This year the entertainment was provided by one of the village families – Grandad  did the Immortal Memory, son-in-law  gave the Toast to the Lassies, and daughter  the reply.

Son-in-law reminisced about his days at the school. It struck a cord when he described how the children from the remote farms were transported to school in an Austin Maxi driven by a flamboyant character who was Indian in origin.  In those days it was quite normal to have nine children in the car – I remember the same in the ’50s, although in those days the Austin was distinctly more basic (although it probably had the same technical prowess).

The six boys were fascinated by the stories the driver told, of his travels around the world and his exciting family and their exploits. The three girls learned to join in and push the car when it gave up on the steep hills.

He told them about growing up in India, and the beautiful women he knew; of visiting Australia, and the women he had encountered.  A favourite television was Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, and he had a tale of his family eating kangaroo.

He mentioned South America, and the women he met there. Our speaker told us how he had announced that he really loved women, and he really liked Brazillians.

The laughter in the hall was varied. I spotted a friend at the next table, noticing the joke at the very time I started to giggle.  She was immediately nudged by her daughter and told to behave.

At the end of the evening, my friend and I were swapping mirth, when he came over. That was a really good speech we said, but some of the audience didn’t really get the joke. What joke? he said. About the Brazillian. What joke about the Brazillians? Dear Lad, we said patiently, in the context of beautiful women,  what is a Brazillian?  Umm…. someone from Brazil? said our lovely speaker.

Oh, I do love living in the Highlands!

Anyway, I’ve got back to it now, and will try to stick things on when I can.

I’m winding down to Friday, and a day at home, then Art Garfunkel in Glasgow. Wee Curry Shop as well, so a good Friday night!

It has been a nice week, but lots of driving again. I wanted to take the train to work, but the ONE day I decided to do so the railway was on strike! Another 300 miles on the clock and a very tired IS at the end of that. Rumer stayed home, and had a much better day than I had, running in the woods with Chris.

We had the village fete to raise funds for the new hall last Saturday. It’s going to take quite a while  to get it built if we rely on fetes, but it is a start, and it got people together. We need serious funding for this, but we could have such a good facility for the village. Maybe I should get Pat to be involved, and see if the Norwegian architecture lecturers would like their students to do a Scottish village hall as well as an Indian old people’s home!

I wonder if I can do more than write in this box. What if I added the link to the IRHS website? Let’s see if that would work, then I can send people to look at it. www.ruralhealthindia.org

Now, let’s see what happens!

The phonecall came when I was driving to work. I had dropped Rumer at Ordhill, and the traffic over the Kessock Bridge was settling. I was still later than I wanted to be, and thought about leaving it to voicemail. Had I heard? Was it true?

I got on the phone to India as soon as I got in. It was true. Very sudden, with no sign of a problem. Five hours till he went, sleeping through it, unaware of the void he was leaving in all our lives.

He was a gentle friend, who brought us companionship, sound advice – not just on our gardens, but on life in general – and lots of laughter. He made great soup. His mango bread was something we waited for each summer. He was much better at weeding than any of us ever would be.

I walk past him everywhere. The strings to hold the clematis and the planters for the potentilla at the front door. The roses I see along the fence when I am at the computer. The woodshed. The awning for the logs. David’s boat with its clean keel. And most of all, his wonderful, Grand Designs compost heap. I can’t throw anything out without weighing up whether it can be added. The rich, dark loam is working its way through the plots now, putting some of him all round this little spot he loved.

I am one of many who misses him. We will remember him with love and smiles, but just now I just have to keep reminding myself that I was blessed to know him. And the alpines will be his memorial.

Spring for Humpty was no good at all,

Summer was awful for Humpty Dumpty,

But Humpty Dumpty had a GREAT fall!

Well, it’s absolutely lovely here just now, with the trees changing and looking like jewels in the sun. I have (of course) taken some photos, so please have a look.

Started baking for the Flower and Produce Show next week. Whisky Fruit Cake today, so that it gets a chance to mature a bit. Wanted to do the gingerbread, but ran out of eggs, so had to wait for Sue to arrive with some from her hens.

I sorted out my presentation for Tuesday in Inverness, and I’m working on the one for RSPSG for September. I also have to get the paper ready for KL, and one for the conference here at the end of September, so I will be glued to the computer for the next wee while. Rumer gets fed up when I sit writing, and comes and nudges me when she thinks I should be taking her out.

I did manage to get to the Fringe this year, and had a really good evening on Thursday, with Barry Cryer at the Gilded Balloon and Shappi Korsandi at the Pleasance. Good fun. Got a joke to use in my presentation to the students on Friday! Edinburgh was lovely. Just wandering around and taking last minute decisions to do things.

Next year I shall book in somewhere for a few days and really “do” the festival. I can recommend Pollock Halls during the summer too – no students, and reasonably quiet, apart from the All Canada Pipe Band who were staying for the Tattoo and had a ceilidh on Thursday!

I always keep a diary when I travel, so I can do that here, and if anything funny turns up in Gartmore it will appear here!

IRHT meeting plus SIX parties this last weekend, so you might get something about that, but we will see….