End of term

My official retirement date was two days ago on the last day of term, Tuesday 27th June. However I may be returning to school in August after all for a few months, because I have been asked to stay on for a specific and very valid reason. And I am very willing to do so. So my retiral has been very low key, although my department colleagues surprised me with a lovely card and flowers and a bottle of wine on the last day.

My feelings of celebration have therefore been muted, but none the worse for that; I can sometimes be guilty of becoming over-excited about life's events. Instead I feel quietly happy that I am entering a new phase of my life, and of course delighted that I am on holiday.

I have had a very pleasant couple of days pottering around the house doing admin and spending some quality time with Tom the cat. James and I went to the ELO concert last night at the Hydro and it was excellent just like last year.

I have also been visiting Grandma in the afternoons by myself and with James in the evenings, because unfortunately she has been in hospital for the past week. She has had another infection which led to her becoming very confused and disoriented. When she was taken in to hospital she didn't even know where she was at first. 

The good news is that the antibiotics are working; she is completely lucid and is looking much better. The bad news is that she is very unhappy in hospital, dislikes the nurses and other patients, and is generally feeling down and pessimistic about her prospects. All we can do is try to cheer her up and reassure her, but she still thinks that she will be leaving the hospital "in a box" (her actual words!) The doctor has told her that she will be going home next week, but she is not convinced. I hate to see her feeling so low. 

Tarte aux abricots

Our second day at the Paris air show was also good fun. This time we went into the exhibition halls where we saw lots of exhibits from the aircraft manufacturers. Let's just say that James was quite a lot more fascinated by all the engine parts than I was, however I wandered around happily with him as he explained it all to me. He might as well have been explaining it to Tom the cat for all I understood! Then back down the flight line we went, stopping on our way to buy some lunch. The food at this air show has been excellent, as I would expect in France; freshly made baguettes, crêpes and a variety of pâtisseries. Today I chose a tarte aux abricots  with five apricots set into it, which glistened in the sunlight. It was absolutely delicious. We took our seats in the grandstand again for today's flying display; it has been well worth paying the extra for this because there isn't much grass to sit on at Le Bourget and a lot of people were sitting on concrete which can't have been very comfortable. It was even hotter than yesterday and I was glad that we had put on plenty of sun cream. Back at the hotel later we relaxed with cool drinks at the roof top bar until it was time for the short taxi journey to Charles de Gaulle airport. There happened to be a piano in the departure lounge which was commandeered by a lively group of Portuguese passengers who had a sing song and danced in a conga line, encouraging all the other passengers to join in. We refrained but it was very funny and the songs sounded good. I would love to come back to the Paris Air Show and also the AC Marriott Hotel; the staff were all really friendly and helpful. 

Le Bourget

We are in Le Bourget to spend two days at the 52nd Paris Air Show. This is a nostalgic excursion for us, because our last visit to Le Bourget was on our honeymoon, thirty-two years ago! 

We are having a great time. Our hotel is only fifteen minutes walk away from the entrance gates to the air show. It's a very smart and comfortable hotel called the AC Marriott, and it has a gorgeous open air roof top bar and terrace overlooking the airport - far to the south you can see tiny outlines of the Eiffel Tower and the Sacre Coeur! I presume that most guests this weekend are here for the Air Show; when we checked in we were given a tiny pair of binoculars as part of our welcome pack which was a nice touch. 

This morning we were up bright and early to go round the exhibitions and static display before the flying display began at lunch time. When I was getting ready in the bathroom before breakfast I wondered why James wasn't telling me to hurry up as he usually does. I went through into the bedroom and found James standing at the window transfixed by all the planes he could see from our runway-facing room! It reminded me of Tom watching birds through the window at home!

James loves aeroplanes and I was delighted to see him enjoying himself so much as we strolled around looking at all the planes. We listened to a really interesting wee lecture in the European Space Agency exhibit about how to launch satellites and we saw a presentation about the Ariane 6 and the Vega. We had prudently booked seats in the grandstand which was very comfortable and gave us great views of the flying display. It was really warm - almost too warm - but saved by a light breeze. The display went on for about five hours; the highlights for me were the F35 (which I saw with Ally last July at Rosyth) the A380 and the Rafale, but there were loads more. I enjoyed the display, but during any lulls in the action I read my current book (Assassination Vacation) on my Kindle. James says he didn't mind this at all.  We nipped back to our hotel to watch the last hour from the roof top bar while sipping cocktails. Excellent day!

