Lucky

As I blog here in the front room, on Boxing Day, with Floof asleep on my lap, I feel very lucky.
It has been a good Christmas. Chanel stayed with us for a few days until Christmas Eve and has been great company, and on the 21st Cat arrived from London a day early and surprised us just after we had watched James' favourite Christmas film, "Elf"! On the 22nd we went to see "It's a Wonderful Life" at the GFT. There were eight of us; it was lovely that Christine and Gerry were able to join us as well as Cat and Chanel. We had dinner at Red Onion beforehand and we continued our convivial evening with a cup of tea and some mince pies back at our house. Then on the 23rd we had our annual pre-Christmas lunch with Heather and Ewan; we had a gorgeous lunch at Guys. Then we made our way to Metropolitan in the Old Fruitmarket where we met up for drinks with a lively crowd of our combined progeny and their partners. Only our Kiwi young ones were missing. We had a truly lovely afternoon chatting and ended up back at Heather and Ewan's for a cup of tea.
On Christmas Eve morning I went over to Jackie's to celebrate Noah's 9th Birthday, and then we spent a pleasant afternoon preparing for Christmas. We FaceTimed Jamie and Aisling in the evening; they were about to enjoy a Christmas breakfast with friends because of course it was already Christmas morning in New Zealand.
However there was a shock in store. I was woken by my phone ringing at 4.30 a.m. on Christmas morning - it was Jamie FaceTiming me from Dunedin Hospital. He and Aisling had been involved in a car crash on their way to a friend's house for Christmas dinner. Another car had jumped a red light and crashed right into the side of the car in which they were passengers, which then span into a traffic light pole. They were both knocked unconscious and Jamie can't remember anything of the accident until he woke up in the ambulance. Jamie has cuts to his face and concussion, and was allowed home a few hours later. Aisling also has concussion, she needed a number of stitches inside her mouth and has broken a bone in her face, and she was kept in hospital overnight. The others in the car were shocked but ok, and the people in the car that ran into them were fine. Jamie was very reassuring but James and I were very shocked and so were Ally and Davie. Considering the nature of the accident, it could all have been much worse - and in addition to all the good times we have had, that's also why I feel so lucky today.
Jamie and Aisling have kept in touch since they got home and it was good to speak to both of them by FaceTime later on Christmas Day (their Boxing Day). And Grandma was well enough to come across the road for Christmas dinner, and seemed to have a genuinely lovely time with us. In the evening Alasdair organised a game of Monopoly which was tremendous fun, and when James and I went to bed, Ally and Davie were poring over the World Atlas and telling each other all about their travels. A good Christmas indeed.

Festive

We have been very lucky to have enjoyed many festive occasions in the lead up to Christmas. One of the first was my School Show, which was absolutely amazing and a very happy evening, I was so impressed by the pupils' many talents. Then a couple of days later we went to a Christmas concert at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, featuring the Paisley Abbey Choir, which includes Kenneth - he looked very smart in his red cassock. The acoustics were tremendous and the music was really good.
We also had a pre-Christmas spa break with Alison and Hugh in Fonab Castle Hotel, which is a lovely hotel with delicious food, and it also happens to be almost exactly half way between our two homes; about an hour and a quarter travel for each of us. We had a very relaxing time in the spa, which is quite small but has everything you need; it has a decent length of pool as well as sauna, steam room, aromatherapy room and jacuzzi. Our bedroom in one of the lodges was splendidly decorated and, despite the rather dreich weather, had a fine view over the Pitlochry Dam on the River Tummel. In fact, as James quipped, it was a "dam fine view", which I thought was very funny.
Unfortunately Grandma ended up back in hospital recently with another UTI. We had suspected that she wasn't doing too well for a few days and then, just over a week before Christmas, she took a turn for the worse and had to go up to Hairmyres by ambulance. She was understandably very unhappy about this, but the IV antibiotics did the trick and she recovered quickly, getting back home after four days. This meant that she could settle back in at home in time for Christmas.

Relaxing at Nirvana

When I woke on Monday morning, Jennifer told me that my flight home in the evening was cancelled, no doubt as a knock on effect from all the confusion on Sunday. Oh dear. I couldn’t get through on the British Airways helpline, which was constantly busy, but decided not to let the uncertainty spoil our much anticipated spa day. It was great to be back at Nirvana (although the wimps had closed the outside area due to adverse weather!) and we had a tasty breakfast before installing ourselves at the poolside. I then sneakily tried a different British Airways phone number (Discretion forbids me from revealing my source!) and got through straight away. The friendly and helpful BA employee could not book me on a flight out of Heathrow until Tuesday morning - but he was able to get me a seat on the 8.30 p.m. flight from London City. Cheered by this good news I got down to some serious lounging around, reading, chatting with Jennifer and going to the spa pool, the jacuzzi and the steam room. It was a very enjoyable spa day, and very relaxing after my long journey yesterday.

Later on Jennifer very kindly dropped me at Heathrow airport where I caught the Heathrow Express. The journey across London was straightforward and took about an hour and a half  by train, tube and DLR. I will not dwell on the fact that my flight was 90 minutes late - this time the excuse was that there had been a fire alarm which had evacuated the airport earlier. But compared to Sunday it seemed a very brief delay. Alasdair collected me from the airport; how lovely to get a lift from my big grown-up son!

Epic Journey

Shackleton's expedition to the Antarctic pales into insignificance beside the gruelling journey I had on Sunday! Although at least I didn't have to eat any sledge dogs.

On Sunday morning I was up early to fly down to Heathrow on the 8.55 a.m. plane to visit Jennifer, Russell, Josh and Ben, before going to a spa day with Jennifer on Monday. Cat was going to join us for lunch. James has a bad, chesty cold, but he very kindly gave me a lift to the airport before going back to bed. There was no snow in Glasgow so the first warning I got that something was amiss was when Jennifer texted me to ask if my flight was going due to the snow. Sure enough, there was heavy snow at Heathrow, and as I was queueing up to board the plane there was an announcement that it was to be delayed until at least 11.30 a.m. Undaunted, I found myself a comfy corner seat near the departure gate and amused myself by texting, reading and writing reviews of French films in my “French Films jotter.” We boarded the plane sooner than expected, at about 11, and it seemed that we were ready to go. 

More bad news followed. The runway lights suddenly failed, and as it was quite foggy we couldn’t take off. The new departure time was a disappointing half past two. At this point there was a very angry murmur some of the passengers became very restive. There was some sort of bad behaviour at the front of the plane. The captain made an announcement to say that there had been “an incident” and to remind everyone that the delay was down to the weather and not the fault of the airline, and he warned passengers not to use unacceptable language to staff or the police would be called! 

Quite a few passengers elected to leave the flight at this time, so their luggage had to be identified and removed as well. I was very lucky to have a spacious emergency exit seat with lots of leg room, so I could stretch my legs and relax. The runway lights were fixed quite quickly and our flight time was pulled forward, so we eventually left Glasgow at about 1 p.m. - four hours late. Still, at least I would be at Heathrow in time to meet Cat for a late lunch and then meet Jennifer at our hotel later. Or so I thought.

However once we landed at Heathrow the pilot informed us that the airport was littered with delayed flights so we would have to slowly weave our way through them in order to reach the terminal. Then came more bad news - there was at least three hour wait before we would be able to park at a stand! A camaraderie sprang up among the passengers and I was chatting with a very pleasant BA stewardess and a businessman who kindly lent me his charger. I heard that in addition to the air crew who were on duty, there were fifteen BA stewards and pilots travelling on our flight, which meant that they would not be able to reach the flights that they were due to work on. I also read my book and looked out of the window as night fell. 

In fact it took four hours for us to reach a stand, and another half an hour for a member of ground staff to be found to unlock the door to domestic arrivals. The pilot wanted to open it with his own security pass to let us through but Airport Security wouldn’t let him! Before we left the plane two police officers boarded to arrest and remove the obstreperous passenger from earlier. He was very meek as he was marched through the plane while the rest of us looked on disapprovingly.

