Mum is now confined to barracks. Under extensive forensic cross examination she finally admitted that the sore ankle previously designated as “fine” was actually extremely painful. As she refused to lie on the sofa eating violet creams in the required manner, I gave her the much ignored (other than by moths and one of theContinue reading “Pigeon post”
Category Archives: family
What counts
January always seems to bring drifts of numbers. I gather them up into neat daily stacks and string lines between the peaks to observe the trend. The daily kilo count (I stick to metric as it feels less real than imperial) hovers minutely up and down, refusing to transform to a downhill slide. My tallyContinue reading “What counts”
A dryish white season
As we waved off the last visitor of the festive season the members of Team Ruthven all felt a rest from Bacchanalian practices might be in order. Approaches differed. Keith declared the commencement of “Dryish January” and then promptly took Lachlan to the pub for a last hurrah. Mum and I took the moral highContinue reading “A dryish white season”
And so it was Christmas…
Christmas stole rather softly over Ruthven House this year. The bellwether of preparedness that is Monkey’s jumper was competed with 48 hours to spare and by Christmas Eve there was a fridge replete with pigs in blankets and stuffing balls, a lemon meringue pie cooling on the cake stand and, in an unprecedented feat ofContinue reading “And so it was Christmas…”
Luxury Stuffing!
I managed to hold onto the feeling that matters festive were completely under control until the 19th this year – rather a triumph! In the days running up to the Great Christmas Party on the 17th there was much cake icing and canapé making (making canapés that is, the cake is sacrosanct) is the veryContinue reading “Luxury Stuffing!”
Fire and Flood
The boys have gone to play snooker, the steak and kidney pudding has an hour and a bit still to steam, everything else is ready bar a few last minute blasts in the oven and I am finally sitting down with a glass of wine, gently throbbing feet and a slightly dazed sensation. I’m notContinue reading “Fire and Flood”
Unspooling
We have been in Glenelg for four days now and the threads that bind me to things to do have unravelled into a tangled heap on the bedroom floor alongside the running kit and crumpled shorts I pull on most days. The carefully curated holiday wardrobe lies tidily in the drawers and seems likely toContinue reading “Unspooling”
It’s all gone Pete Tong
Where to begin….. We set off for the Isle of Wight primped and prepped. Our little party was staying at the Grand, where an ongoing ambience of being in the middle of a Hercule Poirot adventure coexisted slightly uneasily, but in a good way, with the breakfast mix tape of 70s funk classics. The weddingContinue reading “It’s all gone Pete Tong”
Open season is closed (for a bit)
Finally, or at least for a month, we have the garden to ourselves and license to ignore it or appreciate it from a sedentary position, as the mood takes us. The annual garden open day took place last Sunday, on the coldest and windiest (but thankfully not rainiest) day for ages. The cohort of stalwartContinue reading “Open season is closed (for a bit)”
Wind and Water
We have, again, a house full of family. Ishbel drove up and arrived on Wednesday night, we visited dad and collected mum yesterday and this afternoon the bold boy himself arrived. Lyra is cock a hoop at having all her pets conveniently in one place and, in the case of Auntie Granny, bristling with tripeContinue reading “Wind and Water”
Live from Ruthven 