Nicola

I had a good read of the paper today as yesterday I was shocked to follow the resignation speech of the First Minister. She delivered it with dignity and humility. She seemed to me to be a hard-working woman with integrity and was steady and capable through the pandemic which we appreciated, especially given the utter shambles of BJ and his rotten crew here. The abuse and vile trolling women in politics have to endure is horrible. She was a conscientious mentor to young women and a role model. I have seen her in action several times - including at the book festival with Jackie Kay and Beyond Borders as well where she was interesting and witty. There’s no obvious successor so it will be interesting to see what happens next. If Labour can get to the next election without imploding they might get a better result in Scotland. I liked the Guardian cartoon today - how many ineffective UK prime ministers have we had while Nicola led Scotland.

I’m fed up and a bit surprised how this lurgy is laying me so low. The sore throat and headache have gone but I’m still very tired and breathless.

Ailie came over and I dragged myself up through the wood with her. We stopped to look at the view aka have a rest at the kids’ climbing stone, then went back down via Shona’s path. Only 2 miles and I feel done in. I’ll have to get a grip as we have friends coming tomorrow night and on Sunday, then 3 days of children, including one with all four. I’m tired thinking about it so I’ll get back to my easy read - a Donna Leon. And tonight we’ll watch more of Happy Valley. What a lazy woman I am.