Irma and self had decided to go to france for a short holiday, and then she would go back to Scotland with me. At this stage she was still fancy free, and she and Ally, whom she met on a previous holiday, kept up their friendship, or maybe courtship, and she was looking forward very much to see him again.
So started our quest to get our visas, and to get into France as out first entrance to the Shengen states, we had to have our hotels booked, and it was a bit of a nuisance, as we wanted to hire a car and drive as and where our fancy took us.
But we got all done, and the middle of March saw us happily on the plane, first to Heathrow, and then on air France to Charles du Gaulle airport. All went well, until, after we had a luke warm coffee to try and get our bearings around the nerve testing streets of Paris, and to try and find the underground, Irma announced that she had lost the paper with the instructions as to how to get to our hotel. We had to get a train to a station called Something  sur Seine, but she couldn't remember the first word. So, not knowing that Paris was littered with all kinds of sur Seines, we found a tube that would take us to Neuilly sur Seine.
 Once there, we had to turn left after leaving the tube station, then pass a small tobacco shop, and voila, we would see our hotel! We turned left, and walked and walked, but there was no sign of any hotel with the name we had.
We then went the other way, and it was hot, hot hot, and my bags were heavy, and after another bally two kilometers, I told Irma that I was going to just plonk down under a tree, and while I watch the bags, she could find the hotel. I waited for ages, and the funny characters that came from nowhere, some of them peeping very suspiciously at the bags, scared the blue devil out of me, and by the time Irma came back, I was thirsty, scared, and angry!
She had not found the hotel, and as an old lady, looking quite friendly passed at that moment, I asked her for directions, and by the most remarkable luck, she understood English, and told us that if we get onto the tube for another few stops, we would get to Asnieres sur Seine, where she knew there was a tobacco shop.
So we dragged ourselves and the luggage back to the tube station that was miles away, and after a few stops, voila, Asnieres sur Seine!
We turned left, and there was the tobacco shop, and scarce two hundred meters further our hotel stood big and looking like the best place ever, although it was only a two star! It was now after six, and we had been in Paris at twelve, so we were lugging around our luggage for more than six hours! I could easily have killed my child, but luckily I was too tired!

Driving into Haarlem after six and a half hours on the road, and such a long, lonely, boringly straight road at that, I was met with a view absolutely breath takingly beautiful, and I remembered why I preffered to stay in such a strange place instead of in my flat in town. It was quite overcast, and some heavy, white clouds were hanging like soft woolly blankets over the mountains, seemingly protecting the small village from the outside world.
My heart did sink a bitty when I saw how overgrown my garden was, as the kikuju grass is not at all stemmed by the cold winters they apparently have in Haarlem. Of course I never had a winter there, but my neigbors and kids told me every time I come back how lucky I was to skip the winters!
I should have been quite used to all the animals that move into my house the moment I move out, but it is still quite startling to open the front door, to be met with cob webs hanging from the rafters, and spiders, about five different species of them, scuttling like crazy to get to the safety of the thatch, their seven month long sojourn in my house rudely interrupted by the sudden flooding of the rooms with outside light.
As it was already late, I immediately started on my bedroom, vacuuming, dusting, and putting on clean bedding, so that I could at least sleep peacefully. Then i tackled the kitchen, as I was hungry, and it was quite impossible to get to the cooker or the pots, as the cobwebs were just everywhere, and they were unbelieveably thick and sticky.
It was Jan's birthday, but as he was still working and staying in George during the week, it would not be till the Friday before I would see him.
The next few days I was kept busy first with cleaning out the house, then trying to make sense of the neglected garden.
I think a batch of spiders had hatched, as that first night I couldn't sleep, small things crawling all over me, and the bally little mites could bite and all. I sprayed insectecide, but then had such a fit of sneezing that I sat up half the night, waiting for the smell to go away.
But I made it to the morning, and from then on it was just work, work, work, as I had to prepare the veggy beds, plant out the strawberries, prune the roses, and just generally try and fix the place to some kind of liveable habitat again.
But the summer sped by, and before I knew it I was on my way back to Scotland, ready and rested to pick up the threads of my job, and also my other life.

