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Hi, Rusty!
Yes, your new shirt looks very nice - I like the colour.
I hope it arrives soon - this is probably just the sort of weather for which you need it!
No call for a coat, then?
I have been tidying/ dusting/ hoovering etc in readiness for family arriving tomorrow. I really do not know why I bother....I doubt it looks any different than it did before - and the boys will bring armfuls of games / toys etc , so there will be no time to notice whether or not the house were tidy!
I would be better employed taking the dog out for a walk in this lovely sunshine....so that is what I shall now do........
I hope you have enjoyed/ are still enjoying your own walk!
How is Horace?
Back in a bit.......

Hello, Elle!
It is here!
Just caught the postie, earlier.
It fits well and has a nice feel to it.
I have bought stuff from them before and everything is good quality.
I think they started out making boots and shoes for the farming folk and gamekeepers etc way over 100 years ago.
You would not be happy unless everything was in order for your family arriving tomorrow.
Is all OK at the loch?
I have not looked in on Lassie since morning.
I have done the crossword, no problems that I can see.
The weather is super today!

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, that is good that your shirt has arrived so promptly!
I am glad that you are pleased with it.
Yes, it is indeed beautiful out...
I have my fingers crossed that it stays like this for the remainder of the week, whilst the boys are here.
We might go out for the day and take a picnic!
Yes, all seems ok at the loch.
Both Lassie and Laddie were there at first when I looked - Lassie sitting on the egg - but then Laddie took flight.
I am progressing nicely with the crossword........ I have been doing it in dribs and drabs in between jobs.......
On the whole it seems very straightforward - I have been able to parse as I have gone along.
Just stuck on 11d: I have traffic warden, but why?
It must be an anagram of "wanted if car" plus what????
I thought of the "f" and "r" from fine enforcer" (ultimately)......
But isn't that the definition?
It surely cannot be part of the answer if so?
I shall see if strong coffee helps........
P.S. How was Horace?

Hello, Elle.
Yes, that is my interpretation of the answer.
It does not need a separate definition.
It works fine the way the setter has put it.
Laddie has brought in a salmon, I think, by the colour of the flesh.
I did not go Horace's way.
Went via a post box route which took me away from Horace's field.
My fine new shirt is getting washed.

Good evening, Rusty!
One more question about 11d.......so if there is not a separate definition , is this is what is referred to as an "&lit" ?
I have never understood that term and how it works?
It is a bit over my head!
There were three clues that I especially liked ... 13a; 7d; and 29a
No particular reason other than they just appealed to me!
But I couldn't even provide an answer to 22d:
Charlie filling a post to gain promotion (6)
?S?E?D
I haven't any idea?
I have looked in on the nest...is all okay?
The picture is only clear initially and then clouds over.......
I cannot see the egg?
And Lassie is standing up fiddling with twigs and moss.
No sign of Laddie.

Hello, Elle!
Now "&lit"?
I have not got a clue I'm afraid.
Way over my head.
I like solving and parsing the clues just.
My wee brain is not up to categorising types of clue!
Try Wikipedia for an answer?
22, Charlie is "C" in the phonetic alphabet, Elle.
A post, is, "a send".
Put C in a send and you have "asCend" for promotion.
OK?
The egg is pretty deep in the nest.
My fine new shirt has washed and dried perfectly!
I shall wear it when visiting my daughter-in-law tomorrow!

Update, Elle,
There is a good article in Wikipedia on "cryptic crosswords".
It would be worth a skiff through for you?
Tells the various types of clues and stuff like that.
There is a separate article on "crossword abbreviations".
A quick run through would do you, as you have came on great style since you started.

Hi, Rusty!
Thank you for the reference about cryptic crosswords in Wikipedia - I shall look that up later on.
I like trying to solve the clues, but enjoy the parsing most of all.
To me, a crossword is not "completed" unless one has been able to parse it.
I would never have got 22d.
I never thought of "a post" as meaning "a send"!
Nor would I have thought of "ascend" as "promotion."
So thank you for putting me straight there.
There were two clues in 15 to 1 that were just made for you!
One was 'To what does the "E" in "TUEs" refer'?
I cannot remember the exact wording, but Bradley Wiggins came into the explanation!
Thanks to your talking about it to me, I knew the entire thing!
And the other question was 'Whom did Laura Trott marry?' !!!
You will look fine in your new shirt when you go visiting tomorrow!

Hello, Elle,
My answer was incomplete.
"Gain promotion" is "ascend".
When I started out I would not have got "a send" for "a post", either!
But you learn as you go along.
Did you used to know that a banker was a river?
Or something wicked could be a candle?
No, but you learn as you go along.
"Exemption" as in "Therapeutic Use Exemption."
Trotty married that fine young man from your part of the world, Jason Kenny!
Yes, I am looking forward to seeing my daughter-in-law, and my youngest granddaughter!

Hey, Rusty!
That is very true........I am definitely learning as I go along!
In fact , I didn't know, until you just told me, that something wicked could be a candle!
I think if we keep our minds open, we learn all the time, not just in 'crossword land' !
Yes, Jason Kenny came from Farnworth, not all that far from Bolton.
He went to Mount St Joseph's School, where some neighbourhood friends of mine were once pupils.
Of course, Miss O'Hara will be on school holidays, won't she, so at home when you go a-visiting.
That will be nice!
Is this the daughter- in -law who has just had a birthday?