Lady Rhondda

A busy but good day; for some reason I was in a tremendously good mood all day. It can't have been the weather, which was rather dreich. I did get a lot done at work which always gives me a feeling of satisfaction and I have been working with Ally all evening on yet another History essay, which was actually rather pleasant. As usual I was doing research while Ally feverishly wrote the essay, and the historical figure he had chosen to write about was Margaret, Viscountess Rhondda who was a very interesting character. Born to a life of privilege, she spent most of her adult life campaigning for women's rights, first as a militant suffragette who got sent to prison for trying to blow up a post box, and later as a respectable businesswoman who used more law-abiding methods to advance the feminist cause. She survived the sinking of the Lusitania in 1916, and left her husband to set up home with another woman. Although not as well known as the Pankhursts she was a strong and amazing woman. 

Cataracts, pyjamas and boats

This is a blog in three parts. First the cataracts; Grandma finally had her first cataract operation today. I managed to get a cancellation and the operation was arranged at fairly short notice. James took her over to the Royal Jubilee Hospital early this morning; she was very brave and the procedure went well although her blood pressure shot up beforehand. It was so successful for my Mum that I have high hopes that it will improve Grandma's quality of life. James then took her home and tucked her into bed with a hot water bottle. 

Secondly, when I popped down to Morrison's for a few things today I was amazed to see a young woman shopping in what were very obviously pyjamas. She was a big girl and she looked terrible, especially as she was also wearing SLIPPERS! No one else seemed to notice, but I could hardly take my eyes off her. Oh dear, have I become very judgemental and middle aged? But how long would it have taken for her to put on a tracksuit and a pair of trainers? 

Thirdly, in the afternoon we went to watch Jamie racing with the Dundee University Boat Club at Strathclyde Park Loch. It was nice to watch him doing this sport that has come to mean so much to him over the last couple of years. It was cold at the loch with a biting wind, and the water was quite choppy. We watched his first race, in a boat with eight rowers, where unfortunately they came last. Then we all had a coffee and a chat in the watersports centre. Jamie had asked me to bring him some pasta to eat between races. Then James, Ally, Davie and I walked round the loch which took about an hour, and we were just in nice time to watch Jamie's second race, which went much better. This time there were four rowers in the boat and they came second, in fact they very nearly won. After the race Jamie was freezing cold so we left him to get changed and now I am in the middle of cooking dinner; Grandma will be over in a minute and we are having Moroccan chicken.
Update at 9 p.m. - Grandma has just left, after a jolly dinner, escorted home by Jamie. She was looking great and was very cheerful, no doubt relieved that her ordeal was over! 

The Scottish Symphony

Jamie is home for the weekend for a big rowing competition at Strathclyde Park Loch. It is lovely to see him, and I got an extra ticket for him to the concert at the Royal Concert Hall that we had already planned to go to this evening. Kyle came too so there were six of us. The concert was Mendelssohn's Symphony number 3, otherwise known as The Scottish symphony. It was part of the RSNO "Naked Classics" season. In the first half of the programme a presenter called Paul Rissman told us a bit about Felix Mendelssohn's life and then took us through each of the four movements of the symphony. He projected pictures and written music onto a large screen, and used light to highlight different notes and phrases and explained what the themes were. He got the orchestra to play the bits he was talking about. At one point he showed how a short phrase in the third movement repeats a lot by getting the different parts of the orchestra to stand up when they played it, so they were all bobbing up and down which was very amusing and made his point very clearly. This was ideal for someone like me who likes music but knows very little about it; I found it fascinating. For example some parts are more "Scottish" sounding than others, and when he pointed it out you could totally hear that. Then in the second half, after we had all refreshed ourselves with drinks at the interval, the orchestra played the whole symphony, and you could hear how it all hung together. It was excellent and all of the boys said they enjoyed it too. 

Mum's Fountain Part 2

A chilly morning has turned into a beautiful afternoon. James and I had lunch in the garden centre at Rouken Glen park and then we all played table tennis in the garden. The reason that we were at the garden centre was to get plants for Mum's fountain, which has small planters on either side of the fountain bit. We chose a mixture of verbena and silver-leaved gazania, which should make a nice display during the summer. As anyone who read my blog from two days ago may notice, James has backed down from his position regarding Mum's fountain, and has now agreed for it to remain forever on our patio. He has not apologised for his previous attitude nor has he said anything nice about the fountain; he seems resigned to keeping it though. Ally did a great job of cleaning it out and refilling it with water and now it looks great with its plants on either side, and is working perfectly. Poignantly, Ally found a wee cigarette butt in the stagnant water when he was cleaning it out, Mum must have flicked it in there years ago. Or it could have been her gardner Sam (who pre-deceased Mum) who also loved smoking. When Jamie was wee, he used to go into the garden and ask Sam to give up smoking and Sam would say "It's too late!" Sam was a great character, originally a coal man who worked for James' Dad, he became a gardner and often didn't turn up for work after a heavy night out. He didn't live to an old age but I always got the impression that he was a happy man. 

