Mists of time?

Well yes - the afternoon did indeed turn misty, though through the day we'd had a variety of weather without rain and even a few spells of sun. But the mists of time? Well, when your firstborn turns 50 the occasion has a way of making one feel ... a tad ancient. I remember my own 50th birthday very well - we threw a party in the house; the boys came back from Uni, my even-older-than-I-am-now-because-of-the-war mother was there, work friends and old school friends came, the house was full of people sleeping (no - not during the party) and flowers, and I felt ... actually a hell of a lot younger than I do now. Today we had a lovely long phone call with our birthday boy and I felt moved to find and photograph some early photos, one of which appears as an extra ... 

I hope we can celebrate at a later date when all is back to normal.

The rest of the day? Well, I had a bit of a late lie, though I did do a washing and hung out, not entirely futilely. And I found these photos. What do you mean was that all?

No. In the afternoon we walked along the west shore of Loch Eck taking various photos with our new phones and comparing the results. I've posted one of half a dozen that really pleased me, showing the mist coming down the loch towards us.It was very still and rather beautiful. And we had curry for dinner and I hadn't made it. 

Now: that extra photo. It's not quite the earliest photo of my birthday boy, but it's crazy and a dreadful photo and shows the slight chaos of these early months. Himself started work in Dunoon three weeks before the birth - hardly ideal - and stayed with the then Rector (of the church, not the school) two nights a week to save all the travelling. (I moved in with my parents while we prepared to flit.) We moved into a council house which at that time belonged to the education department. It felt big compared with the three rooms - admittedly rather grand - of our Glasgow flat, having three bedrooms, one of which we immediately appropriated as a sitting room, but we knew we wouldn't be there long. The result was newly-painted walls except for the hall (look at the photo!) and the Tintawn carpeting (remember it?) from our flat, cut down to size. The stairs remained uncarpeted and noisy, and the pram lived in the hall. I had an antique chest of drawers in the kitchen - it's beside me now, in the study - and a bookcase on top of it for a dresser. And the sink was ... just that. No unit - just a bit of hardboard below the stainless steel bit. All rather basic.

But this photo, taken in the mirror in the hall in pre-selfie days, shows us looking young and relatively cheerful, with our gorgeous baby. 

Cheers!