Jennifer was waiting for me at arrivals when I finally got there at 6.30 p.m. - she had been waiting for three hours! It was so kind of her. She drove me to Cat’s flat nearby, where Cat had made us a delicious meal, which was great as we hadn't been offered any food during our wait on the plane, so I hadn't eaten since breakfast. It was all lovely and cosy and they were both so nice to me that I nearly cried. We ate and chatted and I was just so relieved and glad to be there! 

Jennifer and I then went on to the Moat House Hotel near the Nirvana Spa, and had a drink in the bar before bed time. Oh it was good to be off that plane! 

Christmas Tree

On Saturday James, Ally, Grandma and I went to buy our Christmas tree. It was a cold, sunny day, perfect for visiting the Trossachs. Grandma loves going out for a run in the car so she had a great time and commented on the beautiful scenery with snow-capped Ben Lomond in the background. James drove right up to the David Marshall Lodge so that Grandma could walk in easily with her triangular walker; and by the time we visited the ladies’ toilet James and Ally had narrowed down the choice of trees to two beautiful Norman firs. We made our choice and the tree was encased in netting before being lashed firmly to the roof bars in the car. Then it was time for our traditional lunch in the café before heading home. Grandma and I did well for ourselves at the Mountain Rescue tombola and we were chatting to the volunteers, who know my first aid trainer George. We had one scary moment when Grandma bumped her walker into an uneven paving stone and fell off it - she slipped right down! Needless to say I started screaming a bit, which earned me a row from Alasdair for “making a fuss as usual” however, Grandma was mostly fine thank goodness. She had a big bruise on her hip but I got the doctor to come round to check it out a couple of days later and he confirmed that there was no serious damage. It didn't seem to spoil her day and she said how much she had enjoyed herself.

Back home, James and Ally made a fine job of decorating the tree while I finished writing the Christmas cards, then James and I went out for a brisk hour long walk and delivered all the local cards. It really was a most pleasant and satisfactory day.

The Festivities have commenced

The Christmas season is upon us at school, starting with the annual Christmas Craft Fair this week. Catherine came in to run the craft club stall with me; I had classes so she ended up running it by herself and she did a fantastic job, selling nearly all of our wares before I came back to have a quick coffee with her!
Then today all of the 1st to 3rd Years went to see the Pantomime "Cinderella" at the Citz, and I was one of the staff that escorted them. It was great fun. It was only twenty minutes walk to the theatre and the weather was cold but sunny, so it was a pleasant journey. I have so many good memories of productions at the Citizens Theatre; it's always a bit edgy and interesting. Their take on Cinderella was excellent. It had all the traditional elements of a pantomime (Oh yes it did!) and was very amusing. When the Prince was looking for someone to dance with, the King pointed out various teachers in the audience, who the Prince then insulted e.g. "She looks as if she lives under a bridge!", which I thought was very funny. However Cinderella herself was very feisty and in the end she didn't choose the Prince, but instead followed her heart. Although I noticed that the kitchen boy that she fell in love with also turned out to be a prince (from a neighbouring country) so she was both politically correct and lucky! We all absolutely loved it.

Jools & Mince Pies

We had a very pleasant time at the weekend. On Saturday evening we went to see Jools Holland. We have been to see him a couple of times before and as usual he did not disappoint. He had an array of guest singers, most of whom we have seen before, and his big name guest was José Feliciano. He is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and guitarist who has had a long and distinguished musical career, working with many different musicians. He is best known for the Christmas song Feliz Navidad, which I didn't realise that he had written. He is over seventy now, small and seemed quite frail. He has been blind since birth and had to be helped to his chair and handed his guitar. However he still has a tremendous voice and was very skilled with the guitar. The concert ended with all the musicians and audience giving a rousing rendition of  "Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think..."

On Sunday it was the traditional hill-walking club Mince Pies outing. David, Chanel and Ally all came along although Cat was not able to be there the time because her Mum was visiting her in London. It's always a happy occasion and this year was no exception. We were picked up by bus at Tollcross Road and travelled to Callander, passing the journey by filling in a fiendish quiz on different types of sweeties. After a fortifying breakfast at Callander we walked for about three hours to Strathyre where the bus took us on to the Mhor 84 hotel at Balquhidder. Some stalwarts walked from Strathyre right to the hotel, but David told me that the last bit was quite steep so I was glad that Chanel and I had hopped back onto the bus. Soon Santa made his appearance and it appeared that we had all been nice rather than naughty this year, because we all got presents! I fell fast asleep on the bus on the way back, so I was unaware that the bus driver took two wrong turnings and therefore we arrived home on,y ten minutes before Grandma was due to join us for a fish supper! We all swung into action; James and Ally went to get the fish suppers and Chanel and I collected Grandma by car, and soon we were all enjoying our meals and watching the Strictly results show!

Compliments

I got my hair cut and painted at the weekend, and on the way home I stopped at a wee shop to see if I could get my favourite old red shoes repaired one more time (I couldn't - they were beyond help!) While I was chatting to the shoe repairer (cobbler?) he suddenly interjected "Your hair looks very nice." I was somewhat taken aback, and thanked him. As I turned to leave the shop, there was a customer standing behind me and he said, "He's right, your hair looks lovely!" I was overwhelmed!

Also, when I was at Snow Factor at Braehead the other day, I getting my ski boots fitted to some hired skis, the man there unhesitatingly ticked "30 - 49" as my age range. This thrilled me because I am 54! All of these compliments will give me a big heid!

Meet ups

Last week I drove down to Biggar on a fine and sunny morning to visit my Uncle Bill and Aunt Katy. The drive was very pleasant through the rural Southern Uplands and I listened to some of my favourite music on the way. It was absolutely wonderful to see them both and we went out for a tasty lunch at the Elphinstone Hotel which is only a few steps from their home. Biggar is such a beautiful and traditional village, and Bill and Katy were telling me all about the New Year bonfire which the locals build at this time of year ready for the festivities in a few weeks. I am very fond of Bill and Katy and I love their wicked sense of humour; we had a great afternoon.

I also caught up with my friend Ally for lunch one day. She is always very positive; as well as enjoying her company I came away with lots of ideas such as a weekly newspaper that she subscribes to, and a French news podcast which I have started to listen to in the car on the way to work. It was via this French podcast that I learned of the death this week of French rock and roll star Johnny Hallyday. When I lived in France his love story with Sylvie Vartan was just ending, and the French magazines were not complete without yet another story about Johnny's lifestyle and amorous exploits! He was such a big star and had triumphed through so many crises and health struggles that I was quite surprised to hear of his demise. 

I have been catching up with quite a few people recently, and this is very much thanks to my new part time hours; I have the opportunity, and more importantly the energy to arrange meet ups. I have to say that I am thoroughly enjoying it; I am lucky to know so many nice people so it's lovely to have the time to see them.

Dedication

Last week I was at work for a brief meeting on one of my days off. It was a lovely sunny morning so I decided to go for a walk around the area before heading home. As Was strolling along I heard someone calling my name. It was my friend and retired ex colleague, Midge, on her way to work at a food bank. What were the chances of us bumping into each other in the middle of the morning like that? She invited me to visit the food bank and it was really interesting. The premises are very small, and every inch of space is well organised. The basics were already bagged and ready, with other food stacked on the shelves to be added later. I was so moved by the dedication of the volunteers who give so much of their time to keep the place going.

A good Saturday

I was very proud of Grandma today; she was determined to try to do her own shopping in Morrisons so I took her there in the morning. I parked very near the front door and brought her a trolley, and she proceeded to walk all around the supermarket leaning on the trolley and choosing her groceries. Being independent is very important for her and this was great progress. We had a celebratory cup of coffee in the café there before heading home.
This evening we went over to Heather and Ewan's for dinner. Ewan had made his famous Tuscan stew and it was absolutely delicious. I couldn't resist a second helping. Then Heather's rhubarb crumble cake was so tasty that I could not prevent myself from eating a generous helping of that too. As a result I have definitely overeaten but I cannot regret it!
We had a fun evening of chatting about everything under the sun and listening to music; at one point I was laughing so much at something Ewan said (let's just say that it involved leg transplants and Ernie Wise!) that my face muscles were actually hurting! It's so nice to be in company where I can really relax and be myself.

