07.03.05
Tuesday, 8 March 2005
Monday, 7 March 2005
South-bound
So.....this time next week PG and I should have just about completed our journey south on our forthcoming visit to my parents, just outside of London and I can't wait. I'm like a child going on holiday each time and this time it seems so long since I saw them.
It's something in the region of six months since we last made it down there, two people working different shifts, both with employers who aren't overly accommodating about when leave can be taken makes it sometimes seem a nigh on an impossible task to get organised.
They of course came here for new year but it still seems an age and we have so much catching up to do. My fathers birthday is a day or two before we arrive so it will be nice to be able to celebrate that with them, albeit a few days late. Aside from that I have no idea what is planned for this visit though doubtless with my fathers 'military style' organisation and planning there will be much in store.
My one reservation is Poppy, she and Ditto of course have to go on their own less anticipated 'holiday' to the cattery. Poppy is in no way phased by this process but I am slightly concerned now that at her age she will become ill again or worse with us 400 miles away. Hey ho, there is no viable alternative so all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope. We are only away for 5 days so things should be ok.
Lord knows what will happen with my new years 'resolution' to post something here every day this year. Those of you familiar with these forays south will also be familiar with the er....'parental restrictions' on internet time whilst we are visiting. Suffice to say it is limited! I have a cunning plan to circumnavigate this problem, more on that another time.
So....the countdown begins again, only 7 more sleeps to go..........
It's something in the region of six months since we last made it down there, two people working different shifts, both with employers who aren't overly accommodating about when leave can be taken makes it sometimes seem a nigh on an impossible task to get organised.
They of course came here for new year but it still seems an age and we have so much catching up to do. My fathers birthday is a day or two before we arrive so it will be nice to be able to celebrate that with them, albeit a few days late. Aside from that I have no idea what is planned for this visit though doubtless with my fathers 'military style' organisation and planning there will be much in store.
My one reservation is Poppy, she and Ditto of course have to go on their own less anticipated 'holiday' to the cattery. Poppy is in no way phased by this process but I am slightly concerned now that at her age she will become ill again or worse with us 400 miles away. Hey ho, there is no viable alternative so all we can do is keep our fingers crossed and hope. We are only away for 5 days so things should be ok.
Lord knows what will happen with my new years 'resolution' to post something here every day this year. Those of you familiar with these forays south will also be familiar with the er....'parental restrictions' on internet time whilst we are visiting. Suffice to say it is limited! I have a cunning plan to circumnavigate this problem, more on that another time.
So....the countdown begins again, only 7 more sleeps to go..........
Well, who'da thought it!
Mr dentist man, 'George', the guy who by leaving a comment a few days back on a very old post prompted probably the longest set of comments here thus far, has very kindly offered to take a look at my molars!
The logistics and timing have yet to be arranged, the fact that we are 400 miles apart is not a big issue, his practice is but 10 miles from my parents. Finding a mutually convenient time among all the things I have to do whilst there maybe slightly more tricky but it's a start...... and a damn sight closer than I have been to seeing a dental professional for years.
It'll be kinda odd to meet face to face, if I ever make it, with a guy who's profession I was essentially slating but it just goes to show how nice people in the blogosphere can be and how surprising life is.
The logistics and timing have yet to be arranged, the fact that we are 400 miles apart is not a big issue, his practice is but 10 miles from my parents. Finding a mutually convenient time among all the things I have to do whilst there maybe slightly more tricky but it's a start...... and a damn sight closer than I have been to seeing a dental professional for years.
It'll be kinda odd to meet face to face, if I ever make it, with a guy who's profession I was essentially slating but it just goes to show how nice people in the blogosphere can be and how surprising life is.
Sunday, 6 March 2005
Sunday~sundown
On the assumption that you have had enough of snow and dentistry for a while........ tonight's sunset.
