Warm as!

That looks a wee bit like a religious symbol in the foreground of the truck picture, but it is the washing line.

It was good that on the day the 1st snow arrived at our level, so did the wood. I thought my husband might want to see where I have invested his money. Actually, I ordered it before he left and The Southern Man said it would be here on Tuesday "Good as gold," he said. Spook and I figure that when they say use that expression, they are genuine, straightforward kind of guys. I don't think I have heard a woman use it. Sometimes you get "Good as gold, sweet as". Even better.

Finn got boot marks all over him at training today. His head, jaw, shoulder and legs. He made me take pictures for the blog but they looked less remarkable than the pain he felt. I watched the end of training and he kept tackling after the incident, but melted down in the shower for about 30 minutes afterwards!! He got a pair of Lions 09 Tour rugby shorts in the post, with a potted history so he can wear them with pride and follow some of his countrymens progress. Please can a rugby fan reassure me that we, as fans and a nation of Scots, and English/Irish (Paddy), do not boo the other side. When the French came on the Kiwi's booed and every time they did a conversion the booing got really loud. I daresay they have a bit of a thing against the French side, but I was furiously whispering to Finn that this was not the sporting thing to do. A Kiwi girl, who is a teacher, told me that "they do it to us, too", (how many times have I told Meg and Finn that this is not a good excuse?) and "They like it - it helps them to focus". Do we do that? I will hang my head in shame if we do.

Meg met a young woman at Kahu tonight who used to live in Aviemore and knows Danny McAskill well(the fantastic Scot who does urban stunt riding on his bike - look him up on Youtube to see what I mean). Meg thought she was really cool and said it was nothing to do with the number of peircings on her face. I may have to re-consider the value of the Youth Group.

I managed the first of my 3 runs while Spook is away. An hour, and I can feel it. The man himself has been re-united with Uncle D and has already done some 'awesome' biking (don't know if he is speaking like a Canadian, American or a Kiwi - a Scot would just say it was "reely goood"). He was planning some trail running but discovered 2 cougars were shot on that trail last week. One of them snapped up a walkers puppy(that's not a kind of crisp). They don't usually come down so near the town. Spook is considering the wisdom of the run (these are my words). He is still looking after us from afar as we slept in this morning and only woke up because he was phoning at 7.20am. I missed the call but was brought from my lovely slumber by the incessant ringing.

grateful for:

the extra insulation that the pile of wood lends the house. And hopefully, the lack of insulation and the position of the wood burner just behind the wall where the wood is piled, will warm the wood through the wall, dry it even more, and stop any rising damp from the pile of wood I have piled. I am not moving it anywhere but into the fire now.