James makes elderberry wine

Antoine will be leaving us tomorrow to return home to France. I think ten days is too long for a family to host an exchange student, which of course is not his fault. He is such a nice chap and has tried really hard to be helpful, and I hope that he has had a good time. We have done our best to entertain him, and David deserves a medal for his hosting skills, Ally and Jamie have been helpful too. I think he has enjoyed his two football matches and his go-karting, and he and David have also been to two parties with their schoolfriends. And he has had lots of activities and visits with the school during the days. We have given him some goodbye presents; whisky for his Dad, tins of haggis and a box of shortbread for his Mum, tablet for his brother and a SPL magazine and stickers for Antoine. Tomorrow David and I will be taking him over to school at 6.45 a.m. for his bus back to Edinburgh Airport, then we are going for a wee breakfast at McDonalds, just the two of us. I don't like McDonalds except for their pancake breakfasts, so that's what I shall have. James is busy in the utility room cleaning used wine bottles so that he can fill them with the elderberry wine that has been fermenting since last autumn, or should I say festering. He made it from elderberries that he and the boys picked in my Mum's garden and used his Dad's old wine making equipment; it promises to be an evil brew. I dare say we shall be trying it out on some unsuspecting friends on Saturday night heh heh! 

I get a ride in a fire engine!

Today I visited the local fire station with a class and it was great! When the bus driver asked when to pick us up one of my colleagues said "When we can prise Susan off the firemen!" which I thought was very funny. I'm glad to say that I behaved with the utmost decorum! The fire fighters were really friendly and the pupils tried on their uniforms and helmets, sat in the fire engine and used the hoses, they had such fun. So did I! And when one of the fire fighters drove the fire engine round to the back of the station so that we could use the hoses outside he let me have a ride and we put the sirens on, woo hoo! The only thing we weren't allowed to do was slide down the pole, for health and safety reasons. By coincidence, I noticed later that the Cambuslang fire station had been demolished today; the fire fighters had told us that there the new one is over at the Clydesmill Industrial estate. It was strange to see such a well known building gone.
Jamie's ex-girlfriend Hazel came round and she and Jamie made us all dinner. It was lovely to see her again and we had a good laugh and chat. We watched an episode of CSI Miami, which I haven't seen for ages but which always reminds me of our holiday in the west of Canada because we watched it a lot in the evenings there. It is still very watchable. 

Jamie's Australian adventures revisited

I felt sorry to hear that my friend and former colleague Liz's Mum has died. She was a dignified and charming lady who got on well with my Mum when they were introduced in a ward at Hairmyres; as their declining years coincided and they were both in and out of hospital a lot, it was inevitable that they should meet eventually. I can empathize with Liz because I know what she went through, and we supported each other through those difficult times in what could be a very difficult working environment. Grandma was round for tea last night and we had a pleasant evening, she was on good form. Jamie had put together a slideshow of 600 of his Australia photos (this was hugely cut down from the thousands that he took!) and we all watched it, including Antoine. The first three weeks were of course very familiar because we were with him then, but it was fascinating to watch the rest of his adventures starting with photos of the huge Ghan train on which he headed south. It all looked amazing. The photos of Melbourne didn't seem very impressive compared to what Jamie had told us, but he assured us that it is a great place. His tours looked so fun, and there were photos of his ballerina, Nicola, who looked lovely and very limber as you would expect of a dancer. It's unusually quiet in the house; James is outside cutting the grass and Jamie, Ally, Davie and Antoine are all go-karting. 

