The MegaStar goes to Scotland

‘Meg,’ says Mum, one day, like out of the blue, ‘Do you fancy a holiday?’ ‘Course,’ I said, like stupid question. ‘Course I fancy a holiday…’ ‘Well,’ she says, ‘guess what, your Auntie Lisa has invited us up to Scotland.’ ‘Scotland! I said, and I’m like, ‘Whereabouts…’ but before I can finish, ‘It’s up North above England,’ she says, which is like the most patronisingist thing ever, and that’s saying something I’m telling you. ‘I know where Scotland is,’ I said. ‘ I was asking whereabouts in Scotland, like Edinburgh, or Inverness or the Hebrides or where…’ and I rolled my eyes, cause everyone knows I’m far better at geography than she is, like millions gazillions better; she can’t even find the front door half the time.  ‘Glasgow,’ she says, ‘which is where Lisa lives, and then we’re all going to go to the Isle of Bute, which is where Auntie Lisa comes from.’ ‘You going to explain what an isle is?’ I said, but I couldn’t keep the hump up long cause I was too excited about our holiday.

We left very early cos Glasgow is a long way to drive, but it was fun cos we got to stop at lots of service stations, and I love service stations:

When we got to Glasgow, I found the buildings were all built of sandstone, which is red like me.

Auntie Lisa had cooked a roast chicken dinner to welcome us, and I got to sit at the table and everything:

Next day we went to Loch Lomond, and I had the best time ever.

Here I am, swimming in the loch:

Are you looking Mum?

Loch Lomond was fab. I did loads of playing:

Just once I got a bit sad because of how much Pie would have loved it there, and this was our first holiday without her. Mum knew I was sad. Just listen, she said, can’t you hear her voice in the wind?

And then she gave me cuddles

And I taught Auntie Lisa how to throw my bally just the way I like it:

I was quite tired by the time we got back to Glasgow, and Mum says I’m never tired, or hardly ever:

Next day we went to the Isle of Bute. We missed the ferry:

But that was okay, cos there was another one.

This is me on the ferry:

I’d never been on a ferry before, and Mum said I was “surprisingly good”, which is a backhanded compliment if ever I heard one, but a compliment’s a compliment, I’ll take it…

The Isle of Bute was beautiful.

I did more swimming:

And I went to a ruined chapel, which was nearly 1000 years old:

On our last day in Glasgow, we went to the Clyde, and walked along past the old shipyards. I felt like Queen Meg in my chariot:

It was the best holiday except for it was too short. I couldn’t hardly believe it when Mum said we had to go home next morning. But we only just got here! I said.

And then we drove all the way back home and it took even longer than on the way cos Mum got lost. Her geography, uh-oh, I’m telling you…

 

 

Elsie Pie and Me

I was feeling really down today and missing Pie, so Mum said, ‘I know, how about we take a look through the photos and find all the ones of you and Pie together, then maybe you can share them with our Tripawds friends.’

I thought that was a pretty stupid suggestion, to be perfectly honest with you. ‘Won’t that just make me feel worse?’ I said. ‘How’s looking at photos going to help? It’s not going to bring Pie back, is it?’

‘No,’ said Mum. ‘Not physically. But it will bring back lots of memories and although they might make you feel sad, I think they might make you feel happy too.’

‘So how does that work, Mum?’ I said. ‘Happy and sad are opposites. You can’t be both together.’

‘Just come and look through them, Meg,’ said Mum. ‘Come and sit on my lap,’ So I did.

 

This was my first day with Elsie and Mum. New Year’s Day 2010. They found me on New Year’s Eve

Mum took us to Wales because she said I was a nightmare in London. Apparently, I was a nightmare in Wales too.

 

Elsie and Mum took me on my first ever trip to the beach

 

Elsie taught me loads of stuff. Mostly she taught me it was okay to be happy.

She was always pretty chatty

This is us when we first moved to Norfolk. Pie and I enjoyed exploring together.

This was us that time Mum served our dinner five minutes late

And when she told us she was going to be away for our birthday, and Pie and I staged a sit-in protest

And here we are in the MegaWagon. Else wanted to call it the PieMobile, but MegaWagon sounded better

In Pie I had a friend for all seasons.

A partner in humiliation

And a physio buddy too

She was also perfect just to chill with. I hate that empty space on the sofa

This is us listening to a play on the radio

And Pie made a perfect footrest

This was just last Autumn, when we went to see my Auntie and Uncle in Bristol

And this is maybe the last one of the two of us together. Mum says it totally cracks her up. Why? I said. Well just look at you both! she said. 

‘Do you see, Meg?’ said Mum when we’d finished looking, and she was smiling at me, but there were tears in her eyes. ‘You can be happy and sad together.’

‘Yes, Mum,’ I said. ‘I do.’

Let it Snow!

Guess what! It snowed!!!!!! And Elsie and I had LOADS of fun and I thought you’d maybe like to see some pics.

I couldn’t believe how beautiful the world looked covered in snow.

But you can’t just stand looking,  you got to get in there, make the most of every flake.

Else was pretty wowed as well. Wowed for a Pie, that is.

Come on, I said, let’s have a game, and she did, cos snow turns us all into pups again.

Then I stopped, cause I picked up the scent of a deer….

I won’t be a minute, I said….

And okay, so maybe it was very slightly longer, but who’s checking their watch on a day like this? ‘Chillax, Mum,’ I said, cos she got a bit stroppy. I’d been five minutes max, maybe ten… okay, twenty at the most. ‘I got my carriage haven’t I?’ ‘That is not the point!’ she says to me, which I’d like to know what the point is then, unless it’s that I need a sleigh so I can pretend like I’m Dr Zhivago.

The snow was gone by Christmas, but I’ve got everything crossed we’ll get more soon, and meantime we got our presents to play with. Can you guess which one’s whose?