Freesia

Our dinner guests last Saturday brought us a lovely bouquet of pink and yellow roses, yellow freesia and white sweet alyssum (which I used to think was called illusion!). The flowers are very pretty and also smell wonderful; I absolutely love the scent of freesia which is one of my favourite flowers. My Mum knew how much I love it and arranged for my wedding bouquet to have freesia in it, its fragrance is part of my lovely memories from that day. I am really enjoying smelling the delicate but distinctive perfume of freesia as I move around the back room.
David has been working hard this evening on an application form to be a volunteer for the Commonwealth Games in 2014. I don't know what his chances are; he will be on the young side and hasn't yet got a lot of work experience but on the other hand he is very available! Later on David was showing me some YouTube videos of "Dan is not on Fire"; he has told me about this before and it was actually very funny.

Misty

I woke to a misty morning. When it's misty my journey to work always feels rather mysterious, it's strange and disorientating not to be able to see the surrounding fields and houses. By about nine the mist had nearly all gone, revealing a gorgeous pale blue sky which made our morning walk to the town centre very pleasurable. After work I did some cooking for this Saturday: we are going walking during the day on Saturday so I am being super organised and making most of the meal in advance. And then it was off to book club at Maria's, always a pleasant evening and it was really nice to see everyone and hear their news.  

The man in the moon

Last night I was at a parents' night and afterwards, as I drove home, I noticed that the moon was full. It looked huge, and I enjoyed watching it as I drove home. Several times as I turned the car this way and that on my journey I saw it moving behind the leafless branches of trees, which looked spectacular. And when I saw it shining in the cloudless night sky I could clearly see the lunar seas and highlands that do resemble a sort of face; last night the man in the moon seemed to have a rather wry expression.
It was a beautiful night and made me think of one of my very favourite poems. It's by Walter de la Mare And is simply called "Silver" - which is also one of my favourite words.

Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy cote the white breasts peep
Of doves in silver feathered sleep
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.

The last couple of days have been bright and sunny, and I think it has lifted everyone's spirits. It may not quite be Spring yet (my favourite season) but it's definitely on the way. 

Dinner guests

Well the weekend is at an end and I am the only person left up, as everyone else has gone to bed. Twenty-three years ago I gave birth to Jamie and yet it seems like yesterday. The birthday boy has not been home today because he got a great offer of tickets to the rugby at Murrayfield. He texted me a picture of the view from his seat which seemed excellent. However we will see him next weekend. This morning James paid for his flights to Peru this summer and he was suitably grateful. Also today, Ally and Cat booked their air tickets for their back-packing holiday in the far east this summer. What a globe-trotting family we will be!
Last night we met Cat's parents, Christine and Gerry, for the first time, when they came round for dinner. I was a bit nervous because I have heard that Christine is a great cook and I didn't want to let Ally down. I spent ages in Waitrose choosing ingredients including an extensive cheeseboard which I had heard that they liked. Ally and Cat were very helpful in finishing off the garnishes like making parsnip crisps for the apple and parsnip soup, and serving everything out. This took the pressure off me and meant that I could relax more. It turned out to be a very pleasant and convivial evening; both of our guest were very friendly and chatty and we all got on very well - it turns out that Christine and I have a surprising amount in common. And the cheeseboard went down very well!
Today James and I went for a walk on the beach at Troon in fairly mild weather and had a good old chat about life and plans. We had lunch in a really nice wee café called the Velvet Apple. The home made soup was absolutely delicious. Later Grandma came round for tea and was fascinated by Ally and Cat's holiday plans. It has been a good weekend. 

Friday night curry

It's Friday evening and I'm in a great mood. When I went in to work this morning it was bright daylight and despite the cold I thought that there was a promise of Spring in the air. On Wednesday I went in to work at 6 a.m. when it was still completely dark, so it was a nice contrast. It was an extremely busy but very rewarding day. I had a lovely coffee with Sharon after school and we caught up with each other's news. When I got home I jumped straight into a celebratory bath and when James arrived home from Warwick we ordered a curry. We decided to watch a film "Ruby Sparks" which was fairly enjoyable, although elements of its plot did remind me of several other films. And now I'm relaxing on the couch with James snoozing beside me, feeling very contented despite the curry churning ominously inside me. 