Not much of a long lie

My Sunday morning "long lie" was ruined by several things. I hadn't got to bed until after midnight because I had collected David and Antoine from a party in Troon. I was woken at 5.30 a.m. by Jamie entering the house rather noisily after a night out with his friends. Then the radio blasted on at 6.45 as usual, and the news was of course full of death and destruction. I recently changed the radio channel to Classic FM because I thought it would be a more pleasant way to wake up, but James changed it back again to Radio Scotland. He says he likes to know what's going on in the world, but I feel that we have dozens more news bulletins during the day to keep up with current events. And what can we do about what's going on in the world anyway? By the way, I was right about Libya; the fighting and killing continues, I knew it wouldn't be a quick finish. Then Jack jumped up on the bed to make sure I was awake by walking up and down me, homing in expertly on my bladder with his hard little paws. So I had to get up and go to the bathroom, and then feed Jack, and by the time I got back into bed James was tapping away annoyingly on his Ipad. Eventually he went downstairs and made my breakfast which cheered me up. The rest of the day has been rather pleasant, especially when James took David and Antoine over to the football and I had a nice peaceful time. I spent quite a lot of the afternoon working on Ally's Personal Statement despite Ally's absence; he's on a Duke of Edinburgh kayaking weekend up north. But I had his permission to make a start without him because it has to be finished by 2nd September! Nice smell of lamb cooking in the kitchen; Grandma is coming over for dinner. 

Riverside Museum

It is a beautiful warm afternoon and I am in the hammock just outside the French windows. Our French guest Antoine is a pleasant chap but we are all feeling the strain of being on our best behaviour. On Thursday morning he witnessed a family "dispute" which ended up with David throwing his packed lunch into the hedge. Needless to say, Antoine's eyes were out on stalks as he watched this. David is spending the most time with Antoine and is finding him to be a bit demanding; Antoine gets bored easily and says so. He has outings with the school every week day but evenings and this weekend are spent with the host's family. I have already booked tickets for two football matches for him, they are going to a party tonight and I have booked a go-karting session for them on Monday evening, but there was a bit of a gap this afternoon so James and I took them to the new transport museum, now called the Riverside Museum, which is on the banks of the Clyde at Yorkhill Quay. It was extremely busy, but interesting to see the new building.  The trains, trams, cars, motorcycles and model ships were of course exactly the same ones that we have been visiting in the museum's previous locations all our lives! Antoine seemed to enjoy it and bought a postcard with bicycles on it for his Dad. Last night James and I found ourselves "home alone"; Ally is at a Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition, Jamie out with lovely ex-girlfriend Eleanor, and Davie and Antoine were at a friend's house. So we watched a film "Limitless" which I thought was excellent, a great idea and a fast-paced plot. The lead actor, Bradley Cooper, was really good too, I've seen him in "The Hangover" which was very funny. 

The wanderer returns

I was at the swimming pool with a group of pupils today when I got a text from Jamie: "Guess what I'm doing?". "What?" I replied. "Playing your didgeridoo" winged back his response. The boy is home! I knew he would be back within the week but didn't expect him quite so soon. I was delighted and hurried home to see him when school finished to get a hug. Ally was already there, he had discussed his subject choices with his tutor and they have come up with a solution acceptable to him (and us), so he wasn't in a bad mood. Then David and Antoine arrived; Davie was thrilled to see Jamie and Antoine was also pleased to see him again. In the evening Ally took Davie and Antoine by train to the Rangers v Marabor game at Ibrox, (Antoine was proudly wearing the Rangers strip that we gave him last year!). They enjoyed it and it was a draw but Rangers were put out of Europe on aggregate. James and I decided to take Jamie out for a meal. We went to Prezzo, which we enjoyed very much when Ewan and Heather took us there a couple of weeks ago. Before we went in we walked along to George Square to see the American street signs etc for the "World War Z" movie which is being filmed there. No sign of Brad Pitt. We had a lovely meal and Jamie told us lots about his travels in Australia. He has had wonderful time; he particularly enjoyed his Groovy Grape tour from Adelaide to Alice Springs because it was a very friendly group and driver and they visited really interesting places, sleeping in "swags" at night. And he seems to have fallen in love with Melbourne; he says that he would love to live there. And there is a girl he is very fond of in Darwin (the dancing teacher!) who may be visiting us in November! It is so great to have him back! 