Goodbye to Mum's House

I was very worried today when the chief invigilator came to tell me that he had a complaint about the reading and scribing I did yesterday. I was terrified that I had done something very wrong because he looked so serious; then he said, "It's all very well to read and scribe for a pupil but it's going too far to claim credit for her work!" and he started laughing. It turns out that on one of the papers I had written my name instead of the pupil's name! This came to light when the invigilators were checking through the papers later. Needless to say word got round the school and people were asking me if I was trying to get myself a standard grade in Biology!
Today the sale of my Mum's house went through; the lawyer phoned me about half a dozen times with questions, everything is done so precisely, and she didn't hand over the keys until the buyers' cheque had cleared. It has all moved so fast over the last couple of days, and I was amazed that by the time I got home from work the buyers were in the process of moving in. We had not got round to removing the last sofa and chairs so Ally and Davie went round to lift them out and James took them down to the dump in several loads with some garden rubbish. When he came back from his first trip he found Davie and Kyle standing beside the couch in the street, "in case it was stolen". James pointed out that he would have been delighted if it was stolen because it would have saved him another trip to the dump! So after two years, Mum's house is occupied again. It feels strange. 

Mum's fountain

It was a long day at school today; the SQA exams have now started and I was reading and scribing all day. I went out for a meal this evening to Mitchell's in Carmunnock with Victoria, we had a great chat and the meal was absolutely delicious. The highlight for me, unusually, was my dessert which was rice pudding with syrup and papaya; it was really gorgeous and although I had plenty to eat I don't feel overly full. I arrived home to find my boys dispersed around the house playing computer games, studying, and watching "Empire". I find "Empire" quite interesting but I don't enjoy it as much as James seems to. Another bit of news today is that the sale of Mum's house is finalised and I have to put the keys through the solicitor's letterbox tonight. I feel a sense of anticlimax although I should feel relieved. I am also going to collect the wee fountain that Jennifer and I gave Mum for her 70th birthday. I remember how she had seen it in a magazine and Jenn and Russ drove all the way to Perth to get the exact one she wanted. We set it up in the garden and she was so happy and pleased. So I was not very happy when James said this evening that it is "tacktastic" and that I should throw it in the bin. My Mum had excellent taste and although the fountain was not expensive, it is lovely. 

David was head-butted by a horse

I am so pleased with how well David's work placement is going; I think it is excellent experience for him and he is learning a whole new set of skills. His duties are mucking out, fetching in the horses from the field, grooming them and tacking them up. Today he was the back marker when the horses were led out with the disabled young people on them, which meant he had to look out for hazards. He loves it. A nice bonus for David is that he looks and feels fitter, it must be the hard work and fresh air. He always has good stories to tell us about his day and today he had us all laughing at dinner when he told us about the head butting incident. He was taking Smudge's halter off and the horse put its head down, then swung his head back up as he reached around it. Luckily no harm was done! One day he was grooming Solo and then one of the other volunteers said "You might want to stand away from him!" David moved away just in time because Solo then did a huge pee. Apparently you can tell when a horse is about to pee because it moves its front feet forwards and its back feet backwards! 

History will be kind to Ally for he intends to write it

I felt a bit tired and out of sorts this morning, but then one of my colleagues told me that I looked smart and I perked up. I'm so easily pleased! The rest of day was fine and concluded with an important parents' meeting about the upcoming Duke of Edinburgh expeditions which went very well. When I got home James had made the dinner which was a nice treat. Ally has continued to work on his History essay and was telling me how slowly he has been progressing today; I said "Now do you see how difficult I was finding the research yesterday?" and he said "Yes". I have continued my unpaid job as his research assistant this evening, and I have come to the conclusion that History is more complicated than I thought! I'm just glad that Ally is the one doing the actual writing of the essay. It has been quite interesting finding out about characters like Frances Buss and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson; what amazing women they were! And Ally has just told me that the notes I have made for him are really good, which is gratifying.  I'm about to head to a nice relaxing bath while James, David and Alasdair (on a break from writing his essay) are watching one of James' all time favourite films, "Apocalypse Now". Someday this war's gonna end...and this History essay... 

Sunshine and Studies

This morning I came down and saw Jack sitting illuminated in a broad shaft of sunshine which was coming in from the east through the glass of the back door. How he loves the sun. This evening he was basking on his sheepskin rug in the sunshine coming from the west of the house, slanting in through the French windows in the back room. He looked so comfy. Ally is working on his A Level History Extended essay this evening and I have been trying to help him with the structure. The trouble is that Ally doesn't know what he wants to write but he is very clear about what he doesn't want, which is anything I suggest. I just don't have the depth of knowledge to help him properly. Hopefully my support and good intentions are helping a bit, although from the grim look on Ally's face, perhaps not! Meanwhile James has been proof-reading Jamie's dissertation about orthopaedic technology, which he was not thrilled about but he did his best. I have to say that thus has not been the most fun evening in the Anderson household! 