I woke up to a cloudy, miserable morning on the day I was to leave for home, with the rain pelting down, and a strong wind trying to unroof the whole village. As it was so easy for me to get to Glasgow airport, I had waved away both Liz and the Boys's offers to take me to the airport. They were all busy, and by taking the schoolbus to Stirling, then a bus to Glasgow, and from there the airport bus, was child's play, and they did not have to waste  their valuable time. Must admit, with my huge black suitcase loaded to it's limits, and a bitty above my  allowed weight on the plane, it was heavy going, but the bus drivers were very helpful, and the schoolbus driver even got out to help me get it on the bus, and all this to great amusement for the kids, as he was quite slight, and had a hard time getting it loaded.
But, a wee bit drenched, and arms feeling like they had gone through a mill they were so tired, I made it to the airport, safe and sound. It was the first time I had gone from the hotel to the airport, but for the last couple of years I had gone by bus when leaving the plane from South Africa. What I had forgotten of course was that I always came with an almost empty suitcase, as I left all my working clothes ans a lot of other stuff that I don't use at home.
The flight to Dubai was long and tedious, as I had the most sour old lady next to me, who sighed and grunted all the way, making the hope of taking a nap quite impossible! She might have been a bitty dementious, as she also kept talking to herself, and giving short laughs that was more bark than laugh, but it made me jerk back from my slumbers just when I started to drop off!
I had a nine hour wait at Dubai, and to while away the time, I roamed the duty free shops, trying out every conceivable perfume you could think of, and of course ending up smelling like a walking bunch of flowers and other stuff, and even offending my own nose!
After visiting with My sister Lida and brother in law Dries for a week, I flew to cape Town, there to visit my daughter Trienkie and family before driving back to Haarlem.
 I was a bitty apprehensive about Haarlem, as the previous year I had to fight my way through spider webs that hung like silk curtains from the rafters, and the spiders that grows to the size of a saucer scared the blue devils out of me, not to talk of the huge frogs that would be living very comfortably behind every cupboard, sofa and other furniture, and the snakes that got so tame, they sunbathe in my backyard!
But on my drive back the karoo that is a semi desert, was showing signs of waking up from it's long winter sleep, and here and there I could see  new growths on the hard, grey brush, and my love for my country welled up in me, and I started singing: 'Al die veld is vrolik, al die voeltjies sing! (All of the fields are happy, and all the birds are singing). It was nice to be home, even thinking about all the critters in my house that I had to get rid of!

As Irene was so good to me during my stay with them, I asked her to dinner at the Indian restaurant in Callender. Their food is excellent, and we go there quite often as a group, me Hanna , Liz , and whoever else wanted to come. I asked Hanna and Liz whether they would like to come, but paying their own bills, as they are two expensive customers, that is with all the drinks they enjoy with their meals. As usual I was the designated driver, as I rarely have more than two wines, and of course the new policeman was still very vigilant, and I think I have said it before, but he had relieved about sixty percent of the Strathyre men from their drivers licences
We set out in the wee Panda, and we were in high spirits, intent on enjoying our night out before I left for home. Both Liz and Irene were already highly sozzled when we left, and they were so full of life and energy, and although I knew people were watching us with a teeny bit of revulsion, I couldn't care less, as I have decided to just enjoy the evening.
The meal was as usual so good, and we all over- ate, and over-drank as well, me having had three wines instead of my two, but as it was quite late, and a week-day, we hoped that the policeman would be in his bed by now!The young waiter had for some reason decided that Liz was the one with the money, not that I blamed him, as she always looked very stylish. So he was pussyfooting her, and as she was quite drunk, she played along, and I could see this young Indian boy licking his lips for the expected giant tip!
At last the owner came to inform us that they were about to close, and watching the other three trying to get out of their chairs, I knew that I was in for a hard time, as not one of them was capable of walking to the car unassisted.
But the people from the restaurant came up to scratch beautifully, and they helped the three ladies to the car, where upon sitting down, they all promptly fell asleep!
I was now not too worried, as I intended to just leave them in the car to sleep it off when we got home.
But then disaster struck! When I started the Panda it made one funny noise, and the next moment a stream of water started running from underneath us, and down the road. I got out to see what was happening, and realized that my radiator, that was a bitty dicy, had gone, and we would not be able to drive home in the Panda. I tried the restaurant, but all was dark and quiet, I suppose they had just waited for us to leave before running for their beds. I was in a tizz, because I couldn't phone people at that time of the morning to fetch us, as they all would be nicely sozzled at this time of night, the Scottish being people who do not play with the whiskey, or the beer!
But Lizzy sat up suddenly, and in a voice devoid of emotion, asked why the heck were we not home yet. She could take her drink better than the others, who were both snoring disgustedly with their mouths hanging open.
She then had the audacity to phone Katy, a young girl who once worked for her, and Katy sent her man, who had just that day got his license back, to pick us up, and I wondered at his condition, as it would be bad if he lost his license a day after getting it back!

