Nicely formed pecs---------

Decided to pop this picture into the frame - called into the Breeze Art gallery at Jenners to see our favourite girl, Suzanne, and when I saw this painting I thought that she had been doing a bit of moonlighting on the side !!!! Oh, dearie me, what a stushie I caused, "chance would be a good thing she said" , anyway the model was Claire , the wife of the artist and I did not ask who the artist was - but I am sure he is bigger than me!!

The many facets of Princes Street, Edinburgh

Now where is Santa Clause ?? found his reindeer feeding and resting in Princes Street and I am sure that later in the day they were to be hitched up and do a run down the Mound.

BUT the big question is - what is happening to Princes Street, wonderful to be able to wander freely along the street in a traffic free environment - BUT - that is no good for commerce, etc.

It looks like the Council have brought in some modern Red Buses, possibly purchased from London Transport to replace the trams which have been relegated to a five hundred yard stretch of track out at Gogar- no doubt to entertain staff and their kiddies (maybe a bit flippant).

I had to resolve a wee problem with Mrs. B. mobile phone, which , after ten years of faithful service had given up and gone to that great black hole in the sky - no option but to pop into the O2 shop in Princes Street where a wonderful young lady (originally from Newcastle) confirmed the demise of said instrument, checked that the SIM card was working and sold me a dinky wee phone perfect for a non technocrat.

Opposite the shop the workmen were constructing a snowboarding frame which is to be filled with Fifty tons of snow on Saturday and will be used a demo slope over the weekend by boarders promoting Disabled Scotland

Green , white and wee sma creatures

Green and white, green and white, not the famous "hoops" of Celtic F C or Hibernians colours, but the alternating colours of the field opposite the house as we have snow one day, and then with a thaw things return to normal - however looks like the Council were caught out last night as the buses had to stop running up into Rullion Road. But the most annoying thing being that two miles down the road there was no snow at all.

Out first thing to clear the snow and in the garden I spotted Daddy Meercat peering from behind a bench where he had been sheltering - obviously not happy with life - different kettle of fish in the summer when he was chasing the birds away - Sparky has a lot to answer for when he brought them back instead of the chocolate oranges !!!

Legs , they are lovely

Once again, not quite enough hours in the day, not sure what happened to Wednesday - I did work in the Dolphin Inn till 2 p.m., some nice clients in for lunch - then home and started all over again till Sparky mark dropped in. His find of the night was my Times Atlas - competes well with Google Earth. And yes, he did leave another chocolate orange from his secret hoard.

The legs are posted by special request by the owner's mother as her daughter had hidden the original photo from her. We were being shown the new shoes.

This morning it was a case of do I hide under the duvet and do a Polar Bear and come out in the Spring, or do a Panda Bear and go sit and wait for my bamboo shoots to appear for breakfast - £70,000 a year to feed the new arrivals at Edinburgh Zoo. In the end I surfaced and headed into town to meet a client, ended up back at the farms doing some work. BUT - it was a case of putting off time till I went to the Dentist !!! Not my favourite past time but in this instance, very necessary, due to long term toothache so it was the start of root treatment for me - shaken, not stirred as they say but it turned out to be not as bad as I had anticipated.

Bit of controversy about the situation at Heart of Midlothian football club where the players have again not been paid their wages - suspicion is that the players will not be putting heart and soul into their game so another lose may be on the cards . For me I see it as blatant blackmail - some of these players (loose definition) are sitting on the bench and drawing £10,000 a week !!! and considering that a couple were earning only £100 a week as Juniors a year ago. Perhaps it is time that Hearts advertised for some new players down at the Job Centre and sent the existing diddies along to the Benefits Office.

We have the con men out and about again in the area, dishing out forged £20 notes, serial number 495315, apparently the notes are really bad so any sensible alert person should be able to spot them - however - .

Just watched the final of Professional Masterchef tonight, these chefs are true artists - their meals are a work of art and having seen the time, effort and skill which they put into their dishes it is easy to see how and why the restaurants they work in can charge so much. The series has been a eye opener, especially to see some of the wonderful restaurants out there.

