James fixed it for Ally

It has been a pleasant weekend. I got my hair cut on Saturday and didn't hate the experience or the result too much, then I met James for lunch at Prezzo. James has designed a spreadsheet for me where I can record my spending and really know what is in my account; it incorporates all the things I spend every month like music lessons, school fees, contact lenses and many more! The beauty of this is that I can now clearly see what is still to come off my account, whereas if I just look at my balance online it gives me a false optimism. It is going to be very helpful now that I am paid every four weeks, because that has been confusing me - I used to get paid on the last Thursday of every month and then all my standing orders would come off on the 1st of the next month, which would only be a few days away so I knew I would definitely still have money to cover them. With the four weekly pay I find it harder to plan because pay day changes each month. Anyway, it's not like me to get excited over finances but I can see that this spreadsheet is going to help me a lot.
We went over to Heather and Ewan's for a curry in the evening and had a great time; by now they will have arrived in Madrid for their holiday. I'd love to go there one day; James will coincidentally be there this week on business! I would especially like to visit the Prado museum to see the Velazquez paintings among others. 
This morning James decided that we would go to Ikea to buy bookcases for Alasdair; he was delighted because he has been nagging us about getting them for ages. He has already constructed them with much noise and hammering and started to fill them. Then the four of us had a blowy walk at Largs, from Nardini's to the Pencil and marina and back again. The highlight of the evening was watching an episode of the first series of Bergerac with Grandma so that we could look out for places we visited in Jersey! It was good fun, especially as the series is now thirty years old. The island looks very much the same apart from the airport buildings and St Helier. And the plot wasn't too bad either. 
Finally farewell to Sir Jimmy Savile who died yesterday at the age of 84. I loved the television programme Jim'll Fix It in the 1970s and although I always felt that there was something strange and a bit creepy about him, however he seems to have been an eccentric but genuinely well-meaning person who raised a lot of money for charity. James and I once spotted him walking near his house at Glencoe; with the tracksuit and wild hair it was unmistakably him! 

We need to talk about Kevin

This evening I went with my EK book group to see the newly released film of the Lionel Shriver film, We Need to Talk about Kevin. Because I had loved the book and knew it well, it was hard to judge how the film is, because it was impossible not to make comparisons. Some episodes from Kevin's childhood, which I thought helped to build up a picture of Kevin, were left out. The chillingly predictive imagery was a bit heavy-handed. The bloody climax was not shown, just inferred, and although it would have been gory I thought it was very important to the plot. All in all I wish the director, Lynne Ramsay, had allowed the story to tell itself a bit more. Having said all that, I thoroughly enjoyed the film! The actors were all excellent and it made sense to set the film two years after the climax with the main character remembering events in flashbacks. I also enjoyed being at the GFT and going to Fazzi's for a meal with the girls after the film, it was great fun.
The boys had their own fun yesterday. Brian very kindly gave us tickets to see Ayr United play St Mirren in the Scottish cup. James, Ally and Davie went along and met up with Kyle and Christina who were also there. They were delighted when Ayr won 1 - 0 five minutes before full time and came home full of the joys! 