(Click to enlarge)
Sundown 06.03.05
Sundown 06.03.05(1)
(Click to enlarge)
Sundown 06.03.05
Sundown 06.03.05(1)
Saturday, 5 March 2005
Catching the winter sun
(Click to enlarge)
Catching the winter sun.
Over the last few weeks poppy has been giving me cause for concern again. Her medical history in old age, she is getting on for 18, has been well documented here, so I won't regale you with the details again for fear of sending you into a rapid state of narcosis! Suffice to say she is very old and her kidneys are failing, I dread the day she goes but over time I have (I think) come to accept it. My greatest wish for her is that she just 'falls off' one day at home with us beside her. My greatest fear is that she will die someday when there is no one home with her.
We are due to visit my parents in a week or two and her apparently worsening health has been causing me a deal of worry. I do not want to subject her to the cattery if she is not strong enough but equally I feel she is now too old to do an 800 mile round trip, as used as she is to traveling.
And thus it has been over the last few days I noticed she has lost weigh, seemed not to be eating much and was generally 'out of sorts'.
Again my 'cat worry' happily seems to be premature. This afternoon I decided on taking the fail safe test. I have recently changed her diet slightly in an endeavor to take a little pressure of her old kidneys, so today I opened a tin of tuna......the theory being that if she showed litle interest, as she has in her food of late, then I had cause to be truly concerned.
Whooshhhh...like a bat out of hell, as the can popped open she appeared at my feet looking pleadingly up at me. Tuna was duly deposited in dish as she made a vallaint attempt to clamber up my leg and was in the process of being hungrily devoured before dish even hit floor!
Phew! Damn all it seems is wrong with her appetite, she, as ever cats are, was just being picky and staunchly not eating enough of something that did not appeal........ tuna of course is the food of the Gods and so was treated with appropriate vigor. She sat and ate her way through the entire dish full without a pause!
I am not kidding myself here, I know she could be here for perhaps, if we are lucky, another year but equally I know it is likely to be much sooner. I'm just thankful that for now, one more Poppy worry is over and it looks like she is going to be a happy cat for a little while longer at least.
Catching the winter sun.
Over the last few weeks poppy has been giving me cause for concern again. Her medical history in old age, she is getting on for 18, has been well documented here, so I won't regale you with the details again for fear of sending you into a rapid state of narcosis! Suffice to say she is very old and her kidneys are failing, I dread the day she goes but over time I have (I think) come to accept it. My greatest wish for her is that she just 'falls off' one day at home with us beside her. My greatest fear is that she will die someday when there is no one home with her.
We are due to visit my parents in a week or two and her apparently worsening health has been causing me a deal of worry. I do not want to subject her to the cattery if she is not strong enough but equally I feel she is now too old to do an 800 mile round trip, as used as she is to traveling.
And thus it has been over the last few days I noticed she has lost weigh, seemed not to be eating much and was generally 'out of sorts'.
Again my 'cat worry' happily seems to be premature. This afternoon I decided on taking the fail safe test. I have recently changed her diet slightly in an endeavor to take a little pressure of her old kidneys, so today I opened a tin of tuna......the theory being that if she showed litle interest, as she has in her food of late, then I had cause to be truly concerned.
Whooshhhh...like a bat out of hell, as the can popped open she appeared at my feet looking pleadingly up at me. Tuna was duly deposited in dish as she made a vallaint attempt to clamber up my leg and was in the process of being hungrily devoured before dish even hit floor!
Phew! Damn all it seems is wrong with her appetite, she, as ever cats are, was just being picky and staunchly not eating enough of something that did not appeal........ tuna of course is the food of the Gods and so was treated with appropriate vigor. She sat and ate her way through the entire dish full without a pause!
I am not kidding myself here, I know she could be here for perhaps, if we are lucky, another year but equally I know it is likely to be much sooner. I'm just thankful that for now, one more Poppy worry is over and it looks like she is going to be a happy cat for a little while longer at least.
