tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post8368014388180365450..comments2024-03-18T10:29:46.055+00:00Comments on Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff: All the Fun in Just One Ken Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07775956557261111127noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6496460488742488789.post-56781109297931303332017-09-27T05:13:35.881+01:002017-09-27T05:13:35.881+01:00It’s been a while since Carrie and I’ve been away ...It’s been a while since Carrie and I’ve been away together. It’s the bird’s fault. And the wee bugger simply refuses to die. I mean I’m sure if I asked next door she’d pop in, lift his cover, make sure he had enough to eat and drink and even open his cage so he could entertain himself with his “castle” on the top of his cage until it was time for bed. And with a little training I’m sure she could even get him back inside. But she wouldn’t sing him his night-time songs or be there to respond to his calls checking if we’re still close to hand, insecure thing that he is. He may be older than your oldest kid but at heart he’s still a three-year-old and he really needs his mammy and daddy to be accessible. It’s our own fault. He gets the run of the house not that he shows much interest in investigating these days. He comes into the kitchen and “helps” me with the dishes but only if he’s in the mood. If he’s not he’ll dig his heels in—I suppose he must have heels—and that’s that. Occasionally, if he’s getting to be a nuisance, he gets to visit with the shaving mirrors in the bathroom. With the door shut. <br /><br />The last time Carrie flew to the States was the day after Trump’s victory and I’m not saying that’s the reason she’s stayed away but he’s not exactly done a lot to make the place feel welcoming and homey. <br /><br />In the twenty years since we’ve been married we’ve actually only had four holidays: the States to meet her family, the Lake District, Dublin and Oban. There wasn’t one where we weren’t glad to get back home. We’re not really holidayers. My parents went to Blackpool once when I was about three and that was the only holiday we ever went on; needless to say I remember very little about the trip other than coming home with a <a href="http://images.antiquesatlas.com/dealer-stock-images/milesgriffiths/1930s_Triang_Tin_Plate_Transpo_as111a2046z-1.jpg" rel="nofollow">tin truck</a>. Holidays were like relatives: I never really got them. The only holidays I had with my first wife were caravans in Ayr and St Andrews and a B&B on Arran which is where I tell my daughter she was conceived. F. and I managed a two-day honeymoon in Edinburgh which we spent shopping for gifts for everyone we’d left and that was it. <br /><br />Not had jelly babies in years. We have bags full of chocolate in the kitchen but we only allow ourselves a wee plastic tub with our second coffee (and first TV show) of the evening, about 30g. A taste is enough. Gone are the days I can afford to wolf down a whole packet myself. People whose lives are as sedentary as mine need to watch what they eat.Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.com