Subject Choices

James and I have just had a big argument with Alasdair about his subject choices for sixth year. He wants to do three A Levels as well as Higher Music, whereas we feel that three A Levels is plenty and he shouldn't over-reach himself. To make matters worse Ally's driving instructor then phoned him to blab that I had phoned the office to complain about the way the payment is being handled (I won't go into the boring details but it was quite annoying). Alasdair was furious and sat at dinner pointedly staring into space and answering in monosyllables. When he calmed down I tried to explain:-
Me: "I know I have annoyed you this evening Ally."
A: "Yup you have."
Me: "I hope you know that I have your best interests at heart."
A: "I really don't think you have. You were in the wrong about the driving lessons and you are in the wrong about my subject choices." 
Me: "But you keep changing your mind about your choices and I don't want you to take on too much."
A (shouting): "You're delirious!"
Me: "Don't you mean deluded?"
A (shouting louder): "I don't care!"
The subject choices issue remains unresolved! 

Le pique-nique

Everybody at work has been very complimentary about my new hairstyle - apart from one pupil who said "Why are you wearing young person's hair? Your face is too old for it." which I thought was very funny. Although maybe he's right, oh dear! It's a horrible thought; perhaps my allegedly young hairstyle is like ancient Miss Havisham still wearing her wedding dress in Great Expectations!
I had to make a packed lunch for Antoine today and he was very suspicious that I wouldn't produce it and kept asking about his "pique-nique". So I bought sandwiches out of Tesco and re-wrapped them in cling-film so that he would think I had made them, like a proper Mum. I also gave him lots of drinks, fruit and snacks and off he and David went to catch the train. It made me reflect that I really should make packed lunches again; it would be more healthy and a lot cheaper. I used to make packed lunches every day but over the last few years when things were so difficult with poor Mum we all started using our various canteens and although life is calmer now it is always more difficult to get back into good habits than to get out of them! 

Bonjour Antoine

Tonight Ally and I watched a couple of episodes of Michael Sandel's "Justice" course, which he teaches at Harvard. It's awfully good, although by the end of the second episode my brain was beginning to nip a bit. Interestingly, there is an urban legend (denied by the writers) that the character of Mr Burns from The Simpsons is based on Michael Sandel because of some similar characteristics, which of course is deliberately ironic because Mr Burns has no morals and Sandel spends his life seeking the meaning of justice! He is a very charismatic speaker and enjoys interacting with his students.
Antoine has arrived back in our lives today, I collected him from Belmont at six. He is David's French exchange student, and he first visited us a year ago. David has been twice to France to visit him, and his lovely family has made David very welcome. Antoine is fairly deaf; he wears two hearing aids and it helps him to lip read too. He tries hard to speak a bit of English so we converse in a mix of the two languages. He is a massive football fan so we have booked not one but two Rangers matches for him to go to in the next week, he was really excited when we told him.
Jamie arrived back in London today from his travels in Australia, it was so nice to hear his voice! He has loved his time there and says he has lots to tell us when he comes back up to Glasgow. But first he is going to spend a bit of time with friends in London and Brighton. I feel that this trip has turned Jamie into a proper traveller; he has always followed our itineraries until now but now he has learned to devise his own plans in a way that I think he would have found difficult before - he used to have half-baked plans for trips with friends that usually fell through. I am so pleased for him and I can't wait to see him. 

Drastic haircut

My hair has recently been about as long as it has ever been, but also in bad need of a cut thanks to my dislike of going to the hairdresser. So on Saturday I went for a haircut to the Rainbow Room. The hairdresser and I agreed that I should get my haircut to about chin level because I am growing my fringe out and I want it all to be the same length soon. So she snipped away for a while and I really liked how it looked - until she held up the mirror to show me the back! It is so short - it is cut right in to the hairline at the back of my neck! I feel very self conscious, especially when I can feel a breeze on my unprotected neck.
Also on Saturday Alasdair had the opportunity to go sailing with Iain McDonald and Helen; they raced from Rothesay to Largs, he said they went round Cumbrae. He was absolutely thrilled, it was very kind of the McDonalds to invite him. He said that it was very exciting. A mark of how much Alasdair enjoyed the day is that he is now insisting on calling the living room "the chart room" because Catherine and Iain's boat has a chart table and he wants to use the table in there for maps!
James has been away hill-walking this weekend and I have had a bit of a film fest with Ally and Davie. We have watched The Tourist (good fun), 127 Hours (surprisingly good, reminded me of Touching the Void) and Hereafter (a bit gloomy, but watchable). I have also just finished reading "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton. I thought the ending was really sad. It's a very good book.
Today Shona came round for lunch, it was very nice to see her and we were devising routes for Silver Duke of Edinburgh using Memory Map. It was a sunny afternoon and I went for a walk to the Heritage Park with Davie later.
Finally I feel I should mention a couple of recent current events; my blog tends to be very much about my home life but I do take notice of what is going on in the world. Recently there have been riots in London and other cities in England. It started with a demonstration after a man was shot by police who were trying to arrest him, and quickly became widespread rioting and looting. The cctv and television footage were shocking, but order was restored after a few days. Yesterday one of the Red Arrows pilots was killed in a crash near an airshow, this made us feel very sad because we watch the Red Arrows every year at Leuchars. And right now the Libyan rebels are advancing into Tripoli, thousands of people have been killed or injured during the fighting. And I have a bad feeling that it's not over yet. 

