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April

We breakfasted at the campsite snack bar before heading off to do a bit of reconnaisance for Euan's D of E expedition. Good run home, managed to get unpacked before the rain started.
Next day Wendy was back to work so John & Euan headed off for a canoeing adventure. First night in Essan bothy. We planned to paddle into Oban bothy but it was far too windy. We headed for Invermaillie instead. Managed a bit more reconnaisance for Euan's trip.
Friday was a busy day around the house, finally getting the shower working properly.
John went off and did his off road driving, great fun.
Sunday was another busy day pottering about before going into sleep in the lorry ready for an early start.
John didn't get home until 10:00 on the Saturday, due to M6 closure. So it was a busy weekend getting stuff sorted. Euan was volunteering at Willowgate on the Sunday.
A quieter weekend followed, managed to get grass cut for the first time this year.
Euan rounded the month off by getting his Paddlesport Instructor Qualification. John cycled into Glas alt Shiel bothy. Was going to go to Camban but a cycle event around Loch Ness meant various road closures, so decided to give it a miss. It was snowing as I set off back to the car on Sunday morning.

May

Started with a Bank Holiday weekend, quiet weekend pottering about the house. Euan was volunteering at Willowgate and there was an on the water event in Perth on the Sunday. We all went in to see it, should have taken the canoe. Monday saw John return an iPad he had sorted and have a quiet day in the house.
The following weekend Euan was out for a birthday party but came home for the first BBQ of the season. Sunday saw Euan volunteering again so Wendy & John went for a bike ride. The gutters got a clean and the cars washed.
Euan and John went kayaking at Stanley, taking Ruiradh along as well, a good couple of hours on the water followed by an ice cream. Sunday was Willowgate open day so Euan was busy all day. John delivered the canoe for him to use for his practice expedition.
Euan was away for his practice expedition so John & Wendy popped down to Berwick to see Gillian. We camped at Ford campsite, pleasant, though a bit cool. Sunday was a bit damp when we woke up but we managed to get packed up without getting too wet. Got the tent hung up to dry, then sorted Euan's kit with him. Good job John had the Monday off to sort all the kit before heading off to set up a new computer for someone.

June

Euan has progressed from volunteering at Willowgate to working there now he is a Paddlesport instructor. He also attended an Aspiring Coaches course run by Perth Council. This has him to progress to the next level training and assessment. The best bit is that Perth Council will fund it.
John spent each Sunday of the month in front of the computer in order to complete his CPC course. The hardest part was staying awake throughout.
Wendy popped down to the Highland Show, a good day out, with good weather this year.

July

A quiet weekend to start the month, a bothy trip was planned but the weather was a bit poor so we called it off.
The following weekend saw us set off on our tour of England. We drove down to Suffolk to deliver Euan to his D of E residential and then Wendy & John headed to Warwick for the week. Well things didn't quite go to plan, we couldn't get into the flat we had rented for the week. There was a problem with the boiler. The olde coffee tavern hotel was our accomadation for Monday night but they were full the rest of the week.
We had a good day out at the Black Country living Museum before heading back to Warwick to the Castle limes hotel for the night.
We then had an excellent day out on the narrowboat, pottering along the Grand Union Canal. It was hot and sunny and John got a little sunburnt because he had forgotten his hat.
We then headed to Bletchley to a guest house we had found online. It was within walking distance of Bletchley Park. This was an excellent day out, Wendy found it more interesting than she thought she would.
Dinner the first night was at The Greedy Italian - excellent, followed by a Turkish restraunt in Milton Keynes, very good.
Friday saw us return to Suffolk to collect Euan and head for Doncaster for the night. We stayed in a Wetherspoons hotel.
Saturday saw us heading home with a brief stop to see Aunty Gillian and return her laptop.
We ended the month with a barbecue and a 13km bike ride on the Sunday.

August

A quiet weekend to start the month, delivered the canoe to Willowgate ready for Euan to use it on his Gold D of E expedition. He survived it and possibly even enjoyed bits of it.
John got home at a reasonable time on the Friday so popped along to retrieve the canoe.
We had an evening out in Perth to celebrate Wendy's birthday.
John got the bank holiday Monday off but no one else did. He spent the time sorting out his computer.
We rounded the month of with a cycle trip to the Red House bothy. There was eight of us until two cyclists arrived about 10:30 after having cycled 120 miles. They had gone by the time we got up for breakfast. A good cycle out with a quick stop at the pattisserie in Braemar.

September

We made an excursion to the farm for a ceilidh. It was well attended by the Wallace contingent with people flying in from far and wide.
John took his bike into Perth for a minor adjustment, it's running much better, so we wewnt for a nice little 10km bike ride on the Sunday.
Euan is still getting bits of work at Willowgate at the weekends and so John wandered off to Melgarve bothy for a night to explore some cycle routes - not as useful as hoped
We eventually managed to book Euan's simulator experience, a christmas present, and we made a night out of it in Glasgow. The flight simulator was excellent. Dinner was good, a nice little Italian restraunt. Breakfast was in a Wetherspoons, as usual. We went to the Museum of Rural Life on the way home. It was very interesting. We also popped into the farm briefly on the way past.

October

Well that's us done 25 years of marriage! Oh and John ticked off another birthday. We celebrated by going out for a nice lunch, just the two of us. Just as well as we showed Euan the menu and he wasn't impressed.
John popped down to Berwick to see Gillian and popped out for a bite of lunch at the garden centre.
Unfortunatley poor Pico caught a chest infection and died.
Euan & John popped out to Portugal for a few days. Euan completed his Open Water diver course and John just pottered about in the sun. The supermarket was only 200M from the apartment but 50M height difference. We had a day back in Lisbon and went to the beer museum, very good. The hostel for our Saturday night stay in Lisbon was interesting to say the least but it did the job.
The following weekend was taken up trying to sort the leaky cistern - I managed it but had to take the cistern off the wall to get it to re attach to the pipe. The oven decided to give up, it tripped the circuit breaker but we didn't realise why until we tried to use the oven the next day. It has now been fixed.
Euan & Wendy went to Glasgow for a university open day so John went off to a bothy. Was going to canoe into Invermaillie but the wind got up too much so headed for Essan instead. Had the place to myself.

November

Euan is progressing with his kayaking, started the month with a two day coaching course which he enjoyed.
Wendy & Euan went ot the theatre in Edinburgh to see A Streetcar Named Desire, part of Euan's studies. John took himself off to a bothy, Abbysinia, a good crowd in there.
Wendy & Euan then went to London for the day for a Theatre craft conference, getting the sleeper train home.
We had a family outing to Dundee for some random shopping before returning home via Blairgowrie for John to collect some computer RAM that was being given away on Freegle.
A very snowy run up the road meant it was about 11:30 on Saturday morning before John got home. It's often snowing on or about Euan's birthday.
He had his first official driving lesson on the Monday and it went well. We all went out to Deans for dinner, very nice.
There are a couple of random photos from this year, just to see if some software is still working.

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