Friday, 4 March 2005
Friday's feast (38)
Appetizer - Who is the one person you email more often than anyone else?
Lisa
Soup - So far, which year of your life has been the most enjoyable?
2002.....for all it had it's problems and difficulties it was the year I met PG, moved to Scotland and finally began to understand what I am about.
Salad - Name someone with whom you have lost touch but would like to reunite.
An Austrian woman named Gabrielle who I met on holiday in Cornwall perhaps 15 years ago. We became close friends and remained in contact for a number of years but eventually lost contact. I would love to know what she is up to now and catch up.
Main Course - What was the tastiest meal you had this past week?
Chinese take-away, last night!
Dessert - Using the letters in your favorite color, write three words that describe your personality.
Boisterous, belligerent, befuddled!
Lisa
Soup - So far, which year of your life has been the most enjoyable?
2002.....for all it had it's problems and difficulties it was the year I met PG, moved to Scotland and finally began to understand what I am about.
Salad - Name someone with whom you have lost touch but would like to reunite.
An Austrian woman named Gabrielle who I met on holiday in Cornwall perhaps 15 years ago. We became close friends and remained in contact for a number of years but eventually lost contact. I would love to know what she is up to now and catch up.
Main Course - What was the tastiest meal you had this past week?
Chinese take-away, last night!
Dessert - Using the letters in your favorite color, write three words that describe your personality.
Boisterous, belligerent, befuddled!
The eBay idiot
It appeared that despite my sending a plethora of very, er....carefully worded emails to the guy who took my money and then decided he wasn't going to sell the goods, he was just not going to respond. I had all but written him off and decided the best course of action was to claim the cost from my credit card insurance when this morning, within the time frame I had set, a cheque landed through the letter box from this fool! I might add, that whilst he seems unable to perform the common courtesy of replying to emails, he is capable of penning a pathetically worded letter, that accompanied the cheque, begging us not to leave him negative feedback on eBay.
Ok, so I'm not counting chickens here, the cheque has yet to clear and in my usual state of scepticism, I am not entirely convinced it will.
The most disturbing aspect of all this is that PG and I seem to be going soft in our dotage, having discussed and almost agree that should said cheque clear, we will do as he asks and not leave poor feedback.....we kinda almost feel sorry for him now!
Maybe, just maybe his original lame excuses for his behaviour were true, if that's so then to damage his 'eBay reputation' would be unkind. I suppose I/we have to give him the benefit of the doubt.......always assuming the cheque clears. Should it not, then watch this space!
Ok, so I'm not counting chickens here, the cheque has yet to clear and in my usual state of scepticism, I am not entirely convinced it will.
The most disturbing aspect of all this is that PG and I seem to be going soft in our dotage, having discussed and almost agree that should said cheque clear, we will do as he asks and not leave poor feedback.....we kinda almost feel sorry for him now!
Maybe, just maybe his original lame excuses for his behaviour were true, if that's so then to damage his 'eBay reputation' would be unkind. I suppose I/we have to give him the benefit of the doubt.......always assuming the cheque clears. Should it not, then watch this space!
Thursday, 3 March 2005
Dentistry again.....or lack of
Many months ago, in June of 2004 I posted on a situation that I found very frustrating. The inability in the UK over the last few years get a dentist. You can read the original post HERE.
Nothing has changed, months later I still can't get dental treatment and the situation still frustrates me.
The reason I bring it up again is that today, all these months later that post received a comment from a dentist. I am hoping that he or she does not object to my publishing that comment as a post given that the original was already in the public domain when the comment was made.
My intention is not to turn this into a slanging match, rather to re-open a discussion I feel strongly about now I have the opinion of an individual from within the dental profession.
What do you think?
This is the text of that comment:
And this is my reply:
Addendum: Anonymous, I wonder.......before you leave the NHS, you wouldn't by chance have room on your books for one more would you?
Nothing has changed, months later I still can't get dental treatment and the situation still frustrates me.
