A Busy Time

February 21 -Spring’s round the corner!
We as a nation are pretty obsessed by the weather, I think. Today we’re told our wonderful long spell of sunny days and crisp nights is disappearing and we have a much more well known forecast, which includes the words rain, heavy showers, longer spells of rain, winds; no gales to date! But Ruah and I have had a couple of walks and there’s still no sign of precipitation, though I heard that there were huge hailstones at Dundonnel, near Gairloch!

When things do change, we'll all be regretting that we did not spend much more time in our gardens, pruning and tidying up. I did get a couple of hours done this week and can see the difference – but you might not! There is a lot of work still to do and Ruah has not proved to be a great help – yet!

During much of this marvelous weather I was not at home. On February 7th Ruah and I went to Edinburgh and had a lovely long weekend there with all the family. Catriona was recovering well from her tonsillectomy.

One evening Moira and Sam sat at the computer and booked a four day break for two in Paris. I booked two tickets for the Nut Cracker Ballet.

Sam and I caught the 6.00 am flight on Monday, 11th Feb. and were at our fairly central hotel around 11.00am Paris time. From then on we covered as much ground as possible, by metro, batobus and good old "walker’s bus". The city basked in glorious sunshine every day - not a cloud in the sky and unseasonally warm!

On February 13th, Le Sacre Coeur looked bleached with its background of blue. Many visitors sat on the steps to the Basilique and were entertained by a very good guitarist. At 9.00pm that night, La Tour Eiffel was equally breathtaking.....
Yes, we would go back!




We visited all the famous landmarks and buildings, ate French, Italian and Chinese and were fairly exhausted physically and mentally by Thursday 14th, when we landed at Edinburgh around 5.30pm. Moira and little Daniel had braved the rush hour traffic to be there and that was much appreciated! That evening Moira and Catriona enjoyed the Nut Cracker ballet at the Playhouse Theatre.

Ruah was, like the other children, pleased to see us again! She’s five months old today and no longer fits on her little mats with room to spare! She’s very fond of people and other dogs, respects cats that growl and loves chasing leaves… She’s just becoming accustomed to her 10’ outdoor tether, so she can help in the garden and be in a sunny spot, hopefully. I will get some fencing renewed, and then she’ll be totally safely contained. Till recently she’s shown no desire to wander and consequently raise her owner’s blood pressure!

We travelled north on Sunday. John's day usually starts before 8.00am – and that suited me. To get away from the city early and on Sunday was a bonus, for Edinburgh roads are being dug up left, right and centre. This is mainly for the new tram system, which most residents wonder about...... If it makes any difference to the chaotic travel in the city, then the present frustrations may be forgotten. Having just enjoyed stress free, reasonably priced travel on the Paris metro, which is similar if not better than in London, I can't help but wonder why Edinburgh “missed the bus” – not one of my better jokes!

My thoughts are now turning to the guests who will be arriving from early March. I look forward to meeting them. Of course I should like to meet you too?

Best wishes, Ann

PS – I’ll finish on weather! Today is appalling and Ruah thinks it crazy to go out – sensible!