Other people's weans

The end of the school year in June is always a time of mixed emotions for me. There are lots of pleasant activities but this involves disruption to routine that can be very unsettling for some pupils. And some staff too! This week I was on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition for three days from Monday to Wednesday, and on Friday I was supporting a few pupils with ASD on a trip to Blair Drummond Safari Park. So I was out of school for four out of five days. I'm honestly not complaining, but being responsible for other people's weans outside the structured setting of school is quite a responsibility and one which I take extremely seriously. I haven't been to Blair Drummond for years; as far as I recall my last visit was on another school trip about ten years ago. I'm not keen on animals being held in captivity but at Blair Drummond they do have more space than in a zoo. I still wouldn't go there by choice and never used to take the boys to zoos when they were younger. 

There was much excitement, and it was a really good day, but I came home rather exhausted with a fifteen minute turn around time to leave for the airport Because at 6.30 pm we were booked on a flight to Paris! 

Open air swimming

Another week, another Duke of Edinburgh expedition! This time we were in the beautiful Forest of Ae and the Annandale Estate near Moffat. The walks have gone well and the weather has been absolutely fantastic. The highlight for me has been the open air swimming. I love swimming and particularly enjoy doing so outdoors, whether in a pool or the sea. On this expedition both of the campsites we used for our three day, two night expedition were beside rivers. It was wonderful to swim in the cool water after the hot day of walking and checkpointing. It was also very beautiful in the dappled green light. I was lucky to have the cheerful and fun company of my lovely colleague and friend Karen. 

Appreciation

I am blogging from my hammock. James and we have decided to have a nice quiet weekend around the house and garden because we are going to Paris next weekend and I am going on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition from Monday to Wednesday. Needless to say James has been very busy cutting the grass while I have been lazing about. He is now going to bring a deckchair outside to relax in.

The weather is absolutely delightful. It's very sunny but with a nice warm breeze so that it's not too stifling. 

We had lunch sitting outside in my new "love seat" which James gave me for our wedding anniversary in May. It's two wooden seats joined by a wee table - so cute! James and I had a good talk this morning about some important issues and decisions and I have to say that he is a great support to me, and gave me some excellent advice. I was also speaking to Jennifer on the phone who also gave me very sound advice, and we had a lovely chat; I can't wait for our spa weekend in August. I really do appreciate my husband and my sister. 

James is now in his deckchair listening to music on his headphones and reading his book. It's a lovely day. 

Shackleton and Connolly

I have done it again. My reputation for booking plays at the theatre remains in tatters. And it's always the ones that I book with James - I have seen some really great plays with Heather over the years. After the much loathed (by James and David) "Quartermaine's Terms" in 2013, and then "Nice Fish" last year (described by James as "the worst play he has ever seen"), I have hit a new low this evening.

When I noticed, months ago, that there was going to be a play at the Tron Theatre about Shackleton's expedition to the Antarctic, I rushed to book seats for James and me. We saw an excellent television film about Shackleton a couple of years ago and found it fascinating. So I expected a play on the subject to be along the same lines. I suppose it was, in a way. Except that there was no dialogue and it was performed entirely in slow moving tableaux of the events. I found the tiny ship being moved across the stage rather amusing. Bedsheets represented the ice and were moved around the stage by the actors using brooms. At one point we were treated to the silhouette of Shackleton sitting for so long on an object inside his tent that I wondered if it was his potty! The four actors worked their socks off, creating a variety of scenes using tiny models of boats and tents, as well as full size scenery - in that way it was quite reminiscent of "Nice Fish". I'm afraid that I dozed off; it was just so slow and dull - maybe that's what the actors were trying to portray about the long months trekking across the ice. Strangely, James didn't dislike it as much as I did this time!