Reflections on Jersey

We are on our way north from Newcastle to home, a journey of just under three hours. It has been a good week in Jersey, it proved to be both picturesque and interesting. The houses are individually designed with beautiful gardens, and they are all freshly painted and maintained. There are lots of sandy beaches so you can choose where suits depending on wind direction. It is supposedly the sunniest place in Britain which I can well believe; we have just had a week of sunshine while most of the country has had rain, especially Scotland. There is lots to see and do; castles, war museums, restaurants, water sports. You can travel from there to the other Channel Islands and even to France. The people seem to be unfailingly polite and friendly. But would I live there? This is a question that I always ask myself when I visit a new place. I wonder if I am looking for somewhere that I might fall in love with and want to move to. When we were in Shetland a couple of years ago I met a lady who had gone there on holiday and had decided to stay there for the rest of her life. I felt quite envious of her because although I have travelled to many beautiful places I have never felt quite like that about any of them. I am fairly contented with where I live, so maybe I'm not really looking, but I do always give some thought to the "liveability" factor of a new place. My criteria are beauty (both house and surroundings and hopefully a view), proximity to wild countryside and some kind of water (river, loch, or sea, and an outdoor swimming pool would be great), accessibility to facilities such as airports, shops and hospitals, hopefully some sense of history, and some undefinable quality that makes me feel that I must be there. Well, Jersey certainly scores highly on beauty and on nearness to water, it has an interesting history and the facilities are fine. However it loses out a bit by being a bit TOO manicured and perfect; it is quite densely populated and even though there are plenty of fields and greenery there is not much wilderness around. Every square foot of the island is used and cultivated, and although it is a lovely holiday destination, it is not the home of my dreams. Never mind, I'll just have to keep travelling! 

Beaches and War

Our last full day in Jersey and it was full of gastronomic delights since we ate out both for lunch and dinner in St Aubin. But first we had a bit of unexpected activity because when I popped across to the hotel after breakfast they reminded me that today is changeover day in the cottage and we were to pack up and move to the hotel for our last night, because new people would be moving into the cottage today! This was all arranged months ago when I booked the accommodation but I had completely forgotten about it. So we packed up as quickly as possible and moved to two very luxurious rooms in the hotel, which means that we will have our breakfast in the hotel tomorrow morning. Mind you, neither of our rooms has as nice a view as Grandma's room! After this excitement we went to the very picturesque east coast Archirondel Beach with its red and White painted Martello tower, had a walk and a coffee in the Driftwood cafe. The beach cafes that we have visited in Jersey are all very pleasant and clean, and it's very nice to be able to sit and have a coffee while looking at the lovely views. Then back to St Aubin where we had a delicious lunch in the Bulwark - I would love to know how they cook their "sticky beef"! St Aubin was busy, and with the sunshine - not a cloud in the sky today - it's hard to believe that it is the end of October, it felt like a summer's day. Then off to the Jersey War Tunnels, which are well worth a visit. The tunnels were in fact an underground hospital built by the Germans during WW2, and they are now a museum about the occupation. It was a very interesting visit and we all learned more about what went on in Jersey during the war. There was an exhibit about Violette Szabo which was very moving, she was so brave and was only 23 when she died. Back to the hotel to chill out then we had dinner at the Salty Dog which was fine but rather noisy. Also the curries that Ally and I had were very very spicy - and Ally and I are not wimps about spicy food. Later we all had cups of tea and hot chocolate back at Grandma's room in the hotel and discussed the holiday, which we have all enjoyed very much. 

Pride Rock Castle

We visited another castle today; Mont Orgeuil Castle which is on the east coast of Jersey. The warden told us that it is only twelve miles from France and in fact my phone changed its clock to French time while we were there! It is a fantastic old castle perched on a rock with gorgeous views of the harbour below and the sea. It all looked particularly stunning because we continue to be very lucky with the weather, and the view was enhanced by blue skies and sunshine. As we made our way up the many steps (Grandma was as plucky as ever, she got right to the top) there were all sorts of passageways leading to rooms and spiral staircases, little gardens, modern sculptures; it's a warren and very interesting. Ally and Davie have always loved exploring castles and it was nice to see that they have not grown out of it, they disappeared off and could be seen appearing on ramparts and running past windows. We had sandwiches in the little cafe before heading into St Helier. As we left there was an unfortunate, allegedly accidental, testicle kicking incident by Ally which left Davie lying on the ground in seemingly extreme pain, I have always wondered whether men exaggerate the pain that this kind of injury can cause. When he recovered enough to limp off, the warden said enigmatically "He'll be all right", which gave me the impression that he has experienced it himself. 
Grandma has fond memories of Howard Davis Park in St Helier, which she and Jimmy visited with James and Forrest in the 1960s, so we had a walk there in the sunshine. It's named after a young soldier who was killed during the Battle of the Somme, and there is a small military graveyard at the edge of it with graves of some of the sailors from the HMS Charybdis, who were washed ashore on Jersey when it was torpedoed In 1943. Some are named and some are "known to God", like many of the war graves that we saw in France two years ago.
We had also had a walk around the centre of St Helier which was pleasant and pedestrianised, we noticed that some of the successful electoral candidates from two days ago had stapled "thank you" notices onto their posters - how polite!
Back to the cottage and saw gory news film of some of Gaddafi's last moments. Yes, I know that, as James always says, if you live by the sword you are very likely to die by the sword, and a gruesome death is an occupational hazard for dictators, and that Gaddafi did many awful things, but I still found it very unpleasant to watch the bloodied but still alive figure being beaten moments before his death. The media have reported the hunt for him as if it was a game, and now they are hypocritically demanding to know if he was killed "legally". I never thought it was a game and I can't take pleasure in death, no matter whose it is. I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels that way. And, as I have already said in my blog, I bet there will be more bloodshed in Libya to come. 