Stravinsky Gift

We had a tremendous time this evening at the Royal Concert Hall where we went to see Stravinsky's Firebird. This was Alasdair's Christmas present to James and he and Cat came along too. We had great seats right in the middle of the stalls. I'm not Stravinsky's biggest fan but this was a Naked Classics concert and I really enjoyed having it all explained during the first half of the performance; I felt that I understood it a lot better. I have been to several of these Naked Classics concerts before and I always enjoy them. Stravinsky, like many composers, had inserted a couple of folk songs into his work. My favourite part of the whole thing was the tune at the very end when the evil Kashchei has died and everyone celebrates. I learned tonight that this was in fact one of the folk songs which shows that I am more of a traditionalist than Stravinsky, although I love the way that Stravinsky has arranged it. It is a great finale full of rejoicing and I have decided that I will play it on the day that I retire from teaching. 

Hill-Walking AGM

I was really embarrassed this morning when I used the word "mercurial" in a meeting and then had to explain it to a colleague - surely my language is not that obscure? It made me feel uncomfortable. I went straight from a busy day at work to James' hill walking club AGM at the Boswell Hotel. I arrived just in time for the meal, which was edible and not unpleasant. Standard hotel fare; I had the chicken liver pâté followed by lasagne. Needless to say, the lasagne caused much laughter and topical horse meat jokes *, such as "This is neigh bad!" but actually it was quite good. After our meal James chaired the AGM and I took the minutes (for the second year running - I think that's why James invited me back!) it all went swimmingly; the highlight was Andy's amusing slide show of the year's outings. James chairs a meeting very well and I was proud of him. 

* there is currently a scandal in the food industry because some foods advertised as containing beef actually contain horse meat, presumably because it's cheaper. 

A Biochemical statement

David was applying to a University summer school in Biochemistry this evening and asked me to help him with his personal statement. This statement required him to demonstrate his enthusiasm for Biochemistry. David is certainly full of enthusiasm for the subject but had difficulty in expressing this, so we spent hours (and by that I mean about three full hours) researching Biochemistry and trying to match it to David's experiences and skills. It was, as my Dad would have said "like pulling teeth"! David found my ideas hilarious in their stupidity but at least they inspired him to come up with some better ones of his own. When it was nearly finished I asked James to come through (he had closeted himself in the study to catalogue his photos) to take at look at it and add some suggestions. He politely pointed out that he had no experience of Biochemistry which left me (almost) speechless with indignation. "Neither have I!" I replied through clenched teeth. Anyway the application is now complete and David has submitted it online. It's a long shot due to David's rather mixed set of exam results because he will be competing against top students from across the country. But at least the boy has given it a try! 

No handstands in Waitrose

I heard on the news this morning that the pandas at Edinburgh Zoo may be getting ready to mate soon. According to the BBC news website:
"Male panda Yang Guang has been doing "handstands" and trying to leave his scent as high up the wall as possible to show his virility. Female Tian Tian has been "bleating", normally the pandas are quiet."
James tells me that I am always bleating but he has certainly not been doing handstands to leave his scent on our walls and I would take a rather dim view of it if he did.
The chances of any mating activity at no. 18 have been further reduced by James' behaviour in Waitrose in Byres Road this morning. We had to wait for a table at Charlie Rocks for about 20 minutes so I suggested a quick look round Waitrose to pass the time. I know it's expensive but it has some unusual items and I enjoy a (very) occasional browse there. James was appalled when he saw me putting some lovely ripe figs into my basket; "£3 for six figs?" he spluttered. He was also less than impressed with my search for vegetarian marshmallows "Why? Why?" he groaned. His exclamations of dismay and disapproval were so loud that the good folk of the west end were turning to stare at this strangely distressed south side man who did not appreciate the merits of a display of Jerusalem artichokes or a choice of eight different flavours of hummus. Needless to say I had to cut short my browsing and James didn't properly cheer up until after lunch when I took him to buy a new hat for hill-walking at Go Outdoors. 

Saturday mostly at home

I had a lovely long lie in bed this morning, and got up feeling much rested. I dosed myself up with various cough and cold remedies and set off into town to meet Heather. She helped me to choose a baby present in John Lewis for the littlest Templeton and then we went for lunch and had a good chat. Heather has had a busy time skiing then straight off to Canada on a work trip so she caught me up on her adventures. It was a very pleasant lunch. Back home I had a leisurely afternoon reading my book (Song of Achilles - for my next book club meeting) and then I took Ally and Cat to Sainsburys where they did their shopping for a Valentine's dinner that they are making for each other this evening. It promises to be absolutely delicious. The menu is beetroot, red onion and goats cheese tartlets with salad, followed by twice baked goats cheese soufflés with chives, and tomato, cucumber and coriander salad, and chocolate fondant for dessert. As I blog at 8 p.m. they are still chopping and preparing away; David and I had our tea ages ago and have watched a film called the Wedding Video which was a mildly funny British comedy which didn't quite live up to my expectations. We were going to go to the cinema but David is still suffering from his cold and didn't feel like going out. I suspect that this is because he is not being so assiduous in dosing himself up with cold remedies as I am, and it's his own fault because the bathroom is stuffed with medication that he could be using. James has just phoned, he is on a hill-walking weekend in Perthshire and seems to be having a nice time. So I have had a lovely relaxing day and I am planning a sensible early night. I like going out but sometimes it's great to have a Saturday evening at home. 

