Pam has come back up from That There London whilst her house is being done up and dust is everywhere, so I am getting to plan lots of vegetarian dishes to keep us fed. Anthony and Pam have left early to go to Dundee where Talya is settling in. I have no idea what they are getting up to there but from the things they took it looks like a day of furniture assembly - good luck with that! So I have the house to myself and the dogs, and will take the opportunity to move some paintings around in anticipation of the next three months of guests visiting. After almost two weeks of blue skies and frosty mornings we have rain today with even more expected in the afternoon, so I will do all my hard work in the morning and settle down in the Big Room with the fire on and read my books - bliss.

Anthony is off to Portugal midweek for five days or events and I am down in London for my LSE Lecture on WD Gann on Wednesday. I have been lecturing on Gann now for 20 years, across two different universities, a bit of a milestone indeed! I have tied this in with a trip to work to make my visit for March as brief as possible. It is not that I don't like London (how could you?) but I prefer the calm of the countryside up here in the Crankies.

So far I have had only one birthday card, but the postman has not made his Saturday delivery so I expect a sackload today and on Monday my actual birthday. Last night at midnight I got a SMS from Wee Cath telling me she is out for a coffee with one of my undergraduate pals, Angela Downie, who I have not seen in 30 years. It is very strange being able to write "30 years" as I still feel as if I am in my 20s, but the haircolour and creaking bones and dodgy kidneys tell a different story! It is doubly strange because only this week I was thinking about my old Uni pals, Angela being one of them…