Blog Epiphany

I was thinking about my blog today. I know that I have a very small but loyal following among friends and family (thanks Heather, Ewan, Jennifer and Kari!), but I was reflecting on why I have always been a compulsive diarist, and who I am writing for. I have been writing a diary off and on since I was five. I still have my old diaries and the very first one consists mainly of single sentence entries such as "I love Granpa" and "Susan is soree when she is notee"! I then continue through the 1960's and 70's, faithfully recording what I was doing at school, friends, family holidays, and later on a couple of early "loves" - nothing too embarrassing! James makes his first appearance  at the end of the 1970's and then I take a bit of a break from keeping a diary apart from a few holiday journals. I start again in earnest in 1996. By this time Jamie, Ally and Davie had been born and I was keen to record their early childhoods. I'm so glad that I did; I was looking through my diaries yesterday to find out some information that Ally wanted (about holidays) and those three little boys that I was writing about were impossibly sweet, and the diary really reminded me and brought it back to me. So that partly answers my question; one person that the diaries are for is me!  But that's not the whole story, because I won't always be here. So on reflection I decided that in addition to myself and close family and friends, this blog has to be for my descendants! Imagine if it is read in 100 years by someone who is descended from me and James, and although they will live in very different times they may even be a wee bit like me! 

Pitt Fall

The Scottish television news is all very excited about the Brad Pitt zombie film "World War Z" which is being filmed in and around George Square in Glasgow. Apparently Glasgow bears a close resemblance to a post-apocalyptic Philadelphia. I'm not sure if that's a compliment! So the street signs have all been changed to American ones, there are American flags hanging from buildings, American cars line the streets and even the street crossings have been repainted to the stripey American version. Today the man himself was in town, and there were lots of fans trying to get a glimpse of Brad. I won't be doing that, but I might have a look at the film set the next time I am in town, pedestrians are allowed there when filming isn't going on.
The pupils were back today, all looking very smart, it was nice to see them. The day went well until I fell off a chair which I didn't know was broken. It tipped forward as soon as I sat on it and I fell onto my hip and ended up flat on the floor. I have had some sore falls in my time, but this one took my breath away. Luckily only one pupil witnessed my downfall! My hip is still very sore, luckily I am well padded in that area so no serious damage I think. Davie is having an overnight at Stuart's and I am about to give Ally a lift to a party in Newton Mearns, so James and I will only have Jack for company tonight! 

A bouquet of flowers

I got an email from Jamie this morning! He is back in Darwin and has taken a trip to Litchfield National Park with a friend, where he swam in rock pools and waterfalls. He is staying with another friend who is a dancing teacher and he has visited her school to speak to the pupils about how muscles work! Sounds like he is having a wonderful time. He has wanted to do some proper travelling and now he has had the chance. 