The reason I bring it up again is that today, all these months later that post received a comment from a dentist. I am hoping that he or she does not object to my publishing that comment as a post given that the original was already in the public domain when the comment was made.
My intention is not to turn this into a slanging match, rather to re-open a discussion I feel strongly about now I have the opinion of an individual from within the dental profession.
What do you think?
This is the text of that comment:
Anonymous said...
I will attempt to set some things straight because I believe the government has misled the public with lies about "greedy dentists" for decades now. The only reason dentists are abandoning the NHS is that the fees they are paid are downright ridiculous for the highly skilled job they are supposed to do.
Let me give you an example of exactly how much the government values your health:
A filling on a child is less than a donner kebab.
An extraction is less than a music CD.
A root canal treatment on a front tooth, on which outcome the future of your tooth depends, is less than a playstation game.
So dentists were forced to see a huge number of patients each day (sometimes 30-40, that's the largest in the western world) and use only the cheaper materials. Ask any dentist in the US or the better parts of Europe and they will tell you about the appallingly low quality of NHS dentistry.
Many of us decided that they're not going to play the government's game anymore and stopped compromising our patient's health just because the government is used to buying dentistry on the cheap. Who can blame those who took that step?
As a last point, I'm a dentist and proud to be member of the profession with the highest suicide rate (so life isn't exactly rosy for us, as people tend to think), and I currently work in the NHS, but I will leave on the first chance I get. A few weeks ago the government announced that the new computer network for the NHS will cost 20-30 billion pounds. That's enough to pay for 30 years of dentistry at the current level, or 10 years of dentistry at a high quality level. But they're going to spend it on computers. Politicians have got their priorities seriously wrong.
And this is my reply:
Anonymous: Firstly thank you for taking the time to comment, it's good to get the opinion of the 'other side'.
Ok, now onto the points you raised.
I can accept without too much difficulty that the government has attempted to mislead us, the general public' with regard to the dental profession's greed, it would not be the first time and I am sure it will not be the last but were many of you not trained as I stated in my original post, at a time when most of the current situation was already in place and was the training not at the expense of this country? I know there are many dentists in the UK from overseas but presumably though not trained here there was something in our system that attracted them to practice here?
I doubt there are many employees of our NHS system who are happy with their lot, I myself worked within the system for a short time and found the entire experience very negative but the one big difference between dentists and the other employees from where I am sitting, is that the others carry on their duty of care regardless. Yes many doctors practice privately along with carrying out NHS work and yes I can jump a queue for surgery with cash but ultimately if I cannot afford that surgery, I will get it in time via the NHS. That is very much not so where my teeth are concerned!!
I appreciate that your profession is highly skilled and should be appropriately remunerated but it is a fact of life that most of us are not in reality salaried as we feel our work deserves. Dentists are not alone in that. We mere mortals just don't have the power to hold the government, or those we serve in our occupation to ransom!
Believe me I would like to have more respect for the dental profession but the bottom line for me is that I had a set of teeth that had been well looked after all my life and are now not as they should be. I am completely unable to get a dentist via the NHS and in fact where I live have been unable thus far to get one even privately......though how I would pay him or her if I could remains a mystery.
I do not apologise for my belief that dentists were in my mind akin to doctors, nurses, medical professionals of other specialities, the police, paramedics and the fire brigade. These are ALL highly skilled individuals who choose to go into a profession of caring. They differ from dentists in so much as despite their sometimes appalling conditions of service and salary they continue to care for those that require their skill. Their frustrations with the system within which they are employed do not affect the service user to anything like the magnitude that the dental professions behaviour has!
I cannot dispute the suicide rate, I have no evidential statistics to support or deny your claim but I do know various professions claim to hold the 'highest rate' accolade. I'm not sure what causes the pressure in dentistry, I am assuming workload. Sorry, but have any of you tried struggling with the day to day stressors and a heavy workload with your teeth causing you pain for years??
