Navigation fail!

As a trained Duke of Edinburgh leader I pride myself on being able to navigate fairly well. Today however I was rather embarrassed to find myself thoroughly lost very near to home. I had gone for a very pleasant coffee after work to my friend Catherine's. Having walked there from school using the most direct way, I decided to take a slightly circuitous route back to make the walk more interesting. This involved walking a route that I would normally drive, so I was taken by surprise when the pavement ended abruptly, leaving me trudging across some grass. Not at all daunted, I spotted an underpass which took me under the dual carriageway and onto a path towards my destination. I then walked up to join the road, and to my surprise I found myself walking back along the road from whence I had just come. No matter, I attempted to reverse the route - only to find myself at the edge of a small housing estate overlooking the school. I could see my car tantalisingly close by. So I found myself gingerly climbing down a muddy path in the dark to reach the car park. Thank goodness there was nobody around to see my undignified progress! 

Weekend thoughts

It has been a good weekend and we got some useful stuff done, such as ordering a new fireplace for the smaller front room, and doing a wee bit of Christmas shopping. We also had a lovely dinner at Heather and Ewan's on Saturday evening; I was delighted to see how mobile Heather is after her knee operation last week. She is a very fit girl which I'm sure will help her recovery. I enjoyed both the delicious dinner and the relaxed conversation - we always have very interesting discussions with Heather and Ewan - as well as an enjoyable melange of country and rock music! 

Today we had lunch with Alison and Hugh in town, and ended up visiting the craft fair in the old Fruit market, where I ran into Elspeth who had a stall there! Alison and Hugh are full of exciting plans for Alison's impending retirement - I am so pleased for them. They had walked into town along the Clyde Walkway which is pretty impressive - two and a half hours of walking before lunch! My ankle is beginning to feel noticeably better and is less sore, so I need to think about taking more exercise. 

James and Ruby have a falling out!

Ruby was not in the back room with us yesterday evening; James and I both noticed her absence, but both cats are very independent so we just assumed that she was outside on an adventure. There was no sign of her this morning either, and I was beginning to feel a wee bit worried when we heard a faint sound from somewhere in the house. Neither of the cats can miaow properly, unlike their predecessors Jack and Jill, who knew how to sound like proper cats. So what we heard sounded more like a human child wailing. James went downstairs, checking rooms as he went, and then I heard him shouting in a horrified voice, "Oh no, come and look at this!"

I rushed downstairs, thinks no that something terrible had happened to Ruby, only to find James attempting to open the door to the lounge, which was jammed by the carpet. It turned out that Ruby had managed to get herself locked in the lounge overnight, and in her frantic attempts to escape she had ripped the carpet at the door with her claws, and had even managed to lift it up completely at one corner.

James was absolutely furious and had to reach in to pull up the carpet some more in order to open the door. Ruby must have understood from his shouting that he was angry because when I went in she was hiding behind the chair, whimpering. She cheered up when she ate her breakfast and had a wee drink of milk. James later gave her a pat on the head and they were reconciled. As for the carpet, James has managed to hide the worst of the damage under a new metal door strip, but we are going to have to look for a wider one to hide all of the claw marks! 

Grand Tour

James, Ally and I decided to watch Jeremy Clarkson's new car programme on Amazon Prime this evening. The boys always enjoyed Top Gear, from which Clarkson departed rather hastily after he punched one of the show's producers for not arranging a hot meal for him after a day of filming. His loyal henchmen, Richard Hammond and James May followed him in resigning from the BBC. Top Gear resumed with new presenters, led by Chris Evans, and got roundly criticised for not managing to capture the atmosphere of the old show. 

So we were quite interested to see how Jeremy Clarkson and his chums would fare on their new show.

It got off to a very good start; Clarkson was filmed leaving the BBC sadly in the rain, handing in his security pass on the way out. He then boarded a plane to sunny California where he drove through the desert while the song "I can see clearly now the rain has gone" was played. He was joined by Hammond and May and the show continued at a lively pace with lots of cars, lots of jokes - quite good jokes e.g. Clarkson supposedly tampering with the subtitles so that a French-speaking driver would appear to agree with his views, and a mock fight with his America audience. It was all quite amusing.

