Wednesday 30 January 2008

New Horizons


This is the van I use on my new duty. I have also invested in a new camera and love using it. Will give the van a name but I have not thought of one yet. All polite suggestions will be respectfuly considered.
I am still getting to know the good burghers of Bruntsfield. They are a mixed bunch. There are lots of students who live there, which is great. They rarely get up before noon so I don't have to go upstairs to deliver to them in the early morning.
I forgot to say that the van has a "Postman Patesque" look about it. Maybe I should get a black and white cat!
Those of you who now feel the need to do "pussy" jokes can give it a rest. I am above such stuff.

Sunday 27 January 2008

Grand Day Out


OK, it is the middle of winter, but Hester and I spent far too much time indoors last weekend. It's such fun to get out and explore. We both love travel and I hope we can do lots of that together in the warmer months to come. We are already planning a coach tour to Ireland. Hester has never been there and I was very young the last time I visited.

Have to keep up the paragraph thing or Robert will be on my back again.

My first pic is of the Pentland Hills as seen from the southern extremities of Edinburgh. The white strips you see are artificial ski slopes. Many years ago when I lived in the area there was only one, now there are three. The lines across the picture are high voltage power cables.

It's not easy to realise from the picture that these animals are Scottish Highland Cattle. They have "Long Horns" which is unusual in this country, and they have very long coats. Again unusual.

Sadly they were quite far away from the fence and my zoom lens was not able to bring them much closer.

You know I love equines. Young horses and ponies in particular. So my last picture will be no surprise. It is so cute. Hester was very moved as well. He was such a cutie.

Wednesday 23 January 2008

Fond Farewell

My life is going to change. Next week I start a new duty at work. I have opted to go part-time, because I want to spend more time winding up my mothers estate. There are other advantages too. I will work Tuesday to Saturday. This means that when I visit Hester I can have all day Sunday with her and she can drop me off at the station on her way to work on Monday morning. Unfortunately I will have to wait about 2 Hrs for my train because that is the one where I can get cheap tickets. But I still get home in the early afternoon.

Sorry, I forgot I am supposed to be doing paragraphs at Robert's instruction. It's so tedious.

Given what I have just said I have been doing a nostalgia (it's not what it used to be) trip. I will probably visit them again at sometime, but I have been saying goodbye, for now.

Today was "Famous Author Land". I have had some good times, culminating in the visit with Hester to Alexander McCall-Smith. I know, but won't admit it, that I am star-struck with famous people. I know Hester has clocked me. She is very astute.

On Friday I do Damhead. So many memories. I told you about Arlene recently. I hope Hester and I can catch her eventing in the summer. It would be such a good day out.

I want to wrap this one up now. My life is going through a significant period at the moment. I hope you find the happiness I think is around the corner for me. I want all the best for my readers. You have very good taste.

Thursday 17 January 2008

Damhead Day

Was doing another route last week when I should have been out in Damhead so it is over a fortnight since I have been there. They were starting to forget what I look like. Probably not as bad as it sounds, all things considered.
Sadly my little van, which I showed you pictures of in "Damhead Revisited" recently, is a bit poorly. I was sitting in a que of traffic waiting for a truck to do a maneuver when it was hit from behind by a taxi and was punted into the car in front. Thankfully yours truly was uninjured but SW6, which is her official title (you will see she has that above the windscreen in yellow letters if you look back at the previous post), was damaged at both ends. Consequently we had to hire another van. I have therefore been "White Van (Wo)man" today. I have tried to break every Highway Code rule, which is mandatory for the drivers of these vehicles, but it has been difficult. I am too mature and have too much conscience to get fully into the role. And too little testosterone to carry it off.
Something that came much more easily was thinking about Arlene. I haven't mentioned her before but she is very significant to me. I had some letters for her house and I exchanged a few words with her mother who was in the yard as I drove in.
Although I like to "mother" Robert a bit I do it because he can be a bit socially inept at times, and he is older than me anyway. Arlene is in her mid twenties, and is therefore of an age for me to be motherly to, and she is the only person I have felt about in that particular way. That is why she is special to me.
We also share a love of horses. She has a beautiful piebald called Patch which she does eventing with. She once told me if it was a choice between a boyfriend and Patch, the horse would win out. Equines just get some people that way. Her ultimate goal is to be in the "Horse of the Year" show in London. I would happily go and support her and probably be in floods of tears most of the time.
What a silly old sausage I am.

Saturday 12 January 2008

More Comment

Now that Robert has found his blogging feet I am going to let go of my matronly supervision of him. But sometimes you have to nurse the little dears, for their own good, don't you.

I have taken note of recent news stories and there are a couple I want to comment on. I have been a bit wrapped up in goings on in my own life recently but I am now feeling like taking an interest in other peoples again.

You will also note that I have taken notice of Roberts comments about the lack of structure, paragraph wise, in my writing. Not that it will last!

The big story for me has to be the one about the twins who were separated at an early age and ended up marrying each other. It raises so many questions. And I love questions. I ask them all the time. On the downside I have to be critical (so no change there then) about a system that splits up siblings. I may have a shrinking family myself but that does not stop me believing that keeping familys together, as much as possible, is good for our society. I really feel for those two people. Where do they go from here? Guess I am in matronly mode again!

