On the other hand, there are worse things than being overweight

I have just re-read my previous post and it seems a bit whiny, to say the least. After all, although I don't like my current shape, it could be worse - it's up to me to make sure that doesn't happen. Also, apart from my weight issues, I don't have much to complain about just now. I am in fairly good health and so is my family thank goodness. I am as proud as punch of all three of my mad boys who make my life so happy. It is a fine Autumn day. I love my job and I am very lucky with the people that I have in my life; both family and friends. For example last night we had Heather and Ewan round for dinner, friends with whom we can discuss anything without fear of judgement, and we had a relaxed and fun evening with them. Their photos of Sicily were amazing and made me want to go back and explore a lot more of the island. Next week I will be on a Duke of Edinburgh weekend with a really nice bunch of colleagues and then the following week I will be going on a cruise with my dear husband. I may be a bit pressed for time but nothing I can't organise better if I put my mind to it. Certainly compared to some parts of my life in the past, all is going well. Touch wood!
So Susan, it's time to "man up" and "grow a spine" (as one of my pupils is wont to say, mainly to other vulnerable pupils when they are upset!) and get on with leading a healthier lifestyle! 

Overweight

This morning in bed James and I were looking at photos of various holidays and one of them was our wonderful holiday in Sicily three years ago. It was a very happy holiday and in the photos Ally and Davie look so young and sweet! A lot of the photos are of us in cafes in Taormina, lunching in Castelmola (the tiny village perched on the hill above Taormina), on the beach at Taormina Mare, climbing around on Etna and the island of Volcano, dangerously near fumaroles and craters (despite warning signs!), burning our bottoms on hot springs in the sea, and generally having a great time. And what struck me immediately was that there was a lot less of me only three years ago. In fact I look quite slim. And then we looked at photos of our short holiday in Sandwood Bay and Lochinver and Kylescu in July of this year. Another lovely holiday with great weather but what a difference in me. A roll of fat hanging over my trousers, chubby arms, big tummy. This is especially galling because I have always been lucky enough to be a naturally slim person, so I suspect that I can only blame myself for my current shape. I always had a really slim waist and a flat tummy - I miss them! I think it's all down to my truly dreadful eating habits. I eat all the time, even when I'm not hungry, in fact even when I feel full. I don't know why I do it, I suspect that it may be linked to anxiety. It's not because I'm bored because when I'm busy, for example writing reports, I will line up a cup of coffee and some snacks and graze at them while I am working. If I am watching a film it doesn't seem a complete experience without munching my way through a huge bag of pretzels and quaffing several glasses of fizzy juice. Ah, fizzy juice! My replacement for alcohol. When I stopped drinking alcohol nearly two years ago I didn't like drinking mineral water (not jolly enough) or orange juice (too acidic). I found out that I love raspberry flavoured drinks and drinking some sort of fizzy raspberry drink out of a wine glass provided an acceptable alternative to a glass of wine. However a typical 1 litre bottle of fizz has about 500 calories - and I drink at least a bottle every evening. I also don't take enough exercise. I have plenty of excuses of course. I have a big, busy job, I am always tired, and I don't know when I would fit any exercise in amid all the time I spend eating! (joke) But of course, lots of busy people find time to exercise, so I have no real excuse.
I do sometimes wonder if my eating is almost like a form of self harm. In one of my favourite books, "Woman of the Inner Sea" by Thomas Keneally, the main character deliberately stuffs herself with unhealthy food as a sort of punishment for something she thinks she has done. Or maybe I'm just greedy, but it's strange that I keep eating even when I feel bloated and a bit nauseous.
So what am I going to do about this? There's no use in making empty promises, I have to actually do something, and I think that it will be an ongoing struggle.

The best days of your life?

