I have been a bit busy of late

and this is the reason – her name is Abby.

After her first puppy groom:
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I really had forgotten how time consuming puppies can be. She’s very good and learning fast, but boundless energy can be a bit exhausting. I’m not finding it easy to fit in her hectic social life – puppy parties, walks with her favourite dogs and puppies and training classes – it’s worse than having a small child. She is twenty weeks old now and I feel I have aged significantly since she arrived. But it has been fun – walks in the forest, on the beach and she adores small children. Amazingly she hasn’t savaged any visitors or grandchildren yet!

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Fear and Loathing in Europe

When I was young Germany was beautiful. It was pedantic, of course, but well-governed, clean and safe. Germans, despite their often unduly good reputation abroad, are not especially intelligent people. They merely found what they could do well and focus all their efforts on doing that. My grandfather received only a very basic education but made do. For over fifty years he worked as a mechanical engineer. My grandmother received a similarly basic education. As a woman of her generation, she faced restrictions on which careers she could pursue but she spent decades working as a designer and seamstress. My grandfather built several houses with no need to rely on anyone’s help. He came up with a concept and saw it through from early sketches to the last layer of paint. He could do this before the invention of calculators or engineering software. My grandmother could design, cut and sew dresses by hand without needing anyone’s advice or assistance. My mum is a theatre nurse. Then again, she sat her Abitur when it still meant something and read medicine.

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Nova Scotia

Columbus always gets the credit/blame for finding the Americas, even though another sailor gave them his name. And it’s strange that clear evidence of Viking habitation of the continent is largely ignored. Even stranger that reports of the recent discovery of Roman artefacts in the same region also ignore the subsequent Viking activity – as if nothing else happened until 1492!

We all deplore attempts to re-write history, but the persistent failure to recognise key events is even worse.

No doubt learned colleagues can offer an explanation…..

Thin and Crispy

Dear Charioteers, I thought you’d like to see a picture of the Christmas dinner my wife so lovingly made for me. N0, it is not a Scottish delicacy, but a type of crisp bread. It is known in Italy as a pizza. In my house I called it a pizza hardboard. (I thought all of you north of the border might be amused.)  Actually this was a pizza I had put in the oven for my son and I thought it merited a photo shoot.) Can anyone here recall  a Christmas cooking disaster? Anyways, wishing you all good health and continued good living  for 2016. DSC_0123