End of year post

It's my birthday and also the last day of 2015. I have had a lovely day. When I went in to Davie's room to wake him he sleepily held out his arms to give me a hug! Then I went for a really nice lunch in The Bothy in Ruthven Lane with James, Ally and Davie. I laughed at what Ally said when James asked him why he had walked from Exhibition Centre station to Byres Road instead of taking the Underground from Partick to Hillhead. Ally replied "£1.40 mate!" Typical Ally, always thrifty! While we were at the restaurant Jamie phoned from his ski holiday in France to wish me a happy birthday; it was good to hear his voice; he is having a great holiday and has enough snow to ski on - just enough!

And so the year 2015 comes to its close. It has been a busy year, and like most years has had its ups and downs. The main issue for me continues to be work / life balance - I am truly dreadful about this and spend far too much time either at work or obsessing about it. On the other hand, at least my job is not boring! Although I am beginning to realise that a boring job could be very attractive. So I need to address this. I really, really have to address this.

There have been lots of good things about 2015. Most importantly the fantastic people in my life who have supported me. James is always there with advice which is not always welcomed by me, but is often exactly right. My three boys continue to be a joy to me, and I have a marvellous sister and some brilliant friends, who are much more loyal to me than I deserve. I have had the amazing experience of visiting Uganda, which has made me want to change my life. And I was so lucky to be part of the school Music trip to Germany in June. Our holidays have also been excellent - skiing in France in the spring with all of our boys as well as Aisling and Cat, and then our amazing road trip with David to the USA in the summer. And of course two fantastic weekends with Alison and Hugh in Boat of Garten and hill-walking weekends aplenty. I loved our trip to Amsterdam in August with Heather and Ewan - part of our 30th Wedding Anniversary celebrations. Many people would probably not have expected James and I still to be married after 30 years, including us! And I should mention our gorgeous kitties, Tom and Ruby who are such fun - just watching their antics cheers me up. My health has been a bit bizarre though! A detached retina, a cataract operation, and several bad falls culminating in a broken ankle! I would never have guessed that all that lay ahead of me this time last year! The good news is that all of this was well treated by the very kind people I have met in Gartnavel and Hairmyres so I am all patched up and ready for the New Year. 

I wonder what 2016 holds in store? 

Frankenstorm

The storms that assail the UK are now being given names alphabetically by the Met Office, in order to raise awareness of the dangers of extreme weather, apparently. The first one was Abigail in November. Tonight Frank (no. 6) is whirling around the house as I lie here in my cosy bed. I'm not sure if I would have realised that it was a storm if it hadn't been so named and announced on the news - I think I would just have thought it was a particularly wild and windy night. 

Anyway, earlier on it was bright and sunny and James and I took ourselves for a pleasant two hour walk around Greenock Cut. We had a good old chat on the way round and sorted out various topical issues such as the causes of all the flooding in Cumbria, the pros and cons of social media, and our next summer holiday. It was lovely to be out for a walk, and my formerly broken ankle was mostly fine. It started aching a bit towards the end of the walk, and this evening it was quite swollen. I'm not sure what causes this - can a bone be sore? Or is it the muscles around the bone? And why is it swollen? After all, I broke it three and a half months ago; surely it should be completely healed by now.

The cats were in fine fettle today, jumping around the house excitedly. We soon found out why - the dismembered body of a poor wee mouse was lying in the hall. It the first one they have caught for a while which accounts for their lively mood. I'm not sure that the unfortunate rodent found the experience so exhilarating. 

Fiddle dee dee

Today James and I took Grandma out for afternoon tea at the Blythswood Hotel then to the GFT to see her favourite film, which is Gone with the Wind. She liked the afternoon tea with all the wee sandwiches and cakes, and said that she would like to go there every week! And she absolutely loved seeing the film on the big screen. We were a bit worried at the beginning because we noticed that she had dozed off during the opening titles! However she soon perked up and remained wide awake for the whole of the film. I had forgotten how long Gone with the Wind is! Nearly four hours! However I enjoyed it very much; it was great seeing it at the cinema and it was both funnier and sadder than I remember.  Grandma said that she had a lovely day - mission accomplished! 

When I got home I was looking up information about the film and was struck by the fact that Leslie Howard (Ashley Wilkes) died in 1943 at the age of only 50; his plane was shot down during the war. However Olivia de Havilland (Melanie Wilkes) is still alive today at the age of 99. What different hands life deals us. 

As the sundial at Twelve Oaks (The Wilkes' estate) tells us, quoting Benjamin Franklin, "Do not squander time. That is the stuff life is made of." 

Replete

I have been eating solidly for two days. First of all Jamie made us a lovely breakfast of croissants and pains au chocolate to eat while exchanging gifts. Then we had tasty snacks and some Christmas cake at Marjory and Forrest's. We more or less managed to restrain ourselves until our massive Christmas dinner at 4.30 p.m. By the way this went remarkably smoothly - we didn't burn or forget anything - and James commented that after 30 years we have finally got it right! We had to pace ourselves and had a break between the main course and dessert, so we didn't finish eating until about 9 p.m. I had terrible indigestion during the night. I have referred to my delicate digestive system many times on this blog - it was inherited from my dear Dad (along with his shaky hands, which in my case is becoming more noticeable as I get older - and in the boys' opinion, hilarious!) Anyway, my Dad dealt with his digestive problem by avoiding spicy foods, not eating too much, and by dosing himself (and in fact the whole family) liberally with Andrews Liver Salts and also bicarbonate of soda dissolved in water. I always enjoyed the burping sessions that followed! 

Today I started with my usual healthy porridge and blueberries breakfast, but lunch and dinner both consisted of turkey dinner leftovers - and there is still some left over for tomorrow! 

Pause for denial

I was so happy this morning when all three boys came through to our bedroom with their Santa socks to open their presents. It's pretty good going that Santa still brings them presents at the ages of 25, 21 and 20! The boys were very pleased with Santa's thoughtful and personalised choices and we were all chatting happily. Overcome by love, I made an announcement which was meant to be "I know have been a rubbish Mum, but I hope you all know that I love you." However after I said the first part of the sentence the boys all just loudly agreed with me about being a rubbish Mum, and I didn't get the chance to finish the sentence! Ally then accused me of putting in a "pause for denial" which had failed - I thought this was very funny! I do love having them all at home. We went round to Marjory and Forrest's for a lovely family Christmas morning and Forrest said that us all getting together is the best part of Christmas Day - I agree with that! 

Christmas Surprise

James and I wrapped Christmas presents while watching It's a Wonderful Life on television this afternoon. It was rainy outside and cosy inside. Davie and Ally were both in town and when they arrived home I made risotto for tea. Then the doorbell rang. Guess who it was? Our Jamie, home for Christmas! He was supposed to be working tomorrow so we weren't expecting him until late tomorrow evening. But he found out yesterday that his shifts had changed and decided to surprise us! We were all delighted to see him and we have spent a lovely evening - the five of us all together.

Let the Festivities Commence

This weekend has rushed past in a flurry of Christmas preparations, shopping and dining. I'm still a bit worried about Grandma who doesn't look markedly better than she has over the last week. James took her to the cardiology clinic on Thursday, and they said she was doing okay. But on Saturday morning she was very sleepy and under the weather; she said that she feels panicky. She also seems a tad confused. She was keen to go up to the shops so I got her ready, but she had to sit down, exhausted, on a chair in the hallway as we prepared to leave her house so I nipped out by myself to get her a paper and something for lunch. After that she perked up and she seemed to enjoy our brief outing to a local retail park, but she's not great. This evening she came round for Sunday tea as usual and I was pleased to see that she ate a decent amount; she seems a bit better but we will need to keep a close eye on her. 