I'm reading quite a good book just now; "A Tale Etched in Blood and Hard Black Pencil" by Christopher Brookmyre. It's a crime novel but a lot of it takes place in flashbacks to the main characters' schooldays. I have never read anything by Brookmyre before but I'm impressed and will read more of his novels. One of the things that has struck me in his description of school life is what a jungle it seems. I certainly remember being frightened of all of the staff and some of the pupils at my school. Some of my fellow pupils were really terrifying and would thump you or knock you down. And it was a girls' school! I tried to keep out of their way as much as possible. Probably worse was the cruel teasing of people whose parents were less well off than others; school trips were awful because my home made clothes (nothing wrong with them by the way) would be laughed at loud and long. No wonder I'm such a fan of school uniform - it was a welcome leveller for me. All this got easier as I got older and had my own wee group of friends - the same lovely girls that I still meet up with about twice a year. Libby of course was my friend since Primary 1, and the others probably from late primary. We were not the cool crowd (just as well because life didn't turn out so well for some of them!) but we were happy with our friendship. Although school life was tough it probably helped me to form my own opinions about bullying and snobbery, and I hope that has made me a better teacher. I wonder whether school life is similar for pupils now or whether all the anti-bullying policies have made things a bit better. I tend to think that most secondary school pupils nowadays seem more confident than I was, but I'm not sure that's true. In fact I expect that it's still a scary time of life. 

An evening at the theatre with my boys

I got tickets for The Cone Gatherers ages ago for David and me, mainly because it is one of his Higher texts and I thought that seeing it at the theatre would make it more interesting for him. This evening Ally was very indignant that he hadn't been invited (he loves going to the theatre) so I phoned the box office and got a ticket for him too, and the three of us set off for the Theatre Royal. The play was okay but it didn't stick closely enough to the book for me. I realise that Duror's inner struggles would be hard to convey in a play, but in my opinion too much was changed; Roderick was braver than in the book, his uncle was grumpier, I didn't like the chanting bits and the ending was different from the book for no reason that I could see. The good thing was that David was so incensed by this interpretation that he was very interested in discussing it on the way home, as was Alasdair who now wants to read the book himself. 

Farewell to Tarbert

The others in our party left the hostel at 6 a.m. to catch their ferry to Skye. I had already said my farewells last night after another convivial evening so I did not get up to see them off; in fact I didn't even hear their departure. James did hear them getting ready to leave and went downstairs to say goodbye. He also took the opportunity to take a few photos of the dawn sky which were very good, before going back to bed for a couple of hours. We had a leisurely breakfast and packed up; our flight back to Glasgow was not until 3.40 p.m. so we had time to drive down to Leverburgh to check out the hostel there and go for a lovely walk on a beach near Scarista Mhor. It was very sunny and quite windy; we drank in the views of the golden beach, turquoise sea and purple hills beyond. David was very happy peering into rock pools and jumping about, I think he quite likes the company of his old Mum and Dad although I'm sure he wouldn't admit this. We returned to Tarbert for lunch in the friendly First Fruits tearoom; I felt quite wistful as we set off back to Stornoway, it has been a great weekend with good friends. Anyway, the flight home was fun, we got great views of the Shiant Islands and Skye and various mountains on the way south. And here we are home sweet home, where I am about to have a bath in the comfort of my own bathroom. It was a really good long weekend and I feel very refreshed. 

