Cousins

Ally’s 60th birthday party last Saturday was good fun and pretty amazing. There were about a dozen of us of whom I already knew two or three, and it was such a pleasant and friendly group. Everyone chatted, there were no cliques, it was a lovely atmosphere. Ally’s beautiful and clever daughter Flora works for Berry Bros and she organised and presented a wine tasting. I was happy just to listen in, but to my surprise Ally had organised  four different zero alcohol wines, two whites, one rosé and one red. This meant that I was able to do wine tasting too! I was overwhelmed at how thoughtful this was. It was such a great evening. 

On Sunday we had a delicious lunch at the Italian Kitchen with Heather and Ewan; the next time that we see them will be at Edinburgh airport when we set off for our ski holiday on the 20th! I’m looking forward to skiing again and have booked myself a course of lessons to get into the vibe.

We had a visitor for four days this week; our nephew Ben, who has very recently left the monastery and is travelling a bit while he plans his next steps. It was nice to see him and he was a polite and pleasant guest, understandably a bit quiet at this time of big change for him, but we had a good chat before he moved on to see friends in Edinburgh. He particularly enjoyed coming with me to walk Vinnie, with whom he bonded instantly! Ben is also in touch with Jamie, Ally and Davie, and has been chatting to all three of them by phone, and will be going bouldering with Davie and Chanel this weekend. I’m so pleased that Ben’s cousins are so fond of him and are keeping in touch with him.