David arrived home on Saturday, having finally run out of parties to attend in Dundee. He came with James and me to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens at the IMAX cinema in Braehead. I found it to be very satisfactory - a pleasingly simple plot (as James pointed out, the plot is almost identical to the very first Star Wars film made - now subtitled Episode IV) and plenty of action. I just hope that Mark Hamill wasn't being paid per line of dialogue! 

Today we did a wee bit of shopping in town before meeting Heather and Ewan for our annual Christmas lunch. It has become a tradition to which I very much look forward. This year we went to Guy's in Candleriggs, as recommended by one of James' colleagues. It was not cheap but the food was excellent and the company was even better; we later walked along to the Metropolitan where we continued our convivial afternoon. It's so pretty with Christmas lights strung across the high ceiling of the covered courtyard of Merchant Square. We were joined for drinks on the cobbled terrace by Andrew and David and we all enjoyed much laughter and conversation.

Nights oot

I have had three Christmas nights out this week. More than enough I think, though they were all enjoyable in their different ways. Monday evening was the carvery with the Leavers' Group, which I have already blogged about. Wednesday evening was Christmas Book Group at Rosemary's. It's always great to catch up with my book club chums for a chat and a laugh and Rosemary made us a delicious supper. And this evening (Friday) was the School Christmas dinner dance. The food and hotel were noticeably nicer than last year's, and all the better for being five minutes from home, which meant that when I decided to leave I was very soon having a cup of tea with James and Ally. I'm trying to decide which one I enjoyed the most and I can't choose - they were each in different venues with different groups of colleagues and friends so I can't really compare them. They have, I'm glad to say, combined to make me feel more festive than I felt a week ago and I'm looking forward to a fun weekend - my version of fun that is, which is having a relaxing time with family and friends. 

Carvery

Good news about Grandma today; she got out of hospital this afternoon and is very happy to be home, although tired and still not 100%. 

I was out at a Christmas dinner this evening with the Leavers' Group which was a really nice occasion. I started by turning up at the wrong restaurant (despite clear instructions from my colleagues!) but despite this I wasn't all that late. The meal took the form of a carvery, for which type of cuisine I have a soft spot, due to fond memories of the Albany Hotel in the late 70s and early 80s. The Albany had the first carvery in Glasgow as far as I am aware and it was very popular in those days; I thought it was the height of sophistication! I no longer think of carveries as fine dining; however the food in the carvery at the New Farm this evening was tasty and plentiful. I had a festive and very jolly evening in great company and I was glad that I went along.  

Gang aft agley!

Well the rest of the evening did not go according to plan! Forrest took Grandma to the hospital this afternoon to change her meds (he found out that they had been dispensed wrongly, which we will of course be investigating further) and because as a result she was feeling none too well. By tea time he phoned to tell us that she had been diagnosed with a resulting heart issue and is being kept in overnight to monitor that her (now) correct meds are working and to have further tests tomorrow. We switched off both ovens, packed an overnight bag for her and headed to the hospital. Thank goodness Forrest found out the mistake - he is a star! I was so proud of him and Jamie as they discussed Grandma's health problems with the nurses, but what about all the wee old ladies who don't have people watching out for them? 

Forrest had been at the hospital since early afternoon so we insisted that he went home and the five of us stayed on for visiting time. Grandma was upset at having to stay in hospital but the three boys cheered her up with their chat while Janes and I got her some biscuits and magazines. She was tired but calm when we left, and we sat down to our roast beef dinner exactly two hours later than planned! And there was me just thinking that everything was going fairly smoothly. I just hope that Grandma is ok. 

O Christmas Tree!

All three boys turned up for our traditional annual trip to Aberfoyle to choose our Christmas tree. This was very nice especially when they are so busy - and we had made it very clear that they were not in any way obliged to come. James, Ally and I set off from Glasgow, and Jamie and Davie from Edinburgh. We arrived first and started looking at the trees which were laid out by size and type. When I saw Jamie's bright blue car coming down the slope into the car park I waved and shouted happily, thus inadvertently drawing the attention of the other people choosing trees, who all looked up at the car. Not realising that he had an audience, David chose that moment to make a humorously but nevertheless rude gesture at us using the middle fingers of both hands. Not my proudest maternal moment. We duly chose an attractive Norway Spruce and went for a tasty in the café at the David Marshall Lodge, followed by a walk down to the waterfall, which was great fun as we went to the bird hide, took pictures of the sculptures, and counted the elven doors that have been scattered through the woods with poems attached about each elf. We had such a lovely time, and we have now set up and decorated the tree and we are chatting and listening to Michael Bublé singing us Christmas songs beside the fire in the lounge. We are all feeling festive except the cats who are very uneasy about a tree being brought inside the house! 

A supposedly nice lunch and film

This morning was spent doing housework and general house maintenance and as a treat for James, I made him a very nice lunch consisting of bagels spread with cream cheese and topped with smoked salmon. I first suspected that something was wrong when I noticed James pulling faces and sucking his teeth in a disapproving manner. Needless to say I ignored this behaviour, and after a while James was forced to vocalise his feelings. "That was the worst lunch you have ever made me."  he declared mournfully. It turns out that he hates both cream cheese and bagels, and finds the combination particularly disgusting because allegedly it sticks to the roof of his mouth (as if that was a bad thing - I like it because you can savour it even more as it gradually disintegrates). "Next time just give me the smoked salmon" he moaned.

Later we had a few errands in town and found ourselves at the GFT at 5 p.m. just as a showing of Lewis Grassic Gibbon's "Sunset Song" was about to start. We had been deliberating about going to a movie in the evening but I had my doubts about seeing Sunset Song; I know the book very well and have also seen it performed on the stage and on television. It's not that I mind seeing a film of a book that I have read; it's just that I know this one so well that I knew there would be no surprises at all and that I was likely to take issue with some aspect of the interpretation. However James seemed very keen to see it and I felt quite touched because I assumed that this was because he knew of my love for the book. As I had predicted the film didn't quite live up to my expectations although the acting was all good. I didn't think it captured the hardships of Chris's life, it missed out a lot, and way the ending was filmed really disappointed me, because the book's ending is much better. All the same, I enjoyed it and was glad that I had seen it. James on the other hand absolutely hated it. I hadn't realised that he had never read the book or seen the play or television series so he had had no idea what to expect and found it very drear. So I thanked him for watching it with me - and it turned out that far from indulging me, the reason he had wanted to see it was because he had heard that the scenery was good while listening to his favourite radio programme "Out of Doors". And to think I thought it was for my sake! James has certainly blotted his copybook with me today!

Update on Sunday morning - James says that going to see the film WAS for me as well as the scenery!

Christmas card campaign

Our new carpet was delivered this morning. Unfortunately it was 40 cm (about 15 inches) too narrow for the room. I will draw a veil over the details of how this happened but suffice it to say that it was not the fault of our supplier John Lewis.

When a rather despondent James went over to visit Grandma, Alasdair had the idea of cheering him up by writing all the Christmas cards while he was gone. In thirty years of marriage I have always written all of the Christmas cards by myself. James helps out by printing address labels but it is still quite a time consuming task, usually taking a couple of evenings. However with Alasdair on the case we were like a well-oiled machine. Ally is certainly a good organiser! He got me to write the cards and he labelled the envelopes, put in the cards, and allocated them into piles for posting or local delivery. It was actually a pleasure and we were a good team. When James arrived home a couple of hours later we were just finishing and he was suitably impressed.

Update at midnight - not only has Ally posted the stamped cards but he has just walked for an hour around our neighbourhood and has delivered all of the local cards! What a boy!