First snow of the season

It is just about winter time now. Our sunny weekend in Perthshire turned out to be the swan song of the autumn. The beginning of the week was unremittingly dreich and grey, and the weather has now turned distinctly colder. On Friday morning the first snow fell on Glasgow. At first it was just sleet but it got thicker and heavier and soon we had a proper snowfall. The pupils were very excited so we all went over to the window for a proper look and thought of adjectives to describe the winter weather.

Cats and carpets

David and Chanel very kindly “kitten-sat” for us while we were in Perthshire. Tom can manage a weekend by himself as long as he has lots of food left for him, however Floof is still very young and new to Casa Anderson and we thought that she would need some human company. So David and Chanel spent the weekend at our house and this also gave them the chance to visit Grandma. Tom enjoyed their company too - he spent the nights on their bed making himself very comfy by installing himself in the middle and pushing them to the sides!
Chanel had to go back to Dundee to attend lectures on Monday, but David stayed on for an extra day in order to move furniture at Grandma’s house so that her new carpets could be delivered on Tuesday. He did a grand job and when I asked him where he wanted to go for lunch he of course chose his old favourite - TGI Fridays! It was so lovely to chat to him; I do miss having him around. The next day the carpets duly arrived and David spent the morning helping Grandma while I was getting my hair cut. Chanel arrived and the three of us walked down to Wetherspoons for lunch and had a very pleasant time. I like that David and Chanel are loving their scientific studies so much; it’s great to hear young people being so passionate about what they do.

Two great walks in Perthshire

We were in Pitlochry last weekend with the hill-walking club, staying in the historic and comfortable Moulin Hotel. The weather was extremely kind to us, being sunny both days, so the group were all able to get lots of walking done. I went on both of my walks with Hilary, who is always excellent company. Out first walk was from Pitlochry to Killiecrankie, a distance of about seven and a half miles, wending our way first along the River Tummel and then the River Garry. Because there was a confluence of two rivers we got a wee bit confused at one point about exactly where we were, but we met a lovely elderly man who re-directed us. It was a very pretty walk with views over the valley; on our journey we saw an osprey's nest on top of a pylon and we came across a monument to Robert the Bruce, where he had rested after the Battle of Methven. When we arrived in Killiecrankie a friendly local told us that the only place to eat there was the Killiecrankie Hotel. we walked along to take a cautious look at it and were delighted to find that it is a very classy little hotel with a smart conservatory style restaurant. I had hot smoked salmon with an apple and celery mayonnaise on sourdough toast and it was absolutely delicious. While we were eating I received a phone call from James to say that he had just arrived back from his walk, so I persuaded him to come and pick us up and take us back to Pitlochry - excellent timing! Later we had a convivial evening with the rest of the group, all of us recounting our adventures of the day.
The next day James decided to join Steven Hilary and I on that old much-loved walk of mine; around Loch Ordie from Guay. As ever, it did not disappoint and I enjoyed sharing one of my favourite places with Steven and Hilary. Gratifyingly, they enjoyed it too. When we stopped for a cup of coffee at the loch a beautiful we robin was hopping about, looking for our biscuit crumbs.
In the evening James and I went to the OMD concert at the Royal Concert Hall. It was a really good concert - we have seen them several times before - and despite some technical hitches with the sound, we had a great evening.

Seaweed bath

It has been a good week so far. The highlight has been my luxurious spa evening on Monday, which was a lovely gift from Heather. The Blythswood Hotel Spa is underneath the hotel, it’s like a little secret oasis in the middle of the city. Heather had arranged for each of us to have a seaweed bath - a first for both of us! I went first and it was fantastic- the seaweed was very slithery and smelled really good. I was told to put it on top of me so it was like a silky duvet - I loved it! Then we explored the rest of the spa - it’s compact but has at least four different saunas and steam rooms as well as a pool and my favourite- the circular hydro pool right in the centre. It was very warm down there but we cooled down with some drinks half way through, and there were lots of complimentary bottles of water. Best of all was having a really nice chat with Heather.
Yesterday evening I jokingly put some kitten poo, which I had retrieved from Floof's litter tray, under Alasdair’s pillow. Sadly he didn’t think this was funny at all and came downstairs to shout at me that “his whole room smells of poo” which was definitely an exaggeration; it was a very small bag of poo. The trouble is, he vowed revenge and I’m rather worried about what form that may take.

Mystery Sunday

On Sunday it was James' turn to arrange a day out for us! "How could he live up to the standard I set the previous week?" I asked myself. I was a bit worried about what he would come up with especially when I saw the climbing boots and rucksacks laid out at the front door. I was informed that I needed to be ready to catch a train at 9.30 a.m. Off we went, suited and booted for a walk. We took the train right through town and out the other side, to the station at Bowling.
This of course reminded me of one of my Dad's favourite jokes:
"I'm a little stiff from bowling."
"I don't care where you're from!"
When we got off the train we walked the short distance to the Forth and Clyde canal and walked in the direction of Glasgow. I was gratified that James had not chosen a hilly walk - it was completely level along the canal. We walked along through some quite picturesque areas, and there were lots of other people out in the November sunshine walking and cycling. Cat had told us that she was in London at the Remembrance Day Service at the Cenotaph, and Ally went to the one at Glasgow University. As it happened, just as 11 o'clock approached, we came upon a small crowd at the Old Kilpatrick War Memorial and we observed the one minute silence, albeit from the opposite side of the canal!
We had a sandwich lunch just outside Clydebank Shopping Centre, perhaps not the most idyllic spot, especially when I foolishly threw a bit of my sandwich to a pigeon and we were then crowded by hundreds of aggressive birds, in scenes reminiscent of the Alfred Hitchcock movie.
As we continued towards out ultimate goal of Anniesland, I found myself becoming increasingly weary, and I begged James to cut the walk a little short. He consulted the map and announced that we could go to nearby Westerton Station instead. I was delighted to find that we could get a train directly home from there. It was a good walk, and despite cutting it a bit short we had still walked an impressive (to me) seven miles!
Back at home we visited Grandma, had tea, and then went to see "Les Fantomes d'Ismael" at the French Film Festival, which I felt was very thoughtful of James. I love French films, but even I admit that they can be a bit "hit or miss". Unfortunately this one was more of a "miss!" I enjoyed it more than James did, because of the French atmosphere and language, but the plot was rambling and the characters were all unpleasant. The lead characters were played by Matthieu Amalric and Charlotte Gainsbourg so it should have been amazing, but it veered strangely between tragedy and slapstick comedy, and it was all over the place! From time to time I could hear James emitting a small whimper.
So how was James' Mystery Sunday for me? It was well planned, thoughtful and fun!

Poor service

It was with quite a lot of trepidation for all of us that we planned Grandma's discharge from hospital on Monday 6th November. She was desperate to get home; by this time she had been in hospital for five weeks. We had a few days notice so we had a bit of time to get her new care package into place. I have to say that South Lanarkshire Council has been generous in providing three carer visits per day for her, and we have added in an extra private visit at lunch time. This means that she has help to get up, has all of her meals prepared, and has assistance to get washed and go to bed at the end of the day.  She also has a cleaner twice a week and I shop for all her food. Nevertheless it has been a difficult transition for her, which I can understand; she was nervous about how she would cope after being in hospital for so long and she doesn't like the fact that it's a changing team of carers, which unfortunately can't be helped. I don't think that she realised just how "entertained" she was in the hospital; she enjoyed complaining about the nurses and making remarks about the other patients!
However there have been lots of good things; she is visited every day by family, she is back in her own comfy bed, she has her own television rather than the one she could hardly see at the end of the ward, and she has been able to get her hair properly styled again. She has been practising walking around the house with her zimmer although she is still very frail, so hopefully her strength will continue to increase and she can get back to some of her old independence. We have arranged for her optician to visit, new carpets, physiotherapists, a personal alarm, and a doctor's visit to check that she is continuing to recover.
We took her for a run in the car up the Clyde Vally on Saturday and we went for coffee at Sandyholm Garden Centre, and she really enjoyed getting out and about. Yesterday one of the care team came round to see her and I went along too; when asked how she feels about the care package, Grandma replied in all seriousness, "The service just isn't very good." She couldn't specify what she wanted to be done differently but I think that what she really wants is to go back to how things used to be, before she needed all of this help. And sadly, that's one thing that we cannot provide. My heart goes out to her.

