Ben, Lep and Nessie

I’ve been so busy ever since our Scotland holiday, with all sorts of things from rearranging the flat in Piraeus to gathering the papers for my permit in the UK to training for my new job as an indexer, that I haven’t even had time to tell you about the new addition to our Celtic family, dear friends – little Nessie from Loch Ness!

As I’ve told you, my darling Ian and me had the most wonderful summer holiday up in Scotland; and we’d promised our little Celtic friends, Ben from Wales and Lep from Ireland, to bring back some company for them from beautiful Caledonia. We’d originally thought of a unicorn, the emblem of Scotland – but there wasn’t a trace of one to be found, except as a picture of a fridge magnet!

The Irish Rovers must have been right with what they sang about the unicorns’ fate…

But we remembered – isn’t there another very iconic creature said to live in Scotland? Of course: the mythical sea monster of Loch Ness! Rumours about a huge water snake living in the deep, cold waters of the loch have been going around for centuries, many people claim to have seen her, but despite numerous expeditions into the loch, no scientist has ever been able to find any trace of her.

But as we soon discovered, ‘Nessie’ has got an incredible number of offspring, and most of them are to be found in souvenir shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness. So, we found our own little Nessie, cute as a button with her smart tartan cap, and cheerful and charming like a real Scottish lass! And though she was a bit sad to have to leave her home country, she trustfully went with us when we told her there were two Celtic lads waiting for her back in London… Ben and Lep were thrilled when they first laid eyes on her!

Nessie has settled in nicely now here in London; especially now that the rainy season has started, which reminds her a lot of home…

She spends a lot of time in the bathtub, since she is a water creature by heart, while landlubbers Ben and Lep prefer to watch her from the bridge.

And being Gaelic, it’s no wonder that Nessie has got the same weakness as Irishman Lep – the whisky… They love a drink or two of an evening (just like I do, for that matter, I must confess), which little Ben, who only indulges in the occasional glass of cider, seems to find a bit alarming…

Anyway, I can assure you, dear friends, we’re the happiest little Celtic family you could possibly imagine!

See you soon, with some cooking recipes next time…