Goodbyes ...

I've decided that after all these sporting posts of boys in various athletic situations I would give the only dog in my life today's photo. This is Po the collie, my grand-dog, as he realised we were going away again. He'd been on the stairs, watching us coming and going with bags and cases; his boys were at school, his adults working, and now we were going too. He's the only dog I feel happy hugging, having wormed his way into my heart when he was only a few months old and still small enough to crawl along the sofa and onto my lap. (Stop laughing, people who know me around other dogs.)

I hate leaving, though this morning's departure was delayed till almost lunchtime by a visit from our younger son to join us in a second coffee and fill us in on all the stuff going on in his life just now. I love that both my sons are now living in the same city, and that they actually see one another more often - there was a time when everyone felt so scattered. However, once that visit was over we packed up, retrieved the cheese I bought on Saturday and a food parcel my daughter-in-law had once again left for us, and set off into the grey noon. 

The journey was absurdly speedy; Monday lunchtime is clearly a good time to travel and we were home within two hours after a ferry turned up just as we arrived at the slip. It was while we were trying to warm the house, and ourselves, up a bit that I discovered the delights of hot Bovril; my d-i-l had realised that I'd somehow lived my whole life without sampling this particular drink and had included a jar in the food parcel...

And then pal Di texted, rocked up at the door, and came out for a walk with us - a brisk canter round the back of town and returning via the shore - because our legs were so stiff with sitting in the car after all these marathon standing around sessions at the football and rugby. The air smelled lovely, but the streets seemed so quiet and even the town was dead by the time we arrived back. We unpacked, dined on salmon paté and shepherd's pie, found some raspberries in the fridge, and collapsed in a heap.

I did, however, watch the last episode of Ludwig. I felt I was understanding it ... and then I don't think I did, really. Why were they all hearing that phone message? Why?