Friday 28 January 2011

Gleeful Frosty Morning, Bathroom Progresses, Gorgeous Grand-daughter, 'Red Sky at Night' by Jane Struthers

Blue skies on a lovely sunny frosty morning which made the dogs bounce with glee. Why do they so enjoy clear crisp days? Maybe they are just as pleased to see the sunshine  as we are.

Work continues on the cottage bathroom but the end is in sight. The new bath, wash-basin & loo are now installed and the tiling will be done today. Best of all I am now going to have a broom cupboard ( the simplest things give the greatest pleasure!) so now I am able to hide away the vacuum cleaner, brushes, cleaning materials etc. without having to cart them across the yard everyday changeover day. I shall get the painting finished tomorrow I hope and then we wait for our first guests to arrive in week or so's time.

Our sweet grand-daughter comes on a pace. Her name is Lili & she is now 9 days old and as all good babies should just eats & sleeps for the most part. Having more recently dealt with labrador puppies (our litter of 13 last summer) than babies, one is struck by how very similar baby creatures are when they are very new...warm and snuffly and sweet smelling (mostly) & hungry.

I was recently given a copy of a lovely book, 'Red Sky at Night; The Book of Lost Countryside Wisdom' by Jane Struthers. It is a fascinating collection of facts, tips, lists of useful things like saints days or collective nouns ( did you know that one has a hedge of herons & a rafter of turkeys?), recipes and general interesting stuff. There are instructions on how one should wear thermal underwear in the snow, how to make rice pudding, star gazing, local traditions & customs from all over Britain, tree identification & moth-proofing. It is nothing if not varied in its subject matter and it has the most lovely illustrations. A perfect dipping-into book.

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