The trouble with cough syrups

David and I are still manfully (and womanfully) fighting our colds. I had a terrible night of coughing last night which really annoyed James, and he said that I was also groaning in my sleep, a strange and fairly recent habit. Despite this I felt fairly chipper today and had a productive day at work.
I am now keen to see off my cold as quickly as possible so I have bought some Lemsip Max and also a selection of cough syrups for me and David. I say a selection because I had no idea what to choose. I decided on the Benylin brand because that's what my Mum always got me as a child, so I reckon it's reliable. And I got three bottles: Tickly Coughs, Chesty Coughs, and Mucus Cough Menthol. I lined them all up and after some deliberation and much experimental coughing we chose Tickly Cough, because the cough is definitely more throaty than chesty just now. Also if I take a Chesty cough syrup which promises to make my cough more "productive" and it turns out that my bronchial tubes don't need clearing, it might damage them in some way. So I hope that I have made the correct choice. I'm all dosed up and hoping for a peaceful night and a speedy recovery. I hate colds. 

Cold

While James, David and I were away at the weekend Alasdair started his security job, his first shift being a steward at a football match. He loved it although he did say that it was very cold and involved a lot of standing about. He is being paid a pittance but is delighted to have found a way to make some extra money. Good for him.
David has not been well for the last couple of days with a bad cold and to my annoyance I'm now not feeling too great myself. I take any illness as a personal affront and am trying to fight this off. But my throat is very sore and my wee head is aching. Today I was running a fairly big event at work so I was dismayed to feel like this, but it all went really well and I was very pleased with my colleagues who had all worked so hard to make it a success. So I will be heading to a nice hot bath soon to relax. 

At London City Airport

While James was having his shower this morning I popped out to nearby Caffe Nero to pick up breakfast of coffee and muffins. What a different London I stepped into! Instead of crowds of tourists milling about there were lots of London office workers stepping smartly along the narrow streets of Southwark. In the coffee shop they were ordering coffees "to go". It was snowing lightly and the cobbled street looked very pretty. I felt splendid.
Today was our tour of the Houses of Parliament which I felt was very appropriate for David, who will be old enough to vote in the next election. Our tour guide was very informative but not as much fun as the guides who escorted me and my pupils last summer. We still enjoyed being shown around the different rooms, like the robing room with its private toilet for the Queen where she gets changed before she makes her speech to parliament. He also told us that the heir to the throne does not usually attend the opening of parliament but rumour has it that Prince Charles will start attending this year because of Prince Philip's deteriorating health. He also said that the second throne used at the opening of parliament is not kept permanently at the House of Lords but at a country house just in case the monarchy is ever overthrown it can be used as a rallying point for royalists. We were the only people on the tour who had arranged to meet our MP; Tom Greatrex met us in the lobby and took us for coffee in the Pugin room. We had a nice chat and he was very friendly. He seemed very young - maybe we have been spending time with our future Prime Minister!
We had a snack lunch in the café downstairs from Westminster Hall, where tv screens informed us of the breaking news that the Pope has resigned - the first pontiff to resign rather than pop his clogs for 600 years. Not that this had anything to do with our trip to London, it's just that I tend to remember where I was when I hear certain news stories.
Anyway we then went to Abercrombie and Fitch to buy David a new hoodie. I went upstairs to the balcony then when James and David looked up I started dancing, which amused me a lot more than it amused them!
On the way to London City airport James took us to the Emirates Airline which is a cable car across the Thames from the O2 Arena to Docklands. It seems very strange; it was absolutely deserted and went from one very quiet area to another. I wonder how well used it is at peak times? At the airport (first time I have been to London City) a disappointment awaited - our 6 p.m. flight was cancelled. So here I am blogging while waiting for the 8.15 flight. It is a very small airport with just a few shops and a couple of eateries, and seems to cater mainly for business people. James and Davie are using their iPads and I am about to get my Kindle out and do a bit of reading. 

