Ally passes his driving test at last!

There has been great rejoicing at Casa Anderson because today Alasdair has finally passed his driving test on his 4th attempt. His test was just before 3 pm so I was thinking about him all afternoon, and he phoned me with the good news just as I was leaving school to go to the cinema with Catherine. We were on our way to see "I, Daniel Blake" a film recommended to us by two of our book club chums who work for the NHS. They had watched it with the rest of the health board directorate as part of their professional development last week at the new Royal Hospital for Children, which has a cinema in it, which can be used for ill children and their parents. They said it was harrowing but very good, and now that I have watched it I would agree with that. The actor who played Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) was absolutely excellent and portrayed the title character with humour and dignity. It was not an easy film to watch, but it gave me a lot to think about.

Meanwhile Alasdair enjoyed his driving test achievement by going to see the rock band Sum 41 at the Barrowland. As I write this he is still out celebrating!

The Jackie Kennedy Jacket

I took Grandma shopping for clothes to Fraser's yesterday. She was particularly keen to shop there because she saw an article about Jackie Kennedy inspired fashion in the Herald Scotland last week, and she wanted to check out a suit that was featured in the article. I thought hard about where to park so that she wouldn't have to walk too far, and was lucky to find a space in Drury Street, just outside Carluccio's. We browsed around a bit and found the suit in L. K. Bennett quite quickly (even though Grandma had no idea what make it was!) It was really nice; a blend of navy and white wool with wee navy pockets, feminine and smart. I do like 1960s styles. All went well until Grandma tried on the skirt; I agreed with her that it was a bit on the short side and didn't suit her. Luckily two very helpful sales assistants swung into action at this point and found a lovely textured navy skirt which looked perfect with the jacket even though they were from different brands (the jacket was by L. K. Bennett and the skirt was by Hobbs) A little cream coloured top completed the outfit and Grandma was delighted. We had a celebratory cup of tea in Caffè Nero before heading home. 

Storm Ewan

Back to Strathclyde Park today and it was even rainier than during my First Aid course last week! We were being battered and soaked by "Storm Ewan" which is coming in from the west. This recent trend by the Met Office of naming storms makes them seem more personal and menacing (hurricanes have been given names for a long time, and are of course more serious and a very rare event here in Scotland) When I saw it on the lunch time news I found it amusing that this storm has the same name as our dear friend Ewan, and I see that one of the Met Office's chosen names for potential storms later in the year is Storm Susan! I love it! 

Anyway we doggedly walked round the loch, which takes about an hour at a fairly brisk pace, and we both felt better for the exercise. In the afternoon James put up some paintings in my new den and it is looking great! 

First Aid

I have just been on a two day first aid course which is a requirement for me to continue being a D of E leader for my council. It was both useful and great fun. I knew quite a few people who were also on the course, some of whom I first met in my BELA course back in 2006. It was nice to spend time with them. I recognised the course instructor straight away - it was George Fell who was one of my original BELA instructors. He was just as enthusiastic as I remembered him, and he made the course really interesting. The two days flew by and I felt well reminded and updated about first aid - most important things to remember? Keep yourself and the injured person safe and get help as soon as possible. We spent a good deal of time practising various scenarios outside, particularly on the last afternoon when we were bandaging, lifting and doing CPR in a cold and rainy Strathclyde Park. I was dressed appropriately for the weather but my feet got very cold - I phoned James from the car as I was driving home and he ran a lovely hot bath for me, which warmed me up nicely. However I didn't have much time to linger in it because James and I were heading to the hill-walking club AGM for 6.30 pm! A convivial evening ensued and I performed my annual duty of taking the minutes.

Weekend Miscellany

It has been a very pleasant weekend. On Saturday I met up with Heather in town for coffee and we had a proper chat; she is such a good friend and was very supportive. Back at home, James was busy cleaning and and waxing the floor of the new living room. It has come up really well. I got on with some housework and we both felt very satisfied with what we got done. We swithered about going to the cinema in the evening but instead made ourselves a steak dinner and watched a film from 2013 that we haven't watched before; Django Unchained. It's set in the 1850s and tells the story of a German bounty hunter who teams up with a black slave and ultimately takes on an evil slave owner played by Leonardo di Caprio. It was a Quentin Tarantino film and was therefore very violent, but what I objected to was how far fetched the plot was. It reminded me of Inglourious Basterds - it was Tarantino's version of how he would have liked things to work out and bore no relation to historical reality. However it was watchable and gave us plenty to discuss! Today we went for a goodly walk along the beach at Troon and then had lunch at the deservedly popular Scotts at the marina. Grandma came round for tea later and we FaceTimed with Jamie which she enjoyed. A relaxing evening rounded off the weekend nicely.

