Coffee at the Royal

Today was my weekly coffee morning at The Royal Hotel. Liz is away so it was just Nan, Robbie, and me. Here is a photo of Nan and Robbie outside the hotel. You can see by the sky above that it's another bright day. And you can tell by Nan's shorts that it's a warm day too. See the bicycle sitting under the window box? That's Nan's cycle and the window above the box is "our" table.

Prior to meeting them, Don and I bundled up several boxes of items and took them to the charity shop. In truth, several of those items came from there to begin with. Now that's what I call recycling!

While I was at The Royal, Don put together the other two dining room chairs, the ones we knew we'd need eventually to match our set but had no room for back in 2004 we we were furnishing The Rowans. Then he made us egg salad sandwiches for lunch.

We have now finished hanging the last of the pictures and quilts and have been tidying up. I'm about to go into the kitchen now to make a fresh peach pie. We're having Helen and Gordon Rae and Trish and Haig Hamilton over for dessert tonight so we can show the place off for the first time.

Speaking of "the place" Don is in the process just now of moving the leftover roof tiles (the ones we'll keep in case we need them for repairs) from near our patio to the garage. There finally is room for them in the garage because yesterday we cleared out a whole lot of boxes, including the two that the dining room chairs were flat-packed in. Don will take the boxes to the public skip in Crieff when he goes in to do some marketing this afternoon.

Yesterday the plumber came and installed the 3 radiators in the sitting room, so that's his job finished. We're still waiting for that wardrobe/cupboard for the studio. We get one excuse after another even though Don has continued to "pressurise" (as they say over here) Bill our contractor to get it done. Rob, the fellow who got the contract back in May with the proviso that it be finished and installed by the end of the first week in June now says it will be 3 weeks at least before he can even "look at it"--the latest in a long line of excuses from him. Meanwhile, our builder, Barclay, says he can build it but he needs to order a router so he can make custom doors for it. He is sure he will have no trouble building the unit, at least that's what he said 3 weeks ago or, to be fair, perhaps it was only 2 weeks ago. Today Don suggested that he just build the unit and fit it in place so I can at least get the things to be stored in there off the floor and other surfaces in the studio. The door can be fitted later. As I've said many times, I'll believe it's coming when I see it. See me? See a skeptical realist. (That is a typical Glasgow turn of phrase.)