ps - babes in bumps

before I forget - I did phone Amanda and no she isn't =)

Whilst I think of it - if anyone is feeling broody check out www.purpur.co.uk, Lucy has loads of cloth nappies and accessories for you to coo over!

Who needs their own children when they have a cute godson anyway? And when I get to Wellington I'll have my cousin Emma's kids near by who should keep all maternal instincts satisfied without needing to get clucky myself... maybe one day it'll finally happen but right now (aside from requiring angels and wise men on camels) I'm far happier being the doting fairy godmother =) Sorry Mum!

everything in it's own time, and a time for everything

Well today was a 'hurry up and wait' day, a mad rush around getting everything ready for the courier to collect my boxes to ship, printing off the forms and getting back in time (thanks for the lift Bronwyn!) only to have the courier company be conspicuous by their absence.

Frustrating in itself but... I got my washing done and out on the line and was able to give Banjo more cuddles whilst I deleted files off the laptop. I think he's begining to smell a rat.. well not literaly (I hope!), more his biscuits - he found the box half packed with his clockwork feeder & a tin of biccies etc in this afternoon and well those of you who know cats will understand when I say he positively glared at me... he then found an empty box to sit in - I think that might have been a hint!

Anyhow, having finally got around to reading the small print (and boy do I mean small - thank heavens for my new glasses!) it turns out I'll need to re-pack one of the boxes and pop something in my luggage otherwise the box will need to get quarantined by MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture, Farming & Fisheries) at the other end or something daft, and I'd have to sell my soul and sign on the dotted line claiming to have packed Fran's box (which would also mean MAFF blaming me for the pesto!) - so maybe the non-showing of the courier did Fran and I a favour!

Funny how things work out sometimes.

1 week to go!

One more week and I leave Edinburgh!!!

However right now I also need to leave the office and get home so Annemarie can come and collect her sofabed that has been earning it's keep at mine, so I'll leave you quickly with this link...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42875738@N00/

Enjoy =)

oh and before anyone else accuses me of forgetting to pass on the news - Lucy is expecting another baby in March and now Kylie is expecting one in February too.... not sure if I dare phone Amanda!

5 Glendevon Road

Another day of packing, sorting and cleaning done... I've even managed to make an appointment for Banjo to get his jags at the vets tomorrow morning which I've been putting off for weeks (ok, months – I'm not sure which of us hates it most). Yet no matter how much I tick off my 'to do' list it still seems to fill the page when I start a new piece of paper!

A week today and I'll have moved out of this house! Not entirely sure where I'll be staying the last two nights up here, I'll worry about that one later – maybe on Sunday... It's been a good place to live this past 18 months and I've been lucky with my various flatmates – Phil, Ruth, Jonny, Mez and Emanuele and of course the feline ruler of the roost Banjo =)

So many people have visited over my time here – it really has lived up to Croydon Road standards in that respect (my home in Newcastle upon Tyne for four years) - and without the mouldy bathroom and taste free décor to boot! I had realised I'd missed that steady stream of visitors and the ability to say to people 'sure, of course you can stay' without having someone grumping about it or even turning round and saying no, or having to endlessly apologise for the building site that passed for a home. I'm looking forward to the Bed & Breakfast side of being Resident Friend. Maybe not the fact that it may involve making civilised conversation at 7.30am (I am so not a mornings person – not until 10am anyroad!) but to meeting whoever the wind blows in my path. I've always liked the line in Advices & Queries 26. Try to make your home a place of loving friendship and enjoyment, where all who live or visit may find the peace and refreshment of God's presence. I'm not sure how well I've succeeded, but I certainly feel the closest I've come to achieving that is here.

reflections along the canal

I'm trying to type, and eat my lunch, with Banjo on my knee which means every now and then I find my fork nudged nearer my ear than my mouth and his tail is in danger of becoming Thai green curry flavoured... as long as he doesn't try to play with my mouse though we should be ok!

I meant to write something yesterday after I'd walked home from Meeting but by the time I'd made buns to take to Young Friends and had my tea it was time to go back out, but hopefully I can remember most of what was going through my head.

I walked home the scenic route yesterday, along the Union canal and the Water of Leith starting off at the revamped Port Hamilton basin with it's trendy bars and penthouse flats, still looking somewhat out of place amid the brewery buildings and car mechanic workshops but on the whole a definite improvement.

As I walked along all kinds of memories came back to me as I realised how many ties I had built up with the canal in the twelve years I've been here, what started off this train of thought which lasted the whole 5 miles, was seeing how much of the towpath has now been broadened and resurfaced and thinking how much easier it would have been pushing Kirsten's wheelchair along here now than it was when I first came here when it was all overgrown, rutted and muddy and a case of playing chicken with anyone coming past on a bicycle. So much has been done to dredge the canal, rebuild the pilings at the sides, put in new moorings and pontoons (great for feeding the ducks from!) and now it is possible to navigate your way through to Glasgow again by boat. The section at Wester Hailes has been uncovered again having been sent through a culvert for goodness knows how many years and there is talk of a marina being built there – yep, at Wester Hailes! Must admit the idea of it being transformed into a trendy waterfront area seems a little far fetched but then I'd've said the same about the Dark Arches area of Leeds at one point and now look at it...

It has felt like the canal has been improving over the years along with my life; from stagnant water going nowhere fast, gradually getting cleaned up and cleared out, shifting years worth of rubbish and silt and now being ready for the next stage, full of life and freedom.

I couldn't believe how many people came to mind as I walked along, memories triggered by different sights; the rowers, the rugby ground (what on earth are they doing at Boroughmuir?), Polwarth church and bridge, the bench at Shandon, the poplar trees, Harrison Park, the ducks and swans, the dabchick (now I know what it is!) - these and many more sights brought to mind friends old and new, it was like walking through some kind of time warp. So much has changed along there yet obviously enough has stayed the same.

Turning off down the Water of Leith walkway (the 'leaky' aqueduct, the cantilevered pathway, the allotments, the cemetery) brought along another string of people and events to mind and the most seemingly random connections – part of me wants to write them all down but I'm not sure that I could without going back out and doing the walk again! It really did feel like I was having the last 12 years of my life flash before me.

One thing I did realise though as I reached home, no matter how much my life has improved, now matter how much better my health and fitness – I still can't do a five mile walk on a practically empty stomach without feeling lightheaded and desperate for a cuppa!