Thursday, December 25, 2008

Fire dance

If you look carefully in the centre of the fiery circle you can just make out Paul twirling a flaming stick. This is his new hobby apparently and he's quite good at it - even I have to admit that. I'd be happier if he didn't do it in the brand new trousers I bought him but it appears they are 'ideal for fire stick twirling' because of their thickness. Oh. Right.

Fantastic Christmas dinner at Michael and Charlie's yesterday but I might blog about that separately later. Let me just say that it was brilliant not to be in the kitchen for once (in 29 years we worked out).

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Out of reach


Despite the fact that I'm not actually responsible for Christmas dinner this year, I'm cooking various stuffings and sauces this morning, somewhat hindered by an over-excited dalmatian puppy who has so far demolished the compost bucket and consequently thrown up on the kitchen floor, made off with the bread for the bread sauce and failed to understand that the food I hang on the washing line is for the birds and not him. Methinks it's time for a doggy walk. Meanwhile I finally found a place out of reach of even the Long Leggety Loke Monster.

Pupdate
He's swiped his owner's bacon sandwich. Hah!

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Sofa so good

The first piece of furniture we ever bought when we were first married was this sofa. It cost an arm and a leg in those days but we were determined to have it because it matched a chair I had been given as a twenty first birthday present from my godmothers. It cost another arm and a leg to be re-upholstered a few months ago and so I ask myself - why is that not me sitting on it?

I was pretty corpsed but elated yesterday after the Advent Carol Service. Kimberlyexcelled herself once again by drawing everything together - music and words - into something magical. The twist this year was that apart from the Bible readings, every word was written by members of the two congregations. The theme was 'the day my baby was born' - an emotive subject for many - and what with the seasonal frisson and the glorious music, there was an electricity in the church that defied the damp walls and the puddles on the floor to leave us all wrung to the withers. Mr Blethers, who was responsible for the music, had no voice and had to pretend to be Monteverdi on the organ and the tenor from Rothesay had just enough voice to see him through his verse of 'In the Bleak Midwinter', but as Mrs B points out in her far better account of the affair than this, it all maybe served to add to good tension.

So I needed that sofa, doggies.

PS - don't worry, I didn't sit on the floor or curl up in a dog bed, but chased the opportunists back to their rightful place - in front of the fire. It's a dog's life.

Friday, December 19, 2008

In-car-cerated together again

The Spotty One is back with us for Christmas. He's remembered the drill here, including how to squash into the car with J and J who seem very happy to see him. Their state of bedraggledness is due to the weather, which having been crisply sunny has now reverted to storm conditions.

I had such a lovely birthday I don't know where to start. It just kept getting better from Monday with family and friends and a super party to Tuesday (the actual day) with a trip to Glasgow and a surprise visit to the Apple Store to get an iPhone, which is the most desirable phone on the planet. Not only that, but I had the undivided attention of the beautiful Mark (of the dreamy brown eyes and killer eyelashes) for an hour as he showed me how to work it. However, Ol' Blue Eyes (he of the zero grey hairs despite being nearly as old as me) was really the man of the moment of course and he even admitted to a certain smugness having set it all up.

As for me, I don't mind being incarcerated with my dogs and my new toys (I got a digital camera too) and the party leftovers to eat up, not to mention new books to read. Bring on the bus and ferry pass.