Birthday and Mother's Day

Friday was Alasdair's birthday and we celebrated it with a rather nice curry which I collected on the way home from work. Jamie popped in on the way to a party with Champagne and a birthday cake and Ashleigh had come round to see Davie; we all sang Happy Birthday. Cat gave Ally the present that she has been planning in great detail over the past few weeks. It is a three day hill-walking trip to the Lochalsh area, where they will climb ten Munros including the Five Sisters of Kintail. They will spend the nights at the Cluanie Inn. It is such a thoughtful present, perfect for Ally, and he was absolutely delighted! Davie gave Ally a collection of flags from the countries that he visited last summer, and James and I gave him a rucksack, ice axe, and a "Kew Gardens" 50 pence coin that he has been wanting. I think he thoroughly enjoyed his birthday.
On Saturday James, Ally, Cat and Davie went hill-walkIng to Ben Ime. Apparently it was very wild and windy and when I came home from shopping they were all fast asleep exhausted! In the evening James, David and I went to the cinema to see The Book Thief. I loved the book, and I found the film to be a good quality depiction of it, although it didn't really add anything for me.
And Mother's Day was great - very relaxing. A lie in, a walk round "Strathbleak Park", a bath and a Chinese meal; lovely. I got cards, flowers, and a tiny plastic trophy which has a sticker on it "No. 1 the Best Mum in the World" I suspect that this was intended to be sarcastic but I love it and am keeping it on display at my side at all times. Grandma, Forrest, Marjory and the children came round for the meal and we had a nice evening together. 

Back to Carluccio's

It has been a very pleasant week, with work going well and several lovely evenings out. On Thursday evening I went for dinner with Heather and Jennifer. I wanted to choose somewhere age appropriate for my beautiful teenage god-daughter so we went to the burger joint that I visited for the first time on my birthday; Bread meets Bread. First of all I drove round and round George Square looking for a parking place. I'm usually very lucky when parking, as cars often conveniently draw out and vacate a space right in front of me! However luck was not with me on Thursday, so I texted Heather and we met at the restaurant. I enjoyed my burger although it was rather spicy. These new burger places (like Buddy's on Tuesday) have a lot in common. The menu is fairly short and to the point (burgers, pulled pork, poutine), and the service is fast and friendly. You can't book a table but you don't have to wait more than fifteen minutes. The clientele is young - in fact I am certain that I was the oldest person in the restaurant on Thursday! Not that it bothered me. The speedy service gives the impression that you are not meant to linger (although to be fair they didn't make us feel hurried) so we went round the corner to Carluccio's for coffee and a chat. I haven't been there for a while and it was very nice.
So today when I was in Glasgow shopping and I felt the need for a coffee I popped back into Carluccio's all by myself. I sat and enjoyed my coffee and watched the world go by. 

Tradition in interaction with modern society

What a catchy title! Not really. It is the tag-line of the brochure for the Faculty of Law at the University of Oslo, where Alasdair will be spending the academic year of 2014 - 2015. Inspired by this I ordered two Eyewitness Guides to Norway, one for me and one for Ally. They arrived today and we had a browse through them before tea time. I don't know much about Norway and I had to look at the map to confirm exactly where it is! According to the guide book it is the self-styled "home of ski-ing" although Ally thinks that there is more emphasis on cross country and telemark ski-ing than on downhill ski-ing. That wouldn't put me off because I have always wanted to try cross-country. It all looks very beautiful - fjords, forests, lakes and mountains so lots of outdoorsy activities. Oslo itself is a historic harbour city with lots of museums and restaurants, not surprisingly specialising in seafood. Ally is really excited about going there and I look forward to visiting him - I have ordered a teach yourself Norwegian CD so that we can learn a bit of the language too.
This evening I went out for tea with Jackie to a really good new burger bar called Buddy's - the burger was excellent and it was very busy for a Tuesday night - it was a young crowd and I think the boys would like it. We finished up with a coffee at The Bungo and a lovely chat. 

Sunshine, snow and a new shotgun

After our lovely walk yesterday we set off for a well deserved dinner at Anderson's restaurant in Boat of Garten. We have been there many times and always enjoy a great meal. Last night was no exception; the boys had steaks, Alison had lamb shank and I had a delicious seafood risotto. Dessert was sticky toffee pudding and a selection of their unusual ice creams - James particularly enjoyed his lavender and lemon curd ice cream. It was just as well that we had the forty minute walk back to the cottage to digest our food. 

This morning after a leisurely breakfast watching the horses skipping about in the field beyond Alison and Hugh's garden, we went on a pleasant walk at Rothiemurchus. The weather was a mixture of bright sunshine and snow showers - it was very pretty and the Cairgorms looked amazing all covered in snow. Then we went clay pigeon shooting; Hugh got a smart new gun for Christmas which is lighter with a longer barrel. It was good fun: I enjoyed using both barrels to shoot one clay in the air followed immediately by another one bouncing along the ground. 