Anyway when we emerged from the ordeal, James suggested that we have a look at the three new murals of Billy Connolly that have been painted in the city centre to celebrate his 75th birthday. He saw a programme on television about them last night. They are all interesting and very different, based on portraits of him by three Scottish artists - John Byrne, Jack Vettriano and Rachel Maclean. There were other people stopping to look at them and take photos of them too, which was nice. Visiting them somewhat redeemed the evening! 

Strathspey Railway

This morning the weather was a mix of sunshine and showers, and we decided to take the steam train from Boat of Garten to Aviemore. It must be about twenty years since I was on the Strathspey Railway.  I really enjoyed being back. The volunteers, mainly retired men, clearly relish their roles as train drivers, station masters or ticket inspectors, and are extremely friendly and helpful. The station was very quaint with an old-fashioned waiting room complete with armchairs! The steam train made very satisfactory hissing and whistling and chugging sounds, and the steam blew past the window as we moved along. As well as chatting we enjoyed looking out of the window at the changing scenery. We saw three roe deer prancing around in one of the fields that we passed, and a male and a female pheasant in another. We travelled first to Broomhill where the engine was moved to the other end of the train via a siding, then back through Boat of Garten to Aviemore. We then had a very tasty lunch in the extremely popular Mountain View Café; we had to queue for our table but it was worth the wait. Back at Boat, we watched the train depart with a ch-ch-ch-ch sound as it slowly gathered speed. What fun! 

Sunshine on Loch Insh

Shortly after I finished my last post, James, Alison and Hugh arrived at the Loch Insh Watersports centre. They joined me on the balcony in the sunshine for a cup of coffee and we all enjoyed the views over the loch. It was so warm and pleasant that we chatted for ages before setting off in Alison's car to pick up our car from the other end of our route (our nifty two car arrangement meant that we could undertake a lengthy linear walk without having to retrace our steps). We had parked our car in the capacious car park of the Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore in the morning. However we hadn't realised that the gates would be locked at closing time, so our car was trapped! It was not inaccessible however, as James and Alison were able to leap over the low wall to retrieve our shoes from the car boot. Hugh had a good go at working out the combination for the padlock on the gate! Luckily, just as we were resigned to returning to fetch it in the morning, the friendly manager arrived to set our car free!

Back at the cottage Alison made us a delicious curry and a most enjoyable evening ensued at the roaring wood fire. 

Lucky find

I am blogging from the balcony of the lovely Loch Insh Watersports centre. I am enjoying a well deserved coffee after a goodly walk. It is hot and sunny and there are lots of paddle boarders and canoeists on the loch below me. It really is idyllic. James, Alison and Hugh are on their way to join me after a much longer walk - they are walking about 25 km on a section of the "East Highland Way", following a meandering route from Newtonmore via Kingussie to Loch Insh. It's a very pretty walk with trees, waterfalls, moorland and lots of birds such as red grouse and lapwings. We also saw horses with their beautiful little foals and sheep with their lambs, and lots of wild flowers. Speyside was in all of its summer glory. The reason that I diverged from the rest of the group after the first 10 km or so, is that my legs felt like lead today and (although nobody said so) I felt that I was slowing the pace considerably. So I had a wee rest at Insh Marshes car park after asking the others to walk on, and then walked along the road which was a more direct route. It was still a long way though, and I became quite footsore by walking on the tarmac, so I hitched a lift for the last 5 km. I still walked about 18 km though which is plenty for me.

So when I got to the Watersports centre I was quite happy to sit outside on the grass and relax while waiting for the others, because I had brought no money with me to buy a drink. Just on the off chance I searched my rucksack thoroughly, yielding the grand total of 15 pence from the lining. I also looked in my jacket pockets but I already knew that there was nothing there. And then I looked on the inside of the jacket and saw a little pocket beside the zip that I hadn't even remembered was there. I opened it - and there was a TEN POUND NOTE which I must have stashed there many months if not several years ago! It must have survived quite a few washings in its secret hiding place. Oh joy! What luck! I was delighted and immediately proceeded to the bar where I ordered my coffee and a piece of chocolate tiffin cake.

Election fatigue

At 10 p.m. last night voting in the General Election finished. The news programmes then immediately broadcast an exit poll which had been commissioned by the BBC and ITV. Everyone in the tv studios gasped as the exit poll predicted that the Tories would win the largest amount of seats, but not enough for an overall majority. This was at odds with the large amount of support they had when Theresa May announced the snap election seven weeks ago. Exit polls tend to be much more accurate than other polls, and so it proved in this case. 

