Back at Edinburgh, we were surprised to find we were not going to be sharing a house with Nye for the next few days, he was going to a friend’s house with whom he was traveling to a live action role playing camp the next day. We had known about the event but were hazy on the dates and venue. To our surprise it was near Banbury and he would be not far from where we had left Bartimaeus, then returning just as we left again, ships passing in the night. We were pleased to hear he had arrived safely, when he posted a picture of a splendid striped tent to prove camp had begun.

We have better monitoring and understanding of the whereabouts and happenings on Bartimaeus. Shane has kept a close eye on the power generation and movements of Bartimaeus. He can see there has been movement from the jetty, and off the water so we assume blacking is taking place.

We have not seen any activity at our bird box.We don’t know why but the high number of cats may be a factor. Still we saw a mouse so we may be maligning the felines. We have seen some closely regarding birds and know the birds are rightfully wary. I saw one new young looking very black cat this visit. It stared intently for a bit then decided to try playing beside me. Is a black cat cavorting good luck or bad luck?

Being allergic, to cats I didn’t stroke it but enjoyed a moment in the sun with a friendly young cat. I have been catching up with some friends here too and was pleased to meet with Gordon who I haven’t seen for years despite him living not far away. I arrived slightly before him and was surprised by the detailed decoration of my “flat white” There is a stifled artist among the baristas. I had to agree that the cardamom bun was the cat’s whiskers. I persuaded Gordon to taste it. Gordon only got a standard swirl on his coffee, Do white cats only appear on flat whites or is it a different barista, I wonder.

While still on the boat we had booked tickets for a concert, The No 1 Ladies Accordion Orchestra. We know one of the performers and have seen them before, and that time Alexander McCall Smith attended and said how honoured he was that they had taken the name of his book series as their inspiration. The orchestra is made of women from all over the country who only get together 6 weekends a year for a group rehearsal and concert.

Strangely I discovered that one of their rare concerts was in Bicester. One of the players is from there. We were in Bicester just last week and admiring a painted piano there, the main attraction in Bicester it seemed, when the the accordionists aren’t in town! A few months too late but luckily they were in Edinburgh at the same time as us and we really enjoy it. You get a bit of information about the keys and workings as well as some lovely tunes. They play in four parts and dress to impres with a touch of red, and black and white stripes on the one side of the stage and black and white polka dots on the other side to match the keys and buttons on the instrument. We enjoyed our evening and see if we manage to bump into them on our travels, Milton Keynes and Liverpool were mentioned as possible places. I came back with left over cake (home made baking for sale at every concert, talented ladies). I also have three bags of tablet. Those concerts are good for the ears and eyes but not at all good for the teeth.