The sun shines for the second day in a row. And the plumber is fitting someone else’s lead roofing.
All of this is an exercise in patience. Him Behind the Wheel has given up on patience and has moved a lounger into the porch……he sits there oblivious to the unfinished walls and blocked up windows…..reading the paper. I guess that is the real way to deal with the things in life that are wont to try us.
How to have a walk in wet and windy Argyll…….summer of coure. First, decide that despite the rain everyone needs some fresh air. Second, pack a rucsac with essentials like bottles of water, apples and milk for coffee. Third, load everyone in campervan. Then set off on an adventure with a highly excitable little dog who thought she was never going for a walk again.
Destination: Glen Nant, a forest walk near Taynuilt. The campervan adds to the sense of an event and gives a dry space to kit up in walking boots and wet weather gear. Set off just as the rain is drying up and strip off as the path winds up and down and down and up and back and forth across the river. Return to campervan and almost collapse. The dog seems more tired than the humans. As you can see from the photograph, it was worth it!
Books four and five now finished and I have started on book six, with seven waitingin the wings. OK – I know the consequences of my falling over have largely healed……but I am now on a roll!
One Church of Scotland Minister who really helps to make a difference is Willie McPherson. He is a director of the Vine Trust. Their work in Peru is highlighted in an eight part series on ITV on Monday evenings. Have a look at the website and prepare to be inspired. I have met Willie on a couple of occasions and what I remember most about him is his humanity and his energy. There are now hundreds of people involved in making it all happen. When it started it was about making a small difference to even one life. Isn’t that how the world changes? One small step at a time.
May the Light of lights come
To my dark heart from thy place;
May the Spirit’s wisdom come
To my heart’s tablet from my Saviour.
Celtic Traditional
No builders working this week – apart from a brace of plumbers delivering the lead for the roof of the extension. When questioned, they thought they might get round to it at the end of next week.
I hope someone has told the weather to be fine.
A happy side effect (is that a tautology?) of being hors de combat this week is that it is giving me the opportunity to catch up on some Harry Potter reading. I generally read a lot anyway, but it is eclectic and compelling; in other words there is a small trunk containing a collected treasure of unread novels, biographies and journals. The Harry Potter novels are in a class of their own. I always have the intention to finish the series, but the thickness of the volumes (they are a bit heavy to hold – how do children manage?) has tended to put me off. Also I have never made time.
This week I have happily finished vol 4 and have now started vol 5, with 6 and 7 stacked up ready. My guess is that by the time I am finished I will be rattling around in a wizardly world and the bruises and extra aches and pains will have disapparated. That is the hope anyway.
The laughing in the house is rather through gritted teeth today…….. Me because of the aches and pains; Him because of groaning innards. It has all turned my thoughts to the ways in which we cope with accident and illness. Many a time when I was visiting housebound people, they would say things like “There are far worse than me,” or “Mustn’t grumble.” I have come to the conclusion that this is the kind of Sunday Best remark that is trotted out for visitors, especially visiting ministers. Him Behind the Wheel and I have been indulging in a series of creaks, groans, mumbles and moans, and on balance it helps…… though not as much as laughter.
Talking of visiting ministers, one of the things that always amused me was the way it was felt that a mug was not quite suitable for a minister’s tea. On more than one occasion I have looked round the assembled company, only to find that I was the only person there with a cup and saucer. Once people knew me, it was a different story.
Visiting in the Isle of Lewis as a new island resident took a lot of getting used to. We lived there in the 1970’s and 80’s and I was a civilian at the time. There, one was apt to be presented with a large platter containing a sandwich, a home-made pancake and a biscuit. The cup of (very strong) tea was balanced precariously on the same platter. Very strong is actually a euphemism for double-brewed or well-stewed. The tea was often boiling ominously all day on top of the peat-fired Rayburn in the kitchen.
Happy Days!
Some days are just not so good. Him Behind the Wheel has aggravated his Coeliac disease by eating the wrong kind of yogurt. And I fell headlong in the street in a rather spectacular manner yesterday, so am nursing all sorts of extra aches and pains.
We can just about laugh……… so things must be getting better.