Before I close, bed time and a day in town tomorrow, hopefully to attend a meeting of Supreme Grand Chapter of Royal Arch at Grand Lodge, George Street, Edinburgh - back to the serious matter of these "loo bloos" - supposed to last for up to three weeks, some are lucky if they last three days - I think it is time we had someone carry out a bit of market research on them - might be a job for the local High School to find out which is the best value.

Who was a clever/ and no so clever cloggs ?

Tuesday morning already, missed out on Monday completely , just busy. BUT no snow yesterday and a mild 4 C most of the day. Spent the morning at the Dolphin Inn, Xmas decorations up and place looking cosy.
Home, zoomed around Penicuik and then managed to get the totty wee car down to the garage (Penicuik Motor Co.) where my friend Rab stuck it up in the air on a ramp (sensible) and fifteen minutes later it was purring like a kitten - no probs at all. However, I took it for a run to top up the battery, stopped for petrol and when I tried to start it - dead as a "do do" - so I left it and walked home for the other car and tools etc. Then - flash of inspiration, popped it into neutral and turned the key - voila - up and running again - Lesson One , an automatic will not start if it is in gear !!!!!!!!! Me , I had my exercise walking up and down the road.

Thought that was it, but I ended up in town, in the Tut Tut, with Sparky Mark, back at the Mercat Bar (which was busy with Xmas dinners) and we did our pretend plumbers bit - replacing the fancy, all singing, all dancing, infra red taps - so all the blokes who were in to use the Gents toilet got a lesson on the do's and dont's of fancy taps.
By the time I got home it was well past my bed time - but a successful day with a few good tasks completed.
Time now to see what today has to offer - apart from the forecast snow and high winds this afternoon.

No snow, a near miss and finalists

Maybe it was because I had a long lie this morning (0845) but when I awoke there was NO snow - this weather is totally unbelievable - no doubt we will have either snow or frost again tomorrow. But it was off to town again, I had things to look for in Maplins - very good, found what I wanted and then went to see my two Turkish hairdressers, the chaps who regularly set my ears on fire!!! great guys and superb at their jobs, especially when they add a shave and a scalp massage.

Mrs B. was out and about in Princes Street and saw the end of the Santa Dash - great fun with hundreds in their Santa suits racing along the street.

Home wards and popped in to see Nicola and her two lovely daughters for a quick blether while Colin was otherwise engaged, what, no coffee, but we did have bags of popcorn to munch on.

Home and I had a attempt at repairing the broken wire on the totty wee car - everyone to his own trade - failed, but only because the axle stands ( Health and Safety note that I was trying) sank into the soft tar on the road. It really needs to get up on a ramp.

So far tonight I have seen the results of the Strictly Come Dancing show and agree with the three finalists - the exhibition dancing from the World Champions was just total class.

Bit disappointed when Emilya Lily was voted off the X-Factor, would now like to see the Little Mix win the final - only time will tell.

No two days the same

The old adage, "what a difference a day makes"- gales or if you read the paper the now defunct "Hurricane Bawbag" for which you can buy a T Shirt, then Friday - no wind, no rain, no snow - just a wee bit cold. Then this morning - yet more snow, and believe it or not these photos are not black and white, it was just that there was a slight freezing fog in the air - so this is the view from my front door.

As the day progressed, there was a real thaw and for those who had initially been concerned about the dangers of travel - poo hoo, nothing to worry about.

I keep thinking back to sitting in the sun at The Hilton Waterfalls, and today I had an E mail from someone who had read my TripAdvisor report - and fortunate folks are off there on Tuesday - have fun.

On an ever so different vein, for a number of years "we" have been moaning about the Eurozone and asking for a referendum, etc - so when Mr Cameron put his head on the chopping block yesterday and stuck in his big Veto - what did the weenjers do ? exactly that - started moaning and bleeting - but the financial markets liked it - I now suppose we can wait for the backlash from Europe and maybe even their latest applicant - Albania !! - yet another influx pending for the Benefits Office.

HOWEVER - I can cheer myself up watching Strictly Come Dancing - just amazing to see the transformation in these competing personalities - and give credit to the Professional dancers who have been mentoring them - curiously, a comment echoed by the judges after I had written my bit. Will have to wait and see whether the X-Factor can match it tonight.