:: update

Procrastination is a pain. I'm forever putting things off and getting myself in a hideous fankle trying to catch up - or losing out altogether. Yesterday was a prime example: I'd finally sat down with my date book and the sailing school brochure and worked out which canoeing course was doable. Then yesterday I finally remembered to take my bank card with me when walking Bertie down to the marina. And guess what? The canoeing courses are really popular and are all booked out apart from a couple in September and October.

So I went home and checked the dates on those courses and guess what? I can't do any of them. Damn! I'm so cross with myself! If I'd only been sensible and booked the day I looked at canoes. Gah. I've put my name down for cancellations and have made a mental note to book early next year.

Anyway. This past week has been blissful. I've been on holiday, and I've had what I can only describe as ... a holiday. I didn't go anywhere or do anything much. It's been unbelievably enjoyable and restful and restorative. The weather was mostly hot and sunny, perfect for sitting outdoors with my tapestry or a book or (occasionally) a trowel and fork.

The main reason for such blissful inactivity was that Bertie had a mystery sore leg and was confined to tiny short walks and plenty of bed rest. I still don't know what was wrong with him - possibly a sprain. At first it was so painful he couldn't put any weight on it at all. The vet wanted to X-ray it but that means a general anaesthetic, which really knocks him around so I opted to wait and see. And he's all better! So this week, which I also have off, I'll probably head north for a few days.

The main excitements of the past month or so have been family-related. Margie, Jean and Jean's son's partner Rachel stopped off on their grand tour, and the week or so before that Faye was up for a few days. It was simplest for me to move out of my room into "Bertie's room" for a few weeks and "de-Bertie" the other rooms. And what a frenzy of cleaning I went into! Ha ha ha! The header-tank leak came back to haunt me, as the drying-out of the wall and door-jamb in the upstairs hall meant the paint cracked and flaked off. I had to scrape off the old paint, prime the bare plaster and wood thus revealed and repaint. Faye was a trouper and got busy in the garden.

So anyway the house and garden were relatively (ha ha!) clean and tidy for the cousinly visit and they had a good time. I took a day off work and we went across to Dunfermline and looked at the ancestral home, Bamboo Cottage. That was funny, actually. Margie was brave and knocked at the door. The woman who answered went a bit tight-lipped when Margie explained who we were and said: "Yes, this has happened before." She said we could take photos of the front of the house but we couldn't go round the back "because I've got children in the house". Errr ... OK, thanks.

After that we went on a wild-goose chase, looking for Luscar House. In the end, a local woman told us it had been pulled down three years ago. I did some net research later, and it seems that the owner was in hot water for demolishing it without getting permission - it was a listed building. We also had a look round the nearest graveyard, at Carnock, but didn't find any family there. After all that ancestral stuff we did some sightseeing around the East Neuk of Fife before heading back to take poor Bertie for a hobble round the park. We had dinner at my favourite local eaterie, Orocco Pier.

The three of them did a lot of sightseeing around Edinburgh, the highlight being the Castle. They headed off up north for a whirl around various castles and such, before heading back down to London via York and the Lakes District. They had a gorgeous day for the Trooping of the Colour yesterday, I'm sure they enjoyed that.

The weather may be hot down south, but it's cooled down a little here, with some welcome rain. I did some solid work in the garden yesterday and mowed the lawns too, so it's all looking quite spiffy. The poppies are having a bumper year - the blooms are like dinner plates! And it looks as though there's going to be a good harvest of soft fruit.

Right now I'm going to take Bertie for a nice long walk somewhere and drop off some recycling stuff. Moving rooms spurred me into yet another de-clutter: I have too much junk! It must go!