Lunch at the Butt of Lewis

We went up to the Butt of Lewis today, via Stornoway where we got petrol. Being a Sunday, everything was closed except the petrol station, but we expected that, due to previous experience. The first time we were in Harris I popped down to the shop at Leverburgh on the Sunday morning intending to buy a paper only to find the shop closed and when we went out later even the swings in the swing park were chained up so that they could not be used on the Sabbath. I like the idea of the Sabbath as a day of proper rest, and I remember that in the late 1970s and early 1980s most shops in Glasgow were closed on a Sunday. In those days when I used to go in to my job at the Tourist Information Bureau in George Square the city centre was like a ghost town. And I liked that feeling of Sunday being different from every other day, but of course nowadays we are used to everything being open nearly all the time so it was strange to think that on Lewis and Harris today even the visitor centres and tea shops were closed.
So we took a picnic with us and headed north. It was a fine day and we parked at the village of Ness and walked a circular route along the cliff top path from the Memorial to the lighthouse and back to the village; it took a couple of hours. The views were beautiful and we enjoyed watching the waves crashing against the rocks, which consisted of Lewisian gneiss; you could see swirls in the rock where it must have folded over itself as it formed. White gannets were wheeling around above the spray. In 1999 Ally and Davie were fearless little daredevils aged 3 and 5 and Jamie wasn't much more sensible aged 9, and I remember being absolutely terrified of having them near the cliffs, so much so that when I spotted a memorial to someone who had fallen, I grabbed their hands and cut short our visit! Today was much more relaxing! We heard the most amazing knocking and grinding sound at one point and realised that it was the sound of stones on the beach below as the outgoing waves rolled them over each other, pulling them towards the sea. No wonder they end up so smooth and round! In the far distance to the east we could see the mainland and we could make out the shapes of Suilven and Stac Pollaidh. We had our picnic at the lighthouse ; oatcakes and cheese for me washed down with a flask of coffee. Delicious. On the surprisingly long drive back to the hostel we stopped at Dun Carloway broch; its distinctive tall shape with one side of it sheared away - James called it "the broken broch!" Back to the hostel for showers before tea in Tarbert; as I write this and look out of our bedroom window I can see the rocky islets in the bay all lit up by the setting sun. 

Partying in the pub

Well last night turned out to be great fun! After our very nice pub food we stayed on for the live music later. This was a singer with guitar and he was very good. The locals were up for a party and there was a great atmosphere. I had come out wearing climbing trousers and a fleece so I quickly drove back to the hostel to get changed into something more suitable for dancing. Davie kindly kept me company and we made it there and back in 30 minutes which is pretty good going. Some of the locals partied so hard that they didn't last for the whole evening and several were seen being helped or carried out before 11 p.m.! I liked all the music and the crowd's favourite was a country and western song - "Wagon Wheel" which was one of the many encores at the end of the evening, and which will forever remind me of Harris! Instead of "Rock me like a wagon wheel" everyone sang "Eat me like a wagon wheel" in tribute to the well known chocolate biscuit; I loved that! A guy with an accordion joined in with the music and was so jolly that his wife had to keep going over to make sure that he didn't fall down and eventually got him to sit down to play! He was a very good musician all the same. Some of the group went back to the hostel a bit early for a night cap but the rest of us stayed on until the end, it was brilliant. The singer finished by saying "I love you Harris - despite everything!"
When we got back to the hostel very late, I got ready for bed then attempted to get into the one bathroom (James and David had got ready quicker than me and were already asleep). Unfortunately one of our group, who shall remain nameless, had gone to sleep in the bathroom and it was an hour before I managed to wake him by knocking on the door every ten minutes. This is the problem of having only one toilet for ten people! I considered going outside because I needed the toilet so much but it was very dark and late! Oh well, one day I will look back on it and laugh! 

Glittering shells

James and the other five from the club went for a walk in the hills near Luskentyre today. I was determined to spend some time on a beach because I love the sea in all its many moods and I find beach walking very relaxing. David decided to come with me and it was great to have his company. Luskentyre was our beach of choice, and it was pleasingly familiar; I suppose we have walked there a few times over the years. It is a stunning beach with pale sand and turquoise shallow waters. We noticed that just below the tide line there was a glittering band of tiny oval shells; on closer inspection they were amazing colours ranging from white through lilac to purple, with a few bright pink ones. Very pretty. We had fun looking at the different tracks on the sand - human, dog and bird. David spotted a prawn which must have been thrown up by a wave and he found a crab leg. We could see across to Taransay and we could see the blue hills of north Harris. We walked happily for about an hour and a half looking at things and taking photos, I do love a beach especially such a beautiful one.
By this time we felt peckish and drove back to Tarbert where we had a delicious bar lunch in the Hebridean Hotel. I had smoked haddock risotto with a poached egg on top and David had a burger and chips which he declared to be very good. We then went for coffee (and an ice cream sundae for David) in the First Fruits Tearoom. I like Tarbert; it's wee but it has a nice atmosphere and a lively feel probably because of the ferry passengers arriving and departing. We then went for a drive round the Golden Road to Rodel which is about the southernmost point in Harris, then on to Leverburgh and back to Tarbert via Scarista Mhor. Scarista Mhor is one of my favourite places in the world because we stayed there in a cottage as part of a wonderful holiday in the Western Isles in 1999. It was so great; the boys were very young and as well as exploring the island we walked across the machair to the lovely sandy beach every day. I remember doing embroidery as the boys all built sandcastles and collected shells and rocks and built dams across the wee river. So I felt quite nostalgic as we passed the cottages and I was reminiscing with David about our adventures there - he said that he does recognise it even though he was only three when we went there.
When we got back to the cottage the others had just arrived and we relaxed and I read my book before we went back to Tarbert for our tea! 