When we woke up in the morning the Tories had won 318 seats, eight short of the total required for a majority government. Labour had gained a lot and ended up with 261 seats, and the SNP had taken a bit of a drubbing in Scotland, dropping 21 seats although still being in the majority. Theresa May is currently liaising with the Ulster Unionists in order to remain in government.

It all seems a bit of a mess. My theory is that people are a bit fed up with elections at the moment. In less than three years we have had four really big ones - the Scottish Independence Referendum, a General Election, the European Referendum and now another General Election. Enough already! And I think that's why people were perplexed and unenthusiastic about Theresa May seeking her own election victory when she already had a majority. 

But never mind all that, we are on our way to visit Alison and Hugh in Boat of Garten. The weather forecast is good and we are looking forward to our weekend.

Voting

James and I have just exercised our democratic right to vote in today's General Election. We walked up to our local primary school in the soft summer rain. James also had to cast two proxy votes, entrusted to him by Ally and Davie because they are both on holiday. I'm not sure if Jamie is actually entitled to vote, since he currently lives in New Zealand. His polling card arrived here but he didn't request a postal or proxy vote, which I think is a fair decision while he is not living in the UK. The election seems a bit unreal and I don't have any strong feelings about what the outcome will be this time, the campaigns from all parties have seemed a little lacklustre. 

I had a fringe trim at my new hairdresser's today. I just popped in after work and not only did they cut my fringe, they gave me a cup of coffee and a piece of tablet and charged me not a penny! I was very gratified - such good customer service! 

Reunited with Tom

Our flight was only slightly delayed last night so we were home  at about 10 p.m. - just nice time for a cup of tea before bed time. There was no sign of Tom, who must have been out patrolling his territory. However I was woken in the early hours of the morning by Tom jumping about on the bed, purring loudly, and lifting up my hand with his nose to make me pat him! He was so excited that we were back home!

I'm reading a very interesting book at the moment called "A Brief History of Everyone who ever Lived" by Adam Rutherford. It's about genetics and what DNA reveals about our ancestry. Not being in any way scientifically knowledgeable, I'm finding some of it a bit hard to follow, however I am enjoying it. While reading it I realised that James' and my grandparents are all Victorian. Isn't that fascinating that all eight of them were born before 1901 - James said that his grandmother could remember all the houses being draped in black for Queen Victoria's funeral. It explains that family trees are more like spiders' webs than trees, and that if you go back enough generations (about 3000 years I think), every human alive today has a common ancestor. I suppose that if you go back very far, Tom and I will have a common ancestor too! A small creeping thing I expect. 

Festive Dublin

By chance, we have chosen to visit Dublin on a very lively weekend. So today we decided to go to the two big events that are happening.

The first was "Bloom" a flower and Irish produce show, which takes place annually in Phoenix Park. It's a good name because not only is it appropriate to horticulture, it is also a nod to Dublin's favourite fictional son, Leopold Bloom, who is the main character in James Joyce's Ulysses. We took the tram to Heuston and then walked the half hour to the flower show. It didn't disappoint. There were loads of free food samples, cafés, shops with local produce, and of course the show gardens - about twenty of them. These were delightful, with many different themes, and so much effort and good ideas had gone into them. Water features were very much in vogue. As we were admiring one of them a young man approached James when he spotted his new Kraftwerk t-shirt. "Did you enjoy the gig last night?" he asked. James replied that he did and the man said "It was the best concert I've been to in my life!" 

We decided to take the free shuttle bus back to the tram stop. On the way, singing bus driver Dec (I kid you not) told us some of the history of Phoenix Park and then played us a tune from his latest album, which was quite reminiscent of Elvis Presley.  

Next we had a cup of tea in my beloved Avoca café. The food is so fresh and well-prepared, no visit to Dublin would be complete without a visit there (in my opinion anyway!)