Another film night

After a very busy day at Acme Sweatshop (a tribute to my American bloggy friend - I have been thinking of you a lot this past week Susan) I set off into Glasgow to join some pupils for another film night at the GFT this evening. It was the last film in their '80s season, and another film that I have never seen; "Planes, Trains and Automobiles." It was the kind of American film that makes me cringe - the kind of film where everything that can possibly go wrong, goes wrong. In this instance a grumpy businessman played by Steve Martin is trying to make his way home to Chicago for Thansgiving. However he runs into a hapless shower curtain ring salesman played by the late John Candy and they have a series of horrifyingly inevitable misadventures. However either I am becoming more relaxed about the genre in my old age (after all, Mr Bean's Holiday is one of my favourite films) or the undoubted talent of Martin and Candy won me over, because I found myself enjoying it. The ending was rather heartwarming and I was so proud of our pupils during the discussion at the end. 

When I got home Ally and James were watching an interesting documentary by Simon Sebag Montefiore about the history of Spain. He mentioned a Roman prefect of Seville called "Diogenianus" which we found hilarious in a Monty Python kind of way because of the way he pronounced it - we are very childish.

Christmas shopping campaign

James and I set off on a mission into town today to do our Christmas shopping with a strategic plan (list of presents) that we made while having breakfast in bed, and a steely determination to succeed. We marched into the fray from shop to shop undaunted by the wind and rain, unflinchingly making crucial decisions about our purchases. The list really helped. By the time we had lunch at Zizzi's we were two thirds done. Instead of lingering over coffee as is our wont, we pressed on to several more retail destinations but did not falter until our final sortie to John Lewis. We had something in mind for Grandma that we couldn't find, and I suggested one more sweep of the ladies' section. As we walked through the store I could hear quiet but unmistakable sounds of distress coming from James behind me - a sort of groaning and whimpering. I knew then that we were finished for the day. When shopping you have to know when to employ a tactical withdrawal and have a nice coffee at home with your troops. Which is what we did. Still, 95% of Christmas shopping done - excellent! 

The Proclaimers

We went to the Royal Concert Hall this evening to see The Proclaimers. We have seen them many times in many venues over the years and they are always great. Tonight was no exception - Sunshine on Leith and 500 Miles were highlights but all the songs were brilliant. Before the concert started a lady tripped on the stairs beside us and doused James and I  (and several other unfortunate people) in beer. She also fell heavily onto my recently healed ankle which worried me greatly, however it seems to be ok. We were stinking of beer when we got home and put our clothes straight into the washing machine - I sponged my poor bag as best I could. Ironically this bag was compared to a Mulberry bag on Saturday evening which delighted me. Luckily it's not a designer bag or I would have been distraught! I always ruin bags and shoes no matter how hard I try to take care of them.

In other news, this evening the government has voted to bomb Syria. 

Seasonal

It's wild and rainy outside - and yet when I arrived home this evening I noticed that it was strangely warm for the time of year. The temperature must have shot up during the day. I can hardly believe that we are in December already and I allowed myself to play All I Want for Christmas is You by Mariah Carey in the car as an acknowledgement that Christmas is coming soon. To explain, I self-ban unseasonal songs in the car - I never play "Mr Blue Sky" by ELO until the first properly warm and cloudless day of Spring, and I only play "Baby It's Cold Outside" by Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews during the winter. It would just be wrong to play songs inappropriate to the time of year. I would of course never judge someone else for doing so - even though they would be wrong! I also have songs that are only suitable for playing when I feel happy e.g. "Wagon Wheel" by Nathan Carter. Or for when I feel thoughtful e.g. "Pulaski at Night" by Andrew Bird. Or for when I feel a bit sad e.g. "I Hope You Meet Again" by the Saw Doctors which I first heard at a funeral and whose lyrics remind me of when my Dad died. Like many other people I'm sure, music is an intrinsic part of my life, linked to times and events. A song that I haven't heard for years can evoke a particular day twenty or thirty years ago or more. In fact the song "Bye Bye Blackbird" takes me back beyond my own lifetime to a summer in about 1926 or 27 - my Dad described to me that he heard a man whistling it in his street in Coatbridge and it was the first tune that he ever remembered hearing. So when I hear it I always picture that little boy hearing it for the very first time. 

Gadget

James bought a gadget for Ally and Davie today. It is a wifi range extender. This will, I am reliably informed, make the wifi signal better upstairs in the boys' bedrooms. I wasn't even aware that there was a problem with this, but when James produced it the boys shouted with excitement, and rushed to set it up.

In another boy bonding activity they then watched a documentary about the last flights of the Vulcan bomber (we saw one of these flights at East Fortune in the summer). It is quite heartwarming to watch how close all three boys are with their Dad, especially as they get older. 

Hirsute

The weather has been wet and windy all weekend, however it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves. After a much needed haircut on Saturday morning I met up with James and Grandma for lunch at John  Lewis, and then Grandma and I went shopping for a couple of hours. It was a slow meander round the shop, helping Grandma to replenish her winter wardrobe, but quite pleasant on a wet afternoon with no pressure to hurry. In the evening we went over to Heather and Ewan's where we had a delicious meal and a convivial evening with them and their friends Graham and Nicky. Later on we were joined by a bearded Andrew; I have never seen him with facial hair and I have to say it really suited him - what a pleasant and handsome young man he is.

This morning we had a cosy breakfast in bed, listening to the rain lashing against the windows. We were joined by both kitties and David who is home because it is the end of his university term and also because he had been called for jury service next week. It was nice to hear his chat. After doing some housework James and I went over to Coatbridge where we went to the cinema for a decadent second time in three days! We had decided that if the weather was as bad as the forecast a daytime cinema trip would be just the ticket!  And indeed it was a great way to spend the afternoon - we watched the excellent Cold War drama Bridge of Spies. Both Tom Hanks and Mark Rylance were brilliant and we thoroughly enjoyed it. 

By tea time Jamie and Alasdair had both arrived home - they had been climbing together in Edinburgh today. It was a great evening with all five of us together - just lovely. And to my surprise Jamie was sporting a beard just like Andrew's - it's a long time since I have seen him so hirsute! It has been terrible weather but a very pleasant weekend.

Movie night

James and I went to see the final instalment of the Hunger Games films last night. We have enjoyed the rest of the films and I thought that this one was a fitting ending, although James found it slightly disappointing. The ending was quite good although very easy to guess what was going to happen. We saw the film at the Quay so beforehand we popped into Chiquito for a meal which was tasty - I much prefer Chiquito to other Mexican restaurants in the city. When we got home the kitties were waiting for us with tragic faces - we had run out of Whiskas pouches, which they much prefer to the plentiful dry food with which we supplement their diet. So I jumped back into the car and went to our nearest 24 hour supermarket to get some cat food, and I also picked up some croissants for Saturday morning breakfast in bed. Which were yummy. 

In the bath

Quick wee blog from the bath - it is definitely winter now, so my baths are useful to turn me into a human hot water bottle. This means that I retain enough heat to fall asleep all cosy. Hoping for a dreamless sleep tonight - I keep dreaming that my parents are still alive, and have gone to live elsewhere without telling me! If this is true then it is very thoughtless of them! In the dream I am trying to find them. 

Day 7 - a pause in the proceedings

I met up with Jackie this evening. It was so great to see her lovely boys and to have a laugh and a chat. And a delicious dinner too! In other news we are having the hall decorated. I just can't get excited about decorating the house - never have, never will. I feel that this is a fatal flaw in me. 

Day 8 - planning to be orderly

I have been reading some David Foster Wallace and I really admire his amazing writing - so painfully honest and sometimes very funny. His short story "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll never do again" about his week on a cruise ship made me laugh a lot. My Dad would have said that he was born with a skin too few and he paid a high price for that. "You are the sickness yourself.... You realize all this...when you look at the black hole and it's wearing your face." What a writer.

