Filling in the Gaps

I have been away for a little while, but I am back with a few photographs.

 "Going on day 3 in the hospital and we have now resorted to eating cookies in the crib while dressed in our dirty clothes." I would never accuse my granddaughter Veronica of wearing dirty clothes, but these words were written by her mother, Marcie, who spent those days —and nights—in the hospital with poor little Veronica who had pneumonia. If you followed Veronica's history you know that she spent her first 119 days in the hospital . . .  but was way too young that time to get bored. I hope Marcie updates her blog to tell all the details of this stay.

Since Tuesday was Shrove Tuesday, I actually made an attempt to make pancakes. Least any American readers have visions of objects drenched in butter and syrup, I hasten to add these were the English variety, drenched in sugar and lemon juice. This photo needs a somewhat better presentation, but I did get the pancakes out of the pan without sticking, though no flipping.

I am having my share of problems with photos, both putting them up in the blog and dealing with the ones from the wedding. Another 800 are coming from the photographer, plus I have all the photos taken by friends. I rather like this one:

I tell our friends it was taken in our mediaeval hall. I have been watching too much Downton Abbey. Anyone agree with me that the plot has taken off at a gallop and is trying way too hard to tie up loose ends?

While we are talking about plots—or at least I was—I discovered rather an engrossing author this week and have been spending way too much time sitting by the fire reading first his latest thriller and then going back to his first two. His name is Ben Coes, and thanks to him I have learned my way around the streets of Hong Kong and Panama City, not to mention New York and Washington, how to aggregate within US energy equities, blow up Notre Dame stadium— and in fact do all the things you would expect a speechwriter for Ronald Reagan and the manager of Mitt Romney's gubernatorial campaign to know about. But don't let that put you off, he knows much more about knives and guns and breaking bones.

We escaped the storm that devastated the East Coast, but as I started to get dinner, this was the view in our back yard. The city snow ploughs have been out and I think it has stopped snowing, so we should be O.K.

And that, as they say, is the week that was.