Mystery Saturday

When we were discussing what we were going to do on the first weekend of November, I suggested to James that I would plan a “mystery Saturday” for him. Apart from visiting Grandma in hospital at 7 pm, the day was completely free. I decided that for James to enjoy a day of leisure it would have to include a walk, so when he was out with friends on Friday evening I perused a book of walks in the West of Scotland. I finally decided on a walk in the Clyde Valley, starting at the village of Crossford. We have been visiting the fruit farms and garden centres of the Clyde Valley all of our lives, but rarely go for a proper walk there (apart from at New Lanark and the Falls of Clyde, or Lanark Loch). This is because nearly all of the places to visit are right beside the road that goes up the middle of the valley, so we usually just drive there. However I found a three hour walk in the book which looked promising. The route started just north of Crossford, climbed gently on a track through fields to the village of Netherburn, and then descended along a disused railway track to Craignethan Castle, and onwards through the Nethan Gorge back down to Crossford. What could possibly go wrong?
Well I will tell you - MUD! The first part turned out to be possibly the muddiest walk we have ever had the misfortune to embark on! The path was very faint as it followed the edge of several fields, and it was so muddy! We had to pick our way from clump to clump of grass, which were dotted through the sea of mud. Our boots and trousers were soon completely trashed and sometimes it looked so deep that I was quite worried that if I fell in it could go up to my waist. right. It took ages to get to the top of the hill with the mud sucking at our boots every step of the way, and although he didn’t complain much, I could tell that James was not impressed with my choice of walk! When we turned along the disused railway track at Netherburn it was very pleasant at first, but mid way it turned into series of huge puddles; we had keep right to the edge to get past and my arms were raked by hawthorn bushes. Then I tripped over a fence wire which cut into my shin, leaving a purple welt across the front of my leg. Happily our walking conditions improved as we approached Craignethan Castle. It is a very impressive 16th century ruin which was built by a member of the Hamilton family. From there we walked through the attractive wooded Nethan Gorge, along delightfully dry paths scattered with Autumn leaves.
The next part of my plan involved scones at one of the nearby garden centres, however we were so dirty - even my face was splashed with mud - that we decided to head home instead where we had a coffee and then warm baths.
Undaunted by our ordeal, we went on to the next part of my plan, an outing to the cinema after visiting Grandma at Hairmyres in the evening. We visited the new "Odeon Luxe" in East Kilbride, which has reclining chairs. There was no food ordering and delivery during the film, like the time we went to a luxury cinema in London, however the seats were very comfy. The film was Murder on the Orient Express. We enjoyed it although it's such a well known book and film that we knew the ending already, in common with about 99% of people I should think, so that did detract a bit from the point of going to see a murder mystery film. It was very much a Kenneth Branagh production, with him playing Hercule Point complete with lavish moustaches, and it was entertaining enough. 
I felt that my "mystery Saturday" had been moderately successful, and next time it would be James' turn to plan a day out for us.

Bringing things up to date

James has complained to me that my blog posts have been skipping about between past and present recently, and he finds it confusing. So no more retrospective blogs for now, even though there were lots of other pleasant happenings in October, not least a couple of trips to Dundee to visit David and Chanel, and some memorable outings with Jamie and Aisling during their time in Scotland.
So now it’s back to three of us in the house - James, Ally and me. Or should I say five, including Tom and Floof.
Floof still annoys Tom when she wants to play with him while he is having a nap, but Tom definitely seems more comfortable around her - he looks less horrified by her antics. Floof just loves Tom and hopefully will be a good companion for him. She is so funny and currently specialises in leaping high into the air and is a bit bitey and scratchy. She has been to the vet for her first jag and is healthy and gaining weight. She has a strange wee voice - a hoarse shout. Ally told us that he said “Meow” to her and she replied “Baaaa” like a sheep! Our first three cats, Tess, Jack and Jill, all knew how to meow beautifully - but Tom and Ruby just say / said “Eeeee!” and now Floof has her weird bleat! She also has a quite alarming and loud scream that she uses when she is over-excited, which is quite often. She watches Tom going out and in through the cat flap and I’m sure that she would love to go outside but she will have to wait a few more months. However Tom has brought in two dead mice for her this week (at least they were dead when I found them, poor wee things!) Floof was enjoying playing with them and was absolutely furious when I took them away from her!

Last Night of the Proms

Having just enjoyed a couple of days in London I am reminded of another visit there in September, when James and I went to see the Pink Floyd exhibition at the V & A. It was only after I had booked tickets for this on 9th September that I realised that it was the same date as the Last Night of the Proms at the Royal Albert Hall. It seemed to me that it would be a fun idea also to go to this very famous and traditional evening. However I then found out that all of the tickets had been sold out months previously. The very pleasant lady at the box office suggested to me that I try for “returns” a week or two before the concert, so I made a note in my diary and when the time was right I started phoning the box office daily. There were still no tickets to be had, and with two days to go I had almost given up hope, when suddenly two tickets became available in the choir stalls. I was delighted and booked them straight away.

So off we set for London and it turned out that the Royal Albert Hall is only five minutes walk from the V & A, where we were going to our exhibition - how convenient! Pink Floyd is really James’ taste rather than mine, however I was very happy to go along to the “Their Mortal Remains” exhibition and I really enjoyed it. Before we went in we had time for coffee and a scone sitting outside in the sunshine in the V & A’s charming courtyard area. The exhibition charted the fifty years since the group released their first single, using photos, films, design and art installations. We moved through the exhibition in chronological order, from album to album. It was tremendously popular so was very busy, and there was plenty to see as well as listening to music and commentary on headphones as we went round. In the last room you could lie on the floor to watch and listen to Pink Floyd’s music videos.

We then strolled the short distance to the Royal Albert Hall. We had booked a pre-theatre meal in the Elgar Room so that we would be very handy for the concert, and the food was very good. The setting was tremendous with views of the hall’s dome and nearby buildings from the window, all lit up orange by the late afternoon sun. 

Our seats for the concert were behind the orchestra - I hadn’t had any choice of seats when booking but these turned out to be excellent; we could see over the orchestra to watch the prommers milling about happily, and the conductor was facing us! The soloists were of course facing away from us but it didn’t matter as we could also see them on large screens. The evening was great fun. There was a fantastic celebratory atmosphere as all the famous traditions were carried out, including two prommers putting a wreath on the bust of Sir Henry Wood, and lots of flag-waving with many countries represented. There had been a pro-European demonstration earlier in the day and lots of people were waving EU flags as well as Union Jacks. Of course the best thing of all was the music. One of my favourite parts was Sibelius’ Finlandia Hymn, which is so beautiful. The conductor was Sakari Oramo and he presided over the evening with warmth and humour.

Sir Henry Wood’s “Fantasia on British Sea Songs” was wonderful to hear and to be part of. The prommers pretended to weep during Tom Bowling, we stamped our feet faster and faster during Jack’s the Lad which was also accompanied by horns honking, and sang along to Rule Britannia. The soloist for this was the brilliant Nina Stemme who appeared wearing a Wagnerian helmet which looked magnificent. We finished with Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance, Jerusalem, and the National Anthem. All powerful stuff and very moving. It was a truly memorable day. 