Fort Isabella Bellissima

Today we went to visit Elizabeth Castle in St Helier, which is at the end of a long causeway. It's possible to walk across but today the tide was in so we had to take one of the amphibious vehicles which go back and forth. When we parked in St Helier we didn't have a parking ticket so we asked a passer by where we could buy them and he very kindly gave us two tickets, further proving my theory that Jersey people are very nice indeed. Across the bay we went on the "Charming Betty", the weather was so warm that we had to take off our jackets. On the way there was music playing which must have been chosen as appropriate: the James Bond theme tune (presumably because of adventurous aspect of being in an amphibious vehicle), the Captain Pugwash theme tune (nautical?) and the theme tune from Jaws (a bit worrying, that one!) We had a stroll around the castle, which dates from the very end of the 16th century; its first governor, Sir Walter Raleigh, called it Isabella Bellissima after Elizabeth the First. We joined a tour by the Master Gunner, who told us some interesting tales of the history of the castle and set off the cannon at 1 p.m. He told us that if Hitler had used all the troops that were pointlessly occupying Jersey and had stationed them on the north coast of France, the defences against the D Day landings would have been doubled and the landings might well have failed, thus prolonging the war. Apparently Rommel tried to persuade Hitler of this but he wouldn't listen. We had lunch in the cafeteria and further explored the castle, you can tell which bits were added by the Nazis in WW2 because they liked to use a lot of concrete! On the way back in the amphibious vehicle we heard a news report on the radio that Colonel Gaddafi has been killed in the town of Sirte in Libya.
We headed back to the hotel in the afternoon and James and I went to Grandma's room for a coffee and we all enjoyed looking at her lovely view of the promenade and beach. Then Ally and I went for a swim and a jacuzzi. The jacuzzi smelled a bit funky, I hate to think what algae have been breeding in there! However we went in anyway and had a really good chat and a laugh, when Ally isn't angry with me I think we really enjoy each other's company! Grandma was waving to us from the window of her room. I had a bath afterwards to make sure that I was properly clean. Dinner with Grandma later and a relaxing evening. 

