Friday 23rd February, 2018

If I was to tell you that, apart from raising my eyebrows this morning at a headline news item on the BBC which read “Naked Man on tracks causes Edinburgh rail disruption,” reminding me that we’ve got the Calcutta Cup tomorrow and to fleetingly muse that it might be my father given his past record at such occasions, the thing I’ve mostly been focussed on today is by the time I get home my birthday present should have been delivered.  The box chest freezer.  What excitement.

 

The week as a whole has been a bit of quiet one I’m sorry to say.  It wasn’t entirely post CNY market blues.  I don’t seem to recover as quickly as I did in the past from late night high jinx.  I didn’t tell you, but we had a bit of a hoolie last weekend.  It was quite sweet actually.  Sophie arranged the whole thing and even said she’d do the cooking for a change.  Delicious it all was too, even though she forgot, at the last minute, to put the mushrooms into the boeuf bourguignon.  

 

It’s something I want to get off my chest, but I had been grappling with what wine to serve that night.  Many years ago, when MiFID2 was but a twinkle in Paul Myners’ eye and times were relatively rosy, I bought a case of La Mission Haut Brion en primeur, and that is what I thought I might mark my move into the mid 50’s with.  But as the evening approached I’m ashamed to say I had cold feet, returned the eight bottles I’d brought up to their case in the cellar and replaced them with Clos des Quatre Vents 2010 which is a nice enough drop and a fraction of the current market value.  I think it was the right decision.  I’m not sure the assembled crowd would have cared too much what I gave them.  It was obviously preying on my mind though.  In the morning nursing a touch of a hangover I recalled that I had lost the power of speech as the last couple headed home at 3 in the morning, noted that I had pin pricks on the palm of my hands presumably from when a few of us had gone out to see what the hedgehogs were up to, and, when I finally made it down to the kitchen in desperate need of some black coffee and a glass of water, there on the sideboard I found an empty bottle of La Mission.  What the heck???  It would have been chilled and a bit shook up when we drank it.  That’s as maybe though.  I have no recollection of it at all.  What a muppet I am.

 

C’mon Scotland.  This year we’re going to have them.

 

Friday 16th February, 2018

I have to concede that the posture improvement gadget I gave her last week didn’t go down well.  It was placed perfunctorily and unopened on my desk and the air was a little frosty as we all got into the car and went out for dinner at a nearby pub.  Note to self for next year though you would think I should have learnt this by now.  It never pays to underwhelm Sophie with her birthday present.  The point is my birthday follows quickly after hers.  It was yesterday since you ask.  She gave me a box chest freezer and half a side of a pig.

 

Hey ho.  Do you find a visit to Dublin brings out the worst in you?  It took my mother, when I was telling her that Lottie had been in Ireland earlier this week, to point out that it seems to do something to us Sandisons.  I might have told you before about the weekend my brothers and I spent there some years back when we went with our father – I think he was 73 give or take a year or two - to play a couple of rounds of golf and watch Scotland v. Ireland at Lansdowne Road.  It was tempting to leave him there, in a beer hall after the rugby match, at 2.00 in the morning dancing and singing raucously along to “Living next door to Alice” which was blaring out of the loud speakers.  A couple of hours later, after we had managed to find our hotel and the four of us crammed into our shared room, I wished I had.  Instead, I spent the few hours sleeping time available to us, repeatedly stretching out of bed to rap him on the head with my Titleist driver, in a futile attempt to stop him snoring.  

 

As I was saying, our youngest, Lottie, ( Miss Perse Upperself ) has just returned from Dublin where she’d been on an English literature field trip arranged by the school.  I remember wincing at the cost of this one when we agreed to sign her up for it towards the end of last year, but she wants to read English at University and persuaded us there was an interesting and full schedule including visits to museums, libraries, the James Joyce Centre and two theatrical performances.  It would be an invaluable educational experience she insisted.

 

She blew into the house late the other night in terrific form apart from the bags under her eyes.  “I had the most fantastic time.”  That’s as maybe say I, but did you learn anything?  “I learnt a couple of things actually Daddy.  3 million pints of Guinness are brewed in Ireland every day and 3.5 billion pints of Guinness are drank around the world each year.  And I had three pints one evening, but to be honest I prefer Harry Sparrow.”

 

Kung Hei Fat Chow and although we’re heading into the Year of the Dog I have to ask could life get any better for our pack of hounds??

 

 

 

 

 

Friday 9th February, 2018

Time will tell, but I can’t be absolutely certain Sophie is going to be ecstatic about the birthday present I’ll give her this evening.  I’m reasonably optimistic though.  The Fitbit she got for Christmas has been a surprising success.  Perhaps I was resting on my laurels, but I hadn’t been able to think of anything to match that until last Saturday morning when Sophie started moaning about a sore back sustained in the course of a protracted phone conversation with Hen whilst doing the ironing.  

