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."