Finding our way around Jersey

Today was Jersey's Election day and the local news channel said that it is Jersey's first ever general election. This is because Deputies, Senators and Connétables are all being elected on the same day for the first time in order to stop some candidates from having "two bites of the cherry" by standing again for a Deputy post after failing to be elected as a Senator. We have seen all the posters displayed around the island since we arrived and have been impressed by the polite way they are all worded "PLEASE vote for ......." Today we passed a few polling stations on our travels. Our first destination was La Mare Wine Estate which is somewhere in the north of the island, none of can be sure where because the signs were so confusing that we only arrived by good luck. It was worth it though; a really interesting tour from a lovely guide called Iain including wine and liqueur tasting (David and I had apple juice). James, Grandma and Ally only liked one wine out of three and Grandma bought a bottle of it to drink at dinner time. There was also chocolate tasting which we all enjoyed! We had a very pleasant walk through the vineyard before a nice lunch in their restaurant. Ally and Davie had "island platters" which contained lots of local seafood such as smoked salmon, prawns and crab.
James, Ally and Davie then walked from Gifford Bay via Bouley Bay to Rozel Bay, about seven miles. Grandma and I dropped them off at the start point and then got thoroughly lost driving about the narrow Jersey roads. Grandma resourcefully suggested that since we were trying to head north east we should have the sun behind us; this worked very well and soon we saw a sign to Rozel Bay, which is a very picturesque little harbour. We had a walk around then had coffee at a cafe called The Hungry Man. We chatted and Grandma read her newspaper while I read my book ("And the Land Lay Still" by James Robertson, I'm reading it for Cambuslang book club). How lovely to be able to sit outside (wearing jackets) in warm sunshine in October! James, Ally and Davie joined us after their walk which they had all enjoyed, and we headed back to the cottage via Waitrose where we got ingredients for dinner. A relaxing evening ensued. 

Day trip to Guernsey

It was an early start for us today when we set off at ten to eight expecting to be at the St Helier ferry terminal at eight in plenty of time for our nine o'clock sailing to Guernsey. Imagine our surprise and dismay when we found ourselves crawling along in the Jersey rush hour and the minutes ticking away alarmingly. However we got to the ferry still in fairly good time, only to find that hired cars are not permitted to leave the island! The ferry staff were very pleasant about it (in fact I'm finding that every person I meet from Jersey is extremely pleasant), but it is not permitted under any circumstances so we set off as foot passengers. The ferry is smart and modern; as we left St Helier there was quite a swell when we got to the open sea! The ship seemed to lift up and then crash down a few times, and there were quite a few people being sick but luckily no one in our party! However we reached St Peter Port safely and hired a wee car to take us round the island. First stop was the Occupation Museum, it was really interesting, the islanders had a very hard time under the German occupation. They must have felt very abandoned when the British demilitarised the islands. I read a very good fiction book a while ago called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" which was set in those times, so I found it very moving to find out more about the real stories of what went on. Then we went to a sandy wee beach called Petit Bot and had a walk about on it, there were three friendly ducks who followed us about, unfortunately we had nothing to feed them. There are gun emplacements everywhere on Guernsey, we drove round quite a lot of the coast and it was bristling with them. We had lunch in a lovely bistro then drove to St Peter Port and wandered around the winding streets, it's a very pretty small town set on a hillside. The journey back on the ferry was not so bumpy and we are now about to have dinner with Grandma here at our little cottage. 

Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen

Today was David's 16th Birthday! He has often been on holiday on his birthday because it coincides with the October schools' holiday and this year is no exception. He was pleased with the pocket camcorder, called a Flipcam, which James and I gave him for his birthday and has immediately set about filming our holiday. It was fine and warm here in Jersey today so we decided to visit a couple of beaches. Grandma recommended a beach called Greve de Lecque in the north of the island. James and the boys set off on a five mile circular walk from there (from the Cicerone guidebook provided in our cottage) while Grandma and I got ourselves some newspapers and magazines and installed ourselves on the beach, which was sandy and beautiful. There were waves breaking on the shore but it was fairly sheltered. It was warm and sunny and we read and chatted until the boys came bounding along the beach with huge pine cones and chestnuts that they had found along the way. We all had a nice picnic in the sunshine, throwing bits of our sandwiches to a couple of seagulls, then James suggested that we visit Plemont Bay, which he, Ally and Davie had passed on their walk earlier. We drove there and then walked down a steep set of steps to the beach. This beach was also lovely and had huge caves at the back of it, set into the cliffs. There was even a waterfall in one of the caves. Despite the warning signs, Ally and I couldn't resist going for a swim in the sea. It wasn't particularly cold but the waves seemed bigger once you were actually in them and even though I was only in the water waist deep the waves were lifting me off my feet! Ally was amazing, he was diving right into the waves as they crested! Davie and Ally also did a bit of dam-building on the beach, which is a family tradition that none of the Anderson boys ever grow out of! After we dried off we went back up the long flight of steps to the beach cafe. I have to hand it to Grandma, she is game for a challenge. She made her way up the steps without wanting any help, at her own pace, and we all had a reviving coffee in the pleasant and old-fashioned beach cafe at the top of the steps. Later on we had a Chinese meal and watched a film "Bad Teacher" which had some very funny moments. A good day for all and a good birthday for David. 

