Saturday, January 17, 2009

blow winds and crack your cheeks...

It's blowing up a storm in the shire tonight, my evening has been enriched by a dull clanging from the doors of the cattle shed, the shrill pinging of the cat flap, and occasional waking moments of anguish from the cat himself.

The Arts correspondent has gone to the big smoke for the weekend, naturally all facilities chose to shut down in protest, within ten minutes of our farewell chat (she was on the sleeper) the power failed and didn't come back on 'til past ten in the morning. So, it has been a cautious, quiet day, the wind has been getting stronger, and I wouldn't be wanting to cook anything that depends prolonged heat and power. It's the first time in my experience that I've been harrangued by the cat in the kitchen (wait for the end of the sentence!) and seen his breath forming little clouds of protest. I suppose there's no reason why cats shouldn't huff like humans do, it's just that I've never noticed it before.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Boo!!!

I celebrated my new found freedom to drive yesterday by hitting a patch of spilled oil in the rain, on the harbour road into Aberdeen. The not-ungraceful sensation as my car executed a series of elegant pirouettes along the road before slamming against the curb, was one that I wouldn't care to repeat. Unfortunately I bent a steering rod somewhere in this process, and my front wheels ended up with a perfect ballet dancers turn-out. This hampered my progress somewhat, and I had to be towed into Aberdeen, where a painfully expensive repair is currently taking place. Oh well, I was unhurt and the car was fundamentally undamaged.

I phoned the incident (as one now has to call them) into the polis, as there was a very sad, similar accident locally last year, when a mother on the school run hit a similar patch of oil and the entire contents of the vehicle was killed. The local local council now takes these reports much more seriously.

Friday, January 09, 2009

reasons to be cheerful, part 10...

Hurrah, I've been passed fit to drive again. I may still be walking like a spavined penguin, but at least I can get behind the wheel and terrorise the locals again. I knew there was a reason why the physio had me doing plies on my last session.
So, what now? I'm not likely to be fit for work for another seven or eight weeks, so a rigorous programme of walking about is planned; hopefully the weather, which although very cold is also very beautiful, will continue to improve.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

more good news...

I have officially cast off my storm trooper boot at last, not only that, but I can stand up again. This is very handy when it comes to matters like showering and getting dressed. I'm hoping to be passed fit to drive very soon as well, my experiments on the estate (private roads) have convinced me that I can do it with minimal discomfort. I doubt I'll be able to drive for very long, but at least I'll be able to do something.

rather late I know

As he has been getting firmly into the festive spirit, here's one last picture of Puszkin wishing you all a happy new year.


He's still wearing his hat, even now.