The British Museum

On Tuesday morning Cat and I went for breakfast to a restaurant called Vinoteca near her office, which is in the excellent up and coming area at Granary Square that I visited yesterday. Vinoteca is in St Pancras Square and it was great having breakfast looking out at all the people walking past and at Jacques Rival's giant birdcage installation in Battle Bridge Place. The bars are wide enough for people to walk in and in the centre of it is a swing! Needless to say we had a quick swing there after breakfast which was great fun! Then it was time to say goodbye to Cat as she headed in to work. It really has been grand seeing her.
My next destination was the British Museum, where I was meeting Jennifer. I asked to meet her there because it's handy for St Pancras Station (only half an hour's walk) and also I have never been there before and I fancied having a look round. We met at the front gates and had a lovely time wandering around the exhibits and chatting. Of course we had coffee and cake in the 3rd floor café which had an elegant and relaxed atmosphere. I would love to return there and delve deeper into the exhibits so I bought a guide book for future reference. But on Tuesday I was more interested in chatting with Jennifer and it was a beautiful setting as we strolled round cracking jokes about Grecian urns.
Then we headed to St Pancras Station where Jennifer treated me to a delicious lunch in the little Fortnum and Mason's shop there, which has a café in it. It was quite quiet which was great; I think that a lot of people in the bustling station outside don't realise that the café is there. Coincidentally (since I saw it last Saturday), music from La Traviata was playing in the background.
After we said our farewells, I took the train (and shuttle bus) back to Luton Airport in plenty of time for my 6 p.m. flight to Edinburgh. I was home by about quarter past eight where I found James and Alasdair wholesomely watching a Ray Mears television programme about American Pioneers.

London with Cat

On my arrival in St Pancras station on Monday I had several hours to myself before meeting up with Cat. As readers will know, this is never a problem because I am always happy to amuse myself. So I went for a wee walk to nearby Granary Square, which has dancing fountains in the centre and is situated right beside Regent’s Canal. There is a lot of renovation work taking place on the old buildings around the area - as James often says, “It’ll be nice when it’s finished!” - it’s shaping up to be very attractive and trendy indeed.
I nipped into the friendly Lighterman pub and had a tasty lunch overlooking the canal towpath, which was very picturesque. I then walked along the canal for a bit admiring the barges including one that is a bookshop!
It was so great to see Cat. She looked gorgeous and very professional in her work clothes and we went for a drink before dinner and caught up with each other’s news. Cat then treated me to dinner in a French restaurant called the Brasserie Zédel, which was only about eight minutes walk from the Noel Coward Theatre. The food was classic traditional French in a magnificent Art Deco dining room; I had the boeuf bourguinon which was delicious - much more tender than the one I made last week - I must keep trying! After coffee and petit fours we made our way to the theatre, where our seats were in the front row of the circle, affording us an excellent view of the stage.
The play was Labour of Love by James Graham and starred Martin Freeman and Tamsin Greig. It is a political comedy about a Labour MP and his constituency manager over a period of 27 years, recounting the many changes in the Labour Party over that time. If that sounds a bit dreary - it’s not! It’s actually both thoughtful and hilariously funny. The dialogue is very sharp and both of the lead actors were amazing - the supporting actors were good too, especially Rachael Stirling as the MP’s wife. It had an interesting time line; starting in the present day then going back in time, scene by scene to about 1990 - and then moving forward along the same time line to the present day again. So each scene is further developed as it comes round again. Cat and I both enjoyed it very much. At the end we went round to the stage door where a small crowd were waiting to see members of the cast leaving; however the security man came out to say that Martin Freeman and Tamsin Greig had already left - no doubt they had both slipped out through a different door! However, to our surprise David Walliams came out of the door instead - and he isn’t even in the cast! I presume that he had also been in the audience and had gone backstage to visit his actor pals. We took the tube back to our hotel; it was a lovely evening with much chat and laughter.

Reflections on a journey

On Monday I found myself on a train from Luton Airport to St Pancras, on my way for a two day mini break during which I met up with both Cat and Jennifer. It was a beautiful Autumn day, a bit warmer than the frosty morning I had left behind me in Scotland - the first frost of the season! I love travelling through places and imagining what it would be like to live there. After all there are so many other lives, and my undoubted fondness for Glasgow and Lanarkshire is nevertheless founded on the choices of my forebears. James and I have never broken away from our roots - in fact on Sunday I walked in a reflective mood past my very first house. It’s only two streets away from where I live now - and the driveway laid by my Dad at the beginning of the 1960s is still there with the pattern he imprinted on it. James’ first house is only five minutes drive away and in fact he spent most of his childhood living five doors along from our current house (we have lived here for twenty-eight years!) - and his Mum still lives there.
So it this a good thing? After all our children have had continuity and security as they grew up. And we live in a pleasant leafy suburb with easy access to both city and countryside. Or is the time fast approaching when we really should get the hell out of Dodge?

La Traviata

Last night James, Ally and I went to see Verdi's La Traviata at the Theatre Royal. We had really good seats at the front of the balcony, which is very high up but gave a great view down into the orchestra as well as the stage. Oh it was fantastic! All of the singers were excellent; however Anush Hovhannisyan, who played Violetta, was the absolute star - she was central to every scene and her voice is beautiful. My favourite song was Brindisi (the drinking song), what a lovely melody. I also loved the stunning declaration of love "Amami Alfredo" in the second Act. At the second interval (the opera is nearly three hours long!) we went outside onto the terrace and were rewarded with fine views over the centre of Glasgow, its lights shining in the darkness.

Floof

Another very important thing that has happened recently at Casa Anderson is the arrival of our new kitten Flora, also known as Floof. She is very small but already has a huge personality. She is white at the front with tabby patches on her head and back; she has very attractive markings around her eyes and a wee freckle on her nose. She is good-natured, very lively, and curious about everything around her. We had been intending to get a new female kitten for a while and decided to wait until after our weekend in Nice so that we would be mainly at home in her early months to take care of her. When Jamie and Aisling were over from New Zealand visiting Grandma I saw an advert for kittens on Gumtree, and Aisling and I drove down to a farm in Ayrshire (on 10th October) and picked up Floof. There is a story to her name; when we were on the ferry from Russell on our last day in New Zealand, we saw a cute wee dog looking out of a car window. Aisling said "Oh look at Wee Floof" and the name really stayed with me - I loved it! But we wanted her to have a "proper" name too and Flora seemed to suit her. So her name is Flora Aisling Anderson and her nickname is Floof.

I took her to the vet to get checked over and she said that she was in good health but only about 7 weeks old - so she must have been born about the 24th August. 

The main reason for getting Flora was for her to be a companion to Tom. He really was puzzled and lonely after Ruby died in January; they had spent so much time together and were very close. Needless to say, it hasn't worked out quite as straightforwardly as I hoped. Tom was pretty horrified at the introduction of another cat to the house. He hasn't attacked Flora I'm glad to say (apart from batting at her with his paw once or twice), but he stares at her disapprovingly and hisses at her from time to time. And he tends to leave the room that she is in as soon as possible. 

Two weeks on there has been some progress. We haven't forced them together and Tom is able to go outside at will, which Flora is too young for yet - this gives Tom space and time away from her. Also, for the time being, we put Floof into the living room at bed time so that Tom has the rest of the house to himself at night. As a result he is becoming a bit more tolerant of her overtures of friendship (she is absolutely fascinated by him!) and has even licked her head once or twice. She is so sweet, capering about and playing with her wee cat toys; I'm hopeful that he will not only get used to her but even grow to enjoy her company. We got a plug-in diffuser from a pet shop which apparently emits pheromones that make cats more friendly with each other so perhaps that has helped. And we keep making a fuss of Tom so that he knows that he is our number one cat! 

Au revoir Provence

On Monday morning (the 25th September) we arranged flights home to see Grandma - and it was just as well that we did because she was very unwell both before and after her operation which took place on the Wednesday.