Walking on the West Highland Way

Well it didn't take me long to start on my next walking project! Having completed the Ayrshire Coastal path last Saturday I walked a bit of the West Highland Way today. This was not me taking the initiative though, it was because it was the low level route for today's hill-walking club day walk. It suited me well because it was a section that was new to me. Over the years I have walked the same section from Inverarnan to Bridge of Orchy many times with school groups, and today I walked from the Inveroran Hotel (north of Bridge of Orchy) to the King's House Hotel, so I am well started on the West Highland Way. To be honest I wasn't looking forward to today's walk but it turned out to be great fun. I was in a supportive and congenial group of four and we all chatted as we ambled along. Also the scenery was spectacular; beautiful open countryside ringed by steep mountains. And the weather was great, warm and mainly sunny, and not a drop of rain despite the forecast. We met and chatted to other walkers and had lunch beside a picturesque bridge. We arrived at the King's House Hotel which had deer grazing outside and had drinks in the lounge while waiting for the others (one group climbed a Corbett, the other a Munro). We got talking to a friendly Dutch man who regaled us in a lovely accent with stories about his hill-walking; "The wind was trying to shuck me up and I fell and twishted my knee!"and also to a pleasant but footsore couple who were walking the route for charity. After everyone had arrived and had a drink or two we set off home with our passengers and now I am heading for bed, exhausted not so much by the walk (it was only 14 km) but by the long day. I would love to walk the whole of the West Highland Way one day. 

A Day of Domesticity

Today I wiped the leaves of my little lime tree with a damp cloth, an act of almost unprecedented horticulture for me! I do like both of my little trees and am endeavouring not to kill them. I also made a stew for Ewan and Heather's dinner that I was quite pleased with; I have made it before several times, but this was the tenderest it has been - although not up to the standard of Ewan's Tuscan stew which is totally melt in the mouth. James made pancakes for the dessert of crepes suzette amidst much shouting when the smoke alarm kept going off! I also did a bit of shopping and worked with Alasdair on his extended History essay. We had a lovely evening of chat with our friends and I was very excited when I found out that I may have a condition called "shin splints" which Heather first pronounced as skinflints by mistake! It's not that I want to have something wrong with me, I was just excited that I may have a Sports Injury - indicates that I am being active! On further discussion it turns out that I probably don't have it after all which I suppose is good. 

An Early Night

I went to bed this evening at the unusually early hour of nine o'clock, hoping to sleep off my (still) sore neck and this stupid tiredness. It feels strange but good to be tucked up and blogging, and when I am finished I will read some more of my annoying but strangely compelling detective novel; "The Risk of Darkness" by Susan Hill, the third in the Simon Serrailler series. My parents' house was full of books, including lots of crime novels and science fiction, both of which genres I feel very at home with, like putting on a comfy old pair of slippers. Both my Mum and Dad were big readers and my Dad romanced my Mum by taking her copies of The Lord of the Rings when she was in hospital in the 1950s. My tastes in reading were definitely influenced by the huge variety of classic and contemporary novels that I was able to explore; as a child I read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder novels (Jennifer and I read "On the banks of Plum Creek" to Mum during the night before she died) and the Jane Shaw "Susan" novels which I thought were hilarious. As I grew older I discovered and fell in love with Evelyn Waugh, Thomas Hardy, Robert Graves, Samuel Pepys, and many more. One of my favourite authors when I was a young girl was Betty MacDonald who wrote "Anybody Can Do Anything" and "The Plague and I". I can't explain why I loved her books so much, except that I found them to be funny and beautifully written and I felt as if the author was talking to me personally. I would have loved to have met her and was sad when I found out that she died before I was born. Anyway I have long moved on to choosing my own books and enjoying the recommendations of friends, but I do appreciate the good start I had thanks to my bookish parents. 

Extreme Television

I have spent the whole evening watching television! But I had a reason: James bought something called Apple TV today on a whim today when he was in town. It makes the television screen into a screen for your iPad so you can play films and show photos wirelessly straight onto the big screen. We had fun experimenting with it and then spent some time showing Ally old documentaries from YouTube, such as the Balcombe Street siege and the Harrods bomb, that we remembered from television reports at the time. Ally was very interested and we had a pleasant evening. Then we watched Louis Theroux's Documentary "Extreme Love: Autism". Ewan had texted me to tell me about it and I was very glad that he did. It was about several children with ASD who go to a school in New Jersey specialising in Autism, and their relationship with their parents. The school is well structured, set up using the TEACCH methods, using a lot of visual supports and encouraging independence. I found it absolutely fascinating, and so did David, who had a talk last week at the Disabled Riding Stables from the parent of an autistic child. The school was great and the pupils were lovely, all in their different ways, and the characteristics and behaviours of each one reminded me of one or more of my pupils, present or past. The parents do an absolutely amazing job, as do many of the parents of pupils with ASD that I know; Louis Theroux said that he had an admiration for the parents bordering on awe, and that is often how I feel. 