Bottom line: I can't see a dentist because dentistry is unavailable to me, both actually and financially and I don't understand how a caring profession can justify hurting the very people they claim to care for in pursuit of economic gain. One thing is for sure, those in government who your battle is with are not suffering, it is us, your patients that are doing that.
I am not going to argue the point that you as a profession are not 'well off' for that is relative. I only know that I don't see too many dentists living in the poor part of town or with holes in their shoes.
The situation continues to anger me. Strangely I am scared of dental treatment and it took me many years to become comfortable (ish) with it, now on top of rotting teeth I have to overcome that fear again should I be fortunate enough to ever receive the attentions of a dentist.
Addendum: Anonymous, I wonder.......before you leave the NHS, you wouldn't by chance have room on your books for one more would you?
Wednesday, 2 March 2005
I barely dare admit this!
From the woman who backs everything up in three places this comes as some admission.
I have been up since 7am (it's 3.30pm now) building a brand new template, completely different, everything changed......and what did I do, hit the wrong b%*~$&*d button and lost 80% of it.....gone, defunct,no more,fin! Arghhhh.
Sorry, this one stays.......... and giggle quietly please!
What is it they say about pride coming before a fall?
I have been up since 7am (it's 3.30pm now) building a brand new template, completely different, everything changed......and what did I do, hit the wrong b%*~$&*d button and lost 80% of it.....gone, defunct,no more,fin! Arghhhh.
Sorry, this one stays.......... and giggle quietly please!
What is it they say about pride coming before a fall?
Just when you......
...take your eye off the ball, stop checking charts obsessively (who me?) and give up in the belief that you have had your fair share, what happens? It snows again!!
PG called me around midnight last night as he left work with the words " get your head out of the pc and look outside". Of course, being a dutiful wife-ette andrarely always doing as my man instructs I did just that....to find over an inch had fallen in perhaps only half an hour..... my 'happy blogger' status of the early evening was bolstered further! This morning it is still snowing intermittently but with high winds again it is blowing around too much to accumulate impressively, no matter, it feels like a bonus and it looks beautiful falling.
On the subject of snow (yet again I hear you groan) and happy incidents, I was treated a day or so ago to the pictures below, sent kindly to me by their photographer, a fellow blogger Bryan Torre of Moments of Adequacy. What struck me most was just how nice the blogging fraternity is. I'm sure Bryn won't mind me saying this but we barely know each other and yet, in his busy day he thought to take and send me these beautiful pictures. What a star.
(Click to enlarge)
Washington DC ~ snow
Washington DC
PG called me around midnight last night as he left work with the words " get your head out of the pc and look outside". Of course, being a dutiful wife-ette and
On the subject of snow (yet again I hear you groan) and happy incidents, I was treated a day or so ago to the pictures below, sent kindly to me by their photographer, a fellow blogger Bryan Torre of Moments of Adequacy. What struck me most was just how nice the blogging fraternity is. I'm sure Bryn won't mind me saying this but we barely know each other and yet, in his busy day he thought to take and send me these beautiful pictures. What a star.
(Click to enlarge)
Washington DC ~ snow
Washington DC
Tuesday, 1 March 2005
A narcissistic moment
Allow me please a moments narcissism, for here in gemmaks-ville an email has just been received from WSH who as ever seems to have her eye on the ball (unlike myself) and noticed that I made the Weblog Review's top 5 again. Yayyy. It probably means very little but it has bought an upturn in my hits today and on my current average I might even pass the 20000 hit mark sometime tomorrow, or perhaps Thursday.
It amazes me still that anyone should want to read this at all but I'm damn glad that you do and again thank you all for making me a happy little blogger this evening.
:o)
It amazes me still that anyone should want to read this at all but I'm damn glad that you do and again thank you all for making me a happy little blogger this evening.
Apologies.....
....for the condition of this blog today!
