The family holidy in Collieston at Easter was mostly noisy.

No, the family weren't having heated debates, it was more the location and architecture of our rented house that posed the problem.

It was situated above a cliff on the edge of the Forvie Nature Reserve, and close to a coastal path. It had floor-to-ceiling picture windows and a glass-fronted veranda, giving amazing sea and sky views, with the offshore windfarm near Balmedie and the skyline of Aberdeen visible on clear days.

All of this was calming and peaceful for adults and children on a much-needed break.

However, for Hebe-the-dog and Hector-the-pup, the gathering of the full Carr pack presented them with a major responsibility: all those people to keep safe from potential danger from every angle! And when they ensconsed themselves in front of those picture windows, they noticed the popularity of the coastal path with the villagers, plus their dogs, so the temptation to bark was just too overwhelming that they happily gave in, without resistance. So instead of relaxing, their holiday mission became one of guarding our new home and all people therein from every dog in sight!

So really, for adult, child and dog, the house and its location were perfect!

It was close to the cliff edge, as I've said, but there was another even closer. What amused me most about this cottage was the location of the rotary dryer - it was perched in total isolation, metres from the cottage just above the cliff. A strong southwesterly would render duvet covers totally horizontal!

I'm a complete fan of outdoor drying - sheets ozone-scented, and towels softened in the wind - what's not to love?

All that aside, I was intrigued by the clothes pegs that kept everything secure on the line, while fierce sea gales tugged and pulled at them - ever threatening to send them skywards towards Ellon!

I've always been disappointed by the quality of clothes pegs these days. I suspect washer dryers are now the norm for busy folk with jobs/kids/cooking/housework. Who wants to faff about with clothes pegs etc?

But some of us still want to. But we have the option of flimsy plastic ones that snap, or wooden ones that can fall apart in your hand before ever reaching the line.

I used to have some Victorian ones that an old auntie had given me, when I'd asked what they were. They seemed so unfamiliar to a younger me. They were about 15cm long and made of two thick pieces of wood, bound at the top with wire, and shaped to be narrower at the bottom, where they were pushed onto the rope washing line.  I painted some to make them into dollies, but eventually they got thrown out. I think I would prefer them now though. Fancy hankering after something Victorian. Progress eh?

I know an artist, an amazing artist, who is also an inventor. Extremely creative! He invented a new clothes peg system, decades ago, that he had fine-tuned for months with a view to getting it into production. It was initially for people who had restricted hand movement. It was like a series of semi-cirular balls that were attached to the clothes line and the person using them would simply have to push garments into them, then they moved down, securely gripping the clothes. The items were just as easily removed by pushing the garments upwards. Genius! I would have readily bought into it.

But this innovative idea was rejected by a panel of would-be clients 'cos one woman flippantly said something like, No-one leaves pegs on a washing ine. They take them inside. That's what peg bags are for.

A really good idea was rejected on a whim. Months of deliberation and refinement dashed in seconds.

Thankfully the artist didn't religiously keep reinventing clothes pegs! Instead he turned his attention to reinventing himself from an accomplished etcher into a much sought-after inventive painter.

Hats off to him!