Horrible January

Words cannot express how glad I am to see the back of this January. It has never been my favourite month. I find it cold and bleak, and I associate it with exams as well as various unhappy events in the past, including my Dad’s death twenty years ago. And the death of my beautiful Ruby last week really put the tin lid on it this year. There were some good things in January. The kindness of friends and neighbours last week was heart-warming. The lady who found Ruby went to a lot of trouble to get in touch us so that she could be brought home. Our lovely neighbours Christine and Tina went with poor Ally to identify her. And Cat came through from Edinburgh so that she could look after Ally – and James and me too! So I’m now determined to look forward to the spring, which I anticipate by the end of February – there are wee snowdrops already in the front garden. 

Ruby

This morning when I woke up, Ruby was on the bed. When I patted her she rolled onto her back so that I could rub her tummy. She reached out for my hand with her wee paws and bit my hand very gently, she was so happy. And that was the last time I saw her.

Now she is dead, knocked down by a car this afternoon. How can such a beautiful amazing creature be gone? Poor Ruby. And poor Tom, who knows that something is wrong but doesn't understand what he has lost. 

Good day

It has been rather a splendid day. I'm feeling good after our healthy weekend in beautiful Perthshire. Work went particularly well. Our new fireplace was installed - it looks great. I went back to yoga (after skipping it last week because I was feeling under the weather) and loved it. Ally has passed all of his Law Diploma exams with high grades, including the extra one he took to keep his options open in case he wants to become an advocate. I ordered a new cookery book called The Happy Kitchen, which is about healthy food that boosts your energy levels and well being, recommended by Jackie. And I have finished reading She-Wolves by Helen Castor - an excellent and thought-provoking read. A good day indeed. 

Perthshire Birthday

After our convivial Burns Supper at Guay last night, Heidi and I decided to spend the day together while James, Ally and Cat went to bag a Munro; Meall Chuaich. It was James' birthday and Cat gave him a Vulcan bomber mug which he absolutely loved! Heidi and I went for a walk from the Hermitage to Rumbling Bridge - a very leisurely walk - and we had a great chat. Then we had tasty parsnip and sweet potato soup in Palmerston's Café in Dunkeld, another favourite place of mine from Duke of Edinburgh expeditions past. 

Heidi dropped me off at home mid afternoon so I had some time to potter about before James and Ally returned. Grandma hasn't been too well today; she had to get the emergency doctor to visit and was given antibiotics. However she insisted on coming across as usual for tea, for which I admired her spirit but also felt a bit worried, she is getting so frail. She gave James a lovely shirt for his birthday. Then came the boys' present to James; a set of very smart looking wireless headphones which the three of them had clubbed together to buy. Jennifer had sent him a book about mountains which he was very pleased with - I think he has had a very good birthday with such thoughtful presents as well as an energetic hill walk. 

Muddy

I have had a lovely day at Guay in Perthshire, a place of which I am extremely fond. We arrived last night after having dinner at home so as to avoid the heavier traffic, and set off at about 6.30 pm. The journey is an easy one hour and twenty minutes, and the only hitch was the news that Cat was delayed in Edinburgh by a punctured tyre on her car (Ally travelled up with James and me but it made more sense for Cat to go directly from her flat). We weren't very happy at the idea of her having to change the tyre by herself in the dark, however she is a very capable young lady and soon got it sorted, arriving safe and sound about an hour after us. 

Anyway, the four of us had a jolly evening with Bob, Allan and Heidi in the lodge at Guay, and this morning we set off on our various hill walks. Mine was very simple; the 8 km round trip up the hill behind Guay and around Loch Ordie. I thoroughly enjoyed revisiting my old haunts, even though the views were not quite up to their usual standard due to it being a misty day. The path was very boggy in parts, but I was lucky that I met a couple of very pleasant cyclists at the very worst big area of mud that I encountered. As I hesitated, one of them suggested that he swing me across the mud while I clung on to a handy gate! I'm not sure that I looked particularly elegant as I sailed across the marshy ground but it did work! 

La La Land

On Saturday evening James and I went to see the much praised film La La Land with Ally and Cat. It is like an old-fashioned musical set in the modern day. It pays tribute to films such as Singin' in the Rain and An American in Paris; through parts of its plot, its settings and its dance sequences. The bittersweet ending (I hope that Cat doesn't mind me saying that she was crying at the end!) was clearly a tribute to one of my very favourite films, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, which really touched and delighted me. The music was fantastic and I can understand why this film has captured people's imaginations; it's both modern and nostalgic, sad and funny, and beautiful to watch. 

The case of the missing contact lens

Yesterday when I went to put my contact lenses in I was most puzzled to find one of them missing and the case lying open in the shelf. Alasdair's contact lenses were still in their case however. How mystifying. With a little deduction I realised that Ally must have put my contact lenses in by mistake in his haste to get ready for hill-walking with James. One of my eyes has a similar prescription to Ally's but the other is way worse, so the puzzled Ally had discarded it to put in a new one. He didn't realise what had happened until I spoke to him on the phone later. Cue much hilarity and case solved.

If only the last episode of Sherlock this evening had been so straightforward or indeed so entertaining. The convoluted but ultimately silly plot bore little resemblance to the witty, interesting stories of the early series; I'm afraid that this erstwhile entertaining programme has latterly come to take itself too seriously and lost its originality in the process.