Was it better than Chris Evans' version of Top Gear? I'm afraid so. I'm not s great fan of Jeremy Clarkson's brash personality, but I have to admit that he knows how to present a car show. 

New Dishwasher

As I blog, James and Ally are attempting to install our new dishwasher. I'm keeping quiet because when the Anderson men are attempting a technical task, tensions can run high. There are pages of detailed instructions laid out on the table and there is a lot of pacing around going on, selecting tools. For some reason they are also wielding torches, and have just started using a drill. I'm not even going to ask what is going on.

Our loyal old dishwasher gave up the ghost very suddenly last week. One day is was swishing away merrily at the dishes, the next it was as dead as a door nail. It was long out of warranty and the cost of repair was ridiculous, so we had to order a new one. It has been quite a novelty to go back to washing dishes by hand for the past week; of course that's what I did for the first twenty-five or so years of my life; we didn't get a dishwasher when we were first married, and I remember it was so exciting to get one when we moved into our present house. I didn't trust it at first, so I used to wash all the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, which rather defeated the purpose! 

Sunday errands

I woke this morning, refreshed after my lovely spa day, to find Ruby sitting on my chest, waiting for me to feed her. James and Ally were still away for the weekend with Cornel so I decided to treat myself to breakfast at Marks and Spencer, where I needed to do some shopping anyway. How pleasant it was to eat my bloomer with eggs, bacon and cherry tomatoes while drinking a large cup of coffee and reading my Kindle. 

Then I did my shopping, not always my favourite activity, but this morning I was in a tremendously good mood so everything was quite enjoyable. I'm so pleased with the improvement in my eyesight. There is still a very small cloud that sometimes floats across my vision but its hardly noticeable, and the colours all seem brighter. 

My afternoon was spent listening to the radio while tidying the house and making a nice roast dinner for my climbing boys to eat on their return. They arrived weary, sunburned and very hungry, but luckily I had cooked plenty of food. It has been a great weekend.

Jacuzzi day

Saturday has gone exactly to plan and I have had a very pleasant and relaxing day with Jennifer. She joined me for breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Marlow, where I had spent a comfy night. We went for a wee walk to look at the lake beside the hotel in the sunny, crisp morning. Then we headed for the spa where we spent the rest of the day.

We chatted and laughed for about six hours! There is a decent sized swimming pool, sauna, steam room, a jacuzzi beside the pool, and our favourite - a nice wooden jacuzzi just outside in the hotel garden. How lovely it was to look up at the blue sky from the the hot bubbling water. Although it's quite a small spa I would definitely come here again, and it's only twenty-five minutes drive from Jennifer's house. 

I travelled back home in the evening, and guess what, the plane was delayed again! This time there was something wrong with the landing gear and then a problem with someone's biometric security - we had all had our photos taken as we boarded the flight. Never mind, I just read my book (A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler) and relaxed. 

When I arrived home a wee furry brown face was peeking round the front gate; Ruby escorted me into the house and straight to her food bowl! And now I'm tucked into my wee bed all cosy.

Colourful

What a day! My laser treatment went well; I'm delighted to say that it wasn't painful at all, only the drops to dilate my pupil were a wee bit nippy. The ophthalmologist was lovely and explained everything. I think the treatment has worked, I won't be sure until tomorrow because the pupil of my eye is still a bit dilated, but everything seems clearer. And most excitingly, the colours all seem brighter! I knew that the colours were dull in my left eye but I assumed that my right eye would have compensated. However I realised this afternoon that the world has become much more colourful again, it's amazing!

And then to add to my delight, this evening I have travelled south to Marlow in Buckinghamshire where I will be having a spa day with Jennifer tomorrow. The plane was delayed because of a system fault with the computer; the pilot told us that he had to switch off and on the power in order to reset it! He needed to do this twice which was mildly alarming! And the wings needed to be de-iced, so we ended up 40 minutes late. However I am now tucked up in my hotel bed and looking forward to the weekend. 

