The turkey is finished

Actually the turkey was finished a couple of days ago but I am pleased with how we used it all up.

1. Christmas Day of course, and Jamie also took some turkey back to Edinburgh with him later.

2. Boxing Day - Leftover turkey with all the trimmings at Gerry and Christine's. (Admittedly this doesn't count as using up our own turkey but we mightily enjoyed helping to finish theirs and had a great evening)

3. 27th December - Our own leftover turkey, again with all the leftover trimmings. Yummy.

4. 28th December - a delicious turkey risotto made to my own recipe, and served with a festive spoonful of cranberry sauce on top. 

5. Also 28th December - a bowl of chopped up turkey meat for Tom and Ruby. Tom ate it so fast that he sicked up a bit of it straight away, clearly unchewed.

And so farewell to our Christmas turkey.

Escaping in Edinburgh

Yesterday the five of us had a day in Edinburgh which started with an adventure - we were locked in the Da Vinci room at Escape and had to find the Holy Grail as well as a key to get out! It was great fun - we had to search the room for clues, using codes and solving puzzles. Everybody was able to contribute and we triumphed in only 49 minutes and 30 seconds! James then bought the boys some shirts in the Tyrwhitts sale. We also went into a shop called Anta which had gorgeous Scottish fabrics as well as lamps and crockery. James and I were rather taken with a lamp decorated with thistles that we thought would look just right in our newly decorated lounge. Alasdair was less impressed especially by the price. He is very thrifty. The very posh sales assistant commented that they had taken delivery of the lamp only ten minutes before we arrived, to which Alasdair commented loudly to me, "They must have seen you coming!" I didn't know where to look! We bought it anyway and I think it looks splendid in the lounge! We then had lunch in The Gourmet Burger Bar before going back to Jamie's flat for a coffee. What a pleasant day we had! 

Earth Stood Hard as Iron

It was just as well that the earth stood hard as iron today in the Kilpatrick Hills. I noticed that much of the ground that we were walking on was in fact frozen mud, so the freezing temperatures made our going nice and easy compared to slogging through a bog! James had been talking about going for a walk in that area for a while, partly because he had quite liked it on a previous walk (despite heavy rain) and partly because of its proximity to home - only half an hour's drive and we were striding out onto the hills. Today the weather was absolutely glorious; cold crisp air and blue skies, and we had great views. To the south was a misty Glasgow, to the North were the snow covered hills of the Trossachs and Ben Lomond. We had planned an 8 km walk but extended it to take in Duncolm, the highest hill in the Kilpatricks, so in the end we walked about 15 km with about 500 metres of ascent. A tremendous day.

Peaceful

It has been a peaceful, family Christmas, and I can't ask for better than that. The kittens got a great deal of attention on Christmas morning from their cousins Jenny, Neil and Lucy at our traditional festive gathering. Tom and Ruby also have a new kitten cousin called Millie, who looks very like Ruby!

We have dined royally, exchanged gifts which touched me with their thoughtfulness, gone for bracing walks around the neighbourhood, visited friends and played with the kittens. 

This morning, sadly, I attended the funeral of a friend, Neil, who has died too young. I can only imagine the feelings of his wife Sheila and his daughter Kathryn, who is a good friend of Jamie. At the funeral I ran into quite a few friends that I haven't seen for a while. I have semi-deliberately kept a low profile due to the difficulties of the past year but it is a shame because they are really nice people. I am fortunate that they keep reaching out to me, in fact I don't deserve their kindness. We parted vowing to meet up soon. I would like to believe that I will do so.

'Twas the night before Christmas

Well it's Christmas Eve in Casa Anderson. I collected Jamie from Edinburgh this afternoon after attending Noah's birthday party in the morning. I enjoyed listening to music on the way and chatting with Jamie on the way back. This evening we have had a curry, watched Skyfall on television; all five of us are together in the house. Or should I say seven, including our new furry babies. I just love it when we are all together. I have wrapped the last of the presents and put them under the tree. James and Jamie are in charge of the turkey, so much stuffing and sewing and wrapping in tin foil has gone on in the kitchen, and since it is too large for the fridge, it has been carried ceremoniously to the chill of the garage. I find a comfort in these traditions. Merry Christmas. 

The Christmas lights are switched off

On Sunday James and I met up with Heather and Ewan for our traditional Christmas lunch. I have blogged before about how much this means to me. 2014 has had some very good times but also some very difficult times for me and I appreciate the support of family and close friends more than I could ever express. This year's lunch venue was Jamie Oliver's in George Square and the meal was absolutely delicious. It was busy with families but the service was still good. Our afternoon continued at the Metropolitan which has a great atmosphere especially at this time of year; I saw my cousin's son Greg expertly shaking cocktails behind the bar and I went over for a chat with him. There he was, all grown up and handsome; it seems no time at all since he was a baby. Heather and I went for a stroll round the craft stalls in the indoor Christmas market; the quality of the jewellery and art work was excellent. Later on Ally, Cat, Davie and Andrew all joined us for drinks and our festive afternoon morphed into a festive early evening!