Day 9 - Cold Snap

We are spending the weekend in Roybridge and winter has definitely arrived with a cold snap. It has been snowing lightly here and this morning the road up into Glen Roy was scarily icy when I dropped James, Ally and Cat off for their walk. The dusting of snow in the mountains was beautiful and highlighted the parallel lines around the sides of all the mountains, which are in fact the marks of ancient lake shores. Hilary and I did our own canal walk at Gairlochy and then had a really lovely lunch at the Crannog in Fort William - another old favourite haunt. It occurs to me that I have been going back to a few of my favourite places recently, like the Grosvenor Cinema, the GFT and Café Gandolfi. This has not been a conscious decision but feels appropriate. It was good to pay my respects to Fort William today - another place of which I have many fond memories.

Handsome Cellist

James, Ally and I went to the City Halls this evening to hear the SSO playing Elgar's Enigma Variations. I arrived to meet them for dinner at Café Gandolfi - late, wet, and in a bad mood after a challenging day at work. Challenging is a nice way of putting it. I thought that they would be grumpy at me for being late but in fact they were both happy to see me and had even ordered me a "very berry" mocktail and a feta and spinach pie, which were both delicious. And then we went to the concert, and it was great, and I didn't cough (this was important and a bit stressful because the concert was being broadcast live on Radio 3) and the solo cellist was handsome with dark curly hair. We had a lovely evening and I am now feeling much happier.

Stade de France

It was on 21st September 2013 that James and I were at the Stade de France to see Roger Waters' The Wall. I remember being annoyed about how long it took to get through security. 

How wrong I was - if security at the Stade de France wasn't so rigorous then even more innocent people would have been killed last Friday if the terrorists had managed to get inside the stadium. 

A day with my husband

James and I had a whole day together on Saturday which was not only unusual but very pleasant. After setting the world to rights while having breakfast in bed (and unfortunately after the horrific events in Paris on Friday evening this was beyond our abilities!) we went into town to order wallpaper for the hall and do a few other errands. We had lunch in the Rogano Cafe, an old favourite of ours. It's so old-fashioned, I love it. 

Later on we went to The Stand and had a really good evening. It was very crowded but we managed to get seats and the acts were all very funny. The only problem was the last act - the comedian was very good at first but seemed to lose his way a wee bit and then he got heckled by a woman for being sexist. It was quite mild but it really seemed to get to him and instead of making a joke of it or getting her on side, he started arguing with her. The audience were getting restless and booing the woman and calling her names and it all got a bit out of hand. He ended up telling a not very funny joke which ended up by calling her an unpleasant name and that was the end of his act. When the compère came back out on stage he looked absolutely mortified and said "Well, that was awkward!" which defused the atmosphere and made everyone laugh. . 

Bittersweet

Last night was the celebration of the safe completion of our Uganda trip, organised by the pupils and their parents. The ht's wife was unwell so I let James off the hook (he would have come with me but would have known hardly anyone) and offered the ht a lift. James set off happily to fetch himself a fish supper and to settle down to an evening of watching Chikdren in Need on television. 

Not having been involved in the organisation of the evening, I had no idea what to expect. However it turned out to be a most excellent evening.

It was held in the club house of a local rugby club and family and friends had been invited so there must have been upwards of a hundred people there. The pupils had planned an  Oscars type ceremony called "The Luweros" It was very funny and they had done it properly with nominations, envelopes with the winner's name inside etc. David and Holly had dressed up as the hosts and made a great job of it. Needless to say everyone from the trip got an award - for best dancer, most photogenic etc. Mine was for "best medic" and a picture of me went up in the screen with a speech bubble saying  "Have you took your malaria tablet?"

But then came one more award for the ht and me, which was so amazing that I was actually in tears - the parents had ordered a framed picture for each of us with stick figure drawings of all sixteen of us, with our names underneath and decorated with buttons and sequins. At the bottom of the picture is the bible quotation of the Luwero Community "He who refreshes others shall himself be refreshed" it is absolutely beautiful and I will treasure it for the rest of my life.

Then we had a buffer and the dancing started. The ht and I had planned to slip away at this point but we found ourselves persuaded onto the dance floor to jig about with the crowd. Soon we were singing along to Don't Stop Believing - one of our signature Luwero songs which we performed on the stage there. And then all sixteen of us danced and sang our Uganda songs - Wagula Wagula and Lift Him Higher - and as I looked round the circle at the familiar faces I felt happy to have been part of something so special - but it was bittersweet because tonight's celebration marked the end of it too.  

Decisions, decisions

There's a storm up north tonight called Abigail which is causing high waves and winds. Here we are just catching the edge of it; heavy rain and gusts of wind. However I think it's affecting my mood because I feel very restless. It has been a strange week of highs and lows. I went to the cinema with a group of pupils on Tuesday and had a great evening - we went to see Ferris Bueller's Day Off which I have never, ever seen even though it was made in 1986! I somehow thought that it would be rubbish but it was a lovely film and I thought that it had a strong message about making the most of life. Work has been overwhelmingly busy, but today I got some feedback which was incredibly, almost embarrassingly positive. And it made me wonder if the decision that I'm edging towards is the right one. Then this afternoon I was at the funeral of the father of a dear friend and as I listened to the tribute to his life I found it sad - but a good life well lived. Funerals always make me feel thoughtful, and then at the restaurant afterwards we were talking to an elderly couple who were full of life and told us that they have been married for 61 years, and were full of really interesting stories about their lives. I don't know what I'm trying to say - just that I feel a bit confused and not sure which way to go. I blame the weather for this turbulent mood! 

The Martian

Jamie and I disagree about which of us recommended The Martian to the other but we both agree that we thoroughly enjoyed the book, as did James. When I read it I felt that it was crying out to be made into a film, and so it has been.

Last night James, Ally and I went to see it at Coatbridge Showcase Cinema, one of our old haunts when the boys were wee. In those days it was quite novel, one of the new, out-of-town cinema complexes, of which there are now many. It's a while since we have been there and I was gratified to see that it is still smart and well maintained, with a coffee bar where I got an excellent Americano to sustain me through the film. Despite having read the book, I was on the edge of my seat during the action scenes, which were well done. Matt Damin is not a handsome man (in my opinion) but he is s good actor and did justice to the part.

Season of Mists and Dinosaurs

When I drove home from work yesterday it was so misty that I could hardly see the road in front of me! Needless to say there were lots of fireworks all evening - the kitties were intrigued but didn't seem too bothered. This evening we watched Jurassic World (recommended by a pupil) and it brought back fond memories of watching its earlier incarnations when the boys were younger. It had all the ingredients of dinosaurs and a fast-paced plot that they loved, and the dialogue was always quite witty - Jeff Goldblum got all the best lines as I recall - I remember in the second movie when Richard Attenborough said that he wouldn't make the same mistakes again, JG said "No, you're making all new ones." And when the new theme park was described to him he said "oh yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running - and screaming."

Then in 2000 we did our Florida trip and when we were in Universal Studios we went on the Jurassic Park ride. The boys were beside themselves with excitement and when the ride started big gates opened up and the familiar (and excellent in my opinion) Jurassic Park music started and we were all so happy! Good memories. 

An entertaining weekend

We had a dinner party last night; Heather, Ewan and Michael and Lil. They already know each other from a previous evening at ours so there was an nice, relaxed atmosphere, and they all loyally and good-naturedly watched my Luwero slideshow! It is so long since I have done any proper cooking and I have to say that all three courses were distinctly over cooked! Well, the soup was ok (there was not much damage I could do there) but the chicken in the tagine was falling apart and the apples in the crumble were more like apple purée! Not that our polite guests commented, but I really need to practise my culinary skills. 

