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Hello rusty
Very pleased to see you are back :)
All best wished to you

Good afternoon, Rusty!
Yes, I thought it was quite a good puzzle!
I especially liked 19d: milksop, and 10a: Falstaffian.
I still cannot agree to "Offa" sounding like "offer" though - see clue 6d.
I should have got the "lower", shouldn't I?
We have had similar before!
And I was slow on the uptake with six months = half a year = ye (ar)......oh dear!
Now for some good news!
Our younger daughter has got a new job!
I think I told you a while back that she was continually being head - hunted, and was considering a move?
Well, she was offered such a peach of a job that she has accepted it, and has just signed the contract!
This offers far better career prospects, and a much increased salary, which will help pay the mortgage, and go towards educating the children.
Well done her!
Whew, it is hot!
Have you been out yet for another walk?
I tried sitting out in the shade of a tree....... with a book.......but have been beaten back indoors!
Oops.....I feel a tennis urge coming on....!!!



Hello, Jazzy!
Are you in Poole?
I am feeling strong envy creeping over me……..

Hello, Jazzgirl!
Thank you very much for your good wishes!

hi Elle
No envy please. I am home in Surrey and flipping hot it is too!

A misread "clue" , JG...…!
It was the "yesterday in a friend's garden in Dorset" that lead me to think you might be in Poole!
Knoll beach is sounding very inviting right now.....

Hello, Elle!
Too warm for walking, for me!
"Offa"/offer was in a week or two ago, too.
I would say it is OK, close enough for most of us to understand, though I pronounce the two words differently.
Yes, you should have got "lower"!
And don't you have relatives in Ayrshire, too?
I have not seen "six months = half a "ye(ar)", before, but it works well enough, I think.
Well done, your daughter!
Sounds a very good prospect!
It is very gratifying to see the young ones getting on.

Hi, Rusty!
Dog and I have returned from another brief spell in the garden......
But no more for me! It is far too hot!
I am now firmly ensconced in our relatively cool lounge for the rest of the afternoon!
("Ensconced" was the answer to an Everyman clue yesterday! A lovely word!)
I am not sure just where Ayrshire is?
I don't think we have relatives there?
Some of them are in Kirkintilloch, which is in East Dunbartonshire, I think?
Then we have a few more scattered around....Edinburgh, Glasgow and Nairn.
As well as a cousin living in Nairn, I also have a very old friend -- an ex neighbour with whom I grew up!
But you know me and Geography...I have of course no idea where any of these places are in relation to each other!
I should probably get out the atlas.......
I am watching Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova playing Karolina Plishkova.....one set each....
Yes, I have succumbed...and am watching the tennis!

Hi Ros,

There may be a lot of butterflies in my garden other than the
white one - the truth is that I must admit that it is not one of my
center of interest; in fact, when I was a child, I was frightened
of everything that flew! I think I would have been less afraid in
front of a tiger....! probably it is big and not moving as fast as all
this insects etc that flew around me.

I think your idea of getting a longer hose (or an extension to your
existing one) sounds the simplest idea. Otherwise, here for
instance, it is often that people use an old metal barrel (a fairly
big one) and let the rain water fill it, particularly in the rainy season -
but the thing is not to forget to put a long stick of wood inside it
to save the water from freezing in Winter!

Hello, Elle!
No, I am wrong.
I thought you had kin in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, not Kirkintilloch.
Ayrshire is on the West coast, South of Glasgow.
Nairn is a nice part of the world.
Quite a bit North of here.
I agree, it is very warm.
Driest summer that I can remember.
I watched a wee bit of Uruguay v Russia football match.
Staying in now, too warm for outside activities!

Hi jazzgirl

I would very much enjoy seeing the photo of the dragonfly, but do not know if i could ID it (partly depends how clear the wings are in your photo). I know a man who could if I can't! Please could you also tell me where you saw it (habitat) and its behaviour. Presumably it was not a male with a bright powder blue abdomen? (though they could be confused with one of the darters). I am quite happy for you to communicate with me via Norah if you like.