17/07/2022
Saturday morning started with Eloise showing Lachlan how to wrap presents.
Lachlan was not happy that Eloise and Dad left him behind for Football Buzz. Now he is up on two legs, he wants in too.
After Football Buzz, we swung past home to pick up Super Mum and Lachlan and headed north to Balloch for our first Loch Lomond Highland Games. It is that time of year, with towns across Scotland holding their Highland Games.
As we entered there were wee Highland Dancers performing. We should pull Eloise out of her ballet dance class, this is way better!
Look who we happened to bump into, the usual gang were back together. We found some good seats and watched the amateurs compete until midday. Lachlan was trying to sort out how he could register as a Highland Games athlete.
Jennine found her Buchanan Clan, sadly the Fensoms were not welcome. It was good to verify there is no Fensom tartan.
There were a few Scottish stalls, we thought the tartan clocks looked neat. There was a badelynge of Becca’s ducks.
The amateur caber toss had begun in struggle town. This was one of the better attempts for the morning.
The caber toss is a traditional Scottish athletic event in which competitors toss a large tapered pole called a “caber”. It is normally practised at the Scottish Highland Games. In Scotland, the caber is usually made from a larch tree and it can be between 16–20 feet (4.9–6.1 m) tall and weighs between 90–150 pounds (41–68 kg). The term “caber” derives from the Gaelic word cabar, which refers to a wooden beam. The person tossing the caber is called a “tosser” or a “thrower”. It is said to have developed from the need to toss logs across narrow chasms (in order to cross them), lumberjacks needing to transport logs by throwing them in streams, or by lumberjacks challenging each other to a small contest… The record for most caber tosses in three minutes is currently held by the Canadian Danny Frame. He managed to perform 16 successful caber tosses on 20 July 2018 at the Heart of the Valley Festival in Middleton, Nova Scotia, Canada.
The pipers marched out in force, the games record and world record were marked, the crowds were growing and the Loch Lomond Highland Games had officially begun. The first track event was the 80m sprint, strange.
Hammer throw was the first field event. These hammers had solid bars fixed to them and the throwers wore strange boots with knives attached to the front.
There were a lot of handicapped running and cycling events. The cycling sprints on grass looked particularly tough.
After watching a number of the events we had to leave before the professional tossers took part, there was also tug of war, wrestling, a busy day’s schedule. It was a beautiful day but we could not stay as Eloise was already running late for a party. We hope you are not sick of hearing the bagpipes, there will be a lot more where that came from soon…
Highland games are events held in spring and summer in Scotland and other countries with a large Scottish diaspora, as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain aspects of the games are so well known as to have become emblematic of Scotland, such as the bagpipes, the kilt, and the heavy events, especially the caber toss. While centred on competitions in piping and drumming, dancing, and Scottish heavy athletics, the games also include entertainment and exhibits related to other aspects of Scottish and Gaelic cultures.
It was a special Birthday Party Gymboree session. Emma and the twins had chosen for it to be Peppa Pig and Frozen-themed. Lachlan and Eloise had such a great time.
After all of last week’s catchups, everyone we know on this end seems to be getting struck down with COVID-19. Despite four negative COVID-19 lateral flow tests between us we were convinced it had finally caught up with us so we did not venture far on Sunday.
We pushed our empty pram around to the ducks. Lachlan has mastered feeding them now, although it is a bit of a love-hate relationship as he gets upset they do not want to hug him back, Lachlan is very cuddly.
It was warm in the afternoon, we needed the pool and ice creams to stay cool.
With the kids in bed, Sophie has dived into the world of patterns as the clothes production line begins.
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