Time

We're lucky to have peaceful places to walk in Edinburgh. We walked along the river with Son-in-Law 1 last week and even found somewhere to have a coffee indoors, which was almost exciting for these days. 

This is also quite exciting in an arrrggghhh way: we're about to spend quite large sums having our kitchen cabinets sprayed... possibly white. The kitchen is 25 years old but still perfectly good, though now somewhat old-fashioned. I disapprove of fashion, really - there's no shame in having an elderly kitchen - but one can't help feeling slightly influenced by knowing that this is very 1990s. We did get an estimate for replacement doors and drawer fronts but it would have cost £5,500 to replace solid oak with chipboard and plastic, so we didn't do it. So we're going to spend considerably less - but still quite a lot - to paint them ... well, what? We said we thought white and the chap sucked his teeth and shook his head slightly. He thinks white would be too stark. I myself feel that if one is paying a chap lots of money, he ought to let one have the colour one suggests, but teeth-sucking is undermining. The thinking behind our choosing white is that in a few years we'll probably be selling this house and we want something unobjectionable that the new owners could live with (and then probably put in a new kitchen). Anyway, it needs thought. 

Meanwhile the Edinburgh Two are not too big to play occasionally in the sand pit, 

and a "den" made from chairs and blankets. 

On Saturday we had our first meal out for - can't remember how long - to celebrate SIL 1's and Mr L's birthdays. After lunch we had a nice walk up the hill at Swanston and looked down at the city. 

And then we came home and the children invented this game with bubbles. The bubble wands were syringes and the bubbles, once blown, were Covid germs and needed to be popped by "injecting" them using the wands. I was intrigued - it's like what you hear about wartime children playing games about bombs and defeating the enemy. 

I never know why they like popping bubbles (when they're just being bubbles) anyway. I feel that as a child I liked watching them. They're so pretty. 

It's been a cool spring but the advantage has been that the spring flowers and the cherry blossom have lingered for a long time. Isn't this a wonderful pink?

This time next week, Daughter 2 and Littlest Grandchild should be here! I want this week to go quickly and then for time to slllllllllllow down.