July 2009 (12)

Thursday, July 30 2009

Of stoats and men*

* With apologies to John Steinbeck!We've been wondering why the birdseed and peanuts in the feeders have been disappearing at a rate of knots, and now we know who may be to blame:Isn't he beautiful?On Tuesday evening we had a real treat.  I have mentioned on this blog in the past how fortunate we  […]

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Wednesday, July 29 2009

This 'n That

Firstly, a photo of my parents opening a rather special birthday present from their four daughters.  One of my sisters struck on the gem of an idea - instead of us each giving our parents a gift for their 80th birthdays, we would give them memories.  So we wrote to everyone we knew who had known Mum  […]

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Sunday, July 26 2009

My Dad

My Dad is 80 today.  And like Mum, who turned 80 yesterday, I know he won't mind me telling you.Dad was born in England and he has been handsome his whole life.  Here he is as a young lad with his sister, looking as if they're in their Sunday best:I don't have any pictures of Dad as a baby, but I  […]

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Saturday, July 25 2009

My Mum

Today my Mum turns 80.  She won't mind me telling you all, I'm sure.  She certainly doesn't look her age, and she's still very young at heart.Here she is, as a babe in arms, just a few months old:And here she is, again with her older sister, sitting on the running board of my Grandad's beautiful  […]

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Wednesday, July 22 2009

Success!

Now, my father has very green fingers.  I should have inherited them, but sadly I didn't.   I get very excited when I sow seeds, but quickly become disillusioned when crops fail.  Our onions are a disgrace this year.     We have some successes though .... we're not going to run out of  "cut and  […]

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Sunday, July 19 2009

Love thy Landie

Land Rover used to have a sticker for your car that said "Love thy Landie".  I always thought it a little on the superflous side as most Landie owners would never consider any alternative!  On Friday I was in Inverness, driving up Harbour Road which is simply a long road of car  […]

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Thursday, July 16 2009

Assynt Summer

It is still high summer in Assynt, and given I had a day off today I headed off into the hills with Peggy and Lexie.  On the surface, everything looks lovely and green:This is the "Old Soldier's" - a ruin which is all that remains of a house which was the home to a soldier who went off to  […]

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Saturday, July 11 2009

Reunion

Today was just lovely.  We woke to a beautiful, sunny day, and we set off to Ullapool to meet up with family that we've not seen for many a year.   This picture was taken in 1964:That's me on the right (and yes, I still stand like that sometimes), and on the left is another Helen - daughter of my  […]

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Thursday, July 9 2009

Good Friends

When we lived in South Africa we had a Datsun Bakkie, similar to the one Mma Ramotswe drives.On our honeymoon that bakkie took us nearly two and a half thousand miles around South Africa.  We have fond memories of it.  The photograph above was taken somewhere in the Karoo.  We kitted out the back of  […]

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Summer in Assynt

Flaming June certainly was an appropriate description of the last couple of weeks in June. It was exceptionally hot for this part of the world. Sleeping at night was difficult, and taking the dogs for a walk during the day was just impossible. They simply were not interested in going out in the  […]

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Tuesday, July 7 2009

Oh Joy!

I have begun knitting Joy from the Kim Hargreaves book called Nectar.  Now, of course, I chose the hottest day so far this summer to begin it!  Have you tried knitting with Rowan's Denim yarn, in dark blue, when your hands are hot and sweaty?  Well, this is what happens - you get very blue hands.   […]

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Thursday, July 2 2009

When did that happen?

My Mum recently sent me some great photographs.  She'd been digging out old 35mm slides and converting them to digital photographs, and there was one of me when I was very young (3 to be precise):That's me, second from the left.  Then, a few years later and slightly older, but looking like the total  […]

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