My new tree

How many men does it take...

The solitary blossom

The boys gave me a weeping prunus for my birthday and I've planted it in the front garden with some trepidation!  However, it seems to have survived my ministrations and now has one piece of blossom.  It's a start!    Peter made a stake for it and our neighbour helped to knock it in.  He was passing and couldn't help but get involved.  That was two of them stamping on my flowers!  The tree has gained a stake and I've lost two tulips.  I'm such an ungrateful wretch! 

A good showing of tulips

Out walking

Blickling Hall

A beautiful spring day and a 5.5 mile walk around the Blickling Estate...bluebells, daffodils, rape (that's the yellow stuff) and a pub at the end of the walk.  Heaven!

We started off with coats and hats and gradually peeled off the layers.

Our pace quickened as the pub came into view!

Leisurely lunch

Today our friends from two doors up the road came for lunch.  We wanted to thank them for being so helpful while we were away, keeping an eye on the house and taking in post and parcels for us.  They are first class neighbours!   We ate and chatted until four in the afternoon.   Very enjoyable!

What do you do with the change in your bag when you arrive in a foreign country and have to swap your currency?

You put it in a special purse of course! 

I received another birthday present today - a purse to keep my money in when I travel and swap currency.  I thought this was a brilliant idea.  It was purchased in Singapore and is such a lovely vibrant colour that it won't get lost in a hotel drawer while it's doing it's job of holding my British spare change.  I can never think of good small gifts for people and this has inspired me.  It's such a clever thing to have thought of.   Whenever I travel I shall be reminded of the person who gave it to me!

Gurnard

Ugly fish, tasty dish: chefs extol the sustainable virtues of the gurnard 

Don't look at me like that!

This is the title of a newspaper article I found when searching for a recipe.  I'm on my own for supper tonight so I decided to eat a sustainable fish.  And here he is, annointed with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper and ready to go in the oven.  Not a pretty sight, but hopefully he'll turn out to be delicious!

A reproachful eye!

Normal life resumes...

Book group ladies

Book club today! We have been reading 'Life after Life' by Kate Atkinson and all but one of us really enjoyed the book.  We were intrigued by its structure which we decided worked, despite misgivings in the early stages of reading the book.  It tells the story of Ursula growing up before during and after the Second World War.  The twist is that we see her life unfolding through a series of possible scenarios.  It might have happened like this...or like this.

Cheese scones, ginger flapjack, blood orange cake, meringues!

We had an animated discussion before we fell on the cakes!  It was lovely to be back and to hear what people had been up to.

I should explain that each month we go to a different member's house and so we get a very interesting variety of eats!  All excellent (well, sometimes mine aren't brilliant!).  We have a book club blog where we keep a record of the books we've read.   We include a picture of the tea table!  We used to include a recipe but that went by the board some time ago.  A matter of time I think.   We also have a short review - a digest of our discussion.   People aren't falling over themselves to write these reviews and today somebody sneakily taped the conversation and is going to use that to construct the review.  A cunning plan! 

I think I'll be 70 again!

Just returned from a wonderful family weekend in Edinburgh to celebrate my birthday.  Peter had hired a Vivat Trust property large enough for the whole family, perched on top of Calton Hill and overlooking the whole city.  The views could not have been more spectacular when the mist and clouds parted and we could see beyond our noses.  But this was Edinburgh in March so a bit of gloom was to be expected.

The Old Observatory house perched on the top of the hill (on the left)

The entrance

Sitting room

Staircase up

The dining room

Our bedroom

View from the dining room

One of the other bedrooms

The upstairs sitting room

I flew up on Thursday, Peter joined me from Aberdeen where he had been working and the kids arrived in shifts on Friday.  Getting to the house was a challenge!  Three flights of steep steps and two steep slopes.  I had to stop a few times on the way up the first time, but gathered a bit of puff by the time we had done it several times more.  The poor kids were taken by surprise, especially those pushing the double buggy and carrying a very heavy box which turned out to be a present!

Struggling up the hill with the buggy and cases!

We were all delighted with the house and the views, but not so amused by the plumbing which, on the first night, didn't yield enough hot water to bath the grandchildren.  However, we were alright once Peter had tinkered with the thermostat on the hot water cylinder.

On Friday night Nancy and Eliot made a fantastic game pie and on Saturday we celebrated my birthday early with champagne in the upper sitting room and a meal out.   The kids left on Sunday morning and Peter and I polished off the game pie.

Enjoying a well earned cup of tea!

This is the way the ladies ride...

Helping Grandma blow out the candles

Family portrait!

Highlights of the weekend?

Walking round Edinburgh - one of my favourite cities
Dinner at Howie's
The children playing round the table in the circular dining room
A delicious and wicked Black Forest Gateau from Patisserie Valerie with candles and help blowing them out from Abe and Saul
Two bottles of champagne and other sundry alcoholic beverages!
A blender from the children
Exhibition of paintings by Fergusson in the Modern Art Museum

Arriving home to find a tree waiting for me...present no. 2 from the children!