Well being

It was an In Service day at school and the theme was Health and Well being. The morning was taken up with staff meetings, as is usual on these occasions. However the afternoon was a bit different; we all signed up to an activity that would contribute to our well being. The choices included walking, badminton, yoga, football, reading, cooking and beauty treatments and were all run by members of staff. I chose film club and what fun it was! The teacher who arranged it had gone to a lot of trouble. She gave us popcorn and soft drinks and sweets, and we sat on really comfy beanbags. Then she showed us a selection of really interesting short films, it was great that we were able to see a variety rather than just one film. The final and longest film at thirty-four minutes was The Red Balloon, a French film from 1956. It was a gentle, quirky wee film and we all throughly enjoyed the afternoon. I had been feeling a bit cynical about attending motivational activities but in fact the afternoon put me in a tremendously good mood and I did feel very upbeat! 

Valentines Day

It has been a very enjoyable Valentines Day. It's the last day of the February school holiday so I spent a relaxing morning pottering around the house; my new study / den is just about ready and I'm  very happy with it. Then I picked up James from work at 12.30 and we went out for lunch together. We went to the Fish People Restaurant just beside Shields Road Subway; I visited it a few years ago with friends and it was really good. Lunch was delicious and we had a good chat about all sorts of things, including holidays and future plans. After lunch we took the Subway round to St George's Cross and walked along Great Western Road and then went down steps to the river and on into the Botanic Gardens. It was a sunny afternoon and the west end was looking fine. We returned to Shields Road from Hillhead Subway. 

By the time we got home Ally had taken delivery of the new television for the front living room. This is cause for great excitement at Casa Anderson because we very rarely replace our televisions, keeping them until they are very out of date. In fact I think this is only our third television in 32 years, although the boys have a small one that they use for gaming. So when we get a new one the leap forward in technology is dizzying. Much time has been spent trying out its various facilities and exclaiming over the clarity and size of its screen. I can't help noticing that the bigger (55 inch) screen shows the actors' pores and pimples rather too clearly!

Pokemon Afternoon

This afternoon Alasdair shepherded me into the car and persuaded me to drive him over to Tollcross Park where apparently there was a "nest" of Pokemon. His aim was to find these cartoon creatures and catch them, using the app on his phone. It was a nice day for a walk and I'm not sure if I have ever been to the surprisingly large Tollcross Park before. Every now and then, Ally would stop when he detected a Pokemon and then "capture" it by tapping on his phone screen. Although I know that these creatures are not real I couldn't help glancing over in the direction he was pointing his phone, half expecting to see one of them come lumbering out of the bushes. Capturing them also seemed a little cruel to me - his phone screen showed them being shut inside a red and white ball, from where they attempted to escape before being finally subdued. But when I asked what would happen later to the unfortunate beasts I got a very withering look from Ally!

Clafoutis

The February holiday is continuing to be pleasant and relaxing. We cooked dinner for Heather and Ewan on Saturday night. The first couple of courses were old favourites but dessert was a new (and only semi-successful as it turned out) recipe. This was "Clafoutis" from one of my French cookbooks. It consists of cherries, soaked in brandy and then cooked in a flan dish in batter. The problem was that although the batter was cooked through, it was not firm enough and broke up a lot when we tried to slice it. This evening we reheated it and the texture was perfect. Luckily our guests know us well and are always very encouraging about our culinary efforts!

Charity Shop

Yesterday I took a box of donations to a local charity shop - our current clear out of the old games room has turned up a lot of perfectly good stuff that we don't need. The only remarkable thing about this is that it was the first time I have donated to a charity shop for twenty years, so traumatic did I find my last experience! That was in February 1997, a couple of weeks after my Dad died. My Mum asked me to take some of his clothes to a charity shop, some really good suits that she didn't want to throw away. I felt so sad, but I dutifully packed the clothes into a couple of sturdy bags and set off. When I got there the shop was quite busy. I waited in line and then said, "Hello, I've brought some donations, where would you like me to put them?" The lady behind the counter said loudly, "Do you really WANT me to TELL you where I'd like you to put them?" Now I realised even at the time that she was sort of joking, but I was just devastated. After all they were my Dad's clothes. I couldn't even speak, I just put the bags down and ran out of the shop. When I got to the car I put my head in my hands and cried and cried. 

