It was Ian and my 12th anniversary today, an occasion which also clashes weirdly with the death of one of my favourite dogs, and with a massive fall out (never fully recovered from) with one of my closest friends. So, although it should normally be a day which I can concentrate on fully, sometimes I can’t forget the past!
The day started like most others- Ricky and Robbie getting me out of bed at 6.30am…however once Ian was up, he got the kids dressed and took them to the park for a while, so I went back to bed with the cat (who occasionally has his uses- not often, but sometimes!) and slept for a while. A massively rare, lovely treat, as those of you with small children will know! 
After lunch, we decided to go for a walk up to Scrabo Tower. Those of you from Northern Ireland will immediately know where I am talking about. For those of you who don’t, it’s a tower built in the 1850’s to commemorate a local earl, which makes it a “folly”. It sits on a very prominent cliff face/hill and can be seen for miles around. In fact we can even see it from some rooms in our house! 
I found this amazing link, which will give you a 360 degree tour of the views- which are staggering-
http://ispyni.com/gallery.aspx?TITLE=Castles%20and%20Monuments&dataid=53061
Sadly however, whoever took this shot didn’t visit on any clearer a day than we did- you can see the Mourne Mountains in the distance and see across the sea to Scotland. Today we could see Scotland well and see the snow capped mountains of the highlands in the distance. Heaven!
Here are a couple of pics-
For the first time EVER that I have visited, the tower itself was OPEN!!!!! Which meant that to my total delight, Ricky and I were able to climb the 122 steps to its summit and take in the astounding view from the top. This is something I will remember for the rest of my life! The views are great and it was SUCH a rare treat. I think they only open a few days every year and we just got lucky! Ricky had so much fun too! Robbie and Ian stayed at the bottom because of all the steps and Robbie played around in the grass!
Afterwards, me and the boys headed to my Dad’s to feed my horses, while Ian headed into Belfast to collect some stuff for dinner. The weather was really mild. so me and Dad and the boys played in my Dad’s gorgeous garden for a while before we came home.
The boys have just gone to bed and Ian is cooking me a delicious roast chicken dinner at the moment. I am truly a blessed, blessed girl! Life is good!
Posted in Family, Northern Ireland, Other things on my mind, Random, children | Tags: Ricky, Robbie, Ian, horses, Dad, Northern Ireland, chicken, walk, Mourne Mountains, Belfast, Scrabo Tower, scenery, Scotland, views, anniversary