I drove straight to Biggar first thing, gave a talk about Autism, drove back and popped into the house for a quick coffee before heading to school. By now it was just after 11 a.m. and when I went into the house I found that Alasdair and David were both still fast asleep in bed! Oh well they should relax now; in a week they will be back at school! When I arrived at school there was excitement in the staffroom because a large and beautiful bunch of flowers had been delivered for me. I opened the accompanying gift note to find that it was a thank you from the mum of the pupil I accompanied to Paris in June; she wrote that he enjoyed it so much that he has not stopped talking about it since! It was so kind of her. More meetings and I got my admin ready for the return of the pupils tomorrow, then home and had a curry with Ally and Davie. James is at the Edinburgh Fringe tonight with colleagues and he is staying over at a university hall of residence. Time for a wee cup of tea. 

Buon Compleanno to Ewan and Buon Appetito!

It has been a very pleasant weekend. James and I were in town on Saturday and had a wee lunch together in Princes Square, then in the afternoon Michael and Lil popped round and we all had a coffee in the garden in the sunshine. On Saturday evening Ewan treated us to a delicious dinner at Prezzo in St Vincent Place with him and Heather, as part of his special birthday celebrations. I say special birthday because it was a number with a zero at the end! I was very impressed with the restaurant, I haven't been there before but we'll certainly be back. I had my favourite starter of arancini, which I first tasted in Sicily a couple of years ago; they are rice balls stuffed with mushrooms and deep fried in breadcrumbs. And my main course of chicken ravioli was beautifully cooked, yummy. The others all seemed very happy with what they ordered too! We started and ended the evening in Urban, just a couple of doors down from Prezzo, and we had a great time talking and laughing. When we are out with Heather and Ewan we always feel that we can totally relax and be ourselves and have fun. Sunday afternoon was spent finishing off the timetable with Jackie while James moved slabs in the garden, then after tea a film came onto BBC2 which drew our attention because it looked quite interesting and also had an amazing cast including David Tennant, Christopher Lee, Julie Christie, Bill Nighy and many more. It was called Glorious 39. What a mistake - two hours of my life that I'll never get back! Implausible plot, wooden acting (although David Tennant was good, as always), almost comical when it was meant to be sinister! It just shows that a cast of well-known luvvies does not guarantee a good film. Today was my first "official" day back to work. It was nice to see the rest of the staff who work in the Base, and also my growing number of chums in the wider school, especially the people who were in Paris with me in June. The day flew past in a blur of meetings. This evening we watched another film, this time a DVD which I bought after David (our tour guide in Kakadu) recommended it. It's called The Castle and is quite an old Australian film (1997), a quirky comedy, very sweet and up-beat. We all enjoyed it, and after last night it restored my faith in films! 

A Bathtime blog

I am having a comforting warm bath after a long options choices day at school. It went well but my brain is actually hurting, probably because I haven't used it in such an intense way recently! Also my stomach is a bit sore after the pakora lunch kindly provided by the head teacher. I am soaking in water scented with lovely Fleur de Vigne (by Caudalie). This was my Secret Santa present at work last Christmas but I knew it was from Linda because she looked so pleased when I loved it! It is risky using my iphone to blog in the bath because I have dropped it in the bath before. I also use my ereader in the bath - I like to bathe dangerously! Then I may go downstairs to watch a film. Last night I finished reading "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese, which I thought was excellent. I think Jamie would enjoy it too because it is about a hospital in Ethiopia. I have now started a much older book "The Age of Innocence" by Edith Wharton, which was published in 1920 and was set in the 1870's. I mostly (although not exclusively) read contemporary fiction these days, so I wondered if it the language and style would be a bit dated but it's absolutely fine and seems very well written so far. Well now I'm downstairs and I'm watching The Green Hornet with James and Davie (Ally is at a party). It is quite good fun. 

The party's over!

This is the last day of my summer holidays! I don't start officially until Monday but I will be at work tomorrow (timetabling) and Friday (interviewing 6th years about their options). It is raining and I have had a pleasant day with the boys in the house. Have I made good use of my summer holidays? I think I have, and I decided to note down the good points.
1. I have had a totally wonderful holiday to Australia with my four boys. That has to be the highlight of the summer, with sights and experiences that we will all always remember.
2. The extension is at last finished and I have been enjoying being in it very much - I'm blogging in it now!
3. I have taken some exercise - mainly walking - both in Australia and back in Scotland.
4. I have read some great books, some while on holiday and some in my hammock in the garden.
5. I have watched some great films, both on the plane and back home.
6. The summer also started well with a school trip to Paris that Davie came on too and which we both enjoyed. And it was really exciting to go straight from Paris to Heathrow to meet the others and start our family holiday.
7. Alasdair did well in his 5th year exams and has enough qualifications to apply to study Law. Davie also did well in his 4th year exams and is all set for 5th year.