A Room with a View

We arrived in Jersey this morning to fine weather. First impressions are favourable; the road from the airport to St Aubin Bay was very narrow, lined with quaint houses, and our hotel is right on the sea front and is absolutely beautiful. It is a white painted old manor house with lovely gardens and a swimming pool. Grandma's room is right at the front of the hotel on the first floor, spacious and with lovely views over the gardens and the sea. I think it is the best room in the hotel because it is the only one with a triple window and Grandma is delighted with it. Our self-catering cottage is round the side of the hotel so no views, but it is very well decorated and clean with a smart kitchen; it was originally a cider press. We all went for the short walk into the village of St Brelade which has loads of cafes and restaurants and had a light lunch in the Bon Viveur, the menu was a strange mix of French and English, for example Alasdair's meal was Moules and Chips. The village is very pretty with a harbour and winding streets. James, Ally and Davie walked out across the sands to explore St Aubin Fort and Grandma and I walked back to the hotel. She was doing her best with the walking but she is a lot slower than she used to be which is fair enough, after all she is eighty two. She didn't complain at all and she didn't accept my subtle (I hope) suggestion of stopping for a coffee, but every now and then she would stop to look at the view, or read a notice or look at some flowers, which gave her a chance to rest for a minute. By the time we got back to the hotel the boys were right behind us; Grandma went up to her luxurious room and we all went for a wee rest. James, Ally and Davie all fell fast asleep but I decided to try out the hotel pool and I had a lovely swim for about forty minutes. When I got back to the cottage the boys were all still fast asleep so I nipped back into the village to get some groceries. A pleasant evening ensued, and after dinner Grandma invited us back to her room for a coffee, I'm so glad she likes it! Ally was showing me some of the Ovid poems that he is studying for his A Level Latin, we had a good laugh about Ovid's attitude to women and the embarrassing frankness of some of his poems! I wonder if Ally should be applying to study Classics instead of Law, because he loves it so much. 

Strewth, there's a bloke here with his strides on!

It's the October holidays and after a recent sad event connected to school I'm glad to have a break. I'm sure that all my colleagues feel the same. Last night we went out for drinks and a meal with Heather and Ewan. It was a lovely evening, we had drinks in Metropolitan followed by a pleasant tapas meal in Merchant Square then another drink at Babbity Bowsters. We had a great chat as usual and the evening was particularly notable because it was the first time for some months that we have seen Ewan wearing trousers! The reason being of course that he has recently had his leg frame removed and as a result he can dispense with the shorts that he has had to wear because of the frame. At least he was wearing shorts over the summer months, but I think he is very glad to be back into his trousers before the winter sets in! It's great to see Ewan looking so mobile and back to normal, although he became pretty nifty on his crutches and latterly even managed without them. It has been a long haul for him and we're very pleased for him that it was successful and that he can now get back to doing all the things he wants to do.
I'm blogging in our Travelodge in Gosforth near Newcastle airport. The reason that we're here is because we are going to fly out to Jersey tomorrow morning from Newcastle and staying here means that we won't have to get up too early. I have a fondness for Travelodges and Premier Inns because we have made use of them many times since the children were born, usually at pleasant times like the beginning of a holiday at an airport before flying off to somewhere lovely, or for the occasional weekend like when we went to the castles around Berwick upon Tweed or when we go to Leuchars air show. When the children were small we used to economise by smuggling all five of us into a room for four by never letting all three children be seen at reception together! This saved us the expense of an extra room because that would have doubled the price. Tonight there are only four of us because it is term time for Jamie. Grandma is going on holiday with us but we didn't smuggle her in, we booked her a room of her own at the Travelodge! James and the boys are watching a programme about D Day and I am playing with my new toy - my iPhone 4S which was just released in the UK yesterday and which James very kindly pre-ordered for me and collected from the shop yesterday lunch-time. After a bit of a footer with email, it is now fully functioning and I like it! I'm still exploring its features and am looking forward to trying out face time which Jennifer and Russell demonstrated to me when I visited them during the summer. How cosy we are in our wee room. 

