Katie, it’s you and I now…

The Husband has been making breakfasts for the past five years and he’s getting very good at it. Today’s breakfast was magnificent – bacon, black pudding, tomato, fried potato, and an egg. As we sat down he pointed at my egg and said ‘You won’t believe what happened! Just as I was turning the egg a big dog rushed in, barked and it gave me such a fright the egg flew into the ceiling flattening it completely! Then the dog disappeared.’ ‘Ok… What colour was this dog?’. ‘Blue’. Right… The Husband asked if he should mention this to Dr Jones… Mirth followed. We have nowadays a wonderful excuse for occasional silliness stupidity, absentmindedness. The Husband has been attending The Beatson hospital in Glasgow and is on constant medication for this that and the next thing. Drugs can be blamed for all sorts of lapses and brain hick ups. One silly breakfast conversation gave me an idea for work. ‘That’s the Breakfast  Cavalry coming (bringing Kate a little extra treat)’ he said, making the silly noise of a bugle. ‘Oh no, there is a delay! Have they chickened out?’ ‘What king of chickens are they, Leghorns, Bantams..?’ I said, ‘This is farce… Ha! Bantam of the Opera!’

In her youth No 1 Daughter often pleaded her real parents to come forward. Maybe she still does.

A friend of ours has a poly tunnel and he grows something it all year round. It sounds like a nice idea. I used to have an ‘edible garden’ but then got too busy to look after it so it was redesigned and is now grass and gravel. Only Blue Circle garden would be easier to look after. Poly tunnel… a wee one on the back lawn perhaps. Whoa! Wait till you see this one! It has been renamed the Poly Palace. The Husband and Daughter have been designing a garden swing for years and the project is now finally finished. In the development process there are a lot of left over materials lying about providing me with useful outdoor features, like a cover over the washing line. It may be sunny in the morning but wait for half an hour… The Husband assembled a frame from steel tubes and covering would be double walled plastic sheeting. Seeing the frame the first time I was awe struck. It’s huge. It’s six metres long, two metres wide, over two metres high. You could park a car in it. Keep some sheep in it, a pony. Rent it out to holiday makers. I must dig out my gardening books to find out what I can grow and when, and how to deter rats mice rabbits and all sorts of bugs that no doubt would find seedlings a welcome supplement to their winter diet. Perhaps over this first winter I just do research, carry in an arm chair, a table, and read the book…use it as my thinking space. Maybe a wee cabinet with a glass and a bottle of wine in it…

I love gannets

I have a new love in my life, Fraser, my grandson. One is always slightly biased, thinking one’s own baby is the cutest but this sure beats them all. I have since been observing other babies and some of them are really ugly. He is only eight weeks old but starting to observe the world keenly already, trying to work out what you are saying, mimicking your expressions and voice. If only you could devote all your time to the baby, talking and  playing with him, in no time at all he’d be able to speak, spell, write poetry, use  the apostrophe correctly. As it is he eats (a lot) sleeps and needs the occasional bath. As soon as he is old enough I’ll introduce him into Scottish Country Dancing, teach him to climb trees, saw branches, build dams in the burn. Just like his granny.