More London adventures

Back to the Natural History Museum today because there was still lots we hadn't seen. It was great and we were there for hours; we even had lunch in the restaurant there. As I observed David's sheer excitement in the Darwin centre I realised that he will certainly become a scientist and that his studies will involve Biology; he just loves it.
We had amazing luxury cinema experience later in the Odeon Lounge at Bayswater. We walked there from the Natural History Museum (in the rain!) because I thought that according to my iPhone maps it was a nine minute walk. However with hindsight I think it must have said that it was a nine minute drive because it took us a good forty minutes on foot through Hyde Park and across the Serpentine. The cinema only had thirty-two seats which were large reclining chairs with footstools. We ordered food and drink by pressing a button on the armrests and it was then was brought to our seats by waiters! The film was Flight which was very good and extremely thought provoking with themes of addiction and responsibility. I really enjoyed it. We finished our evening with drinks in Nando's in Southwark at a table at the window with a view of St Paul's all lit up across the river. 

Out and about in London

What a day we have had in London! Arriving at our hotel in Southwark late morning, we checked in and went to nearby Borough market. We met a very friendly policeman who heard our accents and told us that he's from Dunoon. He gave us some tips on what to see in the area and recommended the steak sandwiches at place called Roast in the market. He also warned us to keep our phones and belongings secure because there were some "dippers" about and six people had been robbed already in the morning. The steak sandwiches from Roast were indeed delicious and we had a good old wander round the market.
David wanted to go to the Natural History Museum, which was pretty crowded with families on this wet Saturday afternoon. We didn't like the stuffed animals and birds but headed up to the "Gems room" which had cases and cases of minerals, fossils and gemstones. I found it mildly interesting but James and David absolutely LOVED it and spent ages looking at all the exhibits, they were so happy. At the end of the room there was a "vault" with precious stones which had diamonds in all different colours, emeralds, sapphires etc. I liked those!
We spent so long in there that we went straight to the theatre district and had our tea in a restaurant on Leicester Square called "The Grill on the Square" which had decent food and very good service. We were in nice time for the play I had booked in Wyndham's Theatre; Quartermaine's Terms. This provoked such different reactions in the three of us that we had a hilarious time in the pub later writing reviews about it! (see previous post) One last highlight for David must be mentioned - the inexplicably popular M&M's World which I first visited on a London trip with pupils last summer. David loved it (I suspected that he would!) and made several purchases. 

Three reviews of Quartermaine's Terms

The play that we saw this evening!

Review no. 1 by Susan Anderson
This was an unusual, sensitive and moving play that I will remember for a long time. The playwright's observations of human behaviour and interactions were uncomfortably accurate. The play had comic moments but was ultimately tragic as each character was buffeted about by life, none more so than the lonely, incompetent, unobservant but good-natured Quartermaine. The actors were all excellent and I felt drawn into their lives. This was not the comedy that I had expected but I thoroughly enjoyed the play. The actor Ken Stott was sitting behind us!

Review no. 2 by James Anderson
This play brought a new terror to live theatre. It was 24 carat turge; arrant nonsense. There wasn't a single character you could empathise with. It was terribly dated. Rowan Atkinson trotted out his same old Mr Bean mannerisms. I'd rather have been at Kraftwerk at the Tate Modern.

Review no. 3 by David Anderson
I thought it was really good. It was bright, fun and I liked the different colours. But enough about M&M world! The play was pretty crap. The constant pauses for dramatic effect were rubbish. The way that they talked was like a drama on Radio 4. It was boring and badly written. The racism was unnecessary and didn't serve any comic effect. I wouldn't want to hurt Rowan Atkinson's feelings but this was terrible. I clapped at the end of this play because I thought if I clapped hard enough, then the sound waves would propel me backwards around the earth thus turning back time like in Superman 3, so that I could get the two and a half hours of my life back.

End of a busy week

Well it has been busy but productive week at work. It was with a sigh of relief that I set off home this evening with four days of the February holiday ahead of me. I am also relieved that my Jackie and Noah are both on the mend thank goodness. When I arrived home James was already cooking up haggis, neeps and tatties for tea. This was because in a burst of enthusiasm I had bought too many haggises around Burns night and thrifty James wanted to use them up. I was less than thrilled about this because I had been looking forward to a curry or even a sausage supper, but we still had a pleasant evening watching an oldish (1994) film called Leon which James and I have never seen. It stars Jean Reno and a very young Natalie Portman who was already an accomplished actress at the age of 12! I found it a strange and slightly surreal film until I realised that it was directed by Luc Besson - it has the feel of a French film in every way, except that it has been filmed in English! I enjoyed it and am now packing for our London trip tomorrow. 