On the other side of the desk

I have been to hundreds of parents' nights over the years and usually I am on the teacher's side of the desk. I actually love parents' nights because I have always got on really well with the parents and I like to put them at their ease and make the appointment very positive and useful. However I have also been to my fair share of parents' nights on the other side of the desk as a Mum, and that can be more of a challenge! With Jamie, reports were mostly good; some teachers were very enthusiastic about him and a few were not Jamie fans! I remember the welcoming smile on a teacher's face freezing and transforming into a look of anger when he found out that I was Jamie's Mum! 

Alasdair is beloved by all his teachers (he has a Jekyll and Hyde character, of which Dr Jekyll attends school!). David however has given me some horrifying parents' evening moments over the years. The teachers all like him as person, but Primary teachers have been close to tears as they describe their efforts with him and what they perceive as his lack of effort. A Primary head teacher asked me "Have you ever considered that your son may be bone idle?" He's not idle at all, he just doesn't engage unless he sees the point of what he's doing. Secondary teachers have been frustrated and annoyed with him. I once said to a teacher, "David likes Maths!" to which he replied "Well, Maths doesn't like him!" How negative, and in fact completely wrong. In my view the teachers are frustrated because they know that Davie is very clever but the rigid school curriculum doesn't suit him, so they struggle to bring out the best in him.
Tonight I was at his 5th year parents' evening. I had a bad feeling about it because on the way in David told me not to believe anything the teachers said because "It's all lies." On the positive side, all his teachers feel that he is developing a more mature attitude. On the less positive side his results so far are not worthy of him. David and I have a favourite moment in the film "The Dark Knight" where Heath Ledger as the Joker asks a policeman "How many of your friends have I killed?" The policeman says "Six" and Heather Ledger grimaces in an awful parody of sympathy and mouths "Six!" So as each dreadful result was revealed to us by the teachers I would look at David and recreate the scene;
Teacher: "I'm afraid he only got 8%"
Me (grimacing horribly) "Eight!"
Meanwhile David was shooting me knowing looks because he knew what I was referring to but the teachers didn't! This in joke between us was my secret way of letting him know that these results don't reflect his true ability. David does have a lot of work to do; he and I need to consider what will be the best way to get him into his dream career of Science.
Then when I got home I spent the whole evening helping Ally with his Personal Statement for his university applications. There was a lot of shouting and arguing, but we were both quite pleased with the end product. A little more refining and it will be finished. 

More Ayrshire Coastal Walking

James and I had a great day today walking from Glenapp to Ballantrae, another section of the Ayr Coastal Path. The walk was 14 km with about 300 metres of ascent and I found it very easy and pleasant. This was certainly not due to the drizzly weather although it did stop raining for an hour in the middle of the walk. I think it had more to do with the convivial company of the SP hill-walking club. There were nineteen of us who met up for a coffee and a scone at the garden centre in Ballantrae before getting a bus to Glenapp. They are such a friendly crowd; some of them I have now known for about twenty years ever since James started hill-walking with them, and some are relative newcomers who have only been coming along for a year or so. The number and people who attend varies with each outing, but there are always agreeable people to chat with on the walk. Today I was talking to lots of people; Steven has recently received an award for bravery, he saved a woman from a frozen reservoir. I was very impressed. When we had lunch we saw some sheep struggling to cross a stream and Norrie said "Steven, that one needs mouth to mouth!" which I thought was very funny. I was also taking to Gwen, Diane and Hilary among others. At the end of our walk we had a drink at Souter Johnnie's Inn at Kirkoswald, it was really nice and we sat beside the roaring fire. We phoned ahead to ask Davie to make the tea and arrived home a stylish three minutes before Grandma arrived! David's meatballs with tomato sauce were delicious, I was a bit worried about James' Mum because i didn't think she looked very well; she has promised to phone the doctor tomorrow. We have just had a family argument about the difference between marriage and civil partnership; James and Ally think there is a difference and Davie and I don't. At time of going to press the disagreement remains unresolved! 

