downhill all the way back to the car from there, yippee!
John had the Bank Holiday Monday off work so he popped down to Berwick to see Gillian and take her out for a bit of lunch.

More details on The Great Bothy Trip here!

September

Euan is getting used to being back at school, really enjoying it. He did miss a day because he was full of cold, yuk.
Lots of canoeing this month. We followed our day at Perth with a river trip. A run down the South Esk to Brechin. A good trip with some interesting bits of rapids. Could have down with a bit more water in the river.
The following weekend we paddled around Friarton Island, a bit breezy at times! There was quite a lot of water coming down the river so even at high tide we couldn't paddle up river.
Wendy, Euan & John took a trip to Cadderlie bothy. It looked busy so we camped on an island and had to movewhen the tide rose more than anticipated! Excellent weather.
The following weekend Euan and John nipped off to a new island, on Loch Katrine. The single track road was a bit of a drag but we got there eventually. Excellent island, we need to go back!
What else? Well Wendy had a day working from home, just to see if it was possible, it is, but not very interesting.

October

A busy start to the month with John buying a new bicycle, just in time for the great Hebrides trip.
Euan continued with his kayaking and is really enjoying it. John & Euan spent an afternoon at St Andrews in the surf, great fun, but very cold.
After we got back from our Hebrides trip, we decided to have a night away in a bothy, back to Invermaillie, very pleasant.
Euan & John got in a days climbing at Avertical world, very good, definite improvement in Euan's climbing.
What else? Well we got the car MOT'd and John nipped off for a solo bike ride to a bothy, just to try out the new bike.
Although face-to-face scout meetings aren't taking place at present, there are still some activities taking place. In October, Euan did some tree identification towards his maturalist badge. He also had the challenge of constructing a pumpkin spider for Halloween. The resulting arachnids were very cute!
After the October break Euan took part in the school's annual Halloween cupcake competition. This was carried out remotely due to Covid restrictions which meant the mess was in the kitchen at home rather than in the school HE department! Euan's chocolate beetroot cakes with green buttercream, fondant pumpkins and chocolate spider webs gained him 3rd place in the S1-S3 group, and more importantly, house points for Elcho.
Wendy had the misfortunte to suffer another DVT after our Hebrides trip, so she spent the second half of October with her feet up, doing a lot of knitting as walking was slow and painful with a swollen leg. Extended walking and maybe a little gentle jogging is planned for November

November

We started the month with some indoor climbing at Avertical world, we even managed to take Shan with us!
Euan and John nipped off for a quick bothy trip to try out the new canoe storage bags that we had custom made - they work!
Euan has kept us busy with his kayaking including trips to Faskally and Loch Clunie.
Another bothy trip saw Euan get a chance to paddle solo! The conditions allowed him to be on the water alone.

December

The month was of course dominated by Christmas and the arrival of the New Canoe!.We have been out in it several times already.

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