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You are obviously much loved by BB , elle.

One has to pay for self catering holidays in advance, at least you do have to where I went. I probably should have insisted, or found the small heater I found under the stairs as I was leaving earlier! My other probem was the new owner's dogs- they were out barking at 7.15 the last morning. Pity, it's a niceplace and you can stay for less than a week.

Hello, Elle!
I have watched some of the Tour de Yorkshire.
Big crowds cheering on the riders, I'm pleased to say!
Now the Stuttgart tennis has disappeared from my screen.
It was on BT Sport 1, and now they have moved it to BT Sport 2, which I do not get!
I was going to support whoever was playing Sharapova!
The Barcelona tournament is on some Sky channel though.
BB and his Mum seem to be having a high old time!
Yes, I have finished my puzzle.
1a is a dog breed I have not heard of.
Postie has just brought me three books from Amazon!
And I still have some credit left.
So, all good!

Hi, Rusty!
Update on the tennis!
I had to Google it to find out........
Maria Sharapova beat Anett Kontaveit 6/3; 6/4 in the Quarter Final........
which puts Miss S into the Semis........
I hate to say it, but I think she might well make it through to the Final......which will enable her to play in the Roland Garros by right!
Mind you, if it has to be....I shall find this preferable to her being given a Wild Card.
Do you not agree?
What books did the postie bring you?
I haven't spent any of my gift voucher yet!
My crossword solving is still ongoing, although I have but a few to do now ...but I am abandoning it temporarily while I go for a walk...........
Back shortly...........

Hello, Elle!
Miss Sharapova is showing good form after her lay off.
Yes, it looks like she will be at Roland Garros.
Ah, well!
My books are "The Wicked Boy" by Kate Summerscale.
"The Hills is Lonely" by Lillian Beckwith.
"I Heard the Bell" by John MacLeod.
Will keep me going for a wee while!
Tour de Yorkshire has just passed an old "puffing billy" steam train!
Spectators are well wrapped up.
The puzzle is quite a good one today!

Hi, Rusty!
We are at last back from our walk!
We met up with a friend on the way home and spent about half an hour chatting!
Those are all new authors and book titles to me.........I shall look forward to hearing about the content matter when you read them!
(That is the best way to learn of 'new' authors and potentially good reading matter, isn't it?!)
The only John MacLeod of whom I am aware is a biochemist?
Would this be he?
How did Mag do in her race?
Right, time to pit my wits against the "Eggheads".......
And I still have the crossword to finish.......

Hello, Elle,
Poor Mag finished down the field today!
I liked Robin Hood Bay.
Looks a nice place.
Dylan Groenewegen won the race, but there was a huge crash just before the finish.
"The Wicked Boy" is a tale of a boy who murdered his mother, and possibly his father, but years later, he successfully rebuilt his life in Australia.
He served with distinction at Gallipoli and on the Western Front.
"The Hills is Lonely" is a semi-autobiographical tale of a woman who went on a "rest cure" to a Hebridean island, and the folk she met there.
Quite humourous, I believe, though some of the islanders disapproved of the way she portrayed some of them..
Miss Beckwith died some years ago.
I think this is not the John MacLeod you know, Elle.
"When I Heard the Bell" is the tale of the HMY "iolaire" disaster, off Stornoway, on 1st January, 1919.
HMY is His Majesty's Yacht. "Iolaire" is Gaelic for "eagle".
It is a fine evening here!

Good evening, Rusty!
It is a lovely evening here, too, and feeling very much milder.
The outlook for the holiday weekend is (supposedly) good.
Your books sound very interesting.....I am sure you will enjoy them.
( But yes, I think it will be a different John MacLeod!)
Now the crossword...I have at last completed it!
Admittedly in dribs and drabs!
I got off to a good start but found the last few hard.
I especially liked 3d; 8d; 29a; and 17d.
"Digamma" was a new word for me but it was easy enough to work out.
However , I cannot parse 14d?
I have "air-marshal" = high-ranking officer
air - broadcast
but cannot parse "marshal"?
Perhaps I am being dim?

I read some of the Lilian Beckwith books many decaes ago and enjoyed them. Did she not write "A Rope in Case" and "The Sea For Breakfast"? That's all I can remember about them. I think she had to move eventually.
I also once had a trio of books about a couple who bought a cottage in very rural Wales. They moved when a relief road was built too near them. I think they tried to be self sufficient, or nearly. "The Cottage in the Hills"? Something like that.

Hello, Elle!
Yes, I have chosen books which appeal to me!
No, you are not being dim, at all, at all!
You just have not heard of the "Marshall Plan."
George Marshall was the American with a plan to aid Europe, mainly Germany, after World War 2.
The Yanks invested billions to help rebuild the devastation across Europe.
The Americans wanted Europe to thrive and that way they would not be tempted towards communism.
You are much too young to remember!

Hello, Rosalind!
Yes, those are Beckwith titles.
And "The Loud Halo"
I read them many years ago, and decided to buy one or two again.
I have an idea there was ill feeling from some of the islanders in the way she portrayed some of them.
I think she moved to Yorkshire and she died there quite a few years ago.