In remembrance of past lunches

James and I were about to go to the cinema tonight to see "Midnight in Paris" but when James came in a few minutes ago from filling up the car with petrol and getting sandwich fillings for tomorrow, he said "It's kind of dreich out there, do you fancy watching a film here instead?" Now I usually like going out, but we will be walking all day tomorrow and I was delighted with the idea of staying in tonight. So at the moment James is making sandwiches, Davie is watching Scotland v Leichtenstein on television, and in a while we will choose a film to watch. I don't think that Alasdair will be joining us; he is fast asleep in bed which makes me suspect that his party in Dunlop last night went on extremely late. He slept over and arrived back at lunch time today. It has been a drizzly but pleasant day, all the more pleasant for remembering that a week ago I was stuck outside in the rain at Auchengillan. Today we went into town and after a few errands we had lunch with Davie in The Outdoor Experience, where I had delicious cauliflower and stilton soup with a roast beef and onions panini. I have always liked cauliflower soup, which I first tasted at Linda's hen night in Troon twenty-six years ago, imagine remembering that! I often associate delicious food with the place or time I first taste it, like polenta in Tuscany (with a beef stew in Ristorante all' Olivio, Lucca) and bistecca alla fiorentina in Florence (Il Bordino), both in the 1990's, or proper Gratin Dauphinois even longer ago in France in 1981! (the recipe I still use). And the first curries I ever tasted in the 1970's with my family; Chinese chicken curry full of onion! Later I came to prefer and in fact love Indian curries, but when I smell a Chinese curry I get a rush of nostalgia. And back to Tuscany in the 2000's for crostini with various toppings like pesto or tomato or (my favourite) chicken liver, which we would eat outside our villa in the warm evenings with Heather and Ewan and all the children. Scallops in Orkney, smoked salmon pate in Ardnamurchan, steak and chips outside mountain restaurants in Belle Plagne in France, fondue in a wee restaurant in Belle Plagner, piperade tartlets in the Avoca cafe in Dublin, the list could go on and on. I'm sure I have missed out some really important gastronomic experiences. I suppose this shows how much I associate food with pleasure, because I didn't intend to blog about food tonight!
Back to this evening, James has brought in some snacks and drinks so I will go and choose my film. 

Glad to be at home

Today I was on jury duty. This meant a lot of waiting at the High Court, a whole day wasted. I was very glad that my name was not picked, not just because of the inconvenience but because the nature of the case is very unpleasant and I had better say no more about that. Later there was some very sad news about one of my colleagues at school; just awful and a shock. And that's all I will say about that.
So it has not been a good day and I have decided to have a comforting Friday evening television-fest with James and Davie. We have already watched a Liam Neeson film called Taken which was a pleasant enough although somewhat unlikely thriller. Now we are watching a programme I recorded called All Roads Lead Home which features three celebrities navigating around the countryside trying to navigate by nature e.g. position of sun, types of lichen, animal poo etc. It's quite interesting.
I have returned to Proust after breaking off to read my book club book. I'm still enjoying it and I feel sorry for the way Swann is being taken advantage of, but also a bit annoyed at him for letting it happen. It reminds me of some of my own feelings and experiences. Having just switched to a contemporary novel and back again I do notice the floweriness of Proust's language which makes it feel a little dated, but it's good stuff. 

