Monday 29th.

Snow even thicker today – Donald and Hannah are snowed in totally. We went Christmas shopping in Bonnypack, a wholesaler we used to use for the shop – one of the things I shall miss about the shop is buying stock – it is the ideal way of being a shopaholic without going bankrupt. Bill then went back to finish work at Northland Drive and I did some messages in Partick. Snow packed hard on the pavements and people picking their way gingerly along, including me, until I invested in a pair of new boots. Bill collected me and we went to the flat to drop off some stuff, including some cream emulsion, in the garage. ‘Hand me that paint’ said Bill. I lifted it from the passenger seatwell and over to hand it to him through the driver’s door. A leisurely waterfall of paint slowly but unstoppably oozed out and all over the driver’s seat, gear lever and handbrake. Much rushing about with towels and water and a lot of shouted recriminations later we left for Catriona’s, Bill perched on top of a pile of towels as he drove. That evening, I returned to Curle Street, driving slowly all the way through a ghostly landscape, snowcovered fields and hills gleaming blue in the moonlight.