Weekend in Harris

A very early start today because we took the 7 a.m. flight from Glasgow to Stornoway for our September weekend in the Outer Hebrides. It was a wee plane, a Saab 340 which has about 36 seats. Just the three of us, James, Davie and me, because Jamie and Ally are both at university so they don't have school holidays. Stornoway was kind of quiet at 8 a.m. so we went for a drive around Lewis looking at the beautiful views. We had coffee and scones at the Calanais visitor centre when it opened, and bought a map and book about St Kilda. Then we headed down to Tarbert and on to our hostel. It's the same hostel that we stayed in exactly two years ago on a very enjoyable weekend when David and I went swimming in the sea at Luskentyre and I got knocked over by a huge wave! I don't think it will be warm enough for that this weekend, although I have brought my cossie just in case! However the weather is fine and sunny and we had a lovely walk along the coast road looking at all the wee islands. It's lovely to be here. 

A really good film

Caroline and I went to see Anna Karenina at the cinema last night. I was intrigued to see it because although I already knew the ending I have never read the book. I have read a bit of 19th century Russian literature in my time and I am drawn to the noble anguish and suffering of the characters. However it takes me a while to work out which character is which because the Russian names confuse me! I really loved the way a good part of the film was set in a theatre, quirkily switching between the stage and "real life" locations; it somehow worked well and captured the drama of the plot. I also loved all the symbolism and premonitions which were woven into the narrative. And poor impulsive Anna! She didn't know what she wanted and ended up losing everything. The costumes were exquisite; a 19th century rival to Mad Men. Keira Knightley is an amazing actress as well as a beautiful woman; I felt that she was the perfect Anna Karenina and portrayed her torment and unravelling so well that I thought she looked completely different by the end of the film. By coincidence I am currently reading Antonia Fraser's story of her life with Harold Pinter, "Must you go?" Antonia also leaves a marriage because she falls madly in love with another man, and children are involved, but of course life turns out very differently for Antonia as a woman in the 20th century than it did for Anna in the 19th. Thank goodness things have improved for women! Not that it was all easy for her though; despite her understated writing she hints at some hard times from the press and harsh criticism from friends and family. But all in all her choices led to a happier ending.
How different this all was from the show I went to earlier in the day at the Science Centre; "Blood Bile and Body Bits", where I ended up going onto the stage to collect pretend poo in my outstretched hands, amid uproarious laughter from pupils and staff! Great fun but it wouldn't have happened to Anna Karenina! Or Antonia! 

Successful Day

Jackie and I had an important meeting this morning - an inspection of one particular aspect of our work - and it went extremely well! We were delighted because we have worked hard on it. So I am feeling very relaxed this evening and am planning to watch a film, have a bath and read my book; some of my favourite activities!
Ally seems a lot happier now that he has properly started his 1st year of Law. He didn't think that he would know anyone on the course but at his first lecture he met a friend who used to be in his class at school and who moved to a different school at the end of his 4th year. This friend knew quite a few people so Ally had a crowd to go for lunch with. I think he's enjoying his lectures so far and I have ordered more books for him today; weighty tomes one of which, "The Institutions of the Law of Scotland" by Lord Stair, was first published in 1681! (The Stair Building at Glasgow University is where the School of Law is situated.) I am so proud of him. 