This morning James, Ally and Cat went hill-walking and I went to Westwood Evangelical Church for a service where Gabriel (who has now arrived in Scotland for the next couple of months) was preaching. 12 out of the 14 pupils were able to be there, as well as the ht and me. It was such a mild morning on this 1st day of November that I didn't even need a jacket, but Gabriel turned up saying how cold he was wearing two thick duffle coats! It was a lovely service, with lots of children and families - I met a few people that I know from school. They were so welcoming to us and needless to say we were invited up to do some singing. The pupils spoke about their experiences and I was so proud of them. The ht did a great speech and Gabriel talked about the Luwero project before singing a song that moved most of us to tears. He has such a wonderful voice and the words were beautiful. At the end we didn't say goodbye but "See you later!" because he will be in school next week.

Bond, James Bond

James and I were invited to a private screening of the new James Bond movie, Spectre, on Monday evening. Forrest and Marjory were invited too so we all went together and had a really fun evening. Entering into the spirit of the evening, James and Forrest wore dinner suits and looked just like 007s, and Marjory and I were very glamorous - Marjory looked like a Bond girl whereas I was more like the old style Miss Moneypenny! When we got to the Grosvenor Cinema in Ashton Lane there was a sports car parked outside the cinema. I was particularly impressed that Marjory knew what make and model it was.* There was also a red carpet, which led us into the Lane Bar for complimentary drinks and canapés - lovely! We were then ushered through into the cinema, to the spacious and comfy Grosvenor seats. It was exciting watching the film at exactly the same time as the London Premiere, although there was not a celebrity in sight! 

I thought that the film was excellent; plenty of exotic locations and special effects. I like Daniel Craig as Bond and the French actress Lea Séydoux was very engaging as the beautiful but capable Dr Madeleine Swann. It was a worthy Bond film. 

* it was an Aston Martin DB9.

Birthday tea

A week ago I was on my way home from Uganda. It seems like a dream to me now. It's nice to see the pupils from the trip around school, we are always pleased to see each other because we know that we were part of something special. I feel a bit different since I came back, less anxious I think, and I am very aware of behaviour that I perceive as overly entitled. 

On Thursday David came home from Dundee and we had a birthday tea for him. It was great to see him and we had a lovely evening - as well as James, Ally and me, Jamie and Aisling joined us. We had such a laugh, Jamie is very funny and reminded me of my Dad with all his stories. My Dad would have loved to see how he has turned out.

I'm home with my kitties this weekend - James and Ally are away on a hill-walking weekend. I am amazed at how much Tom and Ruby are eating - they are just about a year old now and spend so much time outdoors, they are very hungry when they come in. As I write this they are relaxing and stretching on their wee beds, but keeping an eye on me in case I head towards the cat food cupboard! 

17. The Homecoming

Both flights went smoothly and I managed to get a good bit of sleep between Entebbe and Amsterdam. When we arrived in Glasgow the ht and I said our goodbyes to the pupils at the baggage collection area and thanked them for doing so well

In Uganda. Then we all went through to the arrivals where all of the parents were waiting with a banner to welcome us! Seeing the pupils reunited with their parents made me feel very emotional - the parents have worked so hard to raise money and to support the group.

James and Alasdair were waiting for me; it was lovely to see them and when we got home James made me a bowl of porridge with blueberries and a cup of coffee, it was bliss. Then I had a sleep for a couple of hours followed by a bath - yes, with hot running water and Molton Brown bath gel! James made a special Welcome Home dinner of roast lamb with juniper berries and gratin dauphinois, and Grandma came round for tea. It's nice to be home!    

16. Saturday 17th October

It was with very mixed feelings that I awoke on my last morning in Luwero. Although I will be glad to return home to James and the boys, I will be very sad to leave this wonderful place. It really has been the experience of a lifetime. 

This morning we unpacked the cases that we brought with us; we all brought two cases, one containing our own things and the other full of clothes, shoes and toys for the Luwero pupils. These were donated by various churches and individuals around the school area. There were so many items! We divided them into categories and Gabriel got them ready for redistribution to people in the community. 

I have also donated all of my clothes  and so has everyone else in the group, and I gave my head torch to Bush because it helps her with cooking in the hut when it's dark. I also gave a couple of wee private gifts. This left me with very empty cases! However Gabriel gave us each two big pineapples and some huge avocados so that filled them a bit.

All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes and we set off along the bumpy earthen road to Luwero town and onwards to Kampala one last time. I just tried to take it all in., The red earth. People cycling with huge bundles of sticks across the back of their bikes. Women walking along balancing high piles of bananas on their heads. Children waving and shouting excitedly as we passed by. Roadside stalls with beautifully displayed fruit. Motorcycles with two, three or four people balanced precariously on them, weaving in and out of the traffic. Markets, full of people and all kinds of products from food to furniture with barbecues and popcorn stalls smelling delicious. Traffic jams in Kampala, most of which our driver, Daniel, expertly managed to avoid. 

Daniel has been our driver for all of our trips, cheerfully and safely taking us to and from our destinations for many, many hours of driving. On the day that we went to the Equator there was a storm in Luwero which blew the roof off Daniel's house and washed away one of the rooms. The community are all rallying round to help him rebuild it. 

Today is David's 20th birthday so I phoned him from the bus during our journey, it was lovely to hear his voice. Twenty years - my goodness!

When he's going to the airport Gabriel likes to get through the potential delays of Kampala early and then have time for a stop before going on to Entebbe. We stopped for an hour at a wee mall with a restaurant. It felt so European compared to the other places we have been. We sat outside in the warm darkness and had drinks and snacks, with the sky lit up from time to time with distant lightning. 

 

15. Friday 16th October

 This morning we finished decorating the secondary school hall. There were a few finishing touches to be done but mainly we were putting our handprints around the outline of the large heart that some of the pupils had drawn at the back of the hall. We painted our hands so that there was room to write our initials in the palms, as did some of the pupils who have helped us - It looks very effective. 

We were asked to come to the primary school at 12 - to our surprise there were seats set up for us in the shade of a tree and the nursery and primary classes all sang songs and danced for us. They were so sweet - one of the songs mentioned a few of us by name including "teacher Susan!" After lunch we went to the secondary school for the official opening of the art work in the hall, attended by the Ugandan pupils. This time we had to go up on the stage while Amina and Robert made speeches. Amina referred to the French lesson last week and I was asked to teach the hall full of pupils to ask for something to eat in French! Bush and her art class presented us with pictures that they had made for us - some of us were given pictures that have been made for us by pupils who know us, and the ht's and mine were made by Bush, which made me feel very happy. 

Then our ht made a speech and made a fine job of it despite the fact that the rain had come on and was battering almost deafeningly on the tin roof at the time. The secondary pupil choir sang a couple of songs and of course there was some dancing! 

Back at the house Bush showed us how she can walk along while balancing a water container on her head. She made it look so easy but none of us could manage it! I spectated a lively and very muddy game of volleyball in the afternoon - the weather was very clammy and I was glad to have a refreshing shower before dinner. 

At 10 p.m. we went to the Friday evening service at the church. Again the singing and dancing was great and we all joined in with enthusiasm. The ht and I were both asked to give testimony so I found myself at the front of the church with a microphone. With nothing prepared I just tried to speak from my heart. I said that Gabriel and Deborah asked us to make their home our home and that we feel that the Luwero community is our family. You have to pause after each phrase so that it can be translated into Lugandan. We had expected to be given the nod to leave at about 12 but by that time we were in the middle of the sermon which led straight on to prayers and singing. By 12.45 our pupils had stopped dancing and looked absolutely exhausted; (for some reason I had got a second wind and felt quite perky again!) I had to make a sharp exit with a pupil who felt sick and several more who felt faint followed us back to the house. It's so dark walking along in rural Uganda by night - however we all had head torches. When we got back to the house we found that we were locked out - we had to wake Bush to let us in. The rest of our group arrived back at about 1.30 a.m. and we all stumbled off to bed, exhausted. 

