Sunday turned out to be a day of highs and lows. After the air show on Saturday James, David and I stayed overnight in the Premier Inn at Broughty Ferry. Ally took the train home in the evening because he was going sailing the next day. We were exhausted and had an early night. On Sunday morning we went for a pleasant walk along the beach before going to Jamie's flat. After his long day in the VIP tent Jamie had also had an early night because he fell asleep and didn't wake up for the night out that he had planned! So he was wide awake and showed us his new room in the flat. I was delighted; it's bright and roomy and much nicer tham the poky room he had for the last three years. He and his flatmates had drawn lots for the rooms and although Jamie was happy that it was done fairly I was always highly suspicious that the only boy happened to get the smallest room....I made sure that Jamie staked his claim on first choice of room if someone moved out, and this summer one of the girls moved in with her boyfriend, so Jamie now has this lovely room. Anyway after a chat we set off for St Andrews where we had lunch with my godmother May, her husband Raymond, and his sister Anne. It was so great to see May and Raymond again! They live in Canada so we only see them every couple of years when they visit friends and family in Scotland. In 2008 we visited them in Mississauga when we visited Toronto, and they were so kind to us. They took us for a run in their car to the Niagara Canal and to the picturesque village of Niagara on the Lake. Then they took us back to their house and made us a delicious barbecue in the garden. We all chatted and laughed the whole time, they got on really well with Ally and Davie, and I will never forget their generous hospitality. On this visit they were staying with Anne in St Andrews so James asked his colleague Alec to recommend a restaurant in the town; he suggested The Dolls House and it turned out to be really nice, very relaxed and good food. It was also very nice to get to know Anne who is very pleasant and friendly, and we all had a convivial lunch. May and Raymond are always very interested in the progress of Jamie's medical career so there was a bit of medical chat and they were telling us about their future daughter-in-law Priscilla, the wedding will be in Brazil in April, and about all their travels, they are a great example of making the most of retirement.
All too soon we had to set off back to Glasgow, in separate cars because we had brought both through to Dundee. David came with me and we had a safe and uneventful hour and a half drive back through to Glasgow until two minutes drive from the house I drove into a lamp post while turning right from Clydeford Road into the Main Street. I don't know how it happened and I got an awful shock. I have driven round that corner thousands of times and I have never come close to hitting the lamp post. I can't remember anything that I did differently from normal between the lights changing and the terrible bang as I hit it. The airbags deployed and the car filled with smoke, I was worried that it was about to explode so David and I got out of the car quickly. But it was just the airbags going up that caused the smoke. The front of the car is a terrible mess. One tyre completely destroyed and the wing all bashed in. Later the recovery van driver told me that he thinks the front axle is broken and the engine is pushed back out of place. But thank goodness that no one was hurt. James walked down to the scene and after an initial stress reaction was quite supportive and said that he was glad we weren't hurt. I sent him and Davie back home to make the dinner because Grandma was coming round. Two very friendly police officers happened to be passing and they stayed with me until the car was recovered, this was arranged by the insurance company. At one point they had to run up the road to help arrest two drunk people who were shouting and fighting outside a pub, they were taken away in a police van. When the police officers came back we all sat in the police car to keep warm and chatted, they were so nice. The recovery vehicle driver was also very pleasant. I got back home in time for a late tea and later had a comforting bath.
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