Banana fritter boy

We decided to get a meal from Kai Lin on the way home from Leuchars and phoned ahead for it. When Ally and I went in to collect it the manageress recognised Ally and said "Banana Fritter boy!" because the last time we were there - months ago - we ordered quite a lot of banana fritters! We all enjoyed our meal together and then watched Doctor Who which was very good with a Western theme.
This morning I had a magnificent long lie and James very kindly brought me croissants and coffee in bed at 10 a.m. It was a lovely start to a very pleasant day; James and I went into town later to get my boots re-heeled and we had a very nice lunch in November which is up on the roof terrace of Princes Square. I have been there for cocktails before but I have never eaten there and I was impressed with the food and the service. When we got home James went for a little nap and I did an online food shop and pottered about happily until Grandma came for tea. It has been a lovely weekend and tomorrow is a big day for Alasdair - it's his first proper day at university. 

Birds don't settle in long grass

This was an interesting fact that James told me today as we arrived at Leuchars Air Show. They keep the grass quite long at airfields so that birds don't settle there, so it lessens the risk of bird strikes. I am now sitting in the car at the end of a really good day, as we wait for the traffic exiting the car park to clear a little. We got here nice and early and set up camp at the flight line. The day was relaxing and pleasant, aided by the sunny weather. The weather had been rainy all week so I can hardly believe how good the weather turned out today. Mind you it was quite windy so we all feel a little weatherbeaten! The nine of us had lunch together and watched the air display, and the rest of the time we wandered up and down the flight line, the stalls and the outside bar in smaller groups, still watching the air display and meeting up from time to time. Jackie's boys were great and we all had a lovely day, although we didn't see Jackie's Dad again once he discovered that there was a beer tent! One highlight for me was visiting an American KC 135 strato tanker refuelling plane where we were able to climb right down into the refuelling bit at the back, and also visited the cockpit where a handsome pilot said "Yes ma'am!" to me when I asked him to take a photo of Jackie. At the same plane a young American airforce woman totally fell in love with Noah and they were hugging! Cat bought a red arrows outfit - it was a child's size so the legs and arms were too short, however she is so slim that the rest of it fitted her beautifully and she looked gorgeous in it and attracted a lot of male attention! Later she got several air craftsmen to sign it and a Red Arrows pilot gave her his pin badge! The Red Arrows did an impressive display; seven this season because they tragically lost two pilots last year. The Chinook was very good, pitching right up and flying past the crowd with someone at the back waving a giant hand! The Vulcan was there, and the Typhoon solo display was good. Needless to say James was a happy boy and a good day was had by all. We are now moving along on our way out of the airfield so I will end here because blogging in the car makes me feel a bit yucky. 

Back to Dundee and Leuchars

I'm blogging from my cosy bed in the Premier Inn, where we are spending the night as we usually do before going to Leuchars Airshow tomorrow. Leuchars Airshow is one of the highlights of the Anderson calendar as we all enjoy the day; James and the boys because they love the planes and the flying display and me because it is a very pleasant family day out. I had a really good day at school today; I felt as if I got a lot done. Then we packed up and headed through to Dundee with David, Ally and Cat. We dropped Ally and Cat at Jamie's flat where they are staying tonight then David very kindly babysat for Jackie while we went out for a curry with her and her Dad to the Ashoka Shak. The curry was rather hot but very nice; I had a spicy chicken dhosa. We all had a good chat then headed back to the hotel; lots of airmen were milling about outside, the hotel is very busy with Airshow people! 

Book club season

It's September and both of my book clubs have started up again after the summer break. Last Friday I was at my Cambuslang book club and this evening I was at my EK book club. We met at Jennifer's new home which is lovely and in a great location. It was nice to see all of the the girls again and catch up on their news as well as discussing our summer holiday reading. Susan had some lovely baby news to tell us - she is due in February!
I am really enjoying my current book; "Gillespie and I" by Jane Harris. Set in Victorian Glasgow, it is very intriguing, well written, strangely sinister, and although I am nearly at the end I am still not sure how it will turn out. I do enjoy my reading! 