14. Thursday 15th October

Today we went to Jinja and the source of the Nile. We set off at 9 and passed through Luwero and Kampala without any hold ups. As you enter Kampala there is a large outdoor market and behind it a shanty town which looks very basic - narrow muddy lanes between ramshackle houses all crammed together and looking ready to fall down. On the other hand, as we took the road towards Jinja, we passed an area where the small houses had wee balconies and gardens - I suppose that in any city there are very different neighbourhoods; it's just more extreme here. When we stopped at s petrol station Gabriel bought everyone samosas and mango juice, which were much appreciated. 

We passed tea plantations and sugar cane fields as the countryside became hillier and greener. Finally we crossed the River Nile by a big bridge and arrived in Jinja at lunch time. It's a low level but sizeable town with lots of shops - but no big chains, it's very much Ugandan. It's the first place that I have seen a few white people walking about the streets, presumably tourists. We could see Lake Victoria and went to visit the source of the Nile. This is the place where the Nile starts its long journey to the Mediterranean - it takes 3 months to travel the 4000 miles. We went right down to the river, it was beautiful. Then we had a pleasant lunch in the Cafe Source on one of Jinja's shopping streets, which was nice and cool with ceiling fans. It also had internet access so I took the opportunity to upload some blog posts. 

After a bit of shopping (the souvenirs were very much the same as those in Kampala) we set off back north. This time we took a cross country route to avoid the traffic in Kampala, but my goodness it was very bumpy! None of us minded that but it must have been hard on the bus! We got back to Luwero in a sprightly three and a half hours, and relaxed by playing cards after dinner. 

13. Wednesday 14th October

Today was a rest day. Deborah very kindly decided that breakfast should be at 10 a.m. today after our night time adventures. We all enjoyed the sleep and then had a leisurely morning having showers and sorting out the clothes that we are leaving here into clean and dirty piles; we will wash them on Friday. After a late lunch I was just setting off to the football field with the ht to watch the primary / secondary football match when we met one of our pupils coming the other way with a twisted ankle. I took her back to the house and bandaged it up with a crepe bandage but she was pining to watch the match so - I lent her my walking boot and she went down to the field happily with promises to be very careful! This left me confined to the house but I was quite happy chatting to Bush and Deborah and Suzan - I didn't even have time to read my book! Suzan wrote me a lovely letter saying that she will miss me. 

Deborah asked me how to make bread and butter pudding, but of course it has to go into the oven and Deborah doesn't have one. She hopes to get one when they have electricity installed - at the moment they only have limited solar electricity. It must be such hard work cooking everything on the fire in the hut. Deborah said that especially on a Sunday she has to get up very early to prepare dinner before the six hour service church service, because if she started preparing it after the service they would eat unfeasibly late.

We had dinner and a pleasant evening of chat and laughter. What a nice group of young people our pupils are. 

12. Tuesday 13th October

Up at 4.30 a.m. today for our trip to the Equator and Lake Mburo National Park. Unfortunately the ht and I were securely padlocked into the house so we couldn't wake the pupils until Deborah got up and let us out. We left as soon as we could and most of us got some sleep during the 3 hour drive to the Equator. There was a small cluster of shops around the sign and there was a painted 0* line. The coolest thing was the three basins ( one North, one South, and one on 0*). We were shown that to the north of the equator the water swirls clockwise as it drains away, to the south it swirls anti-clockwise, and on the equator it drains straight down with no swirling at all. Amazing - the three basins were only a few feet apart! 

We had breakfast in a lovely wee cafe and I gave out the malaria tablets - I usually give them out at breakfast at Luwero, but they need to be taken with food so I had to bring them with me today, and I checked my bag about five times to make sure that I hadn't forgotten them!

In the cafe we saw a little tortoiseshell kitten - I mentioned to Gabriel that I haven't yet seen a cat in Uganda and he was surprised - the Luwero community cat is called Sumta and she is black and white - I showed Gabriel a picture of Tom and he confirmed that she looks like him. I haven't seen Sumta because after eating all the rats in the main house she has now moved on to other houses to continue her rat killing career.

After another 3 hours in the bus we arrived at Lake Mburo National Park which is about 120 km south west of Kampala. It was amazing. We saw monkeys, zebra, giraffes, warthogs, buffalo and antelopes. Gabriel told us that if the weather hadn't been so dry recently we might also have seen elephants and lions, however they have moved to the swamps which are further away from the roads. But I'm really happy with what we saw; I was so excited to see all those animals, especially zebras and giraffes.

We then went on a boat trip on Lake Mburo which was a very special experience; we saw beautiful kingfishers and big fish eagles but the highlight had to be the hippopotami. Their big heads would suddenly appear above the water and look around before slowly sinking down again. We were really close to them: their were several big groups. 

We had lunch in a restaurant overlooking the lake; the cooking was nothing special but the setting was fantastic and the wooden building was painted in zebra stripes!

For the last part of our visit to the national park, a park ranger joined our bus and gave us some information about the wildlife that we passed. For example she told us that the white spotted bushback (deer) is an endangered species. She pointed out topies and said that they are the fastest antelopes. And the big deer that we saw are called waterbacks who are good swimmers

As we left the national park at about 6 p.m. we passed lots of little villages surrounded by fields of banana trees - this is a cash crop in western Uganda. Groups of little children cheered and shouted as our bus went past. 

When we stopped for petrol on the way north we bought a bag of roasted bananas from some street vendors - there are nine types of banana in Uganda and one type is specifically for roasting. It would be ok to eat raw when it's very ripe but is better roasted. I quite liked it but the ht said that he prefers his bananas raw. 

We passed the end of the (nicely tarmaced!) road that leads to the President's private residence. There was a police car there for security. The Ugandan elections are in a few weeks and the president is expected to be re-elected. He has been in power for thirty years but although less popular than in earlier years, because of corruption and sending Ugandan troops into Somalia, there is apparently no strong opposition, 

The journey home to Luwero was lengthy and not without incident. Four hours into the journey - and still south of Kampala - the bus developed a fault with the fuel pump and we had to stop. After a bit of a wait a mechanic appeared and examined the engine. Much discussion, footering and revving ensued. It turned out that the fuel pump was jammed with part of plastic bag (that had been used as a temporary fuel cap) that must have been sucked in during refuelling. The mechanic repaired it and after an hour or so we were off - but 15 minutes later the bus broke down again. It was another bit of plastic bag. After another hour's delay for more repairs we were finally on the way home. Everyone seemed to sleep on and off during the journey and I was certainly fast asleep for the last couple of hours, so when I woke up we were arriving at the house, much to my delight. It was now 4 a.m. so we had been travelling for 22 hours, of which about 13 were spent driving and 2 broken down! Deborah and Bush were very kindly waiting up to welcome us. All the pupils headed to bed straight away and the ht and I relaxed for five minutes with a wee cup of tea! 

11. Monday 12th October

Today we set off early to Kampala, a journey that took us only two hours during the night when we arrived, but nearly three hours in the busier morning traffic today. We visited the DFID which is the British Government organisation that allocates the aid and development budget for certain countries that have a high level of poverty. It's not just about the poverty though; there are other factors that decide whether the country gets on the list for help, such as its historical and current relationship with Britain. This year Uganda gets £100 million out of a total budget of £1 billion (? not sure) which is less than 1% of UK spending. We were given a very interesting presentation and then the pupils went into discussion groups and gave their suggestions. It was a really good exercise to highlight how complicated it is to tackle poverty; how to prioritise and how to get past government corruption. As a bonus the building was air conditioned and coffee and biscuits were provided! One of the pleasant young civil servants who gave us the talk looked at my brightly patterned trousers and asked "I see that you been to the market!" which I thought was very funny because I bought them in Tesco in Rutherglen!