At one point earlier on we had noticed that the Christmas lights were not yet on in George Square although the dreich afternoon was beginning to deepen into early twilight on the shortest day. As if on cue, the lights came on a few minutes later. 

Tonight however there are no Christmas lights on in George Square. They have been switched off as a mark of respect for the six people who died there this afternoon, run over by an out of control bin lorry. I presume that the driver had suffered some sort of heart attack. I first heard the news by text from Jennifer and the first thing I did was phone Ally, Cat and Davie who I knew were all Christmas shopping in town. Thank goodness they were all ok. 

But I can't imagine what the bereaved families and the injured people must be going through. That's not the only sad news I have heard this week and it made me think that it's time to get things into proportion in my life and count my blessings.

Oh what fun we had

Last Thursday James and I went to see Madness at the Hydro. Although they are about our age and their music was part of our youth we have never seen them in concert until now. What a good show they put on! They had the whole audience singing and dancing. Our pleasure was further enhanced by being upgraded to entrance to a lounge, where there was a quiet bar and more importantly comfy seats to lounge about on. My favourite song was "Our House" which was just as good as I had hoped.

I'm still far too overloaded at work but I'm being a bit more successful at switching off from it when I'm at home. All in all the term has gone well.

More fun was to come on Saturday when Ally arrived home from Oslo. Although we have skyped and face timed regularly we haven't seen him in person since September so when I picked him up from the airport it was really good to hug him and kiss him. He must have missed me a bit because he let me do the hugging and kissing without putting up a fight! Once Ally was home it wasn't long before beautiful Cat arrived - Christine and Gerry kindly gave her a lift to our house from a family party and we invited them in for a drink. Cat and Ally were very taken with the kittens and Tom and Ruby seemed delighted with the attention. 

Odysseus the ironing mat

About six weeks ago I bought an ironing mat for Alasdair to use in Norway with his little travel iron. He had been using a folded towel upon which to iron his shirts, but this was a bit unsatisfactory, resulting in the purchase of said ironing mat.

I duly parcelled it up, addressed it to Ally in Oslo, and Davie took it to the post office to send it on its way.

However it did not arrive at its destination. As days turned into weeks Alasdair commented from time to time on its non arrival, speculating that I must have addressed it wrongly and casting aspersions on Davie's and my ability to perform such a simple task as sending a small parcel. Gradually we all forgot about it.

Until today! The ironing mat has arrived at Ally's flat in Oslo with a sticker on it which says "Mis-sent to Thailand". How strange is that? What a long journey that little ironing mat has been on; if only it could tell us its adventures! 

Purr purr purr

The kittens already have distinctive characters. Tom is the hunter - he loves chasing and pouncing on a squeaky mouse toy on a string, whereas Ruby doesn't really know how to tackle it yet. Ruby is the explorer - she followed me all the way upstairs this evening while Tom skittishly jumped about on the lower steps. They are very very sweet.

Davie has decided that Tom's middle name is "Bombadil" I suggested that "Slippers" would be a good middle name for Ruby but Davie wants it to be "Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby" after the song by the Kaiser Chiefs.

We had a fantastic day in Edinburgh yesterday with Davie and Jamie. Stockbridge is really nice, like a village in the city, with lots of shops, cafés and restaurants. We had lunch in the Scran and Scally which I loved - the food was something special and the service and atmosphere were great. James asked for the bill only to find that Jamie had already paid it! We were both grateful and very excited that our grown up son was treating us! 

Before we headed home we visited the gorgeous Stockbridge Market which has all sorts of very upmarket food and crafts. 

When Grandma came for tea we watched the Strictly Come Dancing results show, something that Grandma and I both enjoy.

Festive frolics

Yesterday we got our Christmas tree and James and Davie decorated it while I wrote Christmas cards. It looks lovely and of course we took Tom and Ruby through to look at it! They did glance at it briefly before scampering around the lounge but to them it's just another big new strange thing, like everything else in their lives. 

We have made great strides in our Christmas shopping and are now nearly finished. I wrote the last of the Christmas cards this morning with Tom and Ruby sleeping on my lap. James put on his Michael Bublé Christmas album - it is officially festive in Casa Anderson.  

Scotland's National Animal

Today James, David and I set off on our annual trip to Queen Elizabeth Forest Park to choose our Christmas tree. After selecting a fine specimen we had a pleasant lunch in the café with views over the bleak winter landscape.

