A very unusual Twelfth Night

I went to see Twelfth Night at the Citz tonight with Jackie. It was very bizarre and included Malvolio stripping to gold underpants and doing a raunchy dance! That's not all; the cast threw balls into the audience, sang, played music, and invited the audience on stage to dance the conga! It was a light-hearted and fun take on Twelfth Night which varied between being very apt and enjoyable, and messing about just a bit too much. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, I love going to the theatre. And I love going to the theatre with like-minded friends such as Jackie and Heather. 

Hot stone dinner

It has been a really lovely weekend despite continuing rainy weather. Saturday was so relaxing; a long lie, breakfast in bed, everyone chatting and studying in the back room. In the afternoon all seven of us went bowling at Springfield Quay which was good fun. We tried and failed to win a "minion" (the annoying little characters from Despicable Me) from a machine where you tried to grab one, and a wee boy in the next lane "high-fived" us all when anyone got a strike! Jamie and Aisling shopped for dinner, which was hot stone and fondue, a family favourite. Grandma came round for tea too and I think that she was rather perplexed by the concept of cooking your own meat at the table! It was all very friendly and relaxed. Ally and Cat kindly cleared up afterwards (it is a always very messy meal!) then we all watched the first Austin Powers film because Cat has never seen it; we had a good laugh. And today there was more studying going on and we had browse around and a lovely coffee at the Burrell Collection; it's quite a while since I've been there and it was nice to be back. It was cosy in the café with the raining splashing in the puddles outside, and my fruit scone was delicious.
The weather could have been better, but the best thing about the weekend was all of us being together. 

Friday and Midnight in Paris

It is Friday evening and I am in a tremendous mood. It has been a very busy time but when I left work this evening I felt satisfied with my plate-spinning week! On the way home I picked up a curry for seven people because we have a full house this weekend. All of my boys are home and Cat and Aisling are here too. We had a pleasant chat while we ate our curry and it was really nice to have everyone round the table exchanging news.
Then we watched a film that Mick lent me called "Midnight in Paris", directed by Woody Allen. The lead, Owen Wilson, spoke and acted just like a young Woody Allen which was a bit strange! It was partly set in the Paris of the 1920s which of course I loved because it featured all my favourite writers and artists of the era. I did think that the main character's fiancée was a bit two-dimensional and clichéd - it made his choice too easy. It was a charming, whimsical film and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

An Island Burns Supper

Last night was great fun. After our showers we had one of the hill-walking club's famous communal meals and given the time of year it was a Burns Supper. A lovely vegetable soup started the meal, followed by traditional haggis, neeps and tatties. Then we had clootie dumpling with a choice of custard or locally purchased Zavaroni's ice cream. Many Scottish drinks were imbibed, especially a variety of whiskies. James and my contribution was the cheese course, which I had chosen from M&S and we served it with biscuits and grapes. The highlight of the evening was Tam O'Shanter, recited by Steven's friend Michael, whom he had specially invited because of his knowledge of Burns' work. When Michael recited the poem we were all absolutely spellbound. I have never heard it so well told; he really brought it to life. I had never realised how horrific the scene in the churchyard is! Huge and well deserved applause ensued.
Then in came "mein host" who runs the hostel. He had already made his presence felt in the kitchen earlier by loudly and drunkenly harassing some young French students and arguing with anyone who would listen about Scottish independence. It was all supposed to be jokey and the French people took it in good part but he was way over the top. He told us that he had written a poem for us and asked if he could recite it. We politely agreed and he just started swearing. Nothing I haven't heard before but it was really quite out of order and he was lucky that we were such a good-natured crew because we could have taken offence. The evening continued in a convivial manner until we were too tired and full to continue.
Today most people walked the north part of the island, but I had already walked that part during our previous visit so I went for a very pleasant coastal walk with Hilary and Irene north from Kettrick Bay. The weather was much drier than yesterday and the sun even broke through the clouds from time to time! We walked for a good three hours and saw lots of birds including a big heron (spotted by Hilary) which flew off slowly. Despite my doubts about going to Bute in January (I was concerned about weather and accommodation), it has been an excellent weekend. 

Raining in Rothesay

It has been wet for our walk on Bute today. We took the bus to Kilchattan in the south west, then walked to Rothesay on the West Island Way, which was about 12 km. it was raining more or less the whole way and the paths were very muddy. However I was properly attired in waterproofs from head to toe so I was dry and therefore happy. We spent a lot of time saying to each other "This would be lovely if the weather was nice!" because the low clouds and rain obscured the views. It was however very pleasant to get out for a walk and the company was excellent (Hilary, Steven, Susan and Debbie.) James and Steven scouted ahead and found us a cosy clearing in the woods which was almost completely dry, so we were able to sit down for lunch. At last Rothesay appeared in the distance and we skirted round the back of it before descending to the front and the comforts of our backpackers hostel. The hostel is much nicer than I had feared; warm and clean with good showers. I wonder why Rothesay appears so run down compared with other Scottish seaside towns like Brodick or Elie? We passed quite a few abandoned buildings on the way into town, it would look much better if they were demolished. Perhaps the rainy weather makes everything look worse, and there are some nice wee pubs and restaurants near the centre - we had a very nice dinner in a bistrot called Harry Ha's last night before joining the others for a drink at The Esplanade. But overall I think the place definitely needs some investment. 