Then came the highlight of the day (for the pupils!) which was our eagerly awaited visit to Nandos, or as the pupils call it "A cheeky wee Nandos" Gabriel brought us to a fast food restaurant which he told us used to have a sign which said Nandos, although today the sign was gone and there was no mention of Nandos on the menu either. This didn't bother any of us at all as we tucked into very nice burgers and pizzas. There were 28 of us including all of us Scots, Gabriel, Robert, and ten Ugandan pupils, so the staff set us up a long trestle table outside at the front. Luckily it was also under a balcony because it started raining very heavily but we were nicely sheltered. Needless to say it was still very warm! In the trees opposite the building there were birds so large that until I saw them moving and flapping their wings, I honestly thought that they were inflatables put there as art or advertisements.This caused a great deal of amusement to the ht and Gabriel. It turned out that they were huge storks, one of which was sitting on its nest. When the others flew off they looked like pterodactyls. 

Next stop was shopping - we went to a craft market which consisted of about 30 little shops. We all had a fine old time buying souvenirs and comparing what we bought - the prices were already very cheap but Robert advised us that we were expected to haggle. I suspect that this probably just got us to what the shopkeepers wanted to charge us anyway! Less exciting for me was a subsequent visit to a sports shop to buy football strips, but the pupils loved it and assured me that they had got great bargains.

The traffic was even more congested on the way back to Luwero; we set off at 6.30 p.m. into traffic that was almost stationary, and this time the trip took four hours! However what with the chatting and the singing and the drumming (yes some of the boys had bought drums at the craft market!) and the sights of Ugandan townships and countryside as darkness fell - it was a surreal and pleasant experience. 

10. Sunday 11th October

Today was our second visit to Church - I can hardly believe that we have been in Uganda for over a week already. It was a great church service. First there was lots of singing but unlike Scottish churches (my old church anyway) it was really joyous and everyone was dancing, including us. And after the main prayer everyone prayed their own prayers aloud so the church was filled with voices. People come up to give testimonies, to thank God for helping them with difficult situations in their lives. Some of these situations sounded very alarming. Several choirs sang (including the Rainbow children's choir featuring several of our pupils joining in all the actions) and then we all greeted each other with a hug - and by all, I mean everyone in the Church, so about 200 people were all walking around the Church hugging each other! Then our ht got up to make a short speech to thank everyone for their great welcome; he prepared it last night and made an excellent job of it, pausing at the end of every sentence for the translator - the whole service was in both Lugandan and English. 

Up we all got on stage and sang a song that we practised last night; "Wagula Wagula Wagula Wagula

Buli jo" and we did the dance that Bush taught us. 

The 4th year pupils who have exams tomorrow were brought up to the front of the church and "teacher George and teacher Susan" were asked to come up and bless them - it's the first time that I have ever anointed anyone with oil! 

Next was the sermon, which was about the growth of the Church, and quite similar to sermons at home, based on a bible verse. After the blessing Gabriel signalled to us that we could leave - we had been at the service for three hours and it was still only half way through. What an amazing experience.

At lunch we had yams - they tasted like a cross between potatoes and roast chestnuts. The food that has been given to us here has been plentiful and generous. It consists of 2 or 3 dishes of noodles, rice, beans or peas. Sometimes there is a meat or fish stew, or chappatis. Everything is cooked on an open fire. Dessert is either pineapple or watermelon. 

Today I helped Bush to make the chappatis - well actually all I did was to roll out the dough that she had already made into circles as we sat outside chatting. Then Bush built up the fire, which is in a shed across from the house, and fried the chappatis one by one in hot oil in a wok; it only took about thirty seconds for each to puff up and turn golden. Cooking here is such hard work. 

Gabriel (jokingly) told my ht that I won't be going home next week because he is keeping me here in Luwero to teach French. Then they had a pretend arm wrestle over it, although my ht pointed out that It was a futile gesture  because Gabriel is a very powerful man - if it had been for real he said that he would have lost "a valuable member of staff!" which I found very amusing. 

9. Saturday 10th October

It rained again during the night so the morning felt nice and fresh. 

We went to the secondary school in the morning to paint the designs that the pupils drew yesterday. It turns out that the school only has red and blue paint, and of course purple by combining them. So the pupils left space for the yellow, black and white that we planned to buy in Kampala on Monday. The school hall was like an oven, I'm not joking. We had a goodly break in the heat of the afternoon, it's so lovely with the pupils chatting and singing, some writing their journals or reading. 

At this point Robert found us some yellow and white paint which opened up a much larger colour palette, so with great excitement we spent several more hours painting - I found myself carefully painting a pink and yellow caterpillar! By the time it got dark we were 99% finished. 

As usual I had my shower in the evening after the heat of the day had died down. The shower has no running water; you fill a basin with water from a container that has to be carried inside after being filled from the water tank. Then you stand in the shower tray and use a plastic jug to wet your hair and body with water from the basin, and use a tiny amount of shampoo to wash your hair. Then you use the jug to pour more water over you several times until you are all rinsed and clean. Now that I'm used to it, I really like it because it's so refreshing.

It's the same with the washing up after each meal; we fill the basin in the sink and use soap to wash the dishes, which then go into a rinsing basin and then onto the draining board. One day we found a little worm wriggling around in the washing up water which bothered me a lot less than I thought it would. In fact I'm becoming very relaxed about creepy crawlies; last night there was something running around on the floor of my bedroom, buzzing menacingly - I cared not a jot and went peacefully to sleep!

8. Friday 9th October

There was thunder, lightning and torrential rain during the night at about 2 a.m. It was deafening! And even more deafening for the pupils who have a corrugated tin roof. What did the Ugandans do? They ran outside, filled buckets with water and washed their clothes in the middle of the night! Deborah explained to me later that they prefer to wash their clothes in rainwater because it is much softer than the water from the bore well.

Today is Ugandan Independence Day so no school. In the morning before it got too hot, Deborah and her team showed us how to hand wash all of our clothes outside using a series of basins, lots of suds and cold water. Afterwards we left the washing out to dry on all the branches and bushes in the vicinity. Later I found a tiny pale green frog on one of my socks where it was drying. It looked very cute but I was told that it is poisonous - but only to goats if they eat them!

Next we went to design inspirational quotations to paint on the walls of the secondary school main hall. There was much laughter but we came up with a good set of quotations and started pencilling them onto the walls. It was so hot - I know I am using that word a lot but the sweat was actually dripping off our noses. The pupils did a fantastic job, planning and measuring carefully first. Not being artistic I contented myself with advising on whether letters were straight, or sitting on the benches to counterbalance the weight of the pupils who were standing up high to do the designs and generally giving encouragement. By lunch time we were more or less melting and a couple of pupils were feeling a bit unwell due to the heat, so we had an extended lunch break and some of the pupils had a sleep. We went back to the hall at 5 and it was distinctly cooler outside by then, with a rather pleasant breeze. Inside the hall it was still very hot though - I think the tin roofs seem to hold the heat. 

After dinner Gabriel came to talk to us and sang with us - then he mentioned that there is a Church night service on a Friday night starting at ten, and asked if we wanted to go. So we trooped off in the dark to the Church and got a warm welcome. There was singing and dancing, accompanied by the beat of a large drum. Then there was praying, and the congregation was asked if they wanted to give testimonials. Clearly we visitors were being invited to speak, so George and I both got up, I just said that I was thankful for being in Uganda, Gabriel preached a sermon based on Jeremiah about God being a potter and us being the clay. We left just after midnight but Gabriel told us that it goes on until 3 a.m.!  

7. Thursday 8th October

Today after morning games we went to the secondary school. We were divided into classes and I was first in English with 3rd year and then in French with 2nd year. 

