Not a post about work

Well, I must say one gets far more comments when one posts pictures of cats than when one moans about one's paid employment. So I shall stop complaining.

Here are some photos of last Sunday afternoon when, among other things, Daughter 2 and I went for a brisk walk. It was brisk because the weather, though sunny, was absolutely freezing; also we were having the rest of the family (minus Doctor Son, alas) to dinner.

Here's Daughter 2 marching along. She doesn't hang about, Daughter 2, and since she's taller than I am and has longer legs, I have to scurry a bit to keep up.

She had come home for the weekend, thus brightening our dull, middle-aged lives.

Not a leaf on the trees either by the road or on Corstorphine Hill in the background.

Back home, I had cheated by planting primroses from a garden centre in a pot, giving a false impression of spring. What a cheerful sight for winter-jaded eyes.

Here are my winter-flowering pansies, still blooming after eighteen months in that pot. A bit weedy, but colourful compared to the rest of the garden. I must dead-head them.

Meanwhile Mr Life had hauled the pink blanket out of the cupboard so that he and Sirius could have a nice nap on the sofa. This is the blanket that I had on my bed when I was a girl, years before downies. It was very long and I used to wrap the top of it round my head on cold nights. No central heating then; the windows used to ice up on the inside, the condensation freezing into star-like crystals.

A little bit of spring inside too.

The days are getting longer, the first snowdrops and crocuses are forcing their way through the hard ground and soon, surely, winter will draw to a close in our little island. Sending it your way, Australia.