We started to decorate the pub at 2pm. There were around 12 helpers to see that this task was completed. The function suite looked great.

Ian and Jane who own the pub could not have been more accommodating. Thank you very much.

Carol arrived with the buffet and it looked fantastic. There was loads of all different kinds of food to suit every taste.

Dave arrived with his disco kit and got it all set up and sound checked. Thank you Dave.

We got on with laying out all the activities that would be going on throughout the evening.

First to arrive in the evening was Den, dressed as a Dalmatian, she looked great. She got on with setting up her home studio to take pictures of those that wanted to pose. What a professional approach she has. Thank you Den xx

People began to arrive just before 7.30. Nearly everyone had taken the time and effort to dress up. The costumes were amazing. We had everything from vampires and witches to ghouls and ghosties.

Some even had in contact lenses that made their eyes look really scary.

Danny (the clown) was on the door taking the tickets, he was BIG time scary lol. Thank you Danny.

Going around trying to speak to everyone I hope I didn’t leave anyone out. I could not believe the different characters that came in during the course of the party. Shrek looked great lol oh and so did donkey he he he.

Stacey and Kirsty took the tombola around to encourage people to part with their money. They did this big time. There were lots of prizes and everyone wanted a part of it. Thank you girls.

Margaret took the raffle tickets round and took more money from those willing to give it. She was dressed as a pumpkin with purple frilly knickers on ha ha ha. Thank you Margaret.

Jade set up her table doing jewellery tattoos and soon there were lots of people going around with spiders, witches, flowers and all sorts glistening on their faces and arms. Thank you Jade.

George took care of the auction, he has a fine way of making people bid up for the items in the auction. Thank you Dundee Football Club, Dundee United Football Club, MacIntyre’s Hairdressers and Crescent Cabs of Aberfoyle for the items you all donated.

Kirtsy-Lee arrived with her wee brother Dre and she was quite overwhelmed by the amount of people and the costumes they were all in. People were very kind and sat down when they wanted to speak to her and let me push her to them so that she wouldn’t be scared. She was quite relieved when someone that she knew well came in without a costume. There were no photographs taken of Kirsty-Lee as the two people taking the pics were aware that she could be scared by the cameras. There will be other opportunities for pics of her.

The night went very well and soon it was closing time at the bar. Once again everyone mucked in and helped with the cleaning up. Thank you all.

We headed off home, exhausted but very happy that everyone had a good time and the evening had gone really well.

When the monies are totalled it looks like we have raised around £1600 for this night. I think we have all done very well. The total in the fund is sitting at around £4000 now so we are a third of the way there. Kirsty-Lee will soon have her Acheeva and this will certainly enhance the quality of her comfort at home.

To see some of the pictures from the party click here

As the big day dawns I am up to my eyes in it as usual. The Halloween outfits have all been ironed and looking bonny. Kirsty-Lee is going to the party as a pirate wench. Her mum has added sequins to her costume to give it a sparkly effect that she likes.

She was sent home from school on Thursday as she had a wee chest infection. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and she is now on the mend.

Had to rethink the face make up for the party as Kirsty-Lee wouldn’t recognise those she knows with their faces covered up so I am going as the wicked witch of the west with only a false nose on instead of the full green and black face.

Dre, Kirsty-Lee’s wee brother is going as a skeleton and her Mum, Marion is going as a harlequin.

It should be an interesting evening with all the costumes. Everyone seems to be getting into the swing of it and dressing up as all sorts. I will post some pictures after the party to let you all see how we enjoyed ourselves.

Prizes still coming in and those who didn’t book or get tickets have now lost out as they have all been sold.

A group of us are going to the venue this afternoon to decorate the stairs and the dance area. All hands to the deck now that we have a few hours left to get it all in place for tonight.

Gwen has kindly agreed to supervise the children’s games for the evening so that the younger ones can have their own fun. Thank you Gwen.

The networking that has been done during the course of setting this event up has been amazing. I have even found a hairdresser that will cut Kirsty-Lee’s hair. This has been a difficulty in the past as she cannot hold her head up on her own. Michelle is even coming to the house to see to Kirsty-Lee’s hair. Thank you Michelle.

Jade and Margaret have been running around like mad things finishing off the things that they committed to doing. Poor Jade says she is stressed out. Things will settle down after tonight and we can all have a well earned rest. There has been a lot of work has gone into the organising of this party but every bit of it has been worth it.

I will post a blog after the event to thank everyone and let all the others know what a fantastic time they missed.

The next big event is the Discovery Challenge on the 12th November in DW Sports Dundee. You can read about this in the events tab on the website.

Here’s to a great evening to be had by all.

There are only eleven days to go to the next fund raising event for Kirsty-Lee.

The preparations for the Halloween night are well under way. People have been very generous in donating items for the Charity Auction and the Raffle.

