A Strange "Ahhh" Moment (-not for ophidiophobics)

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Not much to say, except, "bless".

Bless....

Hielan' Types

Edinburgh has been invaded by bad kilts. Unusually, there is a reason behind this.

This weekend sees "The Gathering" (sounds distinctly Sc-Fi and sinister, doesn't it?) - the "worlds largest gathering of clans and Highland games" -which means that there are even larger numbers of Canadians and Americans than usual roaming the streets and being ostentatiously proud of their heritage. And, wearing vast quantities of bad tartan. Badly.

M'beloved and I were curious about The Gathering and had considerered wandering down to Holyrood Park towmorrow to gawp at the tartan adventurers but, taking into consideration the price (expensive!) and the clientele (loud!) not to mention the music (massed pipes!) we might give it a miss.

(We did note several real highland types heading to the meeting of clan chiefs this morning: they merely looked extremely rich and had nary a spot of tartan in sight... )

A Rare Info-mercial

I am not known for my overly effusive reaction to things. Quite often a sardonic raising of the eyebrow is as good as it gets. I am also, believe it or not, reputed to be something of a cynic.

I know. You are stunned.

So, perhaps it will come as a huge surprise to you learn of my positive, sincere and enthusiastic promotion of a product. Ready?

OK.

I love Graze.com boxes. There, I've said it.

Graze.com bozes are little boxes of deliciousness that get delivered through your letterbox by a very enterprising company. They have recognised people's desire to eat more healthily while pandering to the inherent laziness most people have when it comes to doing something about it. They also know their foodstuffs and ensure that as well as being healthy, the boxes are crammed with deliciousness, ensuring that the healthy eating does not equate with difficult or dull. So far, my Graze.com boxes have contained bakewell tart mix, milkshake mix, apple, pineapple, honey cashews, wasabi cracker peanuts... and I am already drooling at the thought of what next week's will bring!

Should you wish to try this delicious phenomenon for yourself (and live in the UK...), well you can. And for free!

-Yes, free!

Pop this code (7WDPMVDL) into the appropriate box at www.graze.com , fill in your details and you too will get a free parcel of lovely. If you don't like it, you can cancel your subscription and spend not one penny...

Here endeth the promotion.

(Normal cynicism will be resumed shortly.)

PS - I'm not joking, by the way. They really are delicious. I never joke about food.

Under the Weather

It almost seems churlish to complain about the weather when it has been so unusually clement. Certainly, there have been downpours aplenty, but overwhelmingly it has been warm. Hot even. But more precisely, muggy, clammy and/or humid also fit the bill - and that's the worst kind of hot.

Both m'beloved and myself fair badly in muggy weather: grumpy, sweaty, short-tempered and impatient with the world, we are not great company in high humidity. There can be no move to Sydney for us, no journeys to rainforests, no waiting for the monsoons in the far east. No, we are temperate people, who like cooling breezes and air that is made from air and not soup.

Worse still, m'beloved is completely slain by IIH in the relentlessly humid weather, as opposed to the more usual almost unbearably debilitated, so neither of us look at the weather reports with huge glee (I have no medical reason, of course, I'm merely fat and grumpy...)

Anyhow, the long and the short of it is, I've not written much recently what with being a weather-opppressed miserablist of the highest order, m'beloved's poorliness and work being the kind of soul-destroying grind that even Dante would have blenched at when conceiving of Purgatory and Hell. I do apologise. And I will attempt to write something more... "more" soon.

Hope you are well. Warm, isn't it?