The Silence Of The Drams........

Greenan Castle, Ayr.

Hullo ma wee blog,

It seems I've been abandoned to a rare night of solitude with the lovely G being off to see The Noisettes in concert in Edinburghs fair toon with a bunch of colleagues from work. I was given the chance to go but don't really fancy them for some reason. {taste probably}

So here I am all alone in Robertson Towers, the servants have the night off and the drawbridge is set to auto for when the lovely G's carriage approaches. { I hope she makes it before midnight, that whole pumpkin and mouse things is so frightfully passe don't you think.....} Night is drawing near with cold promise on her lips and may arrive bedecked with coat tails of softest white {according to the BBC weather report that is.}

I have set some logs upon the fire and descended to the kitchen in the bowels of chez nous to rustle up some notably creative dish suitable for a man with a taste for fine wine and time to spare in the making. A solitary dinner awaits. I have a notion for some liver perhaps. I have an excellent Chianti breathing softly as it gently comes to life in the corner .

Not so sure about the fava beans though.....


It would be a good night too for an old horror film and a wee Singleton of Dufftown or a Dalwhinnie single malt. Perhaps Boris Karloff as 'The Mummy' or Bela Lugosi as 'Dracula'. A memory of 'Friday night is horror night' late night TV as a youngster. Luckily, I have an extensive DVD collection too.

Don't worry about rushing home my love.

Unless of course the music you hear is from the children of the night........

{now where did I put that insurance policy?}

see you later

Listening to Chopin 'Nocturne in C minor'

what an evening

Hullo ma wee blog,


Sitting in the garden enjoying the last of the days rays on my shoulder. The lovely G is out at a friends for dinner, an acquaintance from the early train to Edinburgh who has just recently changed jobs. So here I am, on me tod. I have opened a rather nice surprise from our meagre stock of wine in the rack in the kitchen - really must do something about that - an Argentinian oak aged 2007 shiraz called "The prop", and its a bit of a find, really nice and deeply flavoured, fruity and peppery and just now looking at the back of the bottle, a satisfying 14% abv. It is after all part of the reason to drink isn't it? Having been sitting in our warm kitchen for god knows how long too its just the right temperature and the flavour is lingering nicely on the palate. The birds are singing and if I listen carefully I can every so often hear the sheep in the fields at the edge of the village and the occasional mettalic rush of a train on its way from Edinburgh to points south on the east coast line. I feel quite mellow.......

I had a meeting today with the advisor from Careers Scotland to show me how to do a CV and tell me how to apply for jobs! He was a nice guy and after I brought him up to speed with what I have been doing so far and letting him know that I have quite high expectations, he seemed to treat me like a bit more of a proposition. I suppose these people are often dealing with folk who dont actually want to work and tend to try the sheep dip approach for everyone. Its not me. I'm going to go stir crazy if I dont get some work soon, and its only been five weeks if you include my garden leave. I told ham about one of the jobs I am applying for and he was able to point out a similar vacancy that has just come out today in another local area so I will be having a go for that. My problem, if it really is a problem, rather than my perception/fear is how employers are going to feel about me coming from a particular background where my role is not expected to come from. I hope it doesn't exclude me from interviews. I am trying to write my CV to highlight just how transferable my skills are and I hope I can do this clearly. I feel I have had enough this week and am going to take the day off tomorrow for me and get some stuff done around the house thats been bugging me and also spend a bit of time in the garden if the weather is good.

Listening to............Leonard Cohen "Take this waltz"

see you later.........