And then we walked along the banks of the River Liffey to the second big event that has been taking place in Dublin this weekend - the Dublin Port Riverfest! This is also an annual event and involves seven Tall Ships that you can board, Thundercat racing (wee speed boats), kayaking and sailing, and of course lots of food and drink stalls. The atmosphere was great and we went on board the Shtandart which is a Russian tall ship. A replica of a 28 gun frigate built by Peter the Great in 1703. It operates as a sail training ship and the friendly crew allowed the public to clamber all over the ship with a refreshingly relaxed attitude to health and safety. It was great fun.

After all this it will come as no surprise that I'm rather tired and am planning a nap on our flight from Dublin back to Glasgow! 

Another terrorist attack

When we arrived back at the hotel after the Kraftwerk concert we were dismayed to find out that there has been another terrorist attack, this time on London Bridge and in Southwark in London. Seven people have been killed and forty-eight have been injured. Readers of this blog will know that Southwark is my favourite area of London, and we usually stay in the Premier Inn there because it is such a vibrant area with lots of pubs and restaurants, some right on the banks of the Thames. It's also handy for Borough Market and the Globe Theatre and is across the river from St Paul's. So James and I have walked the streets where last night's attacks took place many times, and we have seen (and indeed been numbered among) the innocent crowds of revellers who frequent the pubs on weekend evenings. It's disgusting that anyone would target people who were just enjoying a night out, and were such an easy target. I don't know what the answer is to these terrorist attacks; that's three in three months (London, Manchester, and now London again).

Musik Non Stop

And so last night we went to the Kraftwerk concert! The Bord Gaìs theatre was only 15 minutes walk from our hotel, however on the way we managed to witness a man being assaulted and had to flag down the Garda! The concert was absolutely brilliant; James loved it, and, somewhat to my surprise, I really loved it too. It was an audio-visual experience rather than just a concert. The digital graphics brought the music to life and were very much part of the performance. For example, the train tracks in Trans Europe Express were almost hypnotic as they peeled off in different directions. The white outline of the train rushing through the dark was very compelling. The bright, almost pop art, colours of Autobahn enhanced the feeling of motion as we experienced the autobahn from m all different angles. I also loved the song Neon Lights, which had neon café and hotel signs floating around and adding to its haunting quality. We had all been issued with 3D glasses which drew you in even more, for example the orbiting laboratories in Spacelab which were really amazing. 

Throughout it all, the four group members stood almost immobile behind their keyboards / computers, although from time to time there was a bit of foot tapping! The replica mannequins of themselves which they used during the song Robots were so realistic that I honestly thought it was them and didn't believe James at first when he told me that they weren't real! 

It was an excellent concert with a great atmosphere; the enthusiastic and dedicated audience were spellbound (the lady sitting beside us even leaned forward to tell a couple in front of us to stop talking!) It was unique! 

Dublin ramblings

We set off early this morning to Glasgow airport for our flight to Dublin. I was proud of James, who made his way through security with ruthless efficiency due to his very frequent flights for business. We took a bus to the Gibson Hotel which I had chosen to be near the Bord Gaís Theatre for our concert in the evening. We then fancied some fresh air and a brisk walk, so decided to walk along the River Liffey into the centre. It was a fine day for a walk and I found myself feeling ever more Irish as I revisited the land of (some of) my ancestors. We wandered up Grafton Street to St Stephen's Green which is a very attractive wee park, and then zig-zagged back to Trinity College. On the way we popped in to Hodges Figgis bookshop and a very friendly lady who worked there asked me what a "smorgasbord" is. I thought she was kidding at first but then she pointed to a book display sign that said "Dublin, a smorgasbord of culture". I explained that it's a sort of Swedish buffet with lots of different dishes, and she was delighted, and said, "There, I asked the right person!" We went on to pay our respects to the Book of Kells, then explored the cobbled streets of Temple Bar which were busy and bustling. We grabbed a quick lunch there sitting outside a pub in the sunshine; it felt very European. Onwards we walked to visit St Patrick's Cathedral which was full of history, including the story of its former Dean; Jonathan Swift (of Gulliver's Travels fame). Then we crossed the river and jumped onto a tram which took us right to the door of our hotel - very convenient! 

Southern Hemisphere

All of my sons are now in the Southern Hemisphere! How amazing is that! Ally and Cat went to New Zealand about a week