Placebo

Dave and I were up early-ish yesterday morning to catch our 9:30 train from Falkirk back to Edinburgh and then on to London. We abandoned all frugality and took a taxi from the hotel to the station. Our driver's name was Malcolm McDonald. So Scottish!

We came across this hair salon near the station. "You ask for a haircut, and you get nothing," Dave said.

We didn't have assigned seats on the 10:30 train from Edinburgh to London. Over the past few days I'd called both the train service provider and the online company where I bought the tickets, and we spoke to a ticket agent at the station, but no one could get us seats. It turned out to be a packed train. Dave and I were dreading having to stand or slump in the aisles for four hours, but a helpful conductor suggested we catch the noon train instead, which would be much more open. So we did that, and there were initially plenty of places to sit -- and then someone who had reserved seats from Newcastle to London never boarded, so we grabbed those seats and were comfortable the whole way.

We came home to a slightly wilted garden, but Dave watered everything and it has all bounced back. Apparently it's been relentlessly sunny in London this week. On the bright side, one of the dahlias I grew from seed has bloomed, and all three plants have lots of buds -- so I feel like that was a successful project. It's a variety called "Bishop's Children."

The foxglove seeds I scattered in trays last week have also sprouted. I can see I'm eventually going to have to do some thinning, which I hate to do. Foxglove seeds are so impossibly tiny there was just no way to plant them more carefully.

Olga got dropped off around 6:30 p.m. -- she bounded into the house like she owns the place, which she does, more or less. Her dog-sitter, Simone, sent us this video yesterday morning, to show us what Olga was up to in our absence. Looks like Dog Heaven to me.

I got the laundry going. I made a proper martini. We watched "Law & Order" and "A View to a Kill," which has to be the worst James Bond movie ever made. So, basically, for the next few days at least -- until I fly to Florida on Tuesday -- we're back to normal around here.