However the first flight that we could get wouldn't leave until the evening - so we still had a whole day to spend on the Côte d"Azur. The four of us went for a walk along the Promenade des Anglais, which is very wide and elegant in a sweeping curve around the bay. When I saw armed police officers patrolling I remembered that only 14 months ago on Bastille Day 2016 it was here that eighty-six people were killed by a terrorist driving a truck into the crowd. So senseless and cruel. There was no trace of what had happened on this peaceful Sunday morning as we strolled along in the sunshine. We continued to the harbour where we stopped for drinks. Heather and Ewan fancied walking to Villefranche sur Mer which is in the next bay round a headland - but it was already nearly lunch time so we were getting short of time. What to do? Suddenly (and somewhat extravagantly) I had an inspired idea! The café owner directed us to a nearby taxi rank and we jumped into a waiting cab and sped off to our destination. And I was very glad that we went there. Villefranche sur Mer is a gorgeous little fishing village turned tourist destination which is well worth a visit. The taxi driver was a lovely friendly man who took us to a viewpoint above the village and also took us past Elton John's house - not that we could see much due to the high hedges. The taxi driver said that, being high on the headland, the property has views over both Nice and Villefranche sur Mer! When we arrived at the sea front we had lunch in La Mère Germaine, a very classy and traditional French seafood restaurant with crisp white tablecloths, gleaming cutlery and glassware. We were given a great table just inside at the window, overlooking the harbour. It was rather pricey but I loved how traditional it was and the food was excellent. I was chatting to the owner who is the grandson of founder Mme Germaine, and he introduced me to his son who works behind the bar and is the fourth generation of the family to work there! Replete after our lunch we went for a walk along the front and then up into the old town, which is quaint and beautiful. We had a lovely afternoon, and bought some locally made soaps which were deliciously scented; verveine, mimosa and lavender. All too soon we had to bid farewell to Heather and Ewan and head to Nice Airport for the journey home. It was a wonderful weekend in great company and there is still so much more to see in the area - I do hope that we will visit the Côte d"Azur again some day. 

Very Nice to be in Nice

At the end of September we went to Nice with Heather and Ewan. It was fantastic. My main memories of the weekend are of the fun we had and the colours and beauty of the area. Our hotel (booked by Heather and Ewan) was ideally situated; a short walk from the picturesque old town of Nice and also handy for the train station. This was very important because Nice has an amazing train line that connects it to many other beautiful destinations nearby. It rained torrentially on the evening that we arrived; as we sat in a bar for a celebratory beverage we were entertained by watching the scantily clad locals running for shelter. However we were gratified that the next morning - and indeed the rest of the weekend - it was increasingly warm and sunny. On the Saturday morning we found ourselves on the twenty minute train journey to Monte Carlo! 

Ah Monaco! It's just as glamorous and romantic as I imagined! I could picture a young Princess Grace walking through the streets. We had an unfeasibly expensive drink in the Café de Paris but the setting was glorious - just opposite the Casino where luxurious cars were rolling up. We were certainly mingling with the "beautiful people" and noticed a preponderance of Hermes scarves and floppy hair. We wandered around the tiny city happily and visited the Royal Palace with its impeccably turned out guards dressed all

In white. Heather and I went for a swim in the Stade Nautique Rainier III - it's the municipal pool so it's cheap to get in but what a setting! The bright blue heated seawater pool is right in the centre above the front so apparently it has a good view of the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix each May. It was so fun to swim with Heather in this beautiful swimming pool with the hills and city of Monte Carlo around and above us while the boys had a beer in the adjoining café. What a brilliant experience. 

We decided to walk back into France to the little town of Cap d'Ail, which took about an hour out of the city and then along a very attractive coastal path. And because it's only one stop back along the railway line we were able to jump on a train back to Nice. 

We had dinner that evening in Le Panier, a very friendly wee restaurant in the old town of Nice. We sat outside at one of the pavement tables in the warm evening; it was hard to believe that it was so warm at the end of September. The food was fresh and local and absolutely delicious. Unfortunately by the end of the meal the news about Grandma's fall reached us by phone from Alasdair and James and I realised that we would have to go home early. We couldn't make any arrangements until the morning so we went to a bar in the lively Cours Saleya for drinks and chat, already plotting to return to the Côte d'Azur in the not too distant future. 

Grandma's big fall

I haven’t blogged for a while and I don’t even know why. In the past I have had a few breaks from blogging due to stress (usually at work), but that is certainly not the case just now. In fact I am very happy with my two days a week of supply teaching. It’s fun and interesting and the other teachers are very pleasant. Life has been busy, but then it always is, so that’s not the reason. I think that I have simply fallen out of the habit of blogging, and it remains to be seen whether I can get back into it!

So many things happen that I think, “Oh I must blog about this!” So to catch up I shall write a blog or three about what’s been happening recently. 

The main thing that has been going on in the world of Anderson is that unfortunately Grandma fell down her back stairs into the garden four weeks ago; she was on the way to the cellar to fetch a rake and slipped down the last few steps. Her next door neighbours heard her shouting – it was just as well that they were outside in their garden at the time. We were in Nice for the weekend at the time (see next blog!) but thank goodness Alasdair was at home, with Cat visiting him from London, so the neighbours were able to contact him and Ally and Cat went round straight away. Despite Grandma being 88 years old and in a great deal of pain she was allocated "low priority" by the doctor from NHS 24 and it took more than eight hours for an ambulance to arrive. It must have been awful for Grandma, and Ally and Cat were fanstastic, taking care of her and keeping us up to date as we waited anxiously in France. So much for their romantic weekend together! Anyway as the hours passed Alasdair phoned the NHS 24 111 service again and asked if he should give Grandma her usual evening medication. This includes Warfaron, which thins the blood. They said yes, which of course was completely the wrong advice when they had no idea whether her injury would require an operation.

By the time she was taken to hospital, x-rayed and taken to a ward it was about 10.30 in the morning – more than seventeen hours after Ally called NHS 24. And indeed it turned out that she had a broken hip. However she was not able to have an operation for another three days because she had to wait for the blood thinning medication to pass out of her system. So annoying - and dangerous for her. 

After the operation she was really poorly, and the doctors told us that she might not pull through. David and Chanel visited her several times from Dundee, and Jamie and Aisling then flew home from New Zealand to see her. I must admit that, even though they came home for a very serious situation, it was wonderful to see them both! Grandma has now started to recover, I’m very glad to say. Jamie, Alasdair and David and their lovely girlfriends have been absolutely devoted to her and have visited her constantly; I’m extremely proud of them. Jamie also liaised closely with her doctors while he was here (he and Aisling flew back to New Zealand on Saturday). We have all been doing our best to amuse her and cheer her up but she is feeling very low, because her recovery is very slow. It is a bit concerning that she is not able to walk with a zimmer yet more than three weeks after her operation; most of the other elderly ladies on her ward are making much quicker progress than her, probably due to her age. However she gets physiotherapy every day and is now learning to stand and to move from her bed to the chair. So Grandma is our principal priority and concern just now, but lots of other things have been happening too ....

Glorious

It is a glorious Autumn morning. The sky is a soft, cloudless blue and the sun is shining, however there is a slight chill in the air which highlights the change of season. The leaves are beginning to fall and the grass in the back garden has a sprinkling of pears which have fallen from the trees. Autumn was my Mum's favourite season so it's appropriate it is such a beautiful day on her birthday. She would have been 86 today and I miss her.

