I can't believe it's so long since I posted here. Well, not an awful lot has happened since our summer holiday. We're planning another week away in a couple of weeks, up at Gairloch, right up on the north-west coast of Scotland (not to be confused with Garelochead, which is at the top of Gareloch, off the mouth of the Clyde, and only about an hour's drive from Glasgow).
We like to do this in October or November; hire a cottage for a week, right up in the remotest areas of highlands, stocked up with books, wine and food. When we had Spice, we'd try to find somewhere near a beach, cos she'd like to explore the rockpools, and hare across the open space where the sand is firm below the high-water line. Once when were staying on Skye, in a cottage right by the sea, we caught her trying to bury a dead dogfish under some rocks. For later ... you, know, just in case. I still miss that little dog. We will have another one once I retire (if I haven't retired already - there aren't a lot of jobs about). So, James and Katie, if you are reading this, visit soon, before the place gets smothered in dog hairs again!
I'm back to thinking about returning to work again. I reckon I can cope with the tiredness if I can get a part-time job close to home. The only thing is, what with the current situation, there aren't many jobs going, of any kind, let alone what I'm looking for.
It's baseball's end-of-season again, and time for the World Series. Yep, for baseball players from all over the world - as long as they're playing for an American or Canadian (of which there is now only one) team, that is. There are players from all over the world, even if the majority are from the Americas. There are a lot of players from South America and the Caribbean; but there are a few from outside this area. There are quite a few Japanese players in the US Major Leagues, as there's a big professional league in Japan, and they can earn a lot of money if they move. There is, to my knowledge, one player of Dutch nationality, but really, he's from the Dutch Antilles, which is off the coast of Venezuala. Hmm, very international.
So, anyway, for the first game at least, I am staying up to watch it live. The game starts at about 1am tonight/tomorrow morning, so I've been acclimatising by staying up late for the last couple of nights. Last night I stayed up until 3am, and stayed in bed late to compensate. By tonight, I should be able to stay awake through the whole game, which normally lasts about 3 hours, but these could be close games, and, as is usual in US sport, they play on until there is a winner, so it can last 4 or 5 hours.
The World Series is a best-of-seven match, and they'll be playing one game a night from tonight, with one night off after the second and fifth games. Obviously, it could all be over in four games, if one side gets the upper hand, as happened last year, when the Boston Red Sox won four in a row against the Colorado Rockies. This year, though, the two teams involved (The Philadelphia Phillies - what an imaginative name! - and the Tampa Bay Rays) should be more evenly matched, so it could go for the full seven games. Whether I stay up for all the games, or record them to watch the next day, will depend on how good the games turn out to be.
I'll post some more photos soon, including Denise on the rostrum at the River Ness 10k, when she ran a Personal Best. Actually, everyone was getting up on the rostrum for their families to photograph them, so no, she didn't come in the top three ;-)
