Balmy October days

What a wonderful month of mild weather we have had. Not too much wind to blow the colour from the trees, lots of sunshine and mild temperatures. Such a day it was yesterday when I spent a half day in the company of Kati from the Czech Republic and Lini from vermont. Kati manages my friend John MacGregor's Prague office and Lini, who has been staying with me for 3 days in her quest to land a new job. I offered Lini my guest room as she was having difficulty getting accommodation during the english school holidays and Edinburgh was, as we say in Scotland, 'hotchin' with people yesterday. I had never met her before but she is a friend of a friend in Vermont and I feel, as many Scots do, that we have a duty to be hospitable to visitors. It was now time to say goodbye to Lini who came as a stranger and left as a friend. I then joined John, his wife, Liz and Kati for a lovely lunch in Vin Caffe in the very fashionable Moultries Walk, which John helped to develop.

Today it is raining cats and dogs and has been since late last night. The cloud is so low that I've had my house lights on all day, but its still mild. Welcome November, not to mention climate change? Wake up World, Bill