Red squirrels

After quite a gap, I went walking yesterday. I'm running out of accessible Munros, so chose Beinn Mheadhonach, which is quite a long way from Blair Atholl. A useful exercise that showed I hadn't turned into a fat slob, since I undercut the Naismith time quite considerably.

In the woods near Blair Castle, I passed one of those very worthy signs that tell you about wildlife.

"Red squirrels is it? I bet you never see them round here."

Of course, I'm wrong, as I immediately see two of them scampering up and down a tree. I'd forgotten how cute their white tummy looks.

Friday night

Went to see (well, mainly hear) Dick Gaughan on Friday night. I only really know him by reputation, which means some pretty old albums. In all honesty, I wasn't that impressed. There were a lot of irritating mannerisms of folk music, such as the endless retuning while introducing a song (I know acoustic guitars go out of tune quickly, but really). Also a rather baroque and over intricate style of playing, no doubt developed over the years and impenetrable to the newcomer.

After the show, I met two nice American ladies, Pat and Sandy, who are Emma's Revolution. We discussed writers who are poor performers of their own songs, among other things. Being in the business, they reckoned that the sound was done badly. Too much treble on the guitar, apparently.

My life is sometimes interesting.

The problem solves itself

I caught up with C and her dress problems today. Apparently, the dress ended up by being a perfect fit.

Wardrobe issues

C is going to a wedding tomorrow. She has a problem, however, in that her dress requires combined tactics in order to fasten the zip correctly. Her flatmate will be at work, and nobody else can fulfill this vital task. What to do?

Suggestions included:

• Putting on the dress the night before.
• Getting up very early and enlisting help of flatmate before she leaves for work.
• Waiting for the postman and getting him to help.
• Fastening as much as possible, covering it with a shawl and seeking help from friend on arrival at the station.

Being a girl must be exhausting.

The Doctor

Have just finished Tom Baker's autobiography; a lucky find in a local charity shop. Like me, he enjoys ironing.

The Count

Can I just say that Count Arthur Strong is absolutely brilliant?

Fingermouse without the finger

I've been quiet for a bit, but it's mostly been for good reasons, like Rog. visiting, or going to fringe shows.

I feel I must record this, however. C in the office is what is known as "good value". She seemed very enthusiastic the other day about going to see Puppetry of the Penis--that magnet for screaming middle-aged women. Today she embarked on the subject again, but it rapidly emerged that she had misinterpreted it somewhat. She imagined it as like Fingermouse: lots of felt puppets, but with a substitute finger, you might say. Us lads however (and how do we instinctively know about this?) had to put her right.