DREAM CASTLE?

I have never known if this was a stone carving of a real Scottish castle or if it was from the carver's imagination. It has arrow slits rather than gun loops for defense so this means it was pre-firearms. I don't know when firearms were used first but Stirling Castle was defended by Scots with guns in 1341 so this little castle is, or represents, an old one.

I once told a little Italian lad that gnomi scozzesi, Scottish gnomes, lived in it and he believed me. He wanted to know what they ate so I told him "porridge, the ears of little boys" and that they drank whisky. His hands went immediately to his ears. Kids are fun.

It sits under a huge pine tree on a walk we call "The Spit." This is not very hygienic or romantic, is it? The reason for it is that we created the walk out of a very narrow terrace, a spit of land in a sea of hillside. We have a spit hurling contest in June when my nephew arrives. This consists of hurling olive pips at a wooden railing, four turns each. I've never won it. As soon as it stops raining I must start training.

For the record: +17 C. Cloudy. Humidity 72%.