We are now on our way home through Perthshire with the evening sun lighting up the fields and hills. We stopped at Tiso in Perth where James bought himself a nice new fleece and kindly treated me to some lightweight Capri pants and a lovely down jacket. It has been a great weekend. 

Beautiful Badenoch Way

We have just finished walking the 17.5 km Badenoch Way with Alison and Hugh. It was tremendous. The walk goes from Loch Insh to Kincraig in the Spey Valley. It's a linear walk so we parked a car at each end. The weather stayed dry the whole way and was even a wee bit sunny  some of the time.

The terrain was varied and provided beautiful views, with the snow capped Feshie Hills in the background. We walked through woodland, moorland and along the banks of the Spey and Loch Insh. The river was swollen and the plain around it was flooded. We passed some gorgeous houses on our journey; a mixture of modern and traditional, mainly painted white with lovely stonework or wooden features. At one point we walked along a high, narrow path above a steep slope with the Spey shining below us.

And now we are on our way for coffee and cake at the Inshriach tearoom. 

On the road to Boat

I had a great sleep last night and a good day today. Davie on the other hand had no sleep at all because he worked through the night to finish his Chemistry assignment! I admire his determination, last minute though it is. Today was his absolutely final deadline and he had been warned that if he didn't hand it in he would be dropped from the course. He printed it out at school then went home to rest after his Chemistry lesson. 

I left work sharp because James and I are heading to Boat of Garten for the weekend to visit Alison and Hugh. The journey has been very snowy in places and it was almost a whiteout at the Drumochter summit. I will sign off now because we are nearly there. 

I'm back!

The last six weeks have been very difficult as I have struggled with anxiety, but with a great deal of support from family and friends I am cautiously optimistic that I have come through this episode. It's not the first time that something like this has happened to me, and it has been triggered by various things over the years. I'm lucky that it is episodic, I can't imagine what it must be like to feel anxious all the time. I hope to be back to more regular blogging from now on!
Today is officially the first day of Spring (my favourite season) but you wouldn't have guessed it from the wild and windy weather. I had an interview in the morning which I'm glad to say was successful, so now I know that I will be DHT until June so I have a bit more certainty. After school I started a first aid course which I need to do so that I can be validated as a Duke of Edinburgh leader again this year. The trainer was enthusiastic and we all enjoyed it.
Davie has been working hard to complete his Biology and Chemistry Advanced Higher assignments. He is a bit behind schedule but I am impressed with how much effort he is now putting in to meet his deadlines. He had his Prom last Friday and had a great time; he has made some really good friends over the last couple of years. He now has a bunch of conditional offers from universities so he knows what he needs to aim for.
Ally has decided to spend his year abroad in Oslo in Norway. It will be a great experience for him but we will all miss him. It will be fun visiting him though, and I think our next year's ski holiday might be to Lillehammer! I will also miss Cat because of course she will be visiting him in Oslo rather than here! Luckily she has promised to take me for lots of lunches in Edinburgh!
Jamie now knows that he will be getting a job in Scotland and is now submitting his preferences for hospitals. I think that he and Aisling are hoping to work in Edinburgh or Glasgow. Cat has booked a treat for us - we are all meeting up to go ice-climbing at Xscape in a couple of weeks, which will be a really lovely way to end the term.
As for James, I am very grateful to him for being so good to me over the last few weeks, so I decided to get him a present. I bought him a quince tree (he wants to make quince jelly!) and he was delighted and planted it in the garden. 

Spring Wardrobe

Still busy, busy, busy, but less anxious I'm glad to say. As George R has kindly told me, I am making a huge success of running the Base with the highest tariff pupils we have ever had. He and I are always the last at school every day (both of us doing our cover timetables for the next day!) and if George leaves first he knocks on my window and tells me to go home! 
On a sartorial note, I treated myself to a new Spring jacket on Saturday and I have put away all my winter clothes - how very optimistic!
And on Saturday evening I had a date night with my dear husband  - a tasty dinner at Chiquito followed by a film - The Grand Budapest Hotel - which was bizarre but entertaining. 

I think that Spring is coming

I'm glad to say that I have turned a bit of a corner. I can tell that this is happening because I am taking pleasure in everyday things again, just little things like porridge with blueberries, a lovely bath, or a good book. Spring is being heralded by the appearance of daffodils and crocuses in the garden.
And I continue to be supported by lovely colleagues, although my workload is still as massive as ever! 

Television, film and books

We have recently started watching a new (to us) television series called Inspector Montalbano. I love him, he's so Italian.  And James has fallen in love with Montalbano's girlfriend Livia! A great recommendation from Heather and Ewan.
We also recently watched a lovely film recommended by Jamie and Aisling, called About Time. It's about time travel, and is also a very British feel good romantic comedy. 
I have started reading Patricia Cornwell's Scarpetta series - a new detective for me to enjoy, I do like a good crime novel.