My sore neck

My neck has been sore since our walk on Saturday; I don't know whether it was caused by a the breeze or by coughing. It is so stiff that I can't turn my head to the left without pain so I have to turn my shoulders if I want to look at something or someone to the side of me. I have been hoping it would ease off but this morning it was worse than ever, with the pain going down my shoulder and arm. This suddenly reminded me of my Mum; I remember that she was prone to stiff necks and what she called "frozen shoulders" and I remember her discussing painkillers and cures when I was a child. I guess you can't escape your heritage! Luckily it doesn't happen to me very often, the last time was several years ago. My Mum always had plenty of remedies in her medicine cabinet; I loved the taste of Disprin and Benylin. We were watching an episode of Mad Men recently where a little girl is given a sleeping tablet by an adult. James was really shocked when I told him that this happened to me in the 1970s several times when I couldn't sleep! James has a few remedies of his own and gave me an Ibuprofen tablet before I left for work. One of my colleagues very kindly gave me a neck massage, and advised me to treat it with "hot and cold" treatments. It was too inconvenient to use the ice pack from the first aid box because I never get the chance to sit still in my job, however there was a life skills outing just about to go to the town centre, so I gave them money to buy me some "Deep Heat" cream AND some "Deep Freeze" gel. I applied these alternately throughout the day and it has been quite effective, although people kept asking what the smell was! Ally is quite interested in my method, and he has applied the cream to one of his legs and the gel to the other while he watches the Chelsea v Barcelona game on television. He thinks that the heat cream is more tingly than hot, but he does think that the cold gel feels cool on his skin. 

Tired tonight

I am really tired today for some reason so I'm just blogging briefly from my bath. I didn't go to the gym after work which disappoints me but I will try to go tomorrow. Good news for Davie today; he has got a place at my school, Duncanrig Secondary School, for next session. David's plan is to repeat 5th year next session so that he will sit his Highers for the first time in Spring 2013. This is because for many University courses the results from the first sitting in 5th year are very important, even though you can sit more in 6th year. And the beauty of this is that none of his classmates at Duncanrig will know that he is repeating a year unless he chooses to tell them. His options form has been filled in and I have even arranged cello lessons for him. I am very hopeful that this will be an excellent move for him, not just academically but also for his confidence. Meanwhile he seems to be enjoying his volunteer job at Riding for the Disabled, which will also look great on his CV. 

James is tired too after a day in London. I am going to read a bit more of my current book, a detective novel by Susan Hill called The Pure in Heart. So far so good. 

Stepping out

Back to work today after the holidays; it was nice to see everyone again and the day went well. I decided to go to the gym at the end of the day, but I had to really force myself. I footered around in my room looking for any excuse not to go. I finally got changed and went along to spend half an hour on the step machine, because I am trying to build up my leg muscles for summer hill-walking. I quite enjoyed it and found it very helpful to listen to my music as I exercised. David was back at his work placement today and is tired this evening, however Ally was still at home on the last day of his holiday, studying for his exams (allegedly). Later he went to Disabled Scouts; he helps out there faithfully every week. James and I have been watching an interesting programme on BBC2 this evening about the beginning of the 1970s, with lots of film and commentary about what was happening politically and culturally. It's strange to see events that I remember from a child's point of view, such as miners' strikes and power cuts, and although the footage is in colour it all looks as if it was a very long time ago! 

Clearing up

Alasdair's party last night seemed to go very well; no damage to the house except (another) cracked tile in the back room, and the party-goers did a bit of clearing up in the morning before they left, which I appreciated. Andrew had stayed overnight and I was chatting to him over breakfast, it's great to hear how much he is loving his course at university. There were still lots of spillages to clear up, and my biggest task was to mop the floor in the back room. It was the worst I've ever seen it; I think that earth from the garden had been tramped in across the floor which was already wet with beer, and so by the morning it had dried into a layer of dirt. This meant that I couldn't just mop it, I had to wet it first to soften it and then go over it again, which took longer. It was a beautiful morning so I opened up all the doors and the floor dried very quickly. Jack the cat was very pleased that the crowds had gone and especially enjoyed walking in and out of the back room, supervising the cleaning. David and Andrew helped by taking some bin bags of rubbish along to Gran's bin, however Alasdair had gone back to bed, exhausted from partying and then making breakfast for his guests! David and Andrew enticed him into getting up at lunch-time by bringing him a sandwich from Subway and the three of them had lunch in the garden, I could hear them chatting away. James planted my lemon and lime trees in their terracotta pots; they look great. Then he did some more gardening while I took Grandma into town to shop for clothes because she isn't feeling confident enough yet to go into town by herself. We went to John Lewis and she found a dress and jacket that she liked, I thought they were lovely. Then we had a coffee at my favourite table in the restaurant, which looks down Buchanan Street; I always think that the view looks like a Lowry painting. Home to find that Ally had done a lot more clearing up and the house is more or less back to normal. And so ends my Easter holiday. Has it been a good one? Yes, I think so; some walking, some useful work around the house, and plenty of relaxing. 

