the mysterious case of ...

sigh... friday 17.30, time to sit back and relax with jack d and company. oops ...this 'not smoking in the house' rule of mine is a bit of a nuisance. excuse me while i nip downstairs for a quick smoke!

aahh ... that's better. warning! never put one of those lethal little white tubes anywhere near your mouth. hey man, turns out nicotine is addictive. in my case ... big time addictive. also expensive, smelly and really ... like bad for your health.

too late for me ... i purely love the little f---ers!

interesting day today, adam and michelle had to drive up to somewhere in the highlands. where ... damned if i know, i never listen properly. why ... think it had summat to do with the theology degree adam is taking. so this afternoon i had doggy lunch duty, the puppy is only four months old and she has never been left for a whole day before. so ... i took myself off up to the farm, climbing into the mist. we have had quite a bit of rain (well it ain't africa thats for sure), "the potholes so deep, they might drown a grown sheep", so i was driving real slow and careful, suddenly a hawk appeared out of the mist, diving and flew right in front of my rav and off into the pine wood to the right. one of those magical country moments!

i was keeping a sharp eye out for the beefy boys, they always appear so sweet and peaceful but ...
last night on the telly i was watching one of those helicopter rescue programmes and ...
darned if they didn't show this couple who were just taking a wee walk through a field. they were attacked and trampled by the whole darn herd. oy! imagine that! the fella, not a young man, was really badly hurt.

hmmmm ... don't trust the coos! must admit, i have wondered, sometimes, when they have parked themselves on the road. well, they seem somewhat reluctant to leave. they just stand there looking all peaceful and stubborn like. always have to allow an extra ten minutes drive time just in case yon coos decide to be difficult!

so anyway, the dogs were delighted to see me! much joyful jumping and adoring looks from the young one, obviously pleased that she had not been deserted entirely. elijah gave me his 'i'm really pleased to see you, but darned if i am gonna fawn over you' look!
lunch and toilet run done, dogs settled, my lady rav and i ventured back along the puddly, muddied farm road. i turned right across the a77, heading for girvan.there was a bit of shopping i needed to do, our small local shop is a marvel but, they just can't stock everything.
although the mist was writhing all over the hills, the road was a pretty clear and easy ride. i love that drive along the ayrshire coast, if you are ever in scotland, make sure you drive the a77 coastal route, a prettier sight would be difficult to find.

my shopping done i headed back to the village, decided to pop in at jo's as she had managed to get me a pair of pink crocs for only £1.99, some place in ayr. ayr is our BIG town, you have to pay for parking, there is a system of one way streets. i love the place but avoid it like the plague if i have to drive in myself.

arrived at jo's house and noticed that shona's car was parked outside her house (shona's house not jo's, they live kinda next door to one another.) well now, shona has been working so hard the past week, i have hardly seen her, let alone had time to drink coffee or get drunk! so you might say i was suffering from shona deprivation! so methinks ... ah well i'll just pop into my mate for a cuppa before i collect my new crocs.

shona puts on her (new!) kettle and turns to me...

"eryll! what's happened to your eye?" shock written all over her face!

me ... "nothing, why?"

shona ... "you have a black eye!"

hmmmm ... now i know that when i left home, for sure... i did not have a black eye. i'm not a terribly vain person, but ... i do glance in the mirror before i go out into the public realm. dinna wanna scare th' locals!
so shona is obviously hallucinating.

shona notices my disbelief and grabs a mirror, she shoves it in my direction...

"look fer yerself, ye've got a f'king black eye!"

my goodness! i did indeed have a huge black eye. must have burst a blood vessel or summat and it all seeped into the skin beneath my left eye. man, it looked impressive.

we drank our cuppa, put the world to rights and i had a smoke ...
have i mentioned how i love that girl! she doesn't mind if i smoke in her non smokers house. the woman is an angel for sure!
turned out jo was not at home so i decided to just pop in to the medical centre and have someone look at my most impressive black eye. no luck, our local medical heroes had left for the day, of course, i could have driven half an hour to the nearest A & E, but the black eye is not that impressive!

cheers ... here's to country living, fabulous friends and a rather mysterious black eye.
oooh... i do love me a little jack daniel's on a friday night.