So when I went into the shop yesterday I was apprehensive. (It was a different shop but that's not the point!) However this time the lady in charge just thanked me pleasantly and I went on my merry way. 

Cooking in the Snow

It is the February holiday already and four glorious days off stretch ahead of me. It has been a busy week, culminating in cooking outdoors on Trangia stoves with my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Group. I knew that it would be chilly so I had reminded all of the pupils to wear warm jackets, but I didn't realise that it would start snowing! However being a hardcore group we just made some hot chocolate and carried on!

Awards

This evening I went to the annual Duke of Edinburgh Awards ceremony. I certainly didn't feel like going because I was very tired when I got in from school (particularly because I have just stopped drinking coffee for health and teeth reasons) but I made myself go because I knew that my D of E colleague had put a lot of work into arranging it. It was really well attended and all went smoothly. It was a bit weird for me because I was there to support pupils from my last school as well as my current one, and of course both D of E staff teams were there including both head teachers. It was very nice to catch up with my ex colleagues, two of whom have also left the school but had also turned up to cheer the pupils on. So in the end I was very glad that I went along.

White Teeth

I was back at Yoga today and I found it to be both strenuous and relaxing. Strenuous because it's harder work to get into and maintain the positions than it looks. And relaxing because I love the bit at the end when we wrap ourselves in fleecy blankets and loosen off all our muscles and feel really tranquil.

Today is day four of the teeth whitening that James gave me for my Christmas and birthday. I hasten to say that this was at my own request - James was not criticising my teeth! My teeth have never been gleaming white, and as I have got older I think they have become very dull. So I consulted my dentist and have now embarked on a programme of self-administered teeth whitening. I hadn't realised that I would need to do it at home; I thought that I would get it all sorted on one visit to the dentist. However it turns out to be more complicated than that. A mould was made of my teeth to produce two bleaching trays, into which I have to put whitening gel and wear them overnight. Four days in, my gums are red raw and my teeth are ... kind of sore! Goodness knows what the whitener is made of, but it's strong stuff! Anyway I shall persevere and report back.

A Room of One's Own

It has been a Saturday in three parts; shopping, house and film. We decided to get the shopping done in the morning. Ally was in dire need of new socks and underwear as well as a new pair of jeans. And while we were in John Lewis, James treated himself to a new suit and some pyjamas. I found all of this quite boring but it was a useful trip and we were home in time for lunch. 

The afternoon was much more fun. I am converting David's room into a sort of study / den for me where hopefully I can do some writing. To this end Ally has painted the walls a soft yellow colour and has shampooed the carpet. We have ordered a sofa bed so that it can also be used as a guest room and so that David can still use it when he comes home. James and Ally carried my bureau upstairs. It looks great and I spent most of the afternoon moving in books, stationery, French DVDs, and yoga stuff. It is going to be my little refuge. 

This evening we decided to watch a film with Ally and Cat, so we delved into our DVD collection and I found a film that I bought when Ally was going to Norway but which we never got round to watching: Trollhunter. Made in Norway in 2010, it's a sort of "mockumentary" about a group of student film-makers who come across a government employee whose job is to kill trolls who stray too near human territory. At first they are sceptical but soon they are running through the woods in a manner reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project. It's mainly rubbish but has some good comedic moments as well as lots of references to folk tales about trolls, and we all quite enjoyed it. 

And that was our Saturday.

Fresh start February?

Well, after looking forward to the fresh start of February, the first thing that happened was that my tooth fell out! (Well, the crown). Not the first time that this has happened, and the dentist always just shoves it back in - it only lasts for a few weeks and out it comes again. One of these times I may well swallow it! 

We are all making a fuss of our furry boy Tom and giving him extra pats and cuddles. If he disappears outside for a couple of hours (which is perfectly normal) I get a sinking feeling in my stomach and worry until he comes back in again. 

I went out with Jennifer (who I worked with in my last job) this evening for a meal. It was so great to see her, she really cheered me up with her chat.