Time and tide wait for no man

Great excitement! Today James and I walked the 14 km from Dunure to Ayr, so that means we have finished walking all 92 miles of the Ayrshire Coastal path. It's the first long distance route I have walked so I was delighted. It was a pleasant section of the path and James had cleverly timed our walk so that the tide would be fully out, which meant that we could walk along all the beaches and round the headlands. At one point the path climbed up a bit along an old railway cutting which was very picturesque, lined with gorse bushes and great views of the sea, which was a dark prussian blue on this gorgeous sunny day.  As we approached Ayr we popped in to visit James' friend David and his wife Margaret and they gave us a warm welcome which included coffee and cakes. The last part of our walk was along the promenade and through the streets of Ayr. James and I felt very happy as we drove home and we are already planning our next project.
After I had a quick bath we headed into the west end where we had a celebratory dinner at Brel in Ashton Lane (hearty fare at a reasonable price). Then we went to see the film "Titanic". It was the 1997 James Cameron version starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo di Caprio, which has recently been re-released in 3D. I thought it would be interesting to watch it this evening because today is the 100th anniversary of the disaster; the Titanic struck the iceberg late on April 14th and sank in the early hours of April 15th. However I actually found it very moving, because in spite of the cheesy fictional love story, the scenes of the ship sinking reminded me of how awful it must have been for the 1500 passengers who didn't make it into the lifeboats, it was a terrible tragedy. Radio 2 is commemorating the anniversary with a three hour minute by minute account of the disaster to coincide with the time it happened. And I heard on the radio "The Titanic Requiem" composed by Robin Gibb who is currently very ill in a coma. 
When we got home Ally's party was in full swing, of which more tomorrow. Jack the cat was very pleased to see James and me and is in our bedroom right now, sheltering from the loud music and singing! 

Philosophical Discussion

A busy day. In the morning I took Grandma to her doctor's to follow up some issues from her recent illness. It was a useful visit and we had a cup of coffee and a chat afterwards. Then Davie and I went into town for the lunch I have been promising him in TGI Fridays; to David' s shock the menu has been changed and no longer features his favourite "double stacked burger"! However he ordered something called a "monster burger" and seemed to enjoy it very much. We enjoyed watching some street dancers outside the window of the restaurant and we talked about philosophy! I recently bought him "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarder and he has started reading it. We had great fun arguing about the relative merits of science and philosophy. I love discussing things with David; he thinks very deeply about things and expresses his point of view very well. David thinks that philosophers simply ask questions and fail to provide answers, unlike science. My argument is that if we put the resources into philosophy that we have  put into science then the world might (morally) be a better place today. Needless to say, we didn't agree, but David is intending to continue reading the book. Later on Alasdair and I went out to buy supplies for his party; some beers, soft drinks, pizzas, crisps and snacks, and rolls and bacon (for the overnight guests). We also chose some pleasingly classical terracotta containers for the lemon and lime trees; it took us ages to choose and Ally was a great help. And in the evening James and I watched quite a good film, "Anonymous" which is about politics and conspiracies around the writing of Shakespeare's plays. 

My Lemon Tree

Another lovely holiday day. When I got up I noticed that there are tiny buds of blossom appearing on the cherry tree in the front garden. It is truly Spring! It was raining in the morning so I wasn't sure if Heather and I would be able to go for our planned walk in Rouken Glen Park. However Heather correctly predicted an improving forecast and by the time we met it was dry. We went for a pleasant circuit of the park, up round the pond to the waterfall. Rouken Glen has many good memories for me of when the boys were tiny; I went there a lot and we had picnics by the pond, and the children loved the play area. We have been there with prams, push chairs, tricycles, bicycles and even remote controlled cars. I remember my Dad pretending to climb over the fence at the waterfall which both amused and alarmed a three year old Jamie; he also pretended he was going to catch one of the ducks in the pond for tea when he took Jamie out in a rowing boat, Jamie was shouting with glee, "No Grandpa, don't do it!" No wonder Jamie loved him so much! It's a pity that they only had just under seven years together. Rouken Glen was always a favourite in the autumn too, because the boys enjoyed what they called "Skooshing through the leaves"; wearing their welly boots and kicking through the piles of fallen leaves. We have enjoyed the park in all its seasons.
Heather and I walked back through the glen and went into the walled garden, which didn't have a lot in it yet apart from daffodils. Then we went into the garden centre for lunch of toasties, cakes and coffee and chat; a very nice treat on a Thursday lunch time. After lunch we had a look around the garden centre and Heather noticed some little lime trees. They even had fruit on them and so did some lemon trees. I couldn't resist getting one of each for the back room. In the 1980s James and I visited Bar Pineta in Maiori on the Neapolitan coast which had a little courtyard restaurant through the back where Amalfi lemon trees were growing all around its walls and on trellises over the heads of the customers. We used to go there at lunch time and eat the "pasta of the day" which was always delicious. Ever since then I have liked the idea of having my own lemon tree. The lime tree is smaller and has a nice limey scent; Heather got one too. James seemed quite pleased with them when he saw them and we have put them on either side of the French windows of the back room. 