Swan Song

I have been thinking about the nature of friendship and loyalty recently both on my own behalf and in light of reading Proust. Proust must have been a terrible friend! He was so demanding of others and yet would drop them in an instant if it suited him! I had a very interesting discussion about it with David on the way to school. His outlook is more realistic than mine I think, and yet he also gets hurt when people let him down. It hasn't been easy for him moving school three times, but he has done it without complaint. I am constantly amazed at his mature and well thought out opinions.
After school I drove over to Hamilton to the annual D of E validation evening. It was nice to see all the familiar faces and I felt so proud of my excellent team. So many years that I have been going to the validation evening! This will probably be my last though, I am increasingly too busy to give the time and attention that the group deserves. This year's Bronze expeditions will be my swan song. 

Views from windows

It was snowing heavily this morning and people kept coming into my office to point this out to me, understandably mindful of how we got snowed in two years ago and wondering if I had decided to send the pupils home. However I kept my nerve and put my faith in the good old BBC weather forecast, which promised me that the snow would turn to rain by midday - and so it did! I was delighted. I did reflect that my attitude has changed somewhat - before I got my present Senior Management job I found snow much more fun, whereas today it gave me a headache because of the potential hassle. Is this how responsible middle age feels? Never mind, I still like skiing on snow so I do find it fun sometimes!
During the morning I received an email from James with a photo of the view from his window; Westminster in beautiful sunshine with blue skies. So I sent him back a picture of the snowy view from my window and he told me that the people in his meeting were quite amazed! 

Everyday life

I'm very, very worried about Jackie, who is having a difficult time with her health and Noah''s health. I will not blog about all the details because it is her life, her private business. However I am thinking about her (and the wee fellow) every single minute of the day.
Everything else seems very trivial compared to this. I had a nice chat on the phone with Jamie today. James is in London overnight. Ally is at Disabled Scouts. Davie did well in a Physics test. I'm at a Parents' information evening at school. How ordinary and everyday. I'm very lucky.
Update - when I left school at 10 p.m. I emerged into a winter wonderland of whirling snow! It was a very beautiful drive home. 

Walking very slowly

I took Grandma to the shops on Saturday morning for her groceries. It was an absolutely beautiful day, sunny after all the rain that we have had, so we decided to go for a walk to the Heritage Park in the afternoon. Grandma was understandably a bit nervous about this because her arthritis is so painful, however she did very well and only had to rest once on the 1.2 km walk round the loch. However it was not a speedy walk, and James and I both wisely took our goose down Rab jackets to keep us warm as we walked along at a snail's pace! We had a warming coffee in the café before heading home where I had an even more warming bath. In the evening we went to Chris and Carol's for dinner. and they made us an absolutely delicious meal. Earlier this week they had given us a choice of SIX menus with three courses in each - Mexican night, Italian night, Spanish night etc. we chose French night and this consisted of French onion soup, Boeuf Bourguignon and rich chocolate tart. Each course was absolutely wonderful and the whole evening was such fun, we had a great laugh.
We have been enjoying reading our friend Ewan's blog about his and Heather's ski holiday in Austria. Despite mixed weather it sounds like they have had a great time. It brought it home to me how lucky we were to get a week of snow and sunshine at New Year, a time of year when the weather might well have been dodgy. Although less skiing might have been easier on my knees! 

Friday evening

Well it has been a very busy week and I'm delighted to be relaxing on Friday night. The haggis supper that I consumed earlier is sitting heavily but pleasantly in my stomach and I am watching the concluding part of a two part "Silent Witness" or as Terry Wogan used to call it, "Witless Silence!" It is easy watching, which is why I can blog at the same time. David and I were nearly late to school today because as we drove merrily up towards Nerston, having a lively discussion about the merits of obtaining a Higher in English, we suddenly found ourselves caught up in a traffic jam. This is very unusual because I am blessed with a short and fairly quiet route to work. I phoned ahead to warn my colleagues that I might be late but just as we saw the culprit (a broken down bus) being towed in the opposite direction, the traffic suddenly started moving like a cork out of a bottle. So we weren't late after all which was a good start to what turned out to be a good day. I am now about to watch a film called Drillbit Taylor with David, who assures me that it is one of the best films of all time.