A right good read

It is not often that there is a unanimous verdict on a book at either of my book clubs. Notable successes from years gone by have included Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Birdsong, and Behind the Scenes at the Museum, all books which have captured everyone in the group's imagination. More often some people like the book more than others and of course that makes for an interesting discussion. In fact sometimes after discussing it someone will see the book in a new light and re-read it or finish it with more enjoyment. However yesterday my EK book club met at my house and we found that we were all very enthusiastic about Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty. It's a strange, disturbing, compelling book and I loved it. It was a real page turner and there was a bit of ambiguity in the ending which was slightly annoying but interesting. We were all really enthusiastic about it and because two people hadn't finished it yet we are going to put off discussing the ending until next month. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, I made chili con carne for dinner which seemed to go down well. And tonight I went out for dinner with Sharon, we haven't met up since before the summer so we had lots to catch up on. We went to the newly refurbished Torrance Hotel which is very smart indeed although the food was not perfect - it was very busy so maybe they were a bit pushed for time in the kitchen. A very pleasant couple of evenings! 

Sunset Song Revisited

Davie is studying Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon as one of his Higher English texts and last night I was helping him to make some notes on it. I read it myself when I was at school and I had forgotten how good it is. Guilt and religion, love and loss; it's powerful stuff. I was impressed at David's insights into it, and we had a really good discussion about it. I have had to put Proust on hold while I quickly read a book for Book Club tomorrow evening "Whatever you love" by Louise Doughty, which seems quite disturbing so far. I will try to finish it tonight. Alasdair is sitting beside me on the couch, watching me blog to make sure that I don't write about him. He is always on his high horse about not wanting to be mentioned. Luckily he  has started watching television instead. I had better post this before he notices. 

It finally stopped raining!

I woke this morning to find rain still battering on the tent; if anything it was heavier than ever. I had stuffed my boots with newspaper last night and they were a lot dryer than yesterday. Kenny put his radio on inside his tent and we heard the song "Raindrops keep falling on my head" which I thought was very appropriate. We all got washed, breakfasted and packed up the tents, all in the rain. We arranged the checkpoints and the rest of the staff set off while I sent out the three groups of pupils at twenty minute intervals. The day went very well and the pupils were great, they all passed their qualifying expedition, and had such a positive and cheerful attitude. I walked in to meet them towards the end of the walk and as I was walking up a small hill I realised that something strange had happened - it wasn't raining! By the time we got back to the car park there was even some patches of blue sky, sadly too late for our walk! Home and had a bath, where I discovered that I had not one but TWO ticks sticking into my side! They must have jumped on to me as I walked through the bracken yesterday. Yeuch! James gave me his tick removing tweezers to get rid of them. Later I collected Ally from his Duke of Edinburgh sea kayaking practice expedition to Loch Linnhe, he had enjoyed it despite the weather. He was telling me about riding on the tide. Then we all had dinner with Grandma and now I'm heading to my comfy bed. I think it is raining again outside but I'm warm and dry so I don't mind.  

It's still raining

Here I am back in my tent and it is still raining! It seems unending. It has rained all day. I am in awe of its relentlessness. Needless to say this affected our walk today and everybody got soaked despite their waterproofs. At one point I was walking along a hillside path which was overgrown with ferns and my boots, socks and trousers became completely soaked. I was all alone because I was walking in to meet a pupil with medication that one of their parents had brought for them. How glad I was to see the blue jacket of Carolyn and the polka dotted jacket of Shona on the slope below me! The three of us continued to walk in to meet the pupils and then continued to the Carbeth Inn with them. I have to admire the pupils' spirit in this awful weather. It is hard to believe that it still so hot and sunny in England. So here I am sitting in the doorway of my wee tent. The pupils are all still awake and we are all chatting. I am so looking forward to the comforts of home but for a wet camping weekend this has been quite enjoyable!