The six labours of Ally

Ally went to a party last night and didn't come home, even though he said he was going to. He told me that he definitely didn't want to stay overnight at the party, and I gave him £20 so that he could get a taxi home later. I was annoyed and also very worried; I had just read a news item on the BBC news website about a 19 year old in Birmingham who hadn't arrived home from a party, and he was found dead the next day. I texted Ally at about 1 a.m. and then several times this morning to no avail. Eventually he texted me at about 11 a.m. to say he was on his way home from the party. Far from being apologetic, his text was quite truculent. Apparently he had lost his phone at the party and couldn't find it until this morning. I was more relieved than annoyed by this time. When we discussed it he was alternately grumpy and jokey, but clearly didn't want to fall out with me too badly because he doesn't want us to cancel his own party this Saturday.
I decided that since he is of a classical mindset he should pay for his actions along the lines of the twelve labours of Hercules, which were as follows:
1. Slay the Nemean Lion
2. Slay the nine-headed Lernean Hydra
3. Capture the Golden Hind of Artemis
4. Capture the Erymanthian Boar
5. Clean the Augean Stables in a single day (this one sounds more like David's work placement!)
6. Slay the Stymphalian Birds (Jack could help with this one)
7. Capture the Cretan Bull
8. Steal the Mares of Diomedes (David again!)
9. Obtain the girdle of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons
10. Obtain the cattle of the monster Geryon
11. Steal the apples of the Hesperides (the Reids' apples, a branch of which hang over our fence?)
12. Capture and bring back Cerberus.
Here are the six labours of Ally (I couldn't think of twelve):
1. Carry in James' wine boxes from the garage
2. Carry in and put away the groceries
3. Cut the grass at number 26 tomorrow
4, 5, and 6. Make the dinner tonight, Thursday and Friday (a nice break for me).
The fact that Ally instantly agreed to do these readily is proof that he feels guilty. And he still hasn't given me back the £20! 

A useful day

It has been one of those useful days around the house for James and me. Various administrative matters were addressed, both trivial and important, including a visit to the lawyer about arrangements for the sale of my Mum's house. Some tidying was done. Discussions about our summer walking holiday, plans for the garden and the layout of the kitchen took place. Lunch was eaten in Zizzi's in Princes Square while we were in town to collect my pearls (the string had broken but luckily it was knotted between each pearl so only one was lost, and it has been replaced - it looks as good as new). Our lunch was very nice; I had cicchetti, which are like tapas and are (according to the menu) often served as lunch in Venice. They were absolutely delicious; I chose mushroom arancini, aubergines in sauce, and ragu with polenta. Yummy. When we got home we kept on pottering about happily until tea time, which is now! I am going to serve out our tea and then we are going to watch the next episode of Mad Men. The boys have also been gainfully employed; Jamie is back in Dundee working on his research project, Ally and Cat did some studying before she went home, and Davie has been playing with Kyle. Jack the cat has been trying to relax amid all this activity! 

A family day out in Glasgow

We had a bit of a lie in this morning after our early starts on Saturday and Sunday. After everybody was ready the five of us set off to the Transport Museum. I had asked Jamie, Ally and Davie to make sure that they were free for a family day out. We chose this venue because the forecast was for rain all day and because Jamie and Ally hadn't been to the new museum yet and they were quite interested to see how it compared to the one they visited throughout their childhood. We collected Cat near Central Station on our way. I enjoyed the visit; we spent quite a lot of time looking at the ships which has always been my favourite part. I didn't like the fact that there was a "wall of cars" which meant that you couldn't look properly inside the ones that are higher up. I do think the layout is a bit cramped and haphazard, but I'm probably biased because I was very fond of the old museum. We then went up to Glasgow University and had a walk around to see the Law faculty, before picking up some crepes from Woodlands Road on the way home. Ally asked his brothers to get him a "surprise crepe" so they got him an asparagus crepe which he liked very much. Far from being rainy all day, the afternoon was rather fine and James did some gardening while I lay in my hammock with a blanket over me and had a cosy nap. The boys all amused themselves; Ally and Cat took Easter eggs round to Jenny, Neil and Lucy while Kyle came round to see David and Jamie went for a run. We all had dinner together and then watched the concluding part of Silent Witness which was very good. And now the rain is back on, battering on the roof of the extension in a way that makes me glad that I am inside. 

A day on Arran

James and I went to Arran today to have lunch with Maggie and Mark, we haven't seen them for a while so it was good to catch up. We set off in good time for the 9.45 ferry and were soon tucking into rolls and sausage which is a tradition of ours on the Arran ferry. When we got to Brodick we saw a disturbing sight; the main road at the front was taped off by the police and there was a police van with a large dent in the front of it. We asked a shop assistant what had happened and she said that there had been a rugby sevens competition yesterday and in the evening one of the players had been hit by the police van. He was helicoptered to the Southern General so let's hope he recovers. We went for a walk along the front, through the edge of the golf course and along the beach to the Wineport Bistro, where we had a drink. It's a really nice wee restaurant with a real fire, very cosy. Back along the beach we went to meet Maggie and Mark, they took us to the Cruize Bar Brasserie which is in the Auchrannie Hotel. It was very smart and we got a great table by the window. We have stayed at the Auchrannie years ago, including once for a special birthday of Maggie's, and it brought back good memories. Lunch was delicious; I had the smoked haddock and leek risotto which was excellent. We had a great chat and a laugh over lunch, swapping stories about what we have all been up to. Later they gave us a lift back to the ferry terminal and we were soon heading home on the ferry.
A further treat was in store because Jamie has come home for a couple of days. We phoned ahead to ask him to heat up the dinner and Grandma came round too, and all six of us had a jolly evening. Grandma was on good form, I think that she's feeling a bit better. Jamie was telling us about his rowing exploits and Grandma was teasing him about his tattoos; it was a very pleasant and lively evening. After Grandma went home Jamie suggested that we watch "Silent Witness" (which I remember Terry Wogan used to call "Witless Silence"!) and it was very good. I must say that this has been a lovely day! 

