Like Goats to the Slaughter.

I was immensely heartened to hear this morning that two goats had been slaughtered by Nepal Airlines in an effort to appease their Hindu gods. Apparently they were having problems with one of their aircraft, but after the sacrifice took place in front of the aircraft, on the runway, it managed to take off successfully. It's hard to argue that these things don't work when they quite obviously do (at least in this case). If it had been April Fools' day, we could all have laughed it off. As it is..


Today was a day of escaping. I went with one of my Best Friends on an outing to Ikea, which we both love. I started the day with tea and toast, and then had the car washed on my way to pick her up. (She is a very smart BF and I was quite ashamed of the car.) We enjoyed the drive because it was non-stop gossip, news and exchanges of information. First stop at Ikea was the coffee shop - lovely coffee and pastries. And then a slow walk round admiring the furniture, throws, kitchens and stuff.
We always go into fantasy mode, imagining that we are starting from scratch, and furnishing a new, clean and white space. This illusion tends to go hand in hand with what we would do if we won the Lottery - in fact the two are closely intertwined because winning the Lottery means we could have absolutely anything we wanted. After indulging this fantasy for a while, we felt the need of more nourishsment. And lunch in Ikea is great too; smoked salmon, artichoke hearts, prawns and various other Scandinavian delights, with an elderflower presse on the side. Then we bought a few bits and pieces before driving on to look at her sons' new house in Brixton.
The two boys have bought a very nice Victorian 'fixer-upper' which they are going to convert into two self-contained flats. Until they do the work, my Son, plus various other friends, is helping them to fill the space. This is wonderful for Son, because he hasn't (immediately) got to find another grotty flat. We're all hoping that his flat sale will go through in perfect time for him to move on into his own place, before they start to get under each other's feet or on each other's nerves. They're all old friends, so hopefully it won't come to that.. Fingers crossed.