Dazzle Ships and Haggis

Ally (7) has been learning about the Dazzle Ships at school recently and has really loved sharing everything he learned about them with us. As well as learning what the Dazzle Ships were, his class had a few visits from an artist who helped them work on an art project connected to the Dazzle Ships.

For the last few months Edinburgh has had an example of a Dazzle Ship docked down in Leith, and we found out recently that it was only going to be there until the end of January. So I promised Ally that we would go down to see it after school last Friday - school finishes at lunchtime every Friday.

The docks are only a 5 minute bus journey from the boys' primary school and Friday was a rare bright afternoon - as opposed to the usual grey and dull ones in January.  Perfect for something that involved being outdoors.

Dazzle Ships were an idea that came about during the First World War, when the Admiralty were trying to think of a way to protect their ships from enemy torpedoes. Since they couldn't hide the ships, they tried to confuse the enemy instead, and painted the ships with bright, angular shapes and patterns. The aim was to confuse the enemy so that they couldn't tell which direction the ship was travelling in, and so it would be harder for them to take a good aim with their torpedoes. There was no set pattern for different types of ships, so as not to give away what type they were.

Ally was delighted to see the Dazzle Ship for real.

Once we were finished looking at the Dazzle Ship we took a walk back along the Leith Shore, which looked rather lovely in the winter sunshine. What a difference it made to have the sun shining, even though it was still cold. Everything just seems lovelier and more cheerful in the sunshine! 

Now onto the haggis, which has no connection whatsoever with the Dazzle Ship, other than being part of the same weekend.

On Saturday night my husband's sister hosted her annual Burns Supper, an event that she has done every January for as long as I can remember!

She only ever serves the king of haggis' - haggai?, what is the plural of haggis? - at her suppers, the locally made Macsweens.

Before it can be eaten, the haggis needs to be addressed by someone reading out Burns' Ode to a Haggis. This year James (17) was again the only one brave enough to try it given the honour of addressing the haggis, despite his protestation that as he's dyslexic it's hard enough for him to read English and Gaelic, never mind something written in Scots!

Anyway, he did a great, and suitably dramatic reading, and was particularly enthusiastic about the part where the haggis is stabbed and sliced open! 

Everyone in our house loves haggis, neeps and tatties, and we eat it much more often than just Burns and St Andrew's Nights.

See that kilt Calum (14) is wearing? It's his dad's! It was just a tiny bit big for him.

This may have been the first time that Rocket Raccoon had attended a Burns Supper.

I didn't have time to dig out the kilts for the younger boys, but they did all wear their Scotland tops instead - or a cute little tartan shirt for Fraser.

After dinner we always sing some traditional Scottish songs, but before we started on the singing we had a little bit of music from some of the boys. 

David (11) played An Ataireachd Ard on the guitar...

...and Calum played us the first section of Kate Martin's Waltz on the accordion. He only started learning it that week, which is why he only played the beginning! Calum also accompanied a lot of the songs on accordion too.

 Ally just wishes Auntie Anna had a piano so that he could have performed something too. He still loves playing the piano as much as when he started just a few months ago, and still can't walk past it without sitting down to play for a while. I tell him that he's like our little Mozart as he can't stop playing a tune half way through. He needs to get to the end of it, no matter what he gets called away to do! Mozart was apparently the same, and his children used to tease him by playing unfinished cadences on the piano, which would result in him rushing over to play the end of it!

History lesson over, here's a little clip of David and Calum's two musical solos to finish off with. 

Doors Open Day 2016

At the weekend it was Doors Open Day in Edinburgh, a chance for the public to see inside buildings that are not usually open to them.
James (16) had volunteered to help his grandad as a doorman at the old Magdalen Chapel in the Grassmarket, but before we went to see him there, the other boys and I headed along to the Lothian Buses Depot.

They had a couple of vintage buses parked outside alongside one of their newest styles.

It was a popular attraction and I was glad we had arrived there just after it opened, because by the time we were leaving it had got really, really busy.

Most of the buses that were on display inside the depot were open for you to climb aboard. The boys have always wanted to go on an open-topped bus and so that was the first one they headed for.

This bus went into service just after the second world war.

Inside the vintage buses we noticed how much narrower they are than today's buses, and how sitting next to a complete stranger on those buses would have been much more of a squash! Perhaps we were less socially awkward in those days though?

We didn't find out why this lorry was here, but David (10) was thoroughly impressed with it!

One of the buses was jacked up with all the parts of the undercarriage labelled.

As well as all the buses, there was a stall selling some bus memorabilia, and we had to fight our way through some serious bus anoraks to get something there, but I'll save that for the end.

After we had seen all we wanted to see at the bus depot we made our way across to the Grassmarket and to the historic Magdalen Chapel. The chapel was built in the 1500s, and if you are interested in history you can read more about the history of it here.

When we were finished at the chapel, and James was relieved of his doorman duties, we walked up from the Grassmarket and towards the Royal Mile.

I have lived in or around Edinburgh for over 20 years now, and I never tire of the beauty in it's streets.

Once we were at the Royal Mile we headed down towards St Giles.

We weren't going to see the cathedral though, but the Supreme Courts which sit just behind the chapel.

The building dates from the 1600s and the main hall, Parliament Hall was where the original Scottish Parliament used to sit.

I was too busy watching a 2 year old to read all the info that was around about the Hall but I did manage to snap this photo of one of the information boards!

Further into the building we saw into one of the courts, we looked into the cells, and Ally (7) was able to try on the robes, wig and mace of a judge!

There were quite a few maces on display. This one that David is holding was the oldest there, dating from around the 1500s. Or maybe it was the 1600s. Anyway, it was really old either way!

Immediately outside the courts is the burial place of John Knox., now car parking space no. 23.

By the time we were finished looking round the courts we were all very hungry and so we grabbed a bite to eat. Rather appropriately, having spend the morning looking around so many historical Scottish sites, I went for some haggis and chips.

Suitably fuelled up again we headed across the Royal Mile and down to the train station to catch a train home.

Now, remember the bus memorabilia I mentioned? The bus company were raising money for a couple of charities and were selling off all their old bus stop signs. The signs were all in bundles against a wall and it was quite a scramble to get in to them, as there were quite a few eager bus fans all keen to get one! I wanted to make sure that we got one for a stop that was relevant to us in some way and was delighted when we saw one for Blackford Pond. 

Back in my earliest days in Edinburgh, and when my husband and I started seeing each other as more than 'just good friends', my in-laws lived near Blackford Hill and so we had many walks up the hill and around the pond. One of the buses that stopped at that stop was also one that I used to get to University so the sign has a double significance to us. 

David carried it about Edinburgh the whole day, and we had quite a few people stop us and ask where we had got it from! I have no idea where we are going to hang it in the house yet though!

There were lots more buildings open for Doors Open Day and if you have one near you coming up then I highly recommend you get along to see what is open. After all, you can't get much better than a free day out, can you?!