Positive thoughts

I'm feeling a bit apprehensive this evening because tomorrow morning I'm going to get laser treatment on my eye. Since my cataract operation in April 2015 which was supposed to make my eyesight all lovely and clear again, it has become more and more blurry. This is apparently because protein is sticking to the lens. At least I think that's what I was told. Anyway there is a treatment that involves blasting it off with a laser, which doesn't sound much fun, but hopefully would improve my sight in that eye. 

On the other hand I'm very much looking forward to visiting Jennifer this weekend; we're going for a wee spa day in Marlow, and I will be travelling down by plane tomorrow evening. So I will try to think of chatting and jacuzzis during the laser treatment; as Julie Andrews sang, "I simply remember my favourite things and then I don't feel so bad!"

Supermoon

Today I heard on the news that there was to be a supermoon, but I didn't expect to see it, because the clouds were heavy and grey all day. 

However this evening James called me outside and there it was, looking big and bright and spectacular in a clear sky, with clouds scudding across it which actually made it look all the more dramatic. Apparently it's the biggest supermoon since 1948, and this is due to a full moon coinciding with a particularly close approach to the earth. It is allegedly 14% bigger and 30% brighter than usual, according to the BBC website. It did look noticeably bigger and I was very glad to see it. The next really big one won't be until 2034.

Skeleton Stories

What to do on a dreich Sunday afternoon in Glasgow in November? Since our young scientists David and Chanel are visiting this weekend we decided that something intellectually stimulating would be in order. So we headed for the west end to visit the Hunterian Art Gallery which has an exhibition entitled "Skeletons: Our Buried Bones."

This consists of eight skeletons; four from the Museum of London and four from burial grounds across Scotland. As a future forensic anthropologist Chanel was very knowledgable about the very different life stories that the bones revealed, and her enthusiasm made it very interesting for all of us.

We then went to a cosy café on Byres Road for coffee and waffles with bacon and maple syrup which were just right for the miserable weather. And now we're home, relaxing in front of the lounge fire. 

The Broons

We had a lovely dinner at the Pipers Tryst restaurant this evening with Grandma, Ally, David and Chanel. The food was really good and it was a convivial occasion. Then we all went our separate ways; Chanel and David went to a concert, Ally went to a party, and the rest of us crossed the road to the Theatre Royal to see The Broons.

The Broons is a Scottish institution - a cartoon that has been published in the Sunday Post newspaper since 1936. My parents used to get the Glasgow Herald on weekdays, and the Sunday Post and the Sunday Express at the weekend, so I grew up with the cartoons Oor Wullie and The Broons. I had no idea that these newspapers were considered to be politically right wing until someone told me when I was in my early 20s - I was somewhat naive and it had never occurred to me that newspapers have political stances!

Anyway, I was keen to see The Broons because it was adapted for the stage by my friend Barbara's actor, playwright and director son, Rob Drummond. I wondered how on earth the old-fashioned cartoon would be translated to the stage. However Rob Drummond had done a great job of it; keeping the humour gentle and traditional, and poking fun at itself mildly which made the audience feel as if they were in in the joke. 

For example, the youngest Broon child was always known as "The Bairn" with no mention of her real name. In the play, a character says to Maw Broon,

"I've never heard the bairn's name!"

and Maw draws herself up disapprovingly and replies,

"And you never will!"

"Why not?"

"It's none of your business!"

This got a huge laugh from the audience. The plot (which mainly consisted of a series of misunderstandings with predictable but amusing consequences) was interspersed with songs popular song in the 1950s and 60s, sung by the talented cast, most of whom could also play musical instruments. It ended with a rousing medley of Scottish songs which had the audience on their feet joining in. It was all great fun. 

Back to A & E

Imagine my surprise yesterday when I got a letter from my local hospital to say that they had taken another look at the X Ray if my ankle and wanted me to come back in. Unwilling to take time off work (especially because I have a hospital appointment about my eye coming up which I can't arrange out with school hours) I have just spent an interesting Friday evening back at Accident and Emergency!