The drive back from Lochness to Strathyre was horrendous, as the murky sky had now became like a vicious, roaring monster itself, and the wind blew the heavy clouds hither and thither, as if he didn't know what to do with them. We were going to look for somewhere to sleep over, but in the end Liz decided that as it was not all that far to go still, she wanted to sleep in her own bed.
As she is one very nervous woman, specially after five if she had no glass of red to fortify the old nerves, she became like a woman possessed, and I must say, watching her from between my hat and scarf, as I was yet again covered like one mummy on the roll, and seeing the shaking hand holding the cigarette, and the wildness of eye when she gave me a stare, I felt a wee pang of nervousness myself.She is actually a very good driver, and I never felt any pangs when driving with her, but tonight, with the wind howling around the car, and my layers of clothes blown almost of my body, and the long, long pulls Lizzy took on one cigarette after the other, I almost lost my nerve.
But we made it, and poor Benny was so glad and excited to be home, and not having to go through the torture he was going through the passed two weeks again, that he ran around like a wind-up toy, his tongue hanging out, barking like he would never stop. I felt so sorry for the poor old boy, as he just was not a good passenger!
As always I was a bitty teary when driving into Strathyre after a longish absence, as I had found so much joy and happiness with the people, and in the mountains and loch Lubnaig, and the river Balvaig that so softly and gently made it's way down to the loch. The fact that I would be leaving in a few days did not help, so I walked down to the Balvaig, and sitting down on a tiny beach on it's bank, the lovely song, 'Bonnie Strathyre' came into mind, and that just opened the tearducts, and I cried, not exactly knowing why.
Here are the two first verses of Bonnie Strathyre.

There's meadows in Lanark and mountains in Skye,and pastures in Hielands (highlands) and Lowlands forbye, but there's no greater luck that the heart can desire, than to herd the fine cattle, in Bonnie Strathyre

 Oh, it's up in the morn and awa' tae the hill, when the lang (long) summer days are sae (so) warm and sae still, till the peak of Ben Vorlich is girdled with fire, and the evening fa's gently on Bonnie Strathyre. 

Oh how I loved that place. You will find Ben Vorlich just before coming to Strathyre, where it keeps vigil over loch Lubnaig and the surrounding countryside, while on the other side my beautiful loch Voile keeps watch over the bewitched Balquidder Glen!  Ben Vorlich is called the mountain of fairies, and I could well believe that fairies and elves lived amongst all the old trees with their gnarled roots growing in the most amazing patterns!

