Some where, round about

Well, going from having kids around the place , to having No kids around the place ....although technically  they were adults, but hey......was a big change. But we always had the pets. One move Then we didn't have a cat Second move Then we didn't have the dog Mercifully both pets Really got to enjoy their last homes though. So now I have plants instead, coz right now neither of us can contemplate another pet. Apart from this bloomin thing afflicting the world ..... life is chugging on.  Mostly blue skies.  Glorious home n garden. Birds going crazy outside. No one going crazy inside. Lots of interesting cooking n baking. Greenhouse. Sheds. Stuff to do, (lots of stuff to do, let's not go there!). Getting to grips with fruit n veg delivery. So, what do I actually miss with all this social distancing? Casual conversations.  Intentional catch ups. Spending time with family n friends. Church services, mostly because the people there a...

.....we are a household with no pets. Beloved dog reached the end of his life this week. Beloved cat ....last year. ‘Tis true that we have fish, so strictly speaking we have pets. But no way am I going to attempt Cuddling Fish, not at my place and not in theirs either. We’re not going to hurry into pet ownership.... but by heck it isn’t half quiet now....... . . . .

An inordinate amount of time is spent staring at the sky these days. Blue, golden, peach, yellow....bespeckled by scudding clouds or draped by billowing pillows....all perfectly provided for us to stand or sit still and just gaze. Awesome is not too grand a word and that image is merely a badly taken reminder of last night. Not in Any way an unusual occurrence either. Having a regular light show most evenings is very freeing. Waking to a much shorter yellowish display in the morning is equally joyful. Colour. Skies. Our washing dries so quickly. The sky usually is clear. Have we landed in a kinda utopia? . . . .

"Where are you from?"  An oft asked question, but how exactly I'm supposed to answer it.... i just don't know. Literally, we have moved from another area of Scotland. Yet as soon as I open my mouth it is fairly obvious that I'm not from anywhere north of the border! Twelve years together on the suburban edges of a northern English city and altogether I had logged up twenty one years of floating around. But I am not From there. Wales for six years very happy years before that, but I am not Welsh. Four years in a southern English county left no rolling lilt to my voice. Outskirts of a south west city for another four years left no imprint. But south eastern counties and London might, all that impressionable late teens and twenties...... East Anglian? Do I sound like a Bernard Matthew's advert? Not unless my brother is somewhere close by. The Pennines left their mark, within my emotions but ask about my Mug, Rug or Cup and it's swiftly ap...

So here we have our companion; happy, relaxed and not looking In The Least like a dog who had been off his feet and seriously out for the count during most of one very long recent night. . He's thirteen years old and has managed to make the massive final retirement relocation north of the border. . It's a perfect situation for him here... beach about a mile away, decent footpath just up the back and a garden than he can hide and seek in. The village has apparently helpfully has laid on new footpaths for his enjoyment as well. Nearby beaches are being slowly explored and he loves them all. So that's him. Us? We're just relieved to live Here....and no longer in the suburbs of a large city. . It's quite shocking to reach that point in our lives when we are retired, either for age or health reasons. But given the previous  raising of children, usual employment and endless voluntary work....now....we are not apologising for Retiring, with a capital R. . And ...