8. Jamie is enjoying an extended break in Australia and is having a marvellous time.
9. I had a lovely visit to Jennifer's and she and Russell arranged some fantastic work experience for Ally at the BBC.
10. James and I had a great weekend at Boat of Garten with Alison and Hugh.
11. I have had the chance to have some relaxing coffees and lunches with friends, and with Ally and Davie.
12. I feel very relaxed after what seems like a long and pleasant break (probably because nothing traumatic has happened like illness or death this time).
What could I have done differently? Well I could have taken more exercise - after Australia I had lost weight and felt quite fit, but although I have done some walking since then I could have done more. And if I don't manage to make time for it during the holidays it doesn't bode well for when I go back to work. I will have to think about this. But apart from this, I have had a really wonderful summer holiday and I hope that the calmness and energy that I have gained will carry me forward into a positive and successful session at school. 

Pulley your socks up

I heard from Jamie yesterday by email as follows: 

"HEY!! Sorry it has taken me so long to get back in contact with you, I've been in the outback! Travelling to Ulurru and Kata Tjuta with Groovy Grape, this is me just back in civilization now in Alice. Trying to figure out how I'm going to make my way up to Darwin now . . . How are things at home? So much to tell and show you! onto my second memory card of photos now! so many :) Sorry again for my crap contact, 3 won't let me send any txts from my phone which sucks so I'm kinda out of the loop until I find a wifi spot, gave up this time and had to pay for it :( Love from your very much alive son Jamie, xxx"

It's nice to hear that he is having a great time, although he then emailed me today to say that he has run out of money! Oh dear, we will send him some funds. I was at school today timetabling with Jackie; what a huge task it is! We brought in food and drinks to keep us going and worked for about five hours. Meanwhile Ally and Davie were both in town with groups of friends, it seems that everyone is now coming back from holiday and wanting to meet up. Ally was going on to a party in Dunlop and Davie was at Braehead where he went to see the film "Super 8" which he said was quite good. However the most exciting event of the day for me is that my pulley has been put up in the utility room by Gary and John! It is going to revolutionize our laundry! It looks great and I love it! 

Visiting the Ospreys

We awoke to a rainy day in Boat of Garten; in fact the rain there was light compared to some other parts of Scotland which were being lashed with torrential rain. We all went to the Rothiemurchus Estate where we went clay pigeon shooting. This was a first time experience for me and it was great fun. We got expert instruction from Hugh, who is an expert marksman. Alison sportingly pressed the button to make the clays fly out when Hugh said "Pull!"; I say sportingly because she doesn't enjoy shooting but still goes along on a regular basis to send up the clays for Hugh. Every place that we shot from was a bit different, which made it interesting. For example in some places the clay was projected upwards, in some across the way, all at different speeds and trajectories. With Hugh's patient coaching James and I both managed to hit the clays some of the time - one or two out of five shots - which we were quite pleased with, as novices. The last place we shot from was called "rabbits" because the clay was fired out across the ground and rolled and bounced along at the speed of a rabbit. I really enjoyed it; I would never ever want to shoot a real creature and I have never allowed the boys even to have toy guns (although they made their own out of lego or tree branches!) however this was like developing a skill and challenging yourself to improve. 

