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Hi, Rusty!
I am a tad confused with all these Mullinses?
Now I know Paddy...... Willie is his son.......and Patrick is Willie's son
But where does Danny fit in?
And the Walshes..... Ruby and Katie are brother and sister......and Nina is married to Ruby?
How am I doing?
We have had a friend and neighbour drop in for coffee - it was unexpected, but lovely to see her .
She is off to Australia for a month on Friday to visit family. in Brisbane.
I had thought she was going to ask me to care for her fish ......which was causing me some trepidation...... as the last two goldfish she left in my care died on me, on two separate occasions!
But seemingly she is "fishless" at the moment (they obviously die on her, too)
I will admit to being relieved......I have felt very guilty that twice I have killed her fish.........whilst mine in now 27 years old!
We are to keep an eye on her house, instead!
Right, I shall now watch "Eggheads"..... which as usual, I have recorded.

Hello, Elle!
Danny is Willie's nephew. His Dad is Tony Mullins.
Nina is married to Ted Walsh jnr, Ruby's brother.
Ruby is Nina's brother-in-law.
Willie's wife is Jackie.
Now that should get you up to speed with the Mullins and Walsh dynasties
Here is a wee look at Willie's yard.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_WLQsagtnk
That is thoughtful of you, looking after the house.
Maybe the fish did not like Thames Water!
Sorry, that was my wee joke!

Hello Elle and Rusty!


Just returned from a very long stay at my British friends' house.
It was nice seeing them, we caught up on each other's news, hence
my post.

I am so relieved for you Elle, although of course I hope the extent
of ground disturbance will be to a minimum!
I am also very glad that you are having what I referred to earlier
as 'intelligent' metre! Smart metre does sound better! We were
fitted with one about 10 years ago, and they are brilliant in that
you need do nothing, except....... pay the bill when it arrives!

Sorry Rusty, I meant to say that the link about Willie's training
quarters was interesting and very impressive!

A lot of beautiful horses and a lot of staff working them - not
surprising he is so successful!

Perhaps Laddie will arrives tomorrow?

Good evening, Pigale!
Very many of Willie's horses come from France.
Willie likes the French way of breeding and rearing horses.
He has great staff.
Up until a couple of years ago, his head girl was Gail Carlisle.
But Gail went to live in America, New Jersey, I think.
But every Cheltenham, Gail comes over to support and cheer her old friends and horses from Willie's yard.
You probably don't know but last year Willie had over 60 horses removed from his stables.
He had had a disagreement with Michael O'Leary (RyanAir) about training fees and O'Leary removed his horses.
Willie got on with it and never looked back!
The osprey watchers expect an arrival at the loch on the 16th.
That is one day earlier than last year.

Hi, Rusty!
Ah, I was wrong about Nina .... I just had it in my head that she and Katie were sisters-in -law....I didn't think of there being other brothers!
Wow, that is some training yard of Willie's!
I had never envisaged its being on so grand a scale.
My only knowledge of horse racing, and trainers and their yards, is from reading books by Dick Francis, and also by John Francombe.
I seem to recall the horses in those being taken up on the Downs for gallops!
( I will overlook your TW joke! The poor fish!)
YB spoke to me on the phone today.....he has been very slow in talking, although he is very bright, and follows and understand everything......and said "Hello, Grandma" several times!
I was all choked up!



Hello, Pigale!
I am glad you had a nice time this afternoon with your friends.
Yes, fingers crossed that the connecting pipe does indeed run down the side of the house and not across the frontage.
I should not be happy at having my crazy paving excavated!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, a fine establishment Willie has.
It's in County Carlow.
A few years ago, Hedgehunter won the Grand National for Willie.
I posted a congratulatory note to him and team.
Several days later, I received a colour photo of Hedgehunter and a nice thank you note from Jackie Mullins.
Made my day! They are good people.
Yes, Nina and Katie are sisters-in-law.
Great news about YB!
You have had an eventful day!
This is where I am getting my info on where the birds are.
The mention of our bird (possibly) is on page 5. https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/community/placestovisit/lochgartenospreys/f/915/p/196069/1165783.aspx

Hello, Elle,
This is a nice wee clip of Willie and his champions on their summer holidays!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2G2m9Bh_fg

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, that was a warming experience .....first, your gesture initially of writing to congratulate Willie, then his wife writing back to thank you, and sending you a photograph of the horse.
A nice correspondence.
Thank you for the clip of the race horses on their Summer holidays......they certainly seemed to be enjoying their R & R!
I found the info about the possible sighting of Laddie!
Yes, I think it does sound likely?
How did you get on with the crossword today?
I liked 14a; 20a; and 4d.
But I thought 5d a bit disconcerting?
bragged = crew (def)
I was surprised to find that "crew" could be the past participle of "crow"?
I have only known this as "crowed".
Although Chambers does assure me that "crew" in that context does exist.
I have learned something new today!
Although I doubt I shall be using the word in that way!

Hello, Elle!
Yes, I still have the letter and photo from Jackie.
I like the Mullins clan!
Fairly often Willie will have horses running at two different courses on the same day.
Then, Willie heads up one team, and Jackie is in charge of the other.
I agree about "crew", but in my experience, you will rarely find that the setters are wrong.
They have maybe gone a bit deeper into a meaning of a word.
No harm in that!
I thought it was a good puzzle!
It could well be Laddie, or a bird going farther North?
It was near Loch Leven, which has wonderful trout, so a good stopping off point on the way North.
No word from Miss La Bamba, so I think the eyelashes treatment is getting priority tomorrow!