I had to wait for three and a half hours this time, but I wasn't surprised because I know that Friday evenings are busy. I settled down in the waiting room and read my Kindle peacefully. I was diverted, from time to time, by the interesting variety of other patients of all shapes and sizes. There was a wee girl who was in tears after a bad fall at gymnastics. There was a young man who was brought in wearing handcuffs and escorted by two police officers, who had a tight grip on his arms - he looked as if he had taken a terrible beating. Eventually I was taken through to the minor injuries clinic and sure enough my ankle is fractured after all. How annoying. I'm to wear a walking boot and it should heal ok in a few weeks because the bone hasn't moved. That means I have broken both ankles in the last 12 months. The sooner I get the vision fixed in my left eye the better, I'm sure that's why I'm falling so often.

Cuff links

This morning as I was getting ready for work, Ally appeared wearing a very smart suit with a white shirt and a red tie. He looked fantastic. He was on his way to perform a plea bargain as part of his Law Diploma course - it was a pretend plea bargain but in front of a real Sheriff, so it was very formal. I noticed that he was putting on a pair of gold cuff links that belonged to my Dad with the City of Glasgow crest on them. I was so touched that he had chosen them. And my Dad would have been so proud of Alasdair; I just wish that they had known each other for longer. 

This evening I was glad to hear from Ally that his plea bargain went very well.

Democracy

Well I must admit that I was very surprised when I woke up this morning and James told me that Donald Trump looked virtually guaranteed to win the US Election. I pride myself on having an excellent instinct for how an electorate is going to vote, and I was spot on when predicting the outcomes of the Scottish Independence Referendum and the Brexit Referendum. However this time I was wrong; I had thought that Hillary Clinton would scrape through with a very small majority. My excuse is that I clearly don't have my finger on the pulse of America the way I do at home! 

Donald Trump was magnanimous in his victory speech, and Hillary was gracious in her speech of defeat. They both talked of America pulling together, and with that I do agree. Even though I suspect that Donald would have made a tremendous fuss and would have cried foul if he had lost, the fact of the matter is that democracy has taken place and the people have spoken. And that is the way it works. In the recent referendums both the Scottish Nationalists and the pro-Europe campaigners have been breathless with indignation when they lost. They have accused the people who voted the other way from them of being wrong, deluded, immoral, ignorant. What they can't seem to accept is that referendums and elections are democracy in action. I can totally understand how bitterly disappointed many people in the USA must be feeling today. I am no fan of Donald (in fact I have a soft spot for Hillary after reading her autobiography and feel gutted for her) but a fair election has taken place and there is little point in whining about it - Donald Trump is going to be the 45th President of the USA. 

Revisiting Planet Earth

When I was chatting to David on the phone at the weekend he told me that he and his friends were planning a gathering in his flat on Sunday evening to watch the first in the new David Attenborough television series: Planet Earth 2. I found it very heartwarming and wholesome that these young science students were eagerly anticipating the new series from the venerable broadcaster. So this evening I decided to watch it too. I am never particularly drawn to watch nature programmes for some reason, but when I do watch them I become absolutely fascinated. David Attenborough, aged 90 and sensibly wearing a warm blue down jacket, introduced the programme from a balloon two miles high in the air near Mont Blanc. This week's episode was about wildlife on all sorts of remote and dangerous islands. And indeed it was amazing. There were sex-starved sloths, Komodo dragons wrestling, lemurs leaping, iguanas swimming underwater, and penguins leaping off cliffs to find food. The highlight had to be the terrifying racer snakes chasing baby iguanas across the gritty sand on a volcanic island - it was like something out of a horror movie! 

4DX fun

After a very pleasant and relaxing Saturday, we decided to go to the cinema. We went to see Dr Strange which turned out to be very good, starring Benedict Cumberbatch. It's part of the Marvel franchise but is a good film in its own right. Ally and Cat went to see the fireworks at Glasgow Green and then met us at the Cineworld Bar before the film. We knew that the film was in 3D, and we had our 3D glasses at the ready. However we didn't realise that it was also in "4DX" which includes special chairs with footrests. The chairs vibrate and move around and become especially lively during action scenes when you are thrown around alarmingly! My coffee was spilled several times! There were also extra special effects including things poking into you, wind, rain and even smells! It was all great fun and definitely enhanced the experience! Not that I would wish to have this for every film - but last night we all found it absolutely hilarious and talked about it all the way home. 

