We drove down to the Central Belt for the weekend, visiting with Craig\u0092s relatives who are over from Canada, and attending his niece\u0092s fourth birthday party.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I drove much of the way down, then to and from our various destinations (like the Scottish Game Fair at Scone Palace\u00a0 — the biggest collection of tweed and dogs I\u0092ve ever seen). So I\u0092ve finally broken through the last barrier: driving around the South, including the multi-lane roundabouts and the motorway.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The weekend really felt like summer<\/em>. Maybe it\u0092s because we had Canadian visitors, so I was conscious of being here, in Scotland, like it was a big vacation — because I knew it was for our visitors.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I\u0092m back to work, though the relatives will be reaching us up here this coming weekend, so the summer holiday goes on. There\u0092s a nice dynamic to this family: the kids are really well-behaved, but still very much their own people, full of energy. With just a word, the parents can reign it in, yet it doesn\u0092t feel at all oppressive; it\u0092s just a working relationship — loving and friendly, but still providing the structure to help the kids get on in the world later on by being appropriate<\/em> and likeable<\/em>. That\u0092s the kind of parent I\u0092d want to be.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Getting back to drawing practice this morning, I was a bit stumped. I drew some random things I wanted to work on (clouds and trees, a boat entering Wick Harbour), but there\u0092s something lifeless about drawings I do just for the exercise of it.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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