Ally is an undergraduate

Ally had a successful day at Freshers' week today; he met some people that he knew, visited the stalls for all the clubs and societies, but was unable to matriculate because he did not yet have all the information he needs. He came home rather underwhelmed by the student experience so far. However he and James got his "SAAS" forms sorted out this evening and he's going back in to matriculate properly tomorrow. Also he has now managed to download his timetable so he is planning to explore the campus so that he knows where are all the places that he will be going to next week. His first lecture will be in the Boyd Orr building on Monday at 9 a.m. - same place that I went to my first lecture thirty-three years ago! We ordered his textbooks yesterday; some were "essential" and some were "recommended" so I just ordered the lot, which is probably overkill but I want him to have everything he needs. Thanks to Amazon Prime delivery about four of them arrived today and Ally was quite pleased and took them upstairs to have a look at them. This rather sudden decision of Ally's to bring forward his university entry has left him feeling a bit taken aback I think, and maybe a bit nervous (not that he would ever admit that). So I really hope that everything goes well for him over the next week or two and that he enjoys his course; it's such an important time for him.

It’s also an important time for Cat; she is also starting University. She will be studying Mechanical Engineering at Edinburgh University. Ally will miss her but they are not too far away from each other. 

Without wishing to leap on the media bandwagon I am genuinely delighted for Andy Murray that he has finally won his first Grand Slam tournament. He has certainly worked very hard for it and there were times that I thought he would never quite make it to that level. I didn't stay up to watch the match as he battled through the five sets but Ally did and said it was great. 

A busy day and a quiet day

My busy day was Saturday because Jackie and I went into work to have a really good go at a task we need to do. We worked very hard and got lots done. For lunch we popped down to KFC for half an hour. It was a satisfying, even quite enjoyable, day because of the progress we made. I gave Jackie a lift home and we saw lots of kilted football fans walking about the South Side after the Scotland / Bulgaria match. On the way home I popped in to see Marjory to give her some information about the Duke of Edinburgh Award - Jenny will be starting the Silver Award next year - and we had a pleasant chat. In the evening we had a curry from Shimla Pinks. James, Ally and Davie picked it up on their way home from hill-walking; they climbed Ben Vorlich with the club and had a good day. They were quite midgy bitten because it was very still and humid. The temperature seems to have shot back up again and although the sky is grey, it is warm and sticky.
My quiet day was today; I started it with a really lovely long lie and James made pancakes as a treat which we ate in bed. It was a very leisurely day during which we had a short shopping trip into town to get Ally's travel zone card for going to University and we also took him for a celebratory lunch at Zizzi's which was most enjoyable. Now we are watching the closing ceremony of the Paralympics and I am liking it so far. After the flag bearers came into the stadium we are having a procession of bizarre "steam-punk" vehicles, which are actually pretty impressive. Update at 11 p.m. Coldplay were excellent and the closing speeches from Seb Coe and Philip Craven were very good and quite moving. 

Change of plans for Ally

Alasdair and I had a conversation mid week about his gap year. He has applied for various jobs but has had no success so far, and with all of his friends about to start university he was beginning to reconsider his plans. He gave me permission to contact Glasgow University Law Faculty about bringing his entry forward from 2013 to 2012 and to cut a long story and several phone calls short - he starts Freshers' Week on Tuesday! Ally was very pleased when the official email of confirmation came through at 5 p.m. this evening. He definitely feels that this is the right thing for him. We hadn't mentioned any of this to James in case of disappointment, so when he came in from work tonight I said "Ally has some news about his gap year." James asked what it was, to which Ally replied "I'm going to take my place to study Law!" James was thrilled (he was never keen on the gap year idea) and there were hugs all round. We are going to contribute towards a back packing holiday for him next summer so that he still gets to travel, on condition that he goes with friends rather than on his own.
In the evening I went to Book Club at Catherine's. What a lovely evening with a really nice group of girls. We chatted about our summer holiday reading and I got lots of good ideas for books; we also chatted about what we had seen and done over the summer. I had a lovely relaxing time and thoroughly enjoyed myself. 

