Duck race - cancelled.

Not a duck like this one, but the yellow plastic efforts with numbers on their backs.

I do not think we should mention Rotary and Barbecue in the same breath. It does not pleaseth the Gods.

Last year we had a barbecue, which ended up with only the brave chef outside, everyone else was inside.

This year we never even got that far. The river burst it's banks and made it way too dangerous and any ducks launched would have ended up in Peterhead. So the barbecue was not even an option. We all stayed at home. In our case that involved watching bits of our big trees snap off in the gale force winds that accompanied the torrential rain.

As I mentioned we have had a break from b&b. Although we had some hectic cleaning of the parts that guests do not reach last week, as we had a viewing on the Wednesday.

Two female lumberjacks, well thats how they were dressed, and had their hands in their pockets just as if they were to launch into "I'm a lumberjack and I'm okay..."

Unfortunately, despite looking as if they could tackle anything, especially if it involved axes and hammers, they thought Greenbrae needed too much work. In other words it was just too big, but they darent say that as I had already ranted about people not realising that seven bedrooms, meant just that!

Did some baking. Note to self, do not bake a cake which calls itself a chocolate cake when there is no chocolate in the recipe only cocoa powder. Way too dry and not as yummy, despite 6 eggs and a gallon of sunflower oil. Mike is manfully having it as pudding for every meal. Waste not want not, despite having had a bout of sickness and tother from wasting not, way after its use by date of something, he still hasn't learnt his lesson.

Also been doing a fair bit of retail therapy. Still havent got the warm casual coat I am seeking, one where I do not look like a granny. Or too brightly coloured that I would scare the cats (well Mike actually - he has some aversion to seeing me in scarlet or canary yellow). But on every search trip I have managed to find other goodies. So I am well topped, well booted, and slippered.

Buying some new lipsticks in Boots the girl on the till gave me someone elses voucher off, as they had left it, wasnt that nice? Then when buying my wine I was asked if I was over 25, and the other woman on the next till said, "You should ask her for her parents i.d." So I asked if a death certificate would do. Little things please a lot!