More than oriental splendour

The Godparents returned from the tropics, and we saw them in Edinburgh. They returned, as usual, with lovely and thoughtful presents, and also with a commission from the Professor, who now has the most beautiful dressing gown in the Western hemisphere. This splendid object is in the Bhutanese Gustavian style. You saw it here first. Many years ago and in another country, we bought a Bhutanese robe of considerable age which he used as a dressing gown for quite some time, though the lining, which was coarse cotton, was falling to bits. Eventually it got intolerably ratty-looking and was retired, since when he has made do with a fleece one, also now pretty well past mark of mouth. What the Godparents did was to get one of their ingenious friends to copy the old Bhutanese robe, but in grey striped cotton, lined with plain grey. Like its original, it’s very warm, and it looks wonderful. The animals were left in the care of Emma the vet nurse, and were fine, though Miss Dog was of the opinion that she was a bit judgmental about treats and extras.I’m relieved to report that we didn’t come back to major snow; a little bit, but nothing you can’t live with. There were some alarmist weather reports while we were away, which were worrying and distracting to no particular purpose, so it was with some relief that we came home to no worse than a light icing-sugar dusting. It’s been warmer today, so most of it is now clear.