We had a fantastic weekend at Alison and Hugh's. They are now living permanently in Boat of Garten and it was great to see them. The weather was mixed but that didn't hold us back from enjoying ourselves! Alison and I went swimming on Saturday morning while Hugh took Hermes to the vet. He recently had an unfortunate and violent encounter with an unidentified member of the local wildlife, and was badly bitten and bruised, however I'm glad to say that he is responding well to antibiotics. He is very sleepy as he recovers. Oscar was in good form though, and he was hilarious as he made it clear that he didn't want me to sit on "his" couch! If a stern look wasn't enough to make me move, he got down from disappointedly from the couch and then tried the other couches, none of which were quite right, and then came back to his preferred place of relaxation and looked up at me very reproachfully until I took the hint. He has such expressive amber eyes and of course I obeyed him! In the afternoon we went for a jaunt to Elgin where we visited the delightful (and very expensive!) Johnston's of Elgin which is famous for its cashmere. After a good browse around, James treated me to a gorgeous cardigan in a natural stone colour - it's so soft! We had coffee and cake in their pleasant tearoom before heading back. Dinner was at our favourite - Anderson's restaurant - and as usual the food was delicious. I was very glad of the walk back to the cottage to help me to digest the copious amount of food that I had consumed. 

Sunday was a lot brighter and we decided to go for a walk near Kingussie. We were so lucky because we could see rain clouds on the hills nearby but apart from the briefest of showers we remained dry. After labouring up 300 metres to a lovely viewpoint I decided to retrace my steps while the others went on a longer circuit. I thoroughly enjoyed striding downwards through the heather until I stepped into a hole and went flying through the air. I managed to twist my ankle and was very glad of my walking poles (which James had insisted I use) as I hobbled down the hill. I am so clumsy. Not long after I got back to Ruthven Barracks, where the car was parked, the others arrived and we headed back to Boat of Garten for a coffee before James and I set off southwards. When we got home I felt the need for a large donner kebab. I enjoyed scoffing it but as usual I soon regretted it due to my delicate digestive system.

Health and well-being

I'm back! My last post was written at the end of our fantastic holiday to New Zealand. Since then I have been going through a rather unsettling period of change. I don't mean that something terrible has happened; in fact I'm sure that the outcome is going to be very positive. I can't blog about it because it's confidential which of course means that it's work related.

But my life has much more in it than work, and at the moment I'm concentrating on improving my health and fitness. A healthy mind in a healthy body and all that!

So I have been swimming - a lot! At least three times a week. It's interesting watching all the different people who use my local swimming pool during week days. There is a usually a group of about ten male pensioners who occupy the shallow end and occasionally use the sauna or sit on the chairs beside the pool. They are in truly terrible shape with gigantic tummies. What is remarkable about them is that they do absolutely no swimming or exercise at all. I presume that their doctors have ordered them to go to the swimming pool but have not made it clear that they need to swim once they get there! The female pensioners are much more conscientious. They dutifully swim up and down the pool, as do I. The faster swimmers are very serious with swim caps and goggles, and they lash up and down the lanes until these are changed into an area for school pupils to get lessons. The pupils are very noisy but it's nice to see them enjoying the water. The young swimming teachers are very grim and shouty though, I was watching one of them and she didn't crack a smile the whole time. 

Imagine my surprise on Wednesday when the class that came in was from the school I left a year ago! I swam over to say hello and one of the pupils immediately said "Mrs S Anderson - born on New Year's Eve!" I set up those swim sessions years ago and used to go with them every week - it felt a bit strange not being part of it any more. Then when I was getting changed in one of the cubicle I heard a couple of the teachers talking about me - they didn't know that I was still in the changing area. Luckily they sounded quite affectionate about me! 

Goodbye New Zealand

Saturday was another warm, sunny day in Russell. However unfortunately we had to leave because it was the last day of our holiday. I would very much like to return to visit the Bay of Islands and definitely stay at The Gables again, it is such an amazing apartment in a perfect location. 

The journey to Auckland was pleasant and of course included one last brunch, but we were very sad saying goodbye to Jamie and Aisling at the airport. 

I have never been in such an empty plane as on the first leg of our journey, from Auckland to Melbourne. It was fantastic. It must have been only about a fifth full and as a result it felt very spacious and somehow more relaxing. The same could not be said about our next flight from Melbourne to Dubai, which was almost full.  James and I had adopted the strategy of booking a window and an aisle seat in the hope that nobody would book the middle seat between us. However as the flight filled up I became convinced that someone would turn up to claim the seat. I watched the last few stragglers like a hawk as they came onto the plane and approached our row - but we were so lucky! The seat remained free which meant that we could stretch out a bit. Happy days.

We made full use of the in-flight entertainment and both watched several films. I watched a couple of wee quirky art house films and then decided to watch Moana, the Disney cartoon film set in the Polynesian Islands. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the meeting houses, dancing, spiral and fish hook jewellery, scenery and even the men's tattoos were very reminiscent of those of New Zealand - after all the Maori people originally came from the South Pacific Islands.

The final leg of our journey was from Dubai to Glasgow; our total journey time was 30 hours including the four hours of stops in Melbourne and Dubai - so 26 hours of flying. We arrived home at lunch time on Sunday to be welcomed by David and Tom.

Twenty reasons to visit New Zealand in Winter

Here are our top twenty (in no particular order!) And there's still a lot of New Zealand that we haven't seen yet.

• Skiing of course - Coronet Peak and The Remarkables.
• Snowy mountains looking beautiful in both North and South Islands. 
• Waterfalls aplenty.
• Lots of sunshine - rain too but never for long. 
• Thermal springs especially in Rotorua but also Lake Taupo.
• Hot tubs - Onsen Hot Pools near Queenstown. 
• Spas - the Polynesian Spa at Rotorua.
• Boat trips - Queenstown, Milford Sound, Whitianga, Russell.
• Short hikes - everywhere in such beautiful scenery.
• Big hikes - for the very fit among us - the Tongariro Crossing
• Brunches and dinners - I didn't know that New Zealand food is so healthy and delicious. 
• The lively atmosphere of Queenstown - Fergburgers and Patagonia ice cream.
• Museums in Auckland, Dunedin and Waitangi where we found out about the history and culture of the country. 
• Plane trip to Milford Sound - and as a bonus this was much quieter than in summer, as were all of the trips that we took. 
• Emersons Brewery at Dunedin.
• Cafés at the harbour in Auckland.
• Wine tasting - Brick Bay Winery and there are many, many more.
• Hobbiton film set - again this is quieter in the winter than in the summer.
• Beaches - including digging your own hot tubs on Hot Water Beach.
• Wildlife - dolphins, fantails, bellbirds, tui and even a penguin at Milford Sound. 

Bay of Islands

We woke to a beautiful sunny day on Friday with the temperature a balmy 16 degrees. Our friendly tui was singing in the tree outside our window. We decided to spend the morning on a boat trip in the Bay of Islands. Aisling wasn't feeling too grand so she had a relaxing morning at the apartment instead. James, Jamie and I were welcomed by the friendly crew onto the catamaran which picked us up at the jetty. The water was rather choppy on the way out into the bay once we rounded Tapeka Point, but it was warm in the sunshine and we sat out on the top deck enjoying the views of the many islands and rock formations that are scattered around the bay. It was a spectacular journey. We came across a pod of about twenty dolphins and they surrounded the boat, swimming alongside and rolling over. Just as we were leaving them, two of them leaped in the air and did back flips! We arrived at our furthest point which was the amazing sea arch of Motukokako, and although the sea was too rough for the boat to go through the hole in the rock, we got scarily close and enjoyed watching the water churned my and foaming around the rocks. On our way back to Russell we stopped for about half an hour on Urupukapuka Island at Otehei Bay. It was so tranquil in the little bay, and we climbed a small grass covered hill. On the way up a very friendly fantail was hopping about and following me and even jumping in front of me on the path - it was such a cute wee thing and got so close! 

Aisling met us at the jetty; she was feeling much better and we all had lunch sitting outside the Waterfront Café in the sunshine. We had such a relaxing afternoon sitting on the balcony reading our books, writing postcards and watching the tui flitting about in the branches of the tree.

Our last night dinner was again at The Gables downstairs from the apartment. Quite a few of the other restaurants are being renovated just now (I suppose it's their quiet season) but we love it and we're keen to go back. When we took our seats we were surprised and very moved that Jamie and Aisling gave us a card and some very thoughtful gifts. It really has been a marvellous holiday and I will treasure our happy memories.