The ferry arrives

As I write this I can see the lights of the Rothesay ferry advancing towards us out of the darkness as we wait in a queue of cars at Wemyss Bay. We are on our way for a walking weekend on Bute, although the weather forecast is dubious.

We have just had a a drink at the Wemyss Bay Station Bar; it is so lovely! It was opened in 1903 and I don't think it can have changed at all  - it is tiny, very old-fashioned and cosy with a roaring log fire. 

Curry Karaoke

The weekend has flown by and has been very pleasant. James did his husbandly duty and brought me breakfast in bed both days, and this morning we had a Big Talk about future plans which I found very reassuring. What have I got done? Well, yesterday it was mainly housework; I gave the back room a deep clean and found it strangely satisfying. Then last night I was at a night out entitled "Curry Karaoke" which was a good laugh. My rendition of "I've got you babe" was truly dreadful. I'm not understating this, it was awful, but I didn't care! After our curry we were all singing and dancing for the rest of the evening. I was sensible though and left at about 11 p.m. because I know that I'm quite tired just now.
James and I went down to Troon for a walk this morning and had a tasty lunch at the Velvet Apple before heading home. It was cold but not too windy. The beach showed marks from the recent storms; huge piles of driftwood and seaweed up on the dunes, and litter bins and grit bins which must have been swept out to sea and then tossed back into the beach. I do like a bit of sea air, and I was further cheered by a warm and fragrant bath when I got home. After tea with Grandma we all watched the last instalment of Sherlock which I thought was very good; it was more "back to business" than the wedding episode which was a bit whimsical, and it had some nice twists and turns. 

Sleeping off a headache

I had a headache on Wednesday which made me feel really rotten and nauseous. I had no choice but to press on at work, however when I got home I went straight to bed and slept for several hours. This did the trick and later I got up for a couple of hours in the evening, only to find that James was not well either! He seemed to be in a worse state than me though, because I felt fine in the morning whereas he developed a bit of a cold which has lasted all week. It's lucky that I managed to sleep off my headache because work has been very, very busy. To look on the bright side, I have got a lot done. In other good news, Ally has been re-employed by G4S and had his first shift today. And Davie has passed a Chemistry NAB - hooray! On Friday night I met up with Sheila, Barbara, and Kathryn for a meal. I was absolutely exhausted and arrived late after dashing there straight from work, but I enjoyed the meal and the company and it was nice to catch up with everyone's news. So that has been my week; work, socialising and overcoming a headache in the style of Ivan Denisovich, the title character of one of my favourite books! 

Another rainy day

It just keeps on raining although now that I am back at work it doesn't affect me as much. I have had two social outings in the past two days, both of which have been highly enjoyable.
Yesterday I visited a good friend and colleague who I haven't seen for ages; we went out for a coffee and it was just so great to see her. We ended up chatting for hours and she gave me a tour of her beautiful home later. I really need to keep in better touch with many nice people in my life - but time slips past and life is busy. That's why my book clubs are so good for me; I keep in touch with people through them that I'm quite sure I would have lost contact with otherwise.
Then this evening James persuaded me to go with him to the Counting House for the monthly hill walking club social evening. I wasn't keen because I was tired and feeling a bit grumpy. However I was soon chatting away with lovely people and was really glad that I went.
I have also been trying hard to exercise - I put on 3 lbs over the festive season but have lost 1 lb already. Last night I went back to FitSteps and enjoyed it. 

Still raining

It's the last day of the Christmas holidays and the rain is still battering against the glass roof in the back room. It certainly hasn't been a good run of weather but I think that we have made the most of our holidays. We have gone for a walk when possible, we have gone swimming, and we have socialised and eaten lots! James and I had a pleasant walk round "Strathbleak Loch" this morning and got home before the rain came in at lunch time. Then James and the boys and Cat took down the Christmas tree while I popped over for a coffee with Jackie, it was nice to have a chat.
Jamie has now gone back to Dundee because his next placement (in the transplant unit) starts tomorrow. I will miss him so much but it has been great to have him around for the past fortnight.
Grandma came round for tea and we had a nice gammon joint. And now we are about to watch the next instalment of Sherlock with Ally and Cat. A pleasant end to a good and restful holiday. 

