Thistle have to do...

Groan....sorry about the blip title! :-)  My recent acrylic painting.  Learned lots doing this one, mainly what not to do next time but all valuable :-) 

Awake at 7am when D's alarm went off.  He was heading out early to play golf at South Queensferry with a golfer he and Keith have become friendly with at Leven (the three of them are country members there.)  Before he left he brought me breakfast in bed....a bowl of granola with some of the strawberries he brought home yesterday.  So delicious.  Definitely making a pavlova so added make meringue to the to-do list.

Bit of a shock as I came out of the shower (thankfully wrapped in a towel) and heard the window cleaner's ladder being propped against the wall outside.  The blinds in our ensuite and bedroom can be tilted two ways, one where the slats are completely over-lapping and allow complete privacy, and two where gaps are left to let light in and anyone near the window ie window cleaners, can see in.  I always close the blinds to position one, David to position two as he likes to see daylight.  Guess who closed the blinds last night?!

I had a split second to weigh up whether I had time to quickly change the tilt (meaning the blinds would be completely open for a moment) or leave them as they were.  I chose the former and thankfully didn't meet the window cleaner eyeball to eyeball.  That saved us both some embarrassment!

After lunch I set about making the main course for tomorrow night - pesto chicken.  It was only as I was putting the dish in the fridge I remembered that the large dish I've used is too big for the oven.  Sigh.  I will have to squish it into a smaller dish tomorrow, whilst trying to preserve the presentation, otherwise it will look like a dog's dinner!

Desperately trying to get my hexi-cardigan finished to wear next weekend so spent a while crocheting this afternoon (and didn't nod off!) I was on what I thought was the last round (turns out it's not, have another round to go after this one) when Lola decided she'd had enough of me crocheting and it was time for lap cuddles!  Yes this great heap of a dog still thinks she's a lap dog.  

In a blink her front paws were on me and her backside was on my foot stool and my ears were being licked like lollipops!  She is so funny when she decides she wants a cuddle from me (usually D gets all her cuddles) as nothing will deter her!  

I let her squish me for as long as I could bear it (she puts all her weight through her front legs and it gets rather painful!) then invited her to get off me but she just looked at me as if I was mad.  Eventually D had to lift her off!  Oh dear, my cardi now looks as though it's being crocheted with mohair wool! 

Pizza for dinner then got the meringue made for the pavlova.  Had a sneak peak once the cooking time was up.  It looked fine and it will snooze over night in the oven and be cool by morning.  Apparently if you leave the oven door ajar as it cools you get a crispier meringue but if you leave the door closed, it gives a slightly chewier result.  

Got a text from my best friend Agnes late evening.  Emily (her daughter) had her final fitting for her wedding dress today and she sent me photos (with Emily's permission)  Well that brought tears in an instant.  She looks absolutely stunning.  I must make sure I have hankies in my bag on the day as I am never going to make it through the ceremony without bubbling.  I can't believe our little goddaughter is getting married.  I feel as though she should still be about five years old! 

The best news of today though is Alan continues to improve and his blood tests results have come back all clear.  His iron levels are on the low side of normal but he's not anaemic. The GP has prescribed a month's worth of iron to help boost the levels slightly and hopes the second course of antibiotics will clear the last of his chest infection.  He finishes those tomorrow morning.  Will phone the Health Centre at the start of next week to have his chest sounded to confirm it's clear.   

He had much more energy today and went out with Jordan in the afternoon and was keen to have his hydrotherapy session when he returned, so all being well, I think he'll be able to go to his skiing session tomorrow.