Leaning in for take off

The wild west wind is now our regular companion. In the garden, every day brings a new lawnful of detritus. The poor shredder has had an attack of the vapours and gone to convalesce at the repair shop. Hopefully it will recover as I still have a lot of mulching to do. In the meantimeContinue reading “Leaning in for take off”

Well Sprung

I came in from the garden in the boogly dark today – so I am clearly down with an acute case of spring fever. I popped over to Mum’s on Monday and Selkirk was distinctly wintery. We walked around the Haining Loch in the afternoon looking for snowdrops but there was no sign as yet.Continue reading “Well Sprung”

Dry in parts

We are now about half way through “Dry January” (having started a bit late we really should run into February) and things are going swimmingly. We have had but two lapses (though in both cases I decided I’d rather be hung for a sheep as a lamb). A third is scheduled for tomorrow and IContinue reading “Dry in parts”

Mens sana in corpore sano

The new clean living programme got off to a slow start today. I had one of those nights when you just don’t sleep but instead of getting up just keep rolling over to negligible effect. The net result was that we had a frosty walk round the garden whilst Keith was in the gym, aContinue reading “Mens sana in corpore sano”

One two three hop,

Back two three hop… goes the progressive barn dance. And so it is with all Ruthven home improvements. The lovely Barry painted and papered the big spare room in double quick time, the carpet fitters were secured for a few days hence. The carpet does indeed look lovely and tones nicely with the wallpaper. PityContinue reading “One two three hop,”

Whirlwind inside and out

After the gales and the blackout, the floods came… Sounds like the beginning of a dystopian “end of days” fantasy novel of the type it is highly satisfactory to consume when warm, dry and supplied with cake. However that was earlier this week – when we all piled into the car to go to theContinue reading “Whirlwind inside and out”

Whirling Dervish Redux

No sooner had I declared that all is sloth, relaxation and a very laid back contemplation of my navel (see previous post) than mum came down with pleurisy (or some such) which triggered a massive asthma attack. She was duly ferried to hospital (protesting all the way) and firmly left there plugged in to theContinue reading “Whirling Dervish Redux”

The productivity illusion

It has been niggling at me recently that somehow this year I have “got less done” than last year. The Ruthven output index seems hovering well below its peak. This thought particularly tugs at me when my inclination mid afternoon is to hit the sofa with a book and my knitting – “tch, tch” theContinue reading “The productivity illusion”

Zig but no Zag

Harvest time usually means a period of wild freedom for Lyra. Once the grain is in and the straw baled there are vast stubble fields to play in. No longer constrained to walk round the edge, diagonals, zigzags, wild loops and even fractals are the order of the day. This year began gloriously, with someContinue reading “Zig but no Zag”

The Luncheon Quickstep

Having discovered that the Waterwheel Tearoom in Selkirk was trialling a bring your own wine option Mum and I (OK mainly me) decided it would absolutely be rude not to try it out. We had hoped for a dinner slot but managed to miss the August ones (next up 5th and 6th Sept) so resolvedContinue reading “The Luncheon Quickstep”