Scary Santa Cat

Yesterday I was doing a wee bit of shopping in Tesco when I noticed that they were selling Christmas outfits for pets. Now we don't usually inflict such an indignity on our much loved cats (although James has mentioned that he would love to get a pair of "Puss in Boots" boots for Tom to stride around in!) but I couldn't resist buying a couple of outfits with the thought of a photo opportunity.

I had no idea of the carnage which would ensue! When I got them Alasdair wasted no time in putting the Santa costume on Tom. Tom was not exactly thrilled, but he is such a good-natured cat that he resignedly allowed himself to be photographed, and Cat took some excellent photos. The unexpected thing was Ruby's reaction. She was busy filling her face at her bowl while Ally was dressing up Tom, and when she looked up to see Santa Cat looking at her she totally flipped out! She clearly didn't recognise him at all (even though he was only wearing a Santa hood with a small cloak). Her hackles rose all along her back and her usually small rat-like tail assumed enormous proportions, like a fox's brush! After staring at Santa Cat for a few moments Ruby ran away at speed and exited the house via the cat flap. The problem with this was that Ally had just locked the cat flap in case Tom tried to run off while being dressed up. Normally this effectively prevents the cats from leaving, for example if we are trying to catch them to take them to the vet. However, this time there was a tremendous crashing sound and the cat flap broke clean into two pieces! Ruby must have been going at a tremendous speed. 

All ended well when the Santa costume was removed and Ruby was retrieved from the garden by Ally to spend a peaceful evening indoors. 

Excellent NHS

My sprained ankle, from my fall in New York last month, has been getting more painful again over the last week, and today I was limping noticeably. So after tea (rather nice beef stroganoff made by James) I went up to the hospital to get it checked over. I took my current book with me (Admission by Jean Hanff Korelitz - interesting so far) because I reckoned that I would have to wait for several hours, and I would just relax and read while waiting.

Well I was amazed by the speed and efficiency of the service! No sooner had I switched on my Kindle in the waiting room than I was summoned through to the "minor injuries clinic". Out came the Kindle again, but before I could focus my eyes in the page I was assessed by a nurse, then a doctor, and dispatched to the X Ray department. Minutes later I was trudging back along to the minor injuries clinic, where I again got my Kindle out but was distracted by hearing two doctors discussing my X Ray; "There's something there - I'm not sure" and "How long ago was the injury?" The nurse then appeared back to say that after some discussion they think it is just torn ligaments and that I need to rest the ankle more and elevate it whenever possible. The pain is due to swelling so I need to start taking anti-inflammatories again. Soon I was on my way home, reassured and ready for a cup of tea. I know I was lucky that it was a quiet evening - the waiting times can be very long when it is busy - but credit where credit is due, that was first class treatment from the NHS. 

Folk Singer

James and I went to a concert this evening; Karine Polwart at Paisley Arts Centre. I thought that it was absolutely excellent. I loved all the stories that she told as well as the songs, and her voice is beautiful. I first heard Karine Polwart sing at the Bert Jansch tribute concert earlier this year so I was keen to attend one of her own concerts. I liked the way that the music really stood up for itself, just voice and guitar, and several songs were completely unaccompanied.

James didn't feel the same way, however to be fair to him he did turn up and give it a try!

Sunday lunch and Monday leftovers

And so here we are on the first day of November and according to the weather forecast, after really quite a mild Autumn, much colder weather is coming in from the north over the next few days. 

All is well at Casa Anderson at the moment I'm glad to say. Janet, Peter and Anne came through for lunch on Sunday and it was absolutely great to see them, we had such a laugh. Anne is a lovely young woman and she and Ally exchanged many a tale of travel in foreign lands. Anne has spent a year and a half in New Zealand, and Janet and Peter visited her there earlier this year, so they were able to give us some top tips for the holiday we are planning next summer. We had decided to go for a very traditional roast beef Sunday lunch with all the trimmings and it went down extremely well. I had made far too much of everything, so on Monday evening we had a yummy leftovers meal while we caught up on Poldark.