Phoning Home.

Woke up earlyish today to find A already awake and pottering in the kitchen. We had a relaxed start to the day with breakfast and coffee on the sofa in our pyjamas, while A's brother (also an A) headed out to play golf with his friends. Myself and the other girls got ready in a leisurely fashion, taking turns to look after baby F (whose tongue was already looking lots better). When we were all sorted, R drove us out to the Raemoir Garden Centre, which usually has a great display of Christmas decorations. We shopped until baby F woke from his nap, then had a lovely lunch in the cafe part of the centre - not cheap, but really tasty.

After lunch, we headed back to the Christmas decorations and other shop, which sells a random collection of high-quality homeware, kitchenware, gifts and local food products, and the shopping began in earnest - I picked up two little presents (one for Mollydog and one for HuskyLugs) and managed to refrain from any Christmas decorations... I'm planning on looking online this year to save a few pennies and get something quite different.

Before we realised it, we'd been at Raemoir for a whole 4 hours! We headed back to A's, where baby F got to speak to his daddy on the phone. A's partner works offshore for 3 weeks at a time, and F is beginning to say 'dadadada' and reaching for the phone. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence or a meaningful noise, but he certainly loves holding the phone and shrieking down it when he hears the voice of S. Tonight he was especially vocal, and there was lots of dancing about and shaking his head about too - he was like a little wild thing. This photo was taken in a quieter moment.

R very kindly drove me home and we even stopped off at the supermarket for supplies; a treat for me while M's away and I don't have a car.

I got home to a lovely clean, tidy flat and decided I would re-create A's sausage stew for my tea tomorrow night - it looks yummy already. I got a call from M later on, who is still in London and enjoying himself lots. His meetings are tomorrow and Tuesday, and then he's home. Work tomorrow - how can that be true? A late bedtime for me with my hot water bottle and dressing gown. The nights are very cold now.