Autumnal

The season is changing I think; there was a distinct nip in the air today and when we all had to go outside (fire alarm) it was dreich and cold. Ally and Cat have gone camping to Loch Ossian so I hope the weather is better there. In the evening James put the heating on for an hour and Jack was so excited that the radiator was on for the first time in months that he kept jumping up on it then having to jump down again because it was too hot for his wee paws! James and I spent most of the evening working together on the computer and Davie had lots of homework so it was a very industrious household. Shona has asked me for pears to make pear chutney so David went out to the garden and picked two carrier bags of them. He was armed with a stick to knock them down and strangely he also put on a pair of sunglasses which certainly weren't necessary in the rainy twilight! Maybe he was using them as eye protectors. Jack nosily followed him outside and watched him from the shelter of a small tree. I started my new medication for my cough today so I have high hopes that this might be the cure I have been looking for (I have been coughing since I was about 6 months pregnant with David - seventeen years ago!) It would be so good if it works! 

Mapping a gold route

This morning I had the opportunity (with a group of pupils) to watch Hubble 3D at the IMAX cinema at the Science Centre. It was absolutely fascinating; all about how the space shuttles were used to repair and service the Hubble telescope over the years. The 3D worked very well both for the film of the astronauts in the shuttle (it was as if they were standing right in front of us) and for the views of space from the Hubble (it was like zooming through the stars). The astronauts were relentlessly cheery even after hours outside the shuttle unscrewing lots of tiny screws in the telescope, hampered by their big space suit gloves. I suppose that when you get the chance to be an astronaut you can't really whinge about any aspect of it!
Carolyn came over this evening to plan the route for our first ever Gold Duke of Edinburgh expedition. We had tea with Ally and Davie first, then James arrived home from his two days in Warwick. Carolyn had already given the route a lot of thought and James was extremely helpful in planning it in more detail. When we were happy with all four days' expedition James put it into Memory Map and printed out maps and route cards while Carolyn and I had a chat. He even emailed the maps to Carolyn. James is very much in my good books tonight, I was very proud of him! 

Broken down car

After a busy day at work David and I were heading home for David's Maths tuition when we passed a car broken down at the side of the dual carriageway. It was in quite a dangerous position just over the brow of the hill, and cars were having to brake and then pull out to pass it. As we went by we saw a girl standing beside it using a phone and David said "I think she was waving at me!" We were both a bit puzzled but went home only to find a text message from Ruth (our fantastic Maths tutor) to say that it was her whose car had broken down! We jumped back into the car and drove up the hill to see if we could help but as we were chatting to her at the roadside, help arrived in the form of her partner who had come to tow the car home. I'm glad she was ok because it was a nasty place to get stuck. The highlight of the evening for me was watching the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who, which I recorded on Saturday night while I was away with the Duke of Edinburgh group. It was tremendous and I was on the edge of my seat - which is a progression from behind the sofa, from where I used to watch Doctor Who in the 1960s! 

A successful expedition

Yesterday evening after a pizza dinner and a pleasant chat, the teachers walked down to the campsite for another bonfire. It's strange that although I don't really like marshmallows they taste delicious when toasted at a fire. We had a great evening; my colleagues and I get on really well and I think we are a great wee team. This morning we check-pointed the pupils on the last day of their expedition. Shona and I walked in just past the end of the Torduff Reservoir then retraced our steps once the last of the pupils had passed us. It was a bright sunny morning and we had nice views of Edinburgh from the hill above the campsite, and the reservoir and the countryside around it were very pretty. Shona very kindly offered to take a group photo of a family down at the bridge and we met a nice young family who hinted for (and got) some of her sweets! The pupils were tired but in good spirits. We then drove to the visitor centre at Threipmuir for lunch in the sunshine with Carolyn and it was really lovely. By this time some of the pupils were going very slowly but they all made it to the end of the route. 

Busy Pentlands!

What busy hills the Pentlands are! They really are the playground of Edinburgh. As I sat at the junction of two paths below Allermuir Hill checkpointing pupils I met horse riders, dog walkers, air cadets, cyclists and runners! I thought that all of the pupils had passed me and was about to retrace my steps when suddenly a group of seven appeared from the wrong direction and needed a bit of help with navigation - they were so full of enthusiasm that they went running straight up the hill! By mid afternoon we were all back at the campsite and the sun had come out. The campsite was busy too, there were lots of brownies and guides playing games. We borrowed the brownies' giant globe ball for a while (with permission!)