“Mother” Ishbel declares in ringing tones as I wait for the coffee to brew whilst observing the progress of the bird table war (Dunnocks now edging out the House Sparrows, Robin giving it the full Captain Mainwaring and the blue tit sneaks in under the radar and just does its own thing) “What are we doing for scheduled spontaneous fun?” I lay out a feast of immediate delectations including dogwalking, cow feeding, daffodil fancying and calf counting. Later in the week there will be granny collecting, papa visiting, a shopping trip to Edinburgh and a raid on the garden centre (and coffee shop). This programme is officially approved and further place-markers are laid down for craft shop visiting, painting by numbers and cake baking. I am permitted weeding breaks during the painting by numbers.
And fun it was.
On the last calf counting foray we counted 9. They are hugely cute. It is hard to believe our large and rumbustious ladies were once that small. We also visit “the lads” in the back field on daffodil safari day, they are quite flighty now and tend to charge off if they hear you coming (maybe no sae daft – their next big trip is to the mart). One sunny day though we found them paddling amiably in the burn. Carpe diem. Feeding our coos proves to be very much a two man job. They jostle and jump at each other, waggling their handlebars, to get pole position and the biggest share of the Swiss chard. To get any kind of fair sharing Ishbel and I need to stand several yards apart and, in particular, split up Catriona and Snouty, between whom there appears to be no love lost. There is much charging up and down the fence trying to make sure everyone get’s a look in.
The daffodil safari and garden centre trip are also declared a success (each terminates in coffee and a cake – this may be a factor). I remember to get down and smell the wild daffodils and they are indeed gently scented. I am definitely going to see if I can get some in the autumn- there must be a space somewhere in the garden needing an extra daffodil. I may have bought one or two small items at the garden centre.
With Granny in tow we make the arduous trip to Edinburgh. I am pleased to confirm I can still tackle the station steps at a gentle trot and can thoroughly out shop both my mother and my daughter – though the latter put in a good effort in Lush. (Mum and I had to evacuate because of the smell..) I was quietly pleased to see that the dog walking footwear is at the cutting edge of fashion. Harvey Nicks was offering a fine range of heavy duty rubber footwear in the Moschino range. The quest for loose lapsang souchon tea (for Keith’s first foray into Kombucha), however, proved fruitless. Trends in loose tea have clearly moved on – its oolong all the way. Who knew!
Mothers’ day gifts are exchanged before we wave Ishbel off. Keith immediately co-opts mine displaying a complete lack of reading comprehension. I’m sure you will see the point.
Live from Ruthven 