The other story that grabbed my attention is the one about the police dogs. It seems we, in Britain, don't breed the best dogs so we have resorted to importing them from Germany. Unfortunately these animals don't understand English commands which has caused problems. Handlers have had to learn German commands such as "Grabben ze creeminal bitte" (Grab the thieving bastard by the nuts, please) and "Peese on ze buggers Porsche" (Piss on the twats German metal). I am so glad that policing has embraced the 21st Century!

Sunday 6 January 2008

Bob the Bloger

It seems like a silly title but that is what my brothers new blog is called. I have included a link in my Roll of Honour. If you like pillar boxes this could be the blog for you. I believe he will be doing train names soon. I can't wait! But please indulge him. He doesn't get out much, the poor soul.

Post Scriptum

Sorry about the small typeface in that last post. I don't normally like to use the same colour twice in a row either. Oh dear, I really messed that one up. And I can't find a way to change it. I also forgot to mention that I have finally talked big brother Robert into starting his own blog. He is already planning a series entitled "Pillar Boxes I Have Known". He intends to feature a picture of a different box each time. Should be riveting, so he tells me. I will keep you up to date with the news, as and when it breaks.

The Leith Police Dismiseth Us



I am really getting into this photograph thing. Once again I have to thank my sweet for her nifty lenswork. More on that in a minute. Some of you will no doubt recognise the title. It is a world renowned tongue twister. Try saying it out loud and you will see what I mean. My titles are sometimes witty, or so I like to think, but they are always apt. Leith, although it has it's own identity, is technically a suburb of Edinburgh and is the location of the above building. The question is, or was, where in Leith? It featured in a TV programme a couple of years ago. Part of the series called "Grand Designs". I think that was the name of it. I am sure, you know who, will correct me if I'm wrong! We had both seen the programme and were intrigued by it and wanted to find the building. So on our way to visit Ocean Terminal shopping centre recently we did a bit of house hunting, so to speak. I might be a bit straight laced in some respects but I do have a sense of adventure. And I love a good puzzle. I bought a 1000 piece jigsaw recently entitled "Empty Sky". That was quite a challenge I can tell you. But with the help of a pair of scissors and some glue I finally got it all fitted together. But I digress. We both had our theories about it's location so we tried them first. Nothing. So we had to resort to quartering the whole area. As we passed down Saxe Coburg Street for the second time I happened to glance sideways and got a view of it. We turned into a cul-de-sac (That's French by the way) and there it was. I was so excited that I couldn't resist the temptation to go up to the front door and knock on it. Hester was horrified, she would never do such a thing, but I reckoned the worst that could happen was that they would say "push off", although possibly not in such polite terms! It may not look much from the outside but the interior is exquisite and was rebuilt from scratch. I was keen to see it for myself. As I was standing on the doorstep the local busybody put his head out of his door and said "they're out". No shit Sherlock. I'd never have thought of that. We had little option but to get back in the car and drive off. But we have this one pic and the memory of our successful adventure to savour. Priceless. Hopefully we have many more to come.

Tuesday 1 January 2008

Damhead revisited








As I haven't mentioned Damhead for a while I thought this would be a good time to remind you all about the rural run. Despite the fact that Hester is staying with me at the present time, I took the opportunity to do some overtime yesterday and delivered to my beloved countryside run whilst she visited her pal in town. I was disappointed that the llamas were not to be seen, and the weather was so bitter that they were probably huddling together for warmth, out of sight.




The above picture is my little van I use to deliver to Damhead. I don't have a black and white cat but otherwise Postman Pat and I are very similar. Except my nose is not quite so big, despite what Hester says, and I deliver to a lot more people than he does in his 20 minute programmes.




A different angle in which to view my van, Hester can be a bit snap happy at times, but I love her for it.

Wishing all my readers a Happy New Year!




Bitter Sweet Symphony Part 2

Same script as last time. The "bitter" is the murder of Benazir Bhutto. There are others who are better to comment on the situation than me. They are much more informed than I am. I can only say I admired her and am very sad about her demise. I worry about the implications for the whole world that this event poses. Pakistan is a volatile area at the best of times. It has a great significance in current world politics.

I said who represented "sweet" in part one. I want to extole her virtues.
But I have a story to tell instead.
She has been dropping hints for weeks that she wants a copy of Alexander McCall-Smith's latest "Scotland Street" novel.
Last Friday I bought her the last copy left in Kay's bookshop.
I also happened to have a package to deliver to Mr McCall Smith in "Famous Author Land" , and a plot hatched in my mind. I would take the book along and ask him to sign it. Hester is too shy to do such a thing but I am forward enough to do it.
When I got to the door and his wife answered I thought the deal was off. I told her my hopes and she said leave the book and she was sure when her husband returned in a couple of hours he would sign it and I could pick it up later.
As it happened, Hester picked me up from work that day. On our way back home we stopped outside his house and I invited her to come to the door with me. I expected to pick up the book, and we would leave, but things took another twist.
His wife came to the door, and this time asked us into the house. Shortly afterwards Mr McCall -Smith appeared and invited us into his study where he writes his books.
Not only did he discuss his books with Hester but he signed the copy of his latest "Scotland Street" novel I had bought. On top of that he signed and gave to her a number of his other novels.
Neither Hester or I are materialistic. I am sure we will both treasure the experience for a long time to come. For everything else there is crappy Mastercard, as the ad goes.