The server hosting all my bits and pieces died a sudden death earlier today. Consequently, if you have stuff hosted on my webspace, your blog will also be in a state of some disrepair and littered with those nasty little red crosses.
Sorry ........there is nothing I can do but wait for some techie to get moving and get it sorted at their end. Hopefully normal service will be resumed by the end of the day.
The server hosting all my bits and pieces died a sudden death earlier today. Consequently, if you have stuff hosted on my webspace, your blog will also be in a state of some disrepair and littered with those nasty little red crosses.
Sorry ........there is nothing I can do but wait for some techie to get moving and get it sorted at their end. Hopefully normal service will be resumed by the end of the day.
Ever been conned?
No?....... Well I strongly suspect I just have, or rather PG and I.
On Sunday PG purchased an item through Ebay, a cell phone costing a little over £100, on my account and using my credit card I might add but of course with my full agreement. Nothing too startling there, he uses Ebay often and thus far without incident, though he takes the usual precautions. He checks out the sellers history, only purchases from those with 100% positive feedback, rarely orders from overseas and never sends cash or a cheque.
It would appear that for all this on this occasion we have been conned.... Gah!
Within an hour of the auction closing and the vendor receiving payment via Paypal we received an email from said vendor stating that the item belonged to his son who had wanted to sell it to finance the purchase of a Playstation and had now 'changed his mind'.....he would therefore be removing the item from sale and refunding our money. 'Too late sunshine' was the cry from this end, once the item is offered for sale and payment received one is theoretically at least bound by legal contract to complete the transaction. We mailed him back explaining this politely but stating that if he was determined to renege on the deal how we would prefer to receive the refund.
Immediately we received the original email my, hackles rose and my 'security issues' antenna started to buzz. I am ever sceptical in situations where money changes hands and having worked for a while in a security related area and alongside the police my awareness of the possibility of becoming the subject of one scam or another is ever present.
So what happened next? Damn all is what happened, despite repeated emails there has been no response from the vendor thus far. He managed to email us within an hour to tell us he was no longer selling but now seems unable to reply to mail within 48 hours....no surprise there then, I doubt we will hear any more from him at all!
So now the aggravation of trying to recover the monies begins, we have contacted Ebay and reported the issue and the same with Paypal, I have this morning to contact my credit card company and enquire if such a transaction is covered by their purchasers insurance. One way or another I think I will recover a large percentage of the cost though not all but I am steaming.
I can ill afford to throw £100 away but worse still is my anger and frustration at the situation. Once crossed I can be like a terrier with a bone, this guy may think he has scammed us and got away scot free, believe me he hasn't. I will of course operate well within the bounds of the law, it is not my style to do otherwise but we have this individuals name, we know the area he lives, where he works......it's not too far from here, I have access to the electoral roll and one or two other 'helpful' tracing systems and if all else fails I will make sure he at least no longer trades on Ebay.
One thing is for sure, I have the bit between my teeth on this one and he hasn't heard the last of me by a long chalk, he is going to become sick and tired of the sound of my voice and my name in his inbox. He has until Friday to get a cheque to us and if as I expect he continues to do nothing I am set to become a very serious and aggravating thorn in his side!!
On Sunday PG purchased an item through Ebay, a cell phone costing a little over £100, on my account and using my credit card I might add but of course with my full agreement. Nothing too startling there, he uses Ebay often and thus far without incident, though he takes the usual precautions. He checks out the sellers history, only purchases from those with 100% positive feedback, rarely orders from overseas and never sends cash or a cheque.
It would appear that for all this on this occasion we have been conned.... Gah!
Within an hour of the auction closing and the vendor receiving payment via Paypal we received an email from said vendor stating that the item belonged to his son who had wanted to sell it to finance the purchase of a Playstation and had now 'changed his mind'.....he would therefore be removing the item from sale and refunding our money. 'Too late sunshine' was the cry from this end, once the item is offered for sale and payment received one is theoretically at least bound by legal contract to complete the transaction. We mailed him back explaining this politely but stating that if he was determined to renege on the deal how we would prefer to receive the refund.