We were on our way back, all the way down to Lochness, where I planned to have a good look to see if I couldn't see the monster that so many people had apparently seen, but it's existence had never been proved. Thinking of the cold deep waters of my loch, Loch Voile, where sometimes huge fish jumped out of the water, I could well imagine that strange and wonderful things lived deep down in the blackness.
On the way down we stopped at a famous fish and chip restaurant, famous because Princess Diana's grandmother used to go there a lot, and there were pictures of the Princess and her Grandmother having a meal, and it looked like they had a real good time.The proprietress was very proud of her famous customer and her granddaughter, but she was also a delightful lady, and we enjoyed her stories about the famous writer of many love stories.
At Lochness I sat for ages trying to see into the deep darkness of the loch, but it was a murky day, and I couldn't see nothing. But I remembered a lovely story that Jess Smith, a Tinker woman told on a cd she gave me one night at the launching of 'The Last Wolf', a book by Jim Crumley, a writer I came to know when working at the Kingshouse Hotel.
There was once a gluttonous and selfish woman, as big as a grown ox, with thick arms and huge splayed feet that were swollen round like two balloons. She made her husband and son work from morning till night, and all the money they earned she saved in a flower vase, feeding them just enough to stay alive, while she bought mountains of food that she gulped down when they were at work. But for some time she had been saving to buy beef on the farmers market, where only the best beef was sold. So on the morning of the market she counted her money, and danced around gleefully, as she had enough saved for plenty of beef. She fed her husband and son only a crust of dry bread, and told them not to come home before midnight, and off she
went to the market.
In the meantime a demon cat with sharp nails and yellow glowing eyes had crept into her tent, and went to sleep on the bracken in the darkest corner. Peggy came home with the best beef from the market, and as the meat sizzled and the fat splattered, her mouth dribbled from lust, and she could hardly wait for it to cook. But at last the meat was done, and she devoured it by tearing off huge bits and almost swallowing it without chewing. 'Och, ye bonny wee meaty', she moaned between bites, smacking her huge lips, and when she was finished she sank onto her side of the tent, and promptly went to sleep.
The demon cat now woke up, and smelling the meat, he felt the hunger pangs in his tummy, and when he saw Peggy sleeping deeply, he silently went up to her, and stood over her, his yellow eyes aglow. Peggy woke up then, and if the demon cat thought he would frighten and eat her, he was mistaken, as she suddenly grabbed him and threw him across the tent. A huge struggle then started, and the two growled and bit, and rolled down to the loch, flattening bracken and small trees that were in their way, and then into the loch they rolled.
They kept on fighting, and slowly sank to the bottom, making the water churn and gurgle, until both were drowned.
Nobody saw this, except an evil Sea Kelpie, who dived down to the bottom of the loch to tell the demon king of the darkness about it, and the demon king decided to give both Peggy Moore, and the cat, immortality to fight on forever. So, when they occasionally came close to the surface, and the water started churning, and people saw what look like a monster, remember this: it is the small head and big groping arm of Peggy Moore trying to kill the monster cat that they would have seen.

We were tired and cold and I was half frozen, as poor Benny did not have any fresh ginger left, and with the tight little bends in the road, he had a hard time of it. Shame, he was quite frantic, and vomited twice, and we had to stop for Liz to clean up the mess. I then did not only have Benny's terrible breath to contend with, but also the smell of his half digested breakfast, and it made my tummy turn, and my eyes water.
So my window, the side that Benny always stand at, was opened all the way, and as the rain was still pelting down, I was wet, and icily cold, and even though I had two jerseys, my jacket, and a rain jacket on, with my hat on, and a thick winter scarf, I was shivering like a bally blamange.
By the time we reached Liz's family, I was ready to go into some kind of thermo shock, and could hardly walk my legs were so cold. The couple came out when we stopped, as Liz was on the phone with them to find the way, and they stated flatly that the dogs should stay in the car. Then we had another shock. Liz's sister in law had a lovely chicken dinner ready for us, and I felt myself slowly defrosting, and was in a state of bliss, thinking of a lovely warm bath and a soft bed, when an unexpected bomb was thrown our way. We were not invited to sleep with them, although they had a two bedroomed flat. Poor Liz looked at her brother with her big brown eyes wide open in shock, but he just looked back affably, and so did his wife.
So then we had to go out in the cold night and try and find accommodation, and we must have looked very bedraggled, and in bad shock when we sat down in a small pub to try and work out a plan of action. We decided to call on the barman for help, and he gave us a tourist guide, and said that most of the accommodation in the town was carried in that. We were lucky, as the third place we phoned, a small bungalo with one bedroom but a bed in the sittingroom, had an opening for two nights, and we jumped at the opportunity.
It was the most adorable little cottage, and while Liz was trying to calm poor Benny, who had to stay in the car with Stouty while we were with her family,  down, I made for the bathroom, and I thanked the Lord for small mercies, as there was a bath as well as a shower.
After Liz had her bath, we sat down with a glass of red each, and pondered the question as to why we were not invited, as we rightly assumed, and expected, to sleep with her family. I actually knew why, as the house was clinically clean, with white carpets, and very little clutter, and the idea of letting the bedraggled looking dogs into that space was just too repulsive to the two, and I did not quite blame them, as the dogs indeed looked bad, all damp, and smelly.
We drove around for two days, looking at the beautiful scenery, but Liz showed no wish to go back and see her family, and when we left she just gave them a phone call to say goodbye. I think she was hurt badly, but why people sometimes just can't see that their animals are better off at home, I just can not understand. As I said before, Annette, an old friend of Liz, had so far every year offered to look after the two dogs, but Liz just declined the offer point blank.