Gorse smells like coconuts and Contagion

Today James and I walked 21 km from Ballantrae to Girvan - not one but two sections of the Ayrshire Coastal Path! We saw lots of interesting wildlife such as eider ducks, shags standing on rocks with their wings spread out, fulmars nesting, gannets, oyster catchers and robins. We saw sheep and lambs and a herd of cows feeding from a circular feeding station. We also saw a sad little memorial in memory of Archibald Hamilton and his crew from Kingscross, Arran, who drowned near there in 1711. There was a verse on the memorial:
Ye passengers who e'er ye are
As ye pass on this way
Disturb ye not this small respect
That's paid to sailor's clay.
The best part of the walk was when we walked up a hill between Lendalfoot and Girvan which got us away from the coastal road and had lovely sea views. We could see Northern Ireland, Ailsa Craig and the Mull of Kintyre. We could see up the coast to Turnberry lighthouse and Hunterston Point. And as I have mentioned in the blog title we noticed - not for the first time - that gorse smells quite strongly of coconuts - and a wee bit of peach too. Talking of peach, I had a delicious peach smoothie at the Pebbles Bistro outside Lendalfoot, this was a nice treat as we don't often pass cafes in the course of our walks. However the walk did have its drawbacks. The beaches that we walked along varied in gravel / sand content and some of them were very trudgy! We seemed to spend forever walking along the beach at Ballantrae. And there was quite a lot of walking along the verge of the road which was noisy and for quite a while we had to walk behind the crash barrier. The quality of beach walking improved towards the end of our walk although by that time I was quite tired. We jumped on a bus from Girvan back to Ballantrae and it was amazing to see how far we had walked. James was master of restraint during the walk after our (brief) falling out on Monday; I could tell that he was trying very hard not to be impatient at my speed. Only once did he let out a groan (when I lay down unexpectedly beside the path out of exhaustion) and he quickly stifled it and encouraged me to keep going. By the time we got back to the car I was feeling very jolly, both James and I had pink faces from the sunshine. 

I phoned ahead to ask Davie to run a bath for me and James got us a Chinese meal and we all watched a film called Contagion about a virus which kills millions. Despite being studded with top stars, and interesting to watch, the plot was very unlikely. It had some good ideas though, and was well-structured, because we didn't find out until the very end of the film where the virus had originated. This turned out to be a bat in China (!) which bit a pig, and then the pig was served up as a roast dinner to the first human to catch the virus. A relaxing end to a good day. I also want to mention that I am very pleased with Ally just now. He is being very pleasant to me and Davie (he is always pleasant to James and Jamie) and he invited David to go to the cinema with him and his friends today. 

Ally and the interesting travelator

This morning Christopher and Jodie popped round for a coffee with their beautiful boys; Theo, Euan and Isaac. James and David were both at work so only Alasdair and I were at home; Ally was really nice with the wee boys and I think they enjoyed playing with him. They are so lovely and remind me of my own boys at that age. Jack got a lot of attention from them and was quite tolerant, although eventually he left the house and was seen disappearing up the garden, glancing over his shoulder at our visitors as he went. Ally and I then went into town where Ally had some things he wanted to buy, including suit covers, a hoodie and some underwear. We then had lunch in TGI Fridays which felt a bit wrong without Davie, however we still enjoyed it; Ally ate a huge full rack of ribs with prawns! He was so pleased with the Ralph Lauren underwear that he got in TKMaxx that he actually took it out of the bag to show me them during lunch! We then decided to surprise Davie by picking him up from work at the riding stables. We got there just before he finished for the day and saw him hard at work sweeping out a stall, he looked so sweet. On the way home we got Davie a Mcdonald's meal to make up to him for missing our TGI Fridays trip (he said "You betrayed me!" when he found out!) and we also went to a Tesco's in Ruchill to get a few things. It was on the top floor of a shopping centre and when we were leaving we were able to take our trolley down an inclined travelator to reach the ground floor. But what was really interesting about it was that the travelator was magnetic, so the trolley was held firmly in place and didn't roll down the slope, even if you let go of the handle. Ally and I enjoyed testing this. Now we are all watching a film called "Paris je t'aime" which is in fact eighteen short films set in different parts of Paris. Some are amusing, some depressing and some are just weird. 

