Memories of Scotland.

The pictures today are of the morning walk we used to do every day when we were in Scotland. They were probably two years old at the time. Looking at these beach shots I can't believe how closely cut the boyz coats were considering that even in August the morning temperatures on the east coast would be a miserly seven or so degrees and the afternoon 'heat' would struggle against the Atlantic weather patterns to rise into the high teens or low 20's. It would seem logical to have their coats as short here in Italy where 40 degree heat is the norm but the sun is so strong that they would very quickly suffer from burns. The only alternative (short of keeping them indoors from sunrise to sunset which would not go down well ) is frequent trimming and long grooming periods to keep their double coats working properly.

Over dinner last night a long time German friend who is now horribly senior in the foreign service in Berlin told an interesting story about the former British PM Tony Blair. Describing to the then German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder the reasons for voting with the US on an Iraq war resolution at the United Nations Mr.Blair waxed lyrical about the rapport he had with Mr.Bush and the special relationship between Britain and its closest friend and ally the United States.Herr Schroeder listened and then turned to one of his colleagues and said " Special relationship ? So special only the English know it exists ". A piquant comment,perhaps, on how Bush played Blair?

No builders showed up today

With the light rain that was falling this morning the builders naturally felt that the weather was too severe to work outside. As a consequence the garden remains an obstacle course of partially dug trenches, random holes , tractors and piles of stone. The boyz have been contentedly sniffing and marking these excavations all day. I'm betting that there is a 50-50 chance that the construction crew will show up tomorrow. If they arrive they will be dressed as if they are about to go on a polar expedition with padded overalls, mittens, hats with ear muffs, and scarves. This heavy layering would be fine if we were back in Angus but the temperature here is a balmy 19 degrees - about as hot as it gets in Scotland in August. When we lived in Edinburgh we used to see shocked Italian holiday makers wandering around the town at the height of the summer wearing every piece of clothing they had with them to stave off the cold. Lots of Italians come to Scotland in the summer to get away from the heat - indeed the place becomes a little Italy at the time of the festival. What their travel agents fail to explain to them is that summer weather in Scotland is rather like March back at home - you get away from the heat but get hypothermia in the process. Pity the intrepid Italian tourist who makes it to the far north or Orkney- what must they think?