Another victory ?

Good morning from Sophie who is out and about at first light ensuring that all is well in our wee corner of the world.

This morning she starts her day by chasing two plump pigeons.

Then the overweight village C-A-T makes an unscheduled appearance. This is the cause for a 'howling'.

A little later a herd of deer wander down to the water. Sophie remains oblivious to their presence. So much for her hunting skills.  I ask her what role PONs might have played in the evolution of hunter-gatherers but by this stage she's noticed a pair of geese that have landed in the next field. She races off. A PONettes work is unrelenting.

Another day flies by without anything getting done. The burglar alarm man shows up and spends three hours doing whatever a burglar alarm man does. The new  technology is beyond me. Sophie ignores him despite his best efforts to strike up a conversation.The burglar repair man is a Palestinian Christian from Nazareth. Faced with ever growing violence he had to flee with his wife, son and two young daughters. They came to Scotland a year ago. There he had his own company, here he's simply happy to have work. His wife is pregnant and is expecting in December. She was traumatized by the murder of a brother and refused to leave the house for six months after they arrived. His son was mute for three months after seeing his uncle killed by nine men armed men, but is now talking again. What burdens he must shoulder but he tells me he's happy, makes reasonable money and his boy and girls are safe and settled into a good school. The kids speak English fluently with a Lothian accent. Another of lifes quiet 'against the odds' victories. There's something ever so slightly joyously Christmas like in all of this - Nazareth, a December birth and new life. All we're missing is a donkey.  Angus finds himself saying 'thank you' aloud to no one in particular for the glorious dullness of being in a settled country.

The architect shows up, spends ten minutes, then announces he'll come back on Wednesday. The specialist bed installers telephone to reconfirm they'll also be here on Wednesday. The electrician doesn't show nor does the builder. Presumably they're all working trying to get the university operational by the weekend. The joiner does arrive but the man who does the measuring has got 'personal problems' so another trip will need to be arranged to measure the bookcases. Through it all the sun shines down through scurrying clouds. The PONette is loving this weather.