A lovely lunch

I had a lovely time today when I went out for lunch with Jackie in Shawlands. I had been into work for a couple of hours and then I collected my car from a garage to which I shall never take my business again. I don't want to dwell on the details but I was completely ripped off and I was furious. So I was looking forward to relaxing with Jackie. We had a delicious lunch and a great chat and a laugh. She is a lovely friend as well as a brilliant colleague. It reminded me of the days when I was part time when the children were small and I used to go out for lunch on a Thursday with some friends who I met when Jamie was in primary school. I really enjoyed it. We ate in lots of south side restaurants and it was quite cheap because everyone was paying just for themselves. When I went back to working full time I used to feel a bit wistful on a Thursday lunch time but I soon got used to my new routine. Today however was a great holiday treat and I really enjoyed it. 

My working boy

In all the excitement of our trip to Rothesay I haven't mentioned that this is an exciting week for Davie too - his first week in the world of work. Having finished at Belmont on Friday, he started a three month placement at Riding for the Disabled on Monday, and I am extremely proud of him because he has been very positive about this new departure. So far so good; he has been grooming horses, sweeping out stables and leading the clients' horses as they ride. He says he is enjoying it and that he gets on well with his colleagues. I hope that this will be good for his skills and confidence. It sounds like he has had a good start. 

Nearly stranded!

Well it has been quite a night and day! After our lovely day of good weather and walking yesterday, things did not go to plan! First of all I was kept awake almost all night by a VERY upset tummy. I will not go into any details (you will be glad to know) but by the morning I was exhausted, wrung out like a wet dishrag. And then, instead of the continued good weather that we were hoping for, we opened the curtains to find sleet lashing against the windows and a windy, choppy sea. Even James didn't want to go walking in that, and in fact it was James who made the decision not to. (Honestly!) We had a nice hotel breakfast and then headed to the ferry terminal which is very near the hotel. But when we got there the ferries were not running because of the wind! We were (temporarily) stranded! Some of the other passengers were worried about missing flights that they were travelling for. One old guy told us a story about a friend of his in the 1950s who ran to catch a ferry when it was about four feet from the pier. First he threw his bag on and then he jumped after it, landing on the ferry with a great cry of triumph. To which the ferryman said, "We're just coming in!" James went over to a newsagent and bought a newspaper for himself and a Hello magazine for me, and we spent a pleasant hour or so catching up with the news (and in my case the celebrity gossip - something I'm not proud of but enjoy - I see that William and Kate have been skiing at Courchevel!) The ferry restarted at 12 and we were home just after 1 o'clock. After lunch I went for a sleep; when I woke up mid afternoon it was snowing heavily! What a difference from the warm weather last week! 

Walking the West Island Way

And so it is the Easter Holidays! We have had a good weekend. On Saturday we took Ally and Grandma over to Crawford & Son to collect Ally's kilt, waistcoat and jacket. He looked very smart in his Anderson tartan kilt and gave Grandma a big thank you hug right there in the shop, which I thought was very sweet. Then we went to Rouken Glen Garden Centre for lunch. We bought some asparagus bulbs which James planted later; you are not supposed to pick them for the first two years but then they produce crops for twenty to thirty years! We also bought some cat mint for Jack (his drug of choice!) which we have planted in a basket on the patio; he is enjoying having a nibble at it. Michael and Lil came for dinner on Saturday evening and we had a great evening with them. And on Sunday we had lunch in Carluccio's with Heather and Ewan and heard all about their ski holiday in Cervinia, which sounds wonderful! Their photos of the Matterhorn were stunning and they had plenty of snow, sun and skiing. Grandma came for dinner and we watched the film "Warhorse" which I thought was trying too hard to be an epic - parts of it were good. However Grandma was convinced that the horses were really being injured and she thought it was very cruel! David showed her the statement at the end that no animals had been injured while making the film, but I don't think she believed it!
Which all brings me to today. James and I were going to go walking and camping in Perthshire for a couple of days this week but the weather forecast was for cold nights and rainy days. So we changed our plans and we have come over to the Isle of Bute where we are walking the length of the island (the West Island Way!) over two days. And instead of a tent we are spending tonight in a rather nice hotel in Rothesay called The Victoria Hotel. Today we walked north west from Rothesay to Ettrick Bay and then north to Rhubodach where the ferry goes across to Colintraive on the Cowal peninsula. Rhubodach is pronounced "rub O dach" with the emphasis on the middle syllable, not Rubadub as we called it! It was a journey of 19.5 km and it was quite challenging for me. The weather was warm and sunny, unlike the forecast, we only had one shower. We saw a golden eagle soaring around a field and lots of cute little lambs with their mummies. James & I had a pleasant time chatting as we went along, although we had one brief falling out when I heard James muttering to himself that I was going too slowly (he mutters to himself but it is meant for my ears!) We travelled back to Rothesay by taxi with a lovely driver who told us that when Rangers and Celtic fans from Rothesay go to a football match in Glasgow they all travel in the same bus, which drops them off some way from the venue! How refreshing! After a rest at the hotel we went for a hearty dinner at the Waterfront Bistrot which was a friendly place with huge servings. Now we are in our comfy hotel room and James is fast asleep already.