Treaty of Waitangi

On Thursday it was raining in Russell so we decided that it would be a good day to cross over to Paihia to visit the place where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840. There is a lovely and informative museum there, with a really good short film about the Treaty. My understanding (very basic!) is that the British had meetings with lots of Maori chiefs from all over New Zealand, and proposed their treaty, which declared British sovereignty over New Zealand. This was intended both to protect the Maori from unscrupulous settlers (both British and other Europeans) and also, of course, to take control of the country. One problem was that the word "sovereignty" was translated into Maori as "governance" which led the Maoris to believe that they were not giving up all of their authority. Needless to say, this led to clashes over the years and the Maoris lost out because they were soon outnumbered by settlers and also were not initially represented in the New Zealand government. However it does seem that a flawed treaty turned out to be better than no treaty at all, and prevented all out war while giving the Maori people at least some rights. 

After our tour we went to the nearby Maori meeting house for a bit of culture. This took the form of a haka; a type of ancient Māori war dance traditionally used on the battlefield, as well as when groups came together in peace. We quickly elected Jamie as the leader of our tribe and he had to square up to one of the Maori men, who did a rather fearsome dance. Jamie then had to make an impromptu speech of peace which he did very well, and the Maoris all sang and jigged about (extremely skilfully) while doing their signature staring and sticking their tongues out. All good fun, followed by a delicious savoury muffin in the café!

We went downstairs to The Gables Restaurant for dinner later and our meal was yummy despite a slight scare involving Jamie, his mild allergy to shellfish and a mussel in batter of which he ate half without realising what it was. Nothing too serious transpired I'm glad to say

From Whitianga to Russell

Wednesday was a big driving day for us - about six hours not including stops - because we decided to head to the very north of New Zealand for the last three days of our holiday. We facilitated this by setting off reasonably early and breaking the journey a couple of times for coffee and lunch. Our coffee stop was at the Buggers Café where Aisling and I took some amusing photos of ourselves. Our route then took us right through Auckland and over the bridge to the north. We had a leisurely stop for lunch at the Brick Bay Winery Restaurant at Snells Brach. It was in a beautiful glass building overlooking a small lake. The lunch was delicious and James, Jamie and Aisling also did a wine tasting. After this relaxing break I did the next bit of driving towards Russell. There was a wee ferry crossing just before we arrived at the seaside village. Our apartment is absolutely gorgeous; it's above the Gables restaurant right on the front and is very spacious on two levels with French windows leading out to a balcony overlooking the beach. Jamie ordered in Thai food for dinner and we watched The Hobbit. It was so exciting to see Hobbiton on screen just as we saw it a few days ago! 

Burnt Bot Beach

We started Tuesday with a slap up breakfast at the Harbour View Café in Whitianga, and then set off for a hike to the Shakespeare Lookout. This involved hopping on the wee ferry across the harbour entrance to Ferry Landing and making our way to the northeast tip of the headland. 

While waiting on the pier we noticed a couple sitting in a small motor launch and while chatting to us they asked us if we would like to join them to see a pod of bottle nose dolphins which were at the mouth of the estuary. This wasn't even an official tour - they were going anyway and just thought that we would enjoy it. And so we did! There must have been about fifty dolphins; we got right up close to them and some of them even started following the boat; they were swimming under it and then leaping in the air. It was a unique opportunity and we had a truly marvellous time. 

They very kindly dropped us off at Ferry Landing and we resumed our hike. We walked up Whitianga Rock to the remains of a Maori Pa (a pa is a fort) and then we climbed up and over a forested hill, which brought us to pretty Flaxmill Bay where we had a picnic. Then we climbed up a forest path to Shakespeare cliff. I was surprised that at the top it opened out to a grassy sward, which led to a panoramic viewpoint which looked over Mercury Bay (named by Captain Cook when he moored there in 1769 to observe a transit of the planet Mercury). It was a goodly walk and very pleasant, especially when we were entertained by some very tame wagtails who hopped about near us and followed us for a while. 

Our next adventure was to visit Hot Water Beach. This beach is famous for being fed from beneath by hot water springs such that you can dig a hole in the sand to create your own spa bath! You have to do this within two hours of low tide, which on Tuesday was at 8.30 p.m., rather late for us considering that it gets dark at about 6 in New Zealand in July! So we turned up at about 5.30 and could see a small group of people down by the water near the rocks. James and Jamie borrowed a spade from a friendly young couple and quickly did a great job of digging us a roomy hole in the sand. It was so amazing! The water is as hot as a warm bath, and in fact in places it was almost too hot! It was such a strange and unusual experience to be lying in a hot pool on a beach as it got dark! We all loved it!

We went on an adventure!

On Monday we packed up and left Lake Taupo to head north. I really like the Lake Taupo area and would love to return one day, it's so beautiful.

Our next destination was Hobbiton! We were so excited and I'm glad to say it was fantastic! It's set on a farm, and the location was spotted by Peter Jackson when he was searching for a suitable location by helicopter. It was built for the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and then rebuilt for The Hobbit. At that point the farmer came to a (no doubt mutually lucrative!) business arrangement with Peter Jackson to make it permanent and open it as a visitor attraction. They have made a lovely job of it. There are 44 hobbit houses, including Bag End of course, on a green hillside with a pond and vegetable plots, and they are so cute! They are so detailed with all the things that the occupants would require; the carpenter's house had little work bench outside with mini tools and the artist's house had paints. The gardens were planted with well tended flowers and there were little washing lines with clothes hanging from them. It was so fun going around looking at them. We finished our visit with a flagon of ale (or ginger beer) at the Green Dragon pub. I loved Hobbiton and it was a fantastic experience. My Mum would have loved it too.

After a tasty lunch at the visitor centre café - New Zealand cafés certainly know how to provide a varied array of excellent salads, pies, wraps etc., we continued on our journey north to the Coromandel Peninsula. We stopped at Cathedral Cove and went for a walk to the amazing beach with its huge arch and views of lots of sea stacks and islands; it was spectacular. The sun set while we were there and it was dark by the time we arrived in the little coastal town of Whitianga. Our cosy apartment was conveniently located in the centre, a very short walk from the beach and all the shops and cafés. 

Lake Taupo / Tongariro Crossing

On Sunday James, Jamie and Aisling went to walk the famous Tongariro crossing, an 18.5 trek across volcanic terrain. It was a beautiful day for it; not a cloud in the sky. I walked into town in the morning and had a coffee. It was much warmer today with no wind, so it was lovely walking along the lakeside. On my way back I took a few photos of the calm blue lake with snowy mountains in the distance, it was stunning. The Lake has steam rising from it in places from the hot springs beneath. I spent the afternoon at the pool at our apartment, swimming and lying in the sunshine reading my book (a biography of Angela Carter). It was so relaxing. I FaceTimed with Ally and Cat, who were in Yorktown in Virginia, it was lovely to see them. 

The wanderers returned happy but exhausted at about 6.30 p.m. and we all went for a soak in the hot tub. They had had a brilliant day walking in snow and using axes and crampons. A curry rounded off the day.

From Queenstown to Lake Taupo

I felt really sad to be leaving Queenstown on Saturday. It was an early start for our flight; we said our goodbyes to David and Chanel, whose flight to Christchurch was in the afternoon, and set off for the airport. I love Queenstown airport - it's just the right size to have a few nice wee shops and eateries, but small enough that you don't have to walk far to the gates. Our flights were via Auckland to Lake Taupo so our journey took most of the morning, it was very pleasant and we napped and read our books. 

By lunchtime we had arrived in sunny and breezy Lake Taupo and collected our hire car. The apartment which Jamie booked for us is brilliant; right on the lake, spacious and smart, with a swimming pool. Once we had settled in, we went for a walk along the lakeside about fifteen minutes into the little town, where we had a drink. Aisling and I had a swim later and discovered to our gratification that there is also a hot tub! We could see a planet beside the moon; James checked and told us that it is Jupiter. The day was rounded off with a delicious Italian dinner at The Vine.