There will be a whole host of activities on the night ie: 

• Charity Auction (Dundee United signed football, Dundee signed shirt, Drinks hamper, Food hamper, hairdresser vouchers etc)
• Raffle (Toiletries hamper, Chocolate hamper, Food Processor, Games, etc)
• Tombola (Gift sets, Sweeties, Bottles of wine, tins of goodies etc)
• Photography  (Den will have her studio set up for you to get you picture taken then transferred to a disc for you to get printed)
• Cake and Candy (Many of our friends are lovely bakers and you will be able to buy some to sample for yourself)
• Karoke and Disco  (Sing your heart out at the Karoke then dance the night away at the Disco provided by Dave Heap)
• Jewel Tattoos ( Jade will be doing jewellery tattoos so you can have these decorations added to your outfit to enhance the party spirit)
• Apple Dookin ( the children can ‘dook for apples’ and join in other party games
• Shove Penny ( (Slide 50p coins along the floor to try to win a bottle of 12 year old Glenlivet Single Malt Whisky)
• Guess the amount in the bottle (We have a 3 litre sized vodka bottle filled to the neck with 2p pieces. Can you guess how much is in it. If the amount is not guessed properly then this will be auctioned.
• Buffett (prepared by Carol and inclusive in the ticket price)

Other people have been very kind in lending us Halloween decorations to decorate the hall. Yet more people have offered to help set it all up on the day. The generosity of people has been amazing. Thank you to everyone who is helping.

A telephone call from school was the first notification that there was something wrong with Kirsty-Lee’s feeding tube. The nurse informed me that they couldn’t get an aspiration from the tube.

This involves attaching a syringe to the tube and drawing some stomach acid to ensure that the tube is in the correct place before any feed can be put through it.

I picked her up from school and took her to Ninewells hospital where she would be seen by a staff nurse there. The nurse said that they would have to insert a new tube for her. This involves passing a tube up her nose and down the back of her throat. Not a nice experience for anyone, but worse for Kirsty-Lee as she cannot say no to anything. The nurses tried four times to pass the tube without success before finally getting one in place.

They could still not get an aspiration from it. To save Kirsty-Lee from any more trauma I decided to take her home and we could try again the next day. Kirsty-Lee can eat orally but not enough to keep her weight up, hence the need for the nasal feeding.

The next day I picked her up at lunchtime from school and took her along to the hospital. The doctor had taken the decision to have her x-rayed before trying anything else. This would let us see where the tube was sitting. The x-ray quickly showed up that the tube had not been inserted far enough and was sitting at the top of her stomach. It was then only a case of pushing it in another two inches and this resolved the problem.

Drama over - Kirsty-Lee isn’t a child that often cries therefore when she does it is because she is in pain. She cried a lot on Tuesday afternoon but now her radiant smile has returned and all is well.

Thank you to the nurses in the GP bay at ward 29 Ninewells Hospital Dundee.

The morning dawned quite bright. It looked as if the weather was going to be good to us as we prepared for the walk over the bridge in our swimwear.

Now those of you that know me - know that I am not small and the thought of wearing just a swimsuit to do this walk was quite daunting. However I thought it is all in a good cause so swallowed my pride and got ready to go.

Kirsty-Lee’s mum knows that there can be a brisk wind blowing across the bridge so dressed her for the weather. When I picked her up she was wrapped up in a tracksuit and a windcheater jacket. I was quite envious (lol).

We all met in the car park on the Fife side of the bridge, and true to their word, everyone was in swimwear. Well done to all of the girls that took part. Some were even in bikinis. Of course they had the figures to justify that.

The sun was shining when we set off and we were no sooner on the bridge when the rain started. It was just a light shower and soon passed. Car and lorry drivers honked their horns at us as we waved to them as they passed. The local radio station, Wave 102, has announced the walk on their show that morning so people were looking out for us.

When we got to the end of the bridge we made our way to the Bond pub. Margaret and Lenny had agreed to put on snacks for us for when we finished.

Margaret Stewart, in full collection flow, took a bucket round the pub and collected even more money.

Kirsty-Lee had a fine time watching the antics of everyone and had a thoroughly good day. We danced around the pub and when everyone was ready to go home we said our farewells.

Thank you once again to all who took part and to all who sponsored us.

The final tally will hopefully be done by the end of the week and the total will be posted on the website.

Today, Margaret Stewart and Jade Ireland opened up their home and garden so that everyone could come along and join in a family and friends fund raising effort. There was fun for the children in the shape of a bouncy castle, trampoline, swings and slides - and food, treats and drinks provided by lots of willing volunteers to sell on the day.

The weather started off quite damp and drizzly but this did not deter everyone from having fun. Kirsty-Lee and her younger brother, Dre came along with me.  Kirsty-Lee had a grand time watching everyone enjoying themselves and really enjoyed the chocolate fudge cake that had been made by Jennifer, one of Jade’s friends.

There was a massive fund raising effort all day – with Mary and Margaret making soup, stovies, mince and curry – it was tasty fare no doubt and well worth the pound a portion! (Drinks were also sold at a pound each and the total amount raised suggests that everyone had a really enjoyable night!).

In addition to this, there was Tombola with items donated by friends and family, quizzes and bingo for the entertainment – which was somewhat outshone by the egg and spoon race around the square where Margaret lives. Over twelve people took part –much to our hilarity!

Margaret and Jade had a target of £100; which they utterly smashed - raising over £400 over the course of the day!  A wonderful contribution to Kirsty-Lee’s fund and we are indebted to everyone involved.  

Thank you all for your kind generosity

Elizabeth (and Family)