Having Tan here feels very strange, rather like having Griff back again. Not that Tan looks anything like our old boy but her manner is very reminiscent. I was astounded last night when she came and flopped down in the bedroom with us when we were watching a film. She lay where Griff would lie.
Tan is quiet like Griff, not vocally communicative as Nell is. She keeps out of the way, as Griff did and tolerates Nell whilst not exactly buddying up, just as Griff did and, crucially she is a herder, just as Griff was.
It is almost like having a ghost in the house. Except Griff did not drink tea but Tan seems to be addicted to it.
We almost had ructions at tea time however, when Tan appropriated Nell’s Meerkat. Poor Nell was completely scandalised and gave us that look: how could you let that happen? Tan is currently cuddling the Meerkat to death. It’s hers and she may have to take it home with her.
It has been a funny old weekend really. Yesterday we had a barbecue in the garden.
We were just kicking back, finishing off the Leffe after we head eaten, when the local farmer turned up and started cutting the grass in the field next door. It brought back all those awful memories of Lulu’s demise and made me very sad indeed.
With three cats and two dogs departed, we are now left with “just” Nell. She is actually plenty to be going on with. Yesterday afternoon we took her over to Sty Wick (Tan couldn’t come as her delivery time had been set back) and she did her Nell-type thing, so different from Griff and Suzie. I tried to capture the antics of the Terns that were fishing in the shallow water at the edge of the sea. I failed.
We had hoped for a reprise today with Tan in attendance too but between the weather and some work around the house, it failed to happen. Though heaven only knows what she would have made of Nell’s antics – though certainly she would have felt the need to shepherd her.
Nell would have been so focused that she failed to notice Tan’s presence, of course.
Tan goes home tomorrow at lunch time. I think her stay has been a success, at least we have had no scares and she has not gone missing at any point.
The RV step is now repaired and back in lace. At some point I need to go and retrieve my knitting. I also want to see if I can manage to fit Morgana into the wardrobe. I should like to take my wheel with me when we migrate Sooth for the winter.
Speaking of going Sooth, I am looking forward to some of the trappings of Civilisation and especially to having some good fresh food on the table. I spent time this weekend in trying to track down an Organic Vegetable box delivery. I have found a couple of sources reasonably local to where we shall be staying but not an actual delivery service. I am trying to rack my brains to recall where we had our deliveries from when we lived in Wanlockhead but so far have failed miserably to come up with the goods.
Tesco do deliver. I can also get a veg box delivered from Kilnford (free delivery if spending £30) but it is not Organic and crucially is not designed to vary much. I always loved the mystery side of my Organic box deliveries, it was like Christmas every week. I would open the box, survey the contents and start to ponder what on earth I might do with an Avocado, some Rainbow Chard, three White Turnips and a Marrow… The Kilnford box is very basic and only likely to “vary slightly depending on season.” Not really what I am seeking.
Otherwise there is the Camphill community at Loch Arthur, selling Organic produce but not delivering. Not so far away if one has a car but firing up the RV to go and pick up a few pounds of vegetables and a handful of link sausages is not a very green option.
We’ll probably call in at one or both places if we happen to be passing for other reasons – we will after all have to go out to Dumfries once in a while as the only reachable source of Autogas. In the meantime, I shall continue to search for a box delivery scheme.
Would having a bicycle on the back of the RV be an entirely silly idea? Might be a solution to the short-distance shopping transport conundrum.
Not a silly idea at all and in time we plan to have a couple of folding electric bikes in one of the lockers. (‘im indoors is loath to fit a carrier as we will most likely sell this vehicle in due course, plus the extra length of the bike carrier increases ferry fares…) For everyday shopping we shall most likely walk to Colvend ( 3 miles) with the options of walking home again with rucksack or trolley, or using the bus if heavily laden or weather inclement. The outline plan is to do a minimum of three miles a day anyway, so the shopping will fit that routine. It will be quite odd doing daily shopping after so many years of stocking up and trying to go out only once a month or less. Shopping was never my favourite activity but I sense that when it involves a three mile forest stroll, it will become a much more pleasant prospect. Less often, two buses will get us to “Food Town” (Castle Douglas) and that will be fun and probably involve a fish and chip lunch as a reward. We now need to train Nell to sit and wait patiently outside shops. Hmmm.