Needless to say I absolutely loved it as the teacher in me swung into action. The pupils who were with me were a wee bit shy in front of the secondary classes (they are such lovely confident young people but this was clearly outside their comfort zone). However with encouragement they joined in so it was a great experience for them. In English they were studying a past paper to prepare for their exams next week. Somewhat drily the subject was "What makes a good boss?" I tried to liven it up with lots of examples. The vocabulary that they used in their answers was very good but some of them made me smile - "A good boss should love his employees" or "a good boss should not tease his employees". The 2nd year students don't learn French yet so it was easy to put together a beginners' lesson at no notice! Again our Scottish pupils joined in enthusiastically; we did simple greetings and then the months of the year - so that we could sing "Quelle est la date de ton anniversaire?" because it's one of the few school French songs of which I can remember both words and tune! The pupils soon picked it up and we got everyone singing! We then gave the pupils the chance to ask our pupils some questions - after a quiet start the questions came thick and fast. Among others they asked what music do we like, what did the pupils want to do as a career, what tribe do we belong to (we explained about clans), and what dances we have. This led to our pupils demonstrating the Gay Gordons, and in return the Ugandan pupils showed us a dance. One of the Ugandan pupils asked how much are dowries in Scotland. We asked about what happens in Uganda and they explained that it's what the groom's father gives to the bride's father. They also told us that weddings are really big in Uganda - 700 to 1000 people sometimes. This was all great fun with much laughter.

Deborah had a treat for us at lunch time - she had specially made chips for us which takes a lot of preparation because she has to cook everything on the fire. We were all delighted and touched by her thoughtfulness and thanked her very much. 

Back at the secondary school in the afternoon there were Sports and Art; I went between the two taking photos and at one point found myself being taught a Ugandan wedding dance! I noticed around this time that I was feeling a bit out of sorts. I just couldn't cool down, not even lying on the cool tiles in the living room floor. It later transpired in conversation with Deborah that it has been a particularly hot day, even for Ugandans! Luckily it got slightly cooler in the evening.

 

6. Wednesday 7th October

I had the best night's sleep so far last night, maybe I'm becoming acclimatised to the heat. At breakfast time we got to try Ugandan porridge, which is made with maize flour, rice and sugar. I liked it, it's quite thin but the rice gives it a bit of texture. We went back to the primary for the morning; unfortunately one of the teachers took ill at break time and had to go to hospital, which left the two youngest nursery classes with only only one teacher going between the two rooms. So I ended up doing my first "please take" in Africa! The four pupils who were helping out in the two classes were absolute stars, because the wee ones are only three or four years old and it was very difficult even keeping them in their seats because they were so excited. Eventually the teacher took both classes out to the grassy area for a sing song which was much better! Naturally we obliged with British songs like Old Macdonald had a Farm, with the children joining in the actions. In return the children sang us African songs like Shake Shake the Mango Tree.

We were very hot and tired after this, but revived by lunch we all went down to the football field where the ht and pupils played volleyball. When school finished we were joined by an interested crowd of spectators who soon joined in. By the way, I was a spectator but had the sense not to join in and risk my ankle, so I took photos and played with some wee children instead. There was some thunder and even a few drops of rain, but it didn't come to anything - the rainy season has been kind to us so far with only that one rainstorm on Monday. Sports of various varieties continued all afternoon. A wee girl cut her toe badly during the volleyball and one of our pupils got blood on her trousers so Deborah showed me how to wash it out using "Veep", a lemon scented bleach that she tells me can get stains out of anything, even the very sticky residue from banana trees leaves, which apparently is very hard to shift from clothes. As with the washing up, I was amazed at how little water we used; it's so precious here and they waste none of it. I was chatting to Bush again about literature, we have many very similar tastes, she is such a lovely girl. I would say that our evening was chatty and fun, which it was, but I could say that for every evening, because with no television or computers we are all having a very sociable time. 

5. Tuesday 6th October

I was very excited today because we were going to help out in classes in the primary school. I can't believe that I have been given this chance to visit and take part in a school in Africa.

The boarding school pupils, whose dormitories are right beside ours, got ready very early and I was talking to a girl who was ironing a shirt on a towel in a step, using an iron that had coal embers inside it. She was ironing it for her teacher! The pupils have a very small space to themselves; just a bunk bed in a crowded dormitory with a padlocked box on it, and they wear the key on a string around their neck. Nevertheless they take very good care of their appearance, and stood outside their dormitories polishing their shoes and combing their hair. 

First of all we joined in "morning exercise" down in the field, where the pupils played games before their first classes. We were all ready at 7 a.m. as we had been told but time is a bit more relaxed around here and the exercise didn't get started until a good half hour later. The pupils absolutely love having their pictures taken, but what they like even more is looking at the photos on the screen afterwards, which sends them into fits of laughter! 

Then it was off to the classrooms! I have been looking forward to this for so long! The pupils were allocated to classes "two by two" from nursery to primary 4, and my job was to go around the classes to make sure that all was well. I tried to slip unobtrusively into the classrooms but invariably got a big welcome anyway! Our pupils had all been issued with red pens and were doing a grand job of helping pupils and marking jotters. It was great but so hot in the classrooms. In the afternoon I ended up in a Primary 2 class who were writing down their Maths homework. I thought that it was quite advanced for Primary 2 - they were doing fractions - but I've no idea how that compares with Scottish pupils of the same age. The pupils were lovely and I was invited to go back tomorrow to mark the homework.

Next job - moving bricks! We stood in two lines passing bricks one to the other to clear a space for the workmen to work on the new Church that is being built. It was dark by the time we finished - the sun sets really quickly here near the Equator, it just seems to drop down the sky. 

4. Monday 5th October

Wow. It's now Monday 5th and there has been so much to take in. Our 6th year pupils are great and are willing to do anything at all to help. This morning we had a tour of both the primary and the secondary schools. There are three nursery classes followed by seven primary classes. They teach in a mixture of Lugandan and English and I was very impressed at how their English progresses quickly as they move up through the school. The pupils all gave us a big welcome and Gabriel taught me to say "Abaana, mole motwa" which means "hello children" I was introduced to the classes as "teacher Susan" and when I told them that I teach English and French they said *oooh!" - I don't know which one they found most interesting. The children were just gorgeous, too sweet for words, smiling and giving us high fives. 

Then we visited some classes in the secondary school. Again the pupils were very friendly and wanted to know our names. By this time it was absolutely sweltering, I took one pupil outside because she needed to be sick. They have very limited electricity here and of course there is no air conditioning in the classrooms - instead they leave the windows open to catch the slight, pleasant breeze -but when that breeze drops it gets very hot, very quickly!

This did not prevent us from joining in a lively and very hot game of football in the field later. I couldn't play because of my broken ankle but I talked to loads of little children and got some good photos.

3. Still Sunday 3rd October

Of course by the time we actually got to bed it was 3 a.m. local time and breakfast was at 8 a.m., so it wasn't the longest of sleeps, but I fell asleep instantly in my reasonably cool room under my mosquito net. I feel very lucky because the pupils are in dormitories but the teachers have a room each in the main house which is very nice. And thank goodness that it's cool enough to sleep, I don't manage well without sleep! In fact for the first time in weeks I had no nightmares which was great. 

After breakfast we all put on our church clothes and went to the most amazing service. The singing and dancing were fantastic, and the congregation all joined in. It was however very hot, and after about half an hour one of the pupils fainted, so I sat with her outside until she felt well enough to walk back to the house with me. While we were outside people came to say hello and ask how she was; one lady even prayed with us. We made it back to the house in one piece where she had a good sleep. Meanwhile the rest of the group continued in the church service for another two hours, they arrived back happy but sweaty in time for lunch. And after lunch the clouds rolled in (it is the rainy season in Uganda) and there was thunder and a brief but very heavy downpour which turned the red earth paths into rivers. All the people who live here rushed outside with buckets to collect the rain water. There are also pipes which run down from the gutters to large vats to collect rainwater. I sat on the balcony watching the downpour, it was great and then finished as suddenly as it began. A convivial evening of card-playing and chat ensued.