Munchie Box

Ally and Cat have returned from Arran which means that all three boys are home again - but only for one night because Jamie will be heading back to Dundee tomorrow. James and Jamie were hill walking today with the club and Davie was socialising in town, so I had a pleasant day swimming and shopping. In the afternoon I decided to watch another of the French films that I have recorded, Monsieur Lazhar. I thought it was absolutely excellent; gentle, insightful, even humorous. But the ending was very disappointing - way too bleak for me. I was still glad that I had watched it. We had a nice steak dinner then Davie, Ally and Cat all arrived having ordered a vile "munchie box"; a large pizza box full of donner meat, chips, chicken and vegetable pakora and naan bread. They ate up enthusiastically but as usual there still seemed to be almost as much left in the box by the time they had finished eating! This never bothers Alasdair - he just finishes it for breakfast! 

Tidal Surges

While we were out yesterday Jamie helped David to clear and clean his bedroom, and they made an excellent job of it. It looks great and all the clutter has gone; it has inspired David to work on his Advanced Higher Chemistry project, and he spent quite a lot of today on it. A good day to do some work because it was unrelentingly rainy all day. There has been flooding all up the west coast of Britain due to stormy weather and tidal surges; Ally texted me that some of the roads on Arran were covered and that the piers were below the water in Corrie and Sannox. James and I decided that this was the ideal opportunity to watch one of the French films that I have recorded recently; Les Emotifs Anonymes, which was a romantic comedy. It was mildly amusing but both of its lead characters were intensely annoying so it was not that great. However James earned some brownie points for watching it with me! The best French films are truly wonderful but there are lots that aren't and you can't necessarily tell in advance!
I always lose track of the days of the week when I'm on holiday, however we worked out that this is Friday so we had a curry in the evening and enjoyed a relaxing evening re-watching some of Mad Men Series 5 in order to prepare for the sixth series which was a DVD Christmas present from James to me. 

Torrential in Torrance

We woke to a pleasant morning with more than a hint of blue sky. Heather and Ewan were running the annual "Lenzie Jog" in the morning and had invited us for a walk with them afterwards for lunch at one of their local hostelries, The Stables. So we set off in good spirits, looking forward to our first walk of the new year. Given the reasonable weather we wore our trainers because we would be walking on pavements and towpaths, and we took waterproof jackets because the weather forecast predicted showers.
What the weather forecast did not predict was the onset of extremely heavy rain just after we had decided to walk a longer route via Torrance in order to make a nice eight mile circular walk! We pressed on, but oh boy was it wet! My trainers were soon soaked both with rain and mud, and my jeans were absolutely saturated with water! Strangely, both of my knees developed a little patch of white foam! I presume this must be washing powder which has not been completely rinsed out by the washing machine! The same phenomenon happened on one of Ewan's knees. Despite the weather we had a nice, companionable walk and laughed about the weather. When we found the path completely blocked by a huge puddle (more like a small lake actually!), James enterprisingly spotted a way round it behind the hedge. We passed through Torrance and made our way back to the canal and along to The Stables where we had a hearty lunch and enjoyed the warmth. Then we set off for to walk the last couple of miles back to Heather and Ewan's house. Although I had warmed up in the pub my legs and feet were still very wet, and to my despair I soon realised that I had left my bag behind, but James and Ewan heroically ran back to get it. The rain had more or less stopped by now, and by the time we got back to the house for a welcome coffee my jeans were nearly dry. Heather very kindly lent me a pair of socks to wear so I felt very cosy as I tucked into Christmas cake beside the fire. I don't care that it was rainy, I really enjoyed our walk and I want to go on plenty more walks in 2014 which I am hoping will be my year of fitness. 

Shiny New Year

It is 2014! We brought in the New Year at Alison and Hugh's; Brenda, Enzo, Carol and Tommy were also there. We see Alison and Hugh regularly but we hardly ever see the others except in passing so it was really nice to catch up. Carol and Tommy set a very good example as young retirees, and are only home just now for a short break from wintering in the Canary Islands - sounds like an attractive plan for the future. It was nice to see Enzo looking well, and Brenda said that she really misses my Mum, which I thought was a very nice thing to say. Alison and Hugh made us a delicious three course meal and then we all relaxed and chatted until the bells. We continued to chat for a further couple of hours; we had intended to leave earlier but it was all so cosy and pleasant that we stayed!
David had by now decided to stay overnight in EK so we drove up there with his glasses so that he could throw away his monthly contact lenses. We met him at McDonalds because it was open twenty-four hours so was a must-go destination for David and his friends at 3 a.m. David was in very good spirits considering he had been in two minds about whether to go to the party at all!
I collected him at about 11.30 a.m. in time for him to have a shower at home before picking up Grandma to go to our New Year's lunch at the Crutherland Hotel where we were meeting Marjory, Forrest and the children. David seemed ok at first but then he felt very sick and headachy. During the second course he gave up on trying to eat lunch and retired to the hotel lounge for a nap in one of the big armchairs. Nobody minded, we could all see that he was suffering! He went straight to bed when we got home and is still out for the count. I realise that he is definitely hungover but I also suspect that he is also exhausted because I don't think he got any sleep at all last night!
Ally contacted us from Arran and Jamie from Dundee to wish us a Happy New Year, and Jamie travelled home this evening. So the New Year has begun! No resolutions from me yet, I'm planning to have a think about it.