the stow life - april 2007

Hello and a general update from Stow, as British Summertime heralds longer days and my energy levels kick into fast forward.

Its such a lovely time of year. I was awed this morning on my drive to work by the green-ness of the Borders which resulted from just one night of rain, after an uncharacteristically long dry spell.

The garden at Mill Court - in which we've invested much time and energy since late February, owing to the mild winter - has literally sprouted overnight. I noticed while washing dishes last night a bud on the mock orange outside the kitchen window, and the same poor shrub I thought I'd obliterated in a fit of overzealous pruning, had grown 2 inches within a little over 24 hours. The rain has resurrected all manner of green, sprouting life in every available bit of soil. Including weeds.

Not only has my pruning been overzealous, I think I've made a rod for my own back in my enthusiasm to propagate seedlings. The experiment has been very successful and consequently lazy weekends and restful evenings will be sacrificed to "pricking" out the fruits of this labour for some time to come and re-planting them in the garden. Maybe we'll get an opportunity to relax and take in the garden at leisure during the summer ... not bl**dy likely!

Callan has been poorly with a very bad cold and cough since last Sunday. She's been sensibly taking it easy, staying indoors, resting as much as possible and dosing herself with vitamin C and decongestants to relieve the symptoms. She went to school on Tuesday to sit her Modern Studies exam and will do the same for her Music exam tomorrow.

Poor lamb, by last night she'd developed a chronic case of cabin fever, and Jack Nicholson's character in The Shining sprang to mind, so I supported her impassioned bid to get out of the house for a few hours today. I think we've averted a domestic incident with a brief outing into Galashiels this afternoon to natter with a few of her pals. She's never been one to ham up illness, and in the past its been a battle to get her take time off school to recover, so when she said on Monday morning she wasn't feeling well enough to go to school I had no doubts about her taking time off. Her mood this week is best described as chastened; its as though the lippy teen has taken a rain check. I have no doubt she'll be back. Soon.

Phil's house sale is underway and he plans to move into Mill Court as soon as its completed in the next month or two. In the meantime he continues to commute by train from Manchester every Friday and back again on Monday mornings. I am soooo looking forward to the end of this weekly ordeal. He's not yet sure what he wants to do to earn a bean or two when he moves to Scotland. He's toying with the idea of freelancing in the same or a related field as his current work - graphic design and copywriting, or alternately doing something completely different. He's not decided yet.

My working life is very busy and stimulating. I took a change of direction last year, to specialise more in business analysis, after having concentrated in the previous year on governance and compliance. However, this past year has been somewhat dominated by public sector procurement, after I (naively) volunteered to do what turned out to be a fairly significant piece of compliance work late in 2005. Har, har, so much for good intentions. After completing that single piece of work I was plastered with the "procurement expert" label. More like "instant expert", that of the most dangerous kind. Anyone who has worked in the public sector will know that procurement is a rather dull, albeit essential function. Think lawyers, contracts and service level agreements.

We have been fortunate to have enjoyed the company of many people at Mill Court this past year through amongst other the Couchsurfing project. It has been very rewarding to experience different cultures and social customs and also share a diverse range of philosophies and ways of life. I look forward to these bouts of hospitality in lieu of the travel I'll not manage to do in this lifetime, for lack of time off work or funds. Its the next best thing to experiencing a foreight destinations first hand, with the benefit of home comforts. Stow's proximity to Edinburgh has always been a drawcard for visitors and 2007 is likely to be just as socially busy as last year.

I'll end off with doggy news. The two mongrel scourges suffer terribly from too much love and attention. We took them on a six mile adventure up and along Lauder Moor two weekends ago. Dizzy did his usual recce of the burn and through the heather, as always well out of earshot. He spectacularly muddied himself, and only narrowly escaped a bath because of his summer cut. He loves a good roll in fox poo, he does. Fortunately we were all spared this appalling stink on this occasion. Lady, at the advanced age of 11 doggy years ambitiously soldiered 200 odd metres up a sheer embankment after a hare. She toiled a little the last 175 metres and it took some while for her to gather her composure. I'm pleased to report the hare's life wasn't endangered at any stage of the chase.