We did our first properly rural thing today - cycling up to the local woods to gather the ramsons (wild garlic) which the other half is busy incorporating into pasta sauce. All we have to do now is walk out the other way and purchase our half dozen free range eggs from the honesty box system at the cottage at the bridge, and we shall have pretty much exhausted the really local food options, short of grabbing one of the gambolling lambs and stuffing it in the top oven of the raeburn. The rest of the food can be found in Tescos, like anywhere else. Still, gathering ramsons made us feel like we were out there at the wild food countryside cutting edge although I suspect in truth it’s precisely the sort of activity that marks out the recently arrived Londoner and we will get over it soon. That’s always assuming it is wild garlic and not, say, deadly nightshade. If you don’t hear any more from me here, that will be the reason.

That or whatever particular imp it is that is trying to keep me from the internet and mostly succeeding. Yesterday, at vast expense, we bought a sleek black O2 dongle thingy that connects my laptop via the mobile network. Like all small things that are worth a lot of money, it’s easy to leave behind, so I knew I had to keep it with me and not leave it behind at Huttonian’s. All the way down from Edinburgh I clutched it to my chest, not letting it out of my sight. This morning as we packed up, I made sure the dongle was the first thing in the car. Once home, we tried it out and it worked a treat, faster than dialup although not really quite broadband. And then my laptop announced it was hungry. I had not forgotten my dongle. I had not forgotten my laptop. But I had forgotten its charger. And it was 9% of battery away from becoming a bulky and not very effective placemat. I hit a new low at that point, I have to tell you.

Fortunately, among the many things I meant to get rid of and didn’t during the move (it’s funny how, after a while, it’s easier just to stick something into a box than actually think about how to get rid of it) was an old laptop charger that, miraculously, fit. And so I am on-line once more though for how long, I don’t know. Even now, I have no doubt, playful rabbits are nibbling away at the foot of the nearest O2 mast, about to fell it to the ground. If you’re quiet (and it’s very quiet, here) you can hear their little teeth nibbling…