Then we went for a wee post lunch walk down to the waterfall and the bird hide. It was very chilly with patches of thin snow. In the bird hide was a visitors' book to record sightings of birds and animals which I idly leafed through. I came across the following entry:

"We saw some red squirrels but this was interrupted by yet another unicorn sighting. Why didn't Scotland choose a rarer breed as its national animal?"

I also came across entries claiming to have seen donkeys, zebras and even monkeys! It did make me laugh.

Happy kitty, sleepy kitty

This evening the kittens have been full of fun and rampaging around the back room. They were playing with a cardboard box; hiding in it, jumping in and out of it, pouncing on each other around it. Tom is the bigger kitten and very playful but Ruby gives as good as she gets; she loves to jump on Tom's back. And they also love to snuggle up together when they nap, they are so sweet.

I'm glad that they are not allowed outside yet because the weather has been cold and a bit wild. A huge dark storm cloud completely covered the sky yesterday afternoon and there was amazing thunder and lightning outside my office window, then afterwards the cloud rolled away leaving blue sky! Such a contrast! This morning there was a dusting of snow on the fields like icing sugar and the wind was cutting.

But Tom and Ruby are snug inside for their first winter.  

Little balls of fur

Tom and Ruby grow ever bolder. They are now exploring the length of the back room instead of sticking to the area near the couches. And they are very interested in the utility room; James said that they stood staring through the glass of the door while he was in there. They can now jump from the couches to the coffee table and make tiny squeaks. When they purr their whole wee bodies vibrate. They climbed all over Davie at tea time so that he could hardly eat his dinner.

They are currently spending their nights in Ally's bedroom - it's smaller and warmer than the back room. Ally doesn't know this because he is in Oslo * - nor does he know that one of them did a tiny bit of sick on his bed last night! Which I cleaned up of course. At bed time I move their food, rug, basket, toys and litter tray upstairs. Lastly I carry the kitties upstairs, their wee round heads swivelling everywhere to look around the hall, and put them in their basket. They immediately jump out and skip around the room. 

* although Jamie and Ally have not met their new siblings yet, they have both FaceTimed them! And so has their Auntie Jennifer!  

Soft kitty, warm kitty

Tom and Ruby are very tiny and very lively! I spent the day at home with them instead of going to the Mince Pies outing. They only left their mummy yesterday so I didn't want to leave them. 

They run around, climbing as high as they can manage on the furniture and jumping in the air with sheer exuberance. They can climb onto the couch with a bit of scrabbling, but they prefer to run up my leg because that's more convenient! They like play flight and roll around the floor wrestling. They like to run about chasing their own and each other's tails. And they both love a cuddle; after running about wild they climb onto my lap and suddenly fall asleep. That's what they are doing right now. They are so light and soft and warm.

New members of the family

James has decided that after giving a good home to Jack and Jill for all those years, we should give a home to two more cats. Tom and Ruby were born on 12th October. They were advertised on Gumtree today and we phoned the seller in Airdrie, then went to collect them straight away. It's very strange but rather lovely to have kittens in the house again.

Tom is black with white bib and paws, and Ruby is tortoiseshell. They are both very cute.

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think

The Jools Holland concert this evening was excellent. His piano pieces were great, so was his band, and the guest singers were amazing. There was so much energy - it reminded me of the jazz band we went to see in Oslo. One of the guest singers was Joss Stone, she has a beautiful voice. Marc Almond sang "Say Hello Wave Goodbye" which has about the best lyrics of any song ever! He also sang Tainted Love - brilliant! Ruby Turner sang several songs and had the best voice of all. The last song was "Enjoy Yourself" which the audience all joined in. A very good evening.

Nostalgia

The disco is in full swing at Inverclyde. I am assailed by memories of previous Inverclyde trips - I have been here nearly every year for seven years. I have had some great times here and also some rather challenging times! Mainly sleep deprivation and sorting out situations. But it's the good times that I remember most - sports, dancing, patrolling the corridors, chatting with colleagues. It even makes me feel quite wistful for pupils past!

Update at 11 p.m. They're all asleep hooray! 

Box Set

And so we are in December, I can't believe how the time has flown past this autumn! This evening James and I indulged ourselves by watching not one but TWO episodes of Breaking Bad on DVD. We know some people who admit  to (in fact relish) occasionally having sat down to three episodes in a row of this excellent series but they shall remain nameless. We are now on Series 4 and it is as addictive as ever. Rather an apt adjective now I come to think of it. 

I don't know why it's so good exactly - there is a strong plot with twists and turns, interesting (although flawed) characters, fine acting, a touch of comedy to leaven the dark subject matter - it all adds up to quality drama. A good box set for the winter nights is very satisfactory. I think I'll go for three episodes tomorrow evening if we start early!