Immediately we received the original email my, hackles rose and my 'security issues' antenna started to buzz. I am ever sceptical in situations where money changes hands and having worked for a while in a security related area and alongside the police my awareness of the possibility of becoming the subject of one scam or another is ever present.
So what happened next? Damn all is what happened, despite repeated emails there has been no response from the vendor thus far. He managed to email us within an hour to tell us he was no longer selling but now seems unable to reply to mail within 48 hours....no surprise there then, I doubt we will hear any more from him at all!
So now the aggravation of trying to recover the monies begins, we have contacted Ebay and reported the issue and the same with Paypal, I have this morning to contact my credit card company and enquire if such a transaction is covered by their purchasers insurance. One way or another I think I will recover a large percentage of the cost though not all but I am steaming.
I can ill afford to throw £100 away but worse still is my anger and frustration at the situation. Once crossed I can be like a terrier with a bone, this guy may think he has scammed us and got away scot free, believe me he hasn't. I will of course operate well within the bounds of the law, it is not my style to do otherwise but we have this individuals name, we know the area he lives, where he works......it's not too far from here, I have access to the electoral roll and one or two other 'helpful' tracing systems and if all else fails I will make sure he at least no longer trades on Ebay.
One thing is for sure, I have the bit between my teeth on this one and he hasn't heard the last of me by a long chalk, he is going to become sick and tired of the sound of my voice and my name in his inbox. He has until Friday to get a cheque to us and if as I expect he continues to do nothing I am set to become a very serious and aggravating thorn in his side!!
Monday, 28 February 2005
Venturing into civilization
Hill snow
Today, being one of those rare days that PG and I were both off work together had long since been designated as 'venture to civilization and get essential supplies' day. 'Vital supplies' is a term used loosely here, for even in gemmaks-ville true vital supplies are available, despite being a little remote.
This planned day out was not, I have to say, on the top of my 'want to do list' today but having spent the majority of yesterday in bed rattling with paracetamol and the like, and the guy with the jack-hammer having had the good grace to bugger off, I agreed, somewhat po-faced to go..... providing PG did all the driving.
What a waste of time, most of our required essential supplies where not to be had for various reasons and with the whole of Edinburgh's retail opportunities at my feet I could still not raise the appropriate interest. I think the sum total of my outlay was in the region of £10! Not to be off-put we made the obligatory bi-monthly pilgrimage to Ikea, not that we needed anything but when it's there you just have to do it....again a paltry outlay. We wandered disinterested with the usual flock, picked up a few candles (well you have to don't you?) and headed for home.
All was not lost. Sat in the passenger seat like a pudding, staunchly sticking to my 'I'm too ill to drive' routine, I was treated to some beautiful sights. Edinburgh is surrounded on three sides by mountains and hills, all of which were still snow covered. To me, used to London, a city surrounded by such scenery is still awe inspiring and to drive along main routes through a city and see the snow capped landscape is breathtaking. I have to add here my apologies for the quality, or lack thereof, where the photograph is concerned....it was the best I could do at dusk in a moving vehicle, through the windscreen and where no convenient stopping places presented themselves! Godamn urban roads, I'm used to just grinding to a halt these days without risk of prosecution, or worse still causing an accident!
Finally as we approached home the highlight of the day, a Barn Owl, unusually active in early dusk, flew alongside the car for maybe 300 yards, swooping and hovering, wings at full span, beautiful face looking intermittently straight at us. Once or twice I have caught a glimpse of one but never so close or for such a period of time.
So we drove, or rather PG did, 150 miles to spend only £20 but I got lunch out and a rare close up of a Barn Owl...... himself is out at a meeting for the evening so I have the pc all to myself and the ailing bits of me are on the mend.....yup, things could be a whole lot worse!
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