Marjoram

I'll leave it to Mr A to show you the results of "dressing" the patio, with old and new pots (although I've added a picture of my own in the extras just for the record). I must admit it looks a bit bare in the photographs, although it doesn't feel like that to the naked eye. We spent a bit of time sitting on the bench admiring our handiwork. Perhaps we will keep an eye out for other things that we would like to have out there, as and when we see them.

Instead, my blip concerns the results of giving a couple of our herb plants a haircut, whilst we were sitting outside having an afternoon beer. Having been presented with a large pile of marjoram stalks, I worked on them and divided the results in three. A pile of leaves stripped off the stalks to go in food (centre). A pile of residue (left) for the brown bin. And a small pile of stalks with flowers for drying, to go with the other things we are drying in the kitchen, hanging from a hook in front of the window. There's some for A in the morning, and we also passed a pile of stalks over the fence to a neighbour, who seemed initially discombobulated by the prospect of fresh herbs, until we explained that marjoram would go really well in any pasta dish.

Today we have had a home day - by necessity. I was going to go for an early swim and got up for it, but having got changed and headed down to the car, I was not surprised to see we have a flat tyre. There is a local garage which opens again after two week's holiday on Monday and hopefully we can limp the car down there, after putting some air in the tyre, on Monday or Tuesday to get it sorted out, without need to go to Dingwall or Inverness on the spare wheel. I was a bit annoyed by it all, since it's a brand new car, but I gradually got over it during the day as we did constructive stuff, mainly in the garden, planting out things we got yesterday and heading over to the garden centre to get another pot for the front, as well as a solution to my burgeoning moss problem. The latter seems to work.

I also headed over to one of the supermarkets, near the ring road, for supplies of beer and red wine, and was astonished to meet MrFT there, who was purchasing some supplies for his holiday on Orkney. We hope to see him and the Ciglets next week, when they are travelling back. It was such a coincidence to meet him there, fresh off the A9, especially since I had originally intended to leave the house 15 minutes earlier, but had tarried over some nonsense on my phone, and so was later than intended. Life's little coincidences.