A quiet weekend

Last week was a difficult week with Alistair, come the weekend, I felt emotionally tired. He's had a good run lately and it was more upsetting than usual to be at the wrong end of one of his meltdowns, me and Richard both. All is calm now, long may it last. I felt however too frazzled to go to friends' double birthday party on Saturday. It was a day for pottering around. 

This weekend felt like summer. It was glorious. The back door stayed open all day and it was still warm in the evening. I watered the strawberries and tiny ranunculi shoots. I also potted up a beautiful purple and white flowering plant that I had received for my birthday. I'll need to check the label for its name. The laundry dried quickly. Lupin the cat loved moving from one hot spot to another, napping in each for a while.

Jack and I enjoyed our Saturday morning walk but he was naughty and ran away for a while. His dog pal Ruedie gets upset when Jack disappears into the undergrowth. Together we looked for him. He appeared  briefly but ran past me at a speed that is surprising for a 9 year old dog. I chased Jack along the river but he is nimble on his feet, and small. He squeezed through a fence and down a hole. My climb over the fence was less dignified. I thought he found a fox burrow but it turned out to be a pizza hideout. Jack emerged with a huge slice, of unknown age and provenance. I am convinced he can dislocate his yaws to swallow large forbidden foods quickly. Thus satisfied, he stood and waited for me put him on the lead and we once more went through and over the fence. I was sweaty and breathless, Jack smug and clearly pleased with himself, having outwitted me once more.

Later I visited the orchid fair at the Kibble Palace in the Botanics. It was very hot in the glass house but it felt good. I bought a small orchid (Masevallia hybrid) and an intriguingly shaped succulent, Albuca spiralis. It is native to the Cape area in South Africa, an area I'll be visiting in September. I already have one of the small orchids but the new one produces delicate pink flowers with an orange rim. The one I have is orange, with a hint of purple. I very nearly joined the Scottish Orchid Society but I am holding off for now because I am already busy enough and I am not sure I want to add further evidence to the "isn't Christina eccentric list". I left with instructions about repotting my favourite Coelogyne orchid, which is growing like a fairy circle, trying to escape its pot. It is flowering just now and the scent is divine. I was introduced to some interesting orchid smells at the orchid fair... one smelled like a teenage boy bedroom (a bit sweaty with a cadaverous undertone). Not one for the living room! 

I missed the Northern Lights that were visible all the way down to the South of England, courtesy of a solar storm. Sleep was too alluring, getting up on the night was not. 

In other news, our fridge smelled weird. After giving it a thorough clean, it still smells and there is no suspect food. The smell must be imprinted on my scent receptors because the boys don't smell it. Although of course they spend half their time in an malodorous atmosphere of their teenage boy caves and quite possibly have adjusted to unpleasant smells.