Back to the cottage for lunch then we went for a walk in the rain to the Osprey Centre at Loch Garten. It was a forty-five minute walk each way and we got pretty wet, but it was nice to get a walk and lovely to revisit the Osprey Centre. When I was walking up the slope to the visitor centre (a bit behind the others because I had just visited the toilet), a girl on a bicycle stopped beside me to photograph some mushrooms. She is one of the volunteers from the centre and she told me that it is called the Devil's Tooth fungus and it is quite rare. It is edible but has a very peppery taste. I wish I knew all about the things I see on walks like she does, it's so fascinating. There are two Osprey chicks this year called Tore and Boyack, they hatched in May and can now fly. Their Mum EJ was sitting up on a branch and looked rather cross about the wet weather, she kept having to shake her head to get rid of the raindrops! We saw lots of other birds such a blue tits, bullfinches, greenfinches, and a woodpecker. We also saw a red squirrel and even a wee vole scurrying about under a tree. Back at the cottage (where there are also a huge variety of birds at Alison and Hugh's bird feeder) we had coffee and a chat then we said our farewells and set off home. It has been a really lovely weekend. 

Walking (and falling down) at Boat of Garten

We are having a lovely weekend at Alison and Hugh's cottage in Boat of Garten. We having been coming here for about five years and their gorgeous cottage is in a beautiful setting with lots of things to do and see nearby including many walking and cycling routes. We arrived last night in time for a delicious dinner cooked by Alison - smoked haddock pate, chicken with green pepper sauce, followed by white chocolate mousse - mmmm! Today James and Alison set off on their planned route - from the ski centre road to the Chalamain Gap, then up to the summit of the Laraig Gru and back to Loch Morlich via Rothiemurchus Lodge. Most of this is rough going for 18 km. It took them six hours and they very much enjoyed it despite being plagued by midges! Meanwhile Hugh and I decided to go on a low level walk from near the Rothiemurchus Visitor Centre round Loch an Eilean then west to the old logging road and back to Rothiemurchus. It was a very pleasant walk with lovely views of Cairngorm and other mountains and it took us three hours. There were quite a few other people walking or cycling, the weather was very warm. Hugh worked out the distance later and it was 13 km, which I was very pleased with! We went back to the cottage for lunch before picking up James and Alison at four o'clock, then we all went for coffee and scones to the visitor centre. I phoned home to check up on the boys and to remind them that they had been invited to Grandma's for tea. They were fine and told me that Grandma has invited Andrew too! Alison, Hugh, James and I walked the 3 km into Boat of Garten for dinner at Anderson's restaurant, a great treat which we usually visit each year. As usual the food was absolutely excellent, I had a very unusual terrine - duck, cherry and hazelnut - which was very good, then smoked haddock and pea risotto. We had a good chat and a laugh. When we came out of the restaurant it was raining and quite dark once we left Boat of Garten, although James and Hugh had torches which helped! As we approached the cottage there was a car coming, I stepped onto the verge and caught my foot in a wee ditch and took a tumble, I was rolling about the verge and the others told me that the car slowed almost to a halt, the driver must have wondered what on earth had happened! I found it very funny and although I was wet I was fine! The others pointed out that I was the one who fell even though I was the only one who wasn't drinking! (I stopped drinking alcohol in November 2010.) Back to the cottage for drinks and chat, an excellent day. 

Getting on with useful things

Davie's results arrived today; two B's for Int 2 English and Admin. Well done Davie! He's in a very good position to sit his Highers next year. So the boys are on track to do what they want to do. I'm very proud of all three of them.
Last night I finished an excellent book called "The Return of Captain John Emmett" by Elizabeth Speller. I really enjoyed it and thought it was very well written. I had to re-read the ending to check that I had understood it correctly, it was a very satisfying read. I am now starting "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese and I am planning to slow down my rate of reading a bit - ever since I went full steam ahead on Ulysses (so that I didn't lose interest in it) I have been in reading speed Warp factor 10!
It is grey and damp today but still very warm. Alasdair is visiting Grandma just now and then I will be taking him and David up to pc world to look at computers. I am doing some more admin e.g. booking the car and some jewellery in for repair, bank, estate agent etc., I'm beginning to get a slight sense of urgency because I will soon be back at work and will not have the luxury of time to arrange household things. The linoleum was fitted in the utility room today and my new pulley has arrived! I have returned the broken pulley (which took two weeks to arrive) to the first company (who were very rude to me) and when I ordered an identical one from another company it arrived within 24 hours! Gary will put it up on Tuesday. So, a pleasant and useful day so far. 

