Holy Isle here I come

Well folks, this will be the last you'll here of me until late next week. I'm off to Holy Isle off Arran to co-facilitate a retreat. I think I'm probably more in need of retreating than most of the participants!

Of course I still have today to go. I've already been out practising my bowls in the hope of getting better (not yet) and then No 1 son is graduating this afternoon, so my beloved and I are heading for Edinburgh to do our bit in our smart gear. I'm hoping Andy Murray's game will be delayed long enough for me to at least listen on the radio on the way home.

I can't believe I managed to arrange to go on retreat during Wimbledon finals. The first I've missed in a long while. So my beloved's mission for the weekend is to tape the finals for me. Of course now we have the Tour de France to contend with too, so he may well be swung into the temptation of taping that instead and of course there will be nothing I can do about it as by the time I get home it will all be long over and done with... but here's hoping.

Plant life is going well. We've had some lovely tomatoes that have just ripened and are delicious, and are onto our second crop of salad leaves. And I'm pleased to say that the coffee plants are doing just fine.

My friend, She Who Must Not Be Named, reminded me the other day just how 'blokish' we both are. We love our gadgets. My latest is a Handpresso. It makes a lovely cup of espresso coffee and is made specifically for travelling. No electrics, nothing. It's based rather bizarrely on a bicycle pump action, but the main thing is that it works. I only like real coffee and not the stuff that comes out of a jar, and sadly on Holy Isle the only coffee available is pretty awful. Each year when I go I avoid it like the plague and end up being very virtuous and drink only water and herbal teas. But I miss having a great cup of coffee first thing in the morning, so I'm very pleased my new coffee contraption will give me my daily dose.

I will be back next week hopefully fully rested and ready to get on with things, but at least I'll be fully caffeinated.