Blooming flowers

Today is Sunday, the weekend.  Weekends are even less full than the weeks, no 'work' meetings.  However, today I had three main endeavours to keep me occupied.

First the RSPB bird count.  It was clearly too cold for birds this morning. there were the usual fat pigeons, a few blackbirds, a small brown bird that i am calling a dunnock and a magpie.  Not a tit in sight. 

Next, my coffee break with Y next door, sitting outside in the front garden well wrapped up to guard against the 1 deg temperature.  We started with 30 minutes and now we are up to 90.  Today we solved child poverty, health and wellbeing amongst NHS staff esp nursing staff and Scotland's travel and hospitality industries. If only the powers that be would listen.

After that I carefully picked my way on the slightly slippy roads to Margiotta for a very few groceries.  I think even with the backpack i overbought but 'tis done now. And it was nice to get out and do a few steps.  I really hope the weather gets better so I go further afield.

And lastly most of the rest of the day was spent following up from last night's late night phone call from A in NZ. I spent hours writing up the Sims and in doing so had a few insights of my own.  It was fascinating finding in the 1842 New Statistical Account info about the linen yarn workers in Stuartfield which was a job that Jean Riddel had in 1841 when she was widowed with 3 young children.  There was also a possible explanation as to why by 1851 she was an agricultural labourer and by 1871 a pauper and lunatic in the Royal Aberdeen Asylum, where she died in 1876.

I was so enthralled that dinner passed me by, thank goodness for cheese sandwiches and left over rhubarb crumble and custard.  I ended the evening by watching the last ever 2 episodes of 'Engrenages' ('Spiral'). Possibly a bit of a 'cop out' but it could hardly continue.  After 15 years the cast were definitely aging.

F2F - 1
Phone calls - 0
Virtual - 0
Recover Day 9