Scottish exam results sent early in text blunder

This was the headline on the BBC News Scotland website today! The story went on to explain:-

"Almost 30,000 pupils in Scotland have received their exam results a day early by mistake. The blunder meant youngsters who signed up to get results by text message got an early look at their grades, the Scottish Qualifications Authority said. Opposition politicians branded it a "serious mistake", but the exam body insisted the problem had not put anyone at a disadvantage. Higher and Standard Grade results for 160,000 students come out on Thursday." 

However we already knew about this because when we were in IKEA this afternoon Alasdair received a text from the SQA - he was one of the 30,000! It took us all by surprise and I rushed to phone James with the results. Alasdair has done very well with A's & B's (six highers in total) - an excellent total of 15 points which should be enough for him to do Law. What a relief; his prelim results in January were a mixture of B's & C's and I know that he has worked very hard to improve them. The wee trooper has come up trumps! Next step is the application process. Meanwhile David is still talking about doing Science, possibly Pharmacy or Biochemistry, he loves Science and has been thinking about this for several years now. I think that Biochemistry is currently the front runner because David's two Int 2 exam results will arrive by post tomorrow; his Highers will be next year. Ally didn't seem very excited about his great results (some of his friends have done even better) so James and I had a long talk with him and told him how proud we are of him, and emphasised that he has lots of options. Since his laptop is on its last legs his reward is going to be a really good, up to date laptop. He was very pleased about this, I think that it demonstrated to him just how very well we feel that he has achieved, and he went off to research it! 

Another disturbed night!

After hoping for a more peaceful night's rest it was ironic that James and I were woken at 2 a.m. by the phone ringing! No one was on the other end when I answered and when I checked the number it was from a mobile phone. Needless to say we were a bit alarmed - memories of night time emergencies with my Mum - night time phone calls are not usually good news. In the morning I typed in the number to my iphone because if I do that and it is a number in the memory the name comes up - and so it did - it was Alasdair! When I asked him about it he said that the phone had been under his pillow and he had rolled onto it by accident. Then he had heard it ringing and quickly switched it off! Oh well at least it wasn't something bad.
Today I have set up a "home office" on the dining table and I'm having an admin day. It's a good day for it because it is raining and I have a pile of admin to do. It has not started well because my long-awaited pulley, which I ordered weeks ago and was told was dispatched last week, has arrived dirty and broken - and the delivery man says it was only dispatched yesterday. Grrrr I hate being lied to. I have emailed photos of the broken pulley to the company.
David is chatting to me with a cup of tea and Ally is getting ready to meet friends in town. A good day so far. 

A rude awakening

James had a very restless night last night and at one point he shouted out and lashed out with his arm, waking me up. I asked what was the matter and he said that he had thought that there was a fly in his mouth! He left very early to fly down to London as he often has to, on business. I took my car to the garage when I got up and then walked home. Ally and Davie were still asleep; I made myself some porridge with honey and raspberries and ate it in the garden while drinking a cup of coffee. I have to say that it was absolutely idyllic. The weather was very warm and it had been raining earlier so the garden had an almost tropical feel! James phoned for a quick chat from St James Park where he was sitting in the sunshine before his meeting. Later on Alasdair was telling me about an exciting incident at the barbecue he went to in Ealing. The gas canister under the barbecue caught fire and there were flames everywhere. Alasdair helped to put out the fire and was quite a hero! I was impressed by the sang-froid of his hosts who continued with the barbecue after the fire brigade left! Davie's friend Stuart, aka Stubo, was round all day and the boys had a pleasant time paying computer games and wandering down to the Main Street.

Ally W came round for coffee in the afternoon and we were reminiscing about our lovely time in Singapore. She was telling me about their holiday in Vietnam and Cambodia, it sounded absolutely fascinating and I would love to go there some day. 

In the evening after James arrived home we watched a couple of episodes of "Yes Minister" which Alasdair bought in the BBC shop last week. It is still very good and Alasdair in particular loved it. I'm hoping that my sleep tonight is not disturbed!