 

I was feigning interest although in fact somewhat more engrossed by the challenge of trying to break my all time record of 12 correct answers out of 20 in the Saturday Telegraph family general knowledge quiz.  Having failed in that task what should I read about, elsewhere in the section, but an article about a marvellous little invention, designed to help improve your posture.  Obviously one shouldn’t do the ironing whilst attempting to hold the phone in the crook of your neck.  But the idea of this gadget is that you stick it on your back, between the shoulder blades, and it gives you a gentle electric shock or some form of vibration possibly whenever it senses that you are slouching.  Clever eh?  Just in case though I’ve hedged myself with the additional purchase of an amber and bay leaf scented candle from Jo Malone ( just a small one ), and we’re going out to the local pub for supper.  I know.  I spoil that girl.

 

If I can continue with the theme of “ways to maintain a successful marriage” it is obviously important not to take each other for granted.  Nonetheless Jimmy’s reaction to the fact that Sophie came downstairs last Monday wearing make up, whilst intensely loyal, was also a little disconcerting.  Of course I was here in the office looking after you lot, but back at the ranch Sophie was on a mission to sell Lottie’s horse.  I could learn a thing or two from her with regard to the attention to detail required to clinch a deal.  A lady was coming round for a second look at Bertie.  Sophie had had me sweep the stable yard and move all the accumulated clutter out of sight before I was allowed to settle down to watch the Liverpool-Spurs match on Sunday afternoon.  First thing the following morning Sophie groomed the horse to perfection after which she went upstairs to apply the finishing touches to her own appearance.  It was back in the kitchen when she was waiting for the prospective purchaser to arrive and taking the opportunity to brew some coffee that she noticed Jimmy eyeing her up and down rather suspiciously.  Jimmy doesn’t miss a trick.  “Why are you wearing make up Mummy” she said in a somewhat accusatory yet anxious tone.  Sophie explained the lengths she was prepared to go to make a sale.  “Oh, phew,” said Jimmy, according to Sophie, sincerely relieved, “I thought it was because Gavin the electrician is coming.  I was a bit worried for Daddy.”

Friday 2nd February, 2018

 

Don’t read too much into the fact I’m emailing you a bit earlier today.  It’s mainly to give you time to jump into action.  Anyway, there I was thinking last week was the low point of the year, and certainly I’ve noticed it’s lighter for longer in the afternoons now which is good news at least I suppose, but otherwise this had been a quiet old week.  Still, at least Hen rang me this morning.

 

She began by telling me she had a cold which was an inauspicious start, but we are talking about Hen.  Never a dull moment in her life.  “It’s alright though, I’ve eaten a whole bulb of garlic so I’ll be fine soon enough”.  New one on me I must admit.  Good job she’s in France and its only her and a dog in a van.  She nattered on.  “All’s fine otherwise thanks Daddy. It’s rainy and the wind’s blowing 90kmph today so I’m bunkered down in the van.  I love it here.  Loads of work and I’ve met such brilliant people doing vine pruning.  There’s a nice guy who has built himself a log cabin in the middle of a small citrus orchard and surrounded by vineyards.  And a lovely young couple who are expecting a baby and live in a tepee.  Now Uncle Robert’s gone – thank ****  - I’m working for Eric the alcoholic, the one who looks like Dobby the house elf, who owns a lot of vines but really doesn’t like doing much to them himself.  He’s always insisting that we head off on adventures.  Well that’s what he calls them.  Usually I tell him to go on his own as I’ve got the pruning to do and need the money, but sometimes I go with him.  Yesterday we ended up at a petanque game.  The men playing it were so old most of them couldn’t bend down to pick the boules up so they had a magnetic contraption on the end of a stick which did the job.  The day before that he took me to a bar in a neighbouring village.  It was wonderful. We went in and there was absolute dead silence apart from the sound of cards being laid on a table.  Five old boys were sitting playing a game called Tarot, surrounded by about twenty others watching intently over the proceedings uttering not a sound.  When the game finished about ten minutes later the whole place literally erupted with banter and relief that the pressure was off.  I’ve never seen so much smoke and Pernod.”  

 

So, hardly earth shattering stuff, but one minute I had been at my desk thinking about the re-rating possibilities of the Chinese life insurance sector, the next I was in a wind-swept village in the south west of France.  Quite a skill, the story telling, and she’s got it that girl.

 

Talking of clouds I set up Family Sharing on my Apple account a couple of days ago.  I’d been mulling it for a while.  You can share the Cloud space between you; and calendars and all that good stuff.  Handy I thought.  I’m not a total eejit.  I knew very well it meant that all iTunes purchases now go onto my card, but, I thought to myself, no one pays for music anymore do they?  I’m not making this up.  The very next morning, the very next morning I tell you, ping….£13.99 onto my credit card for an iTunes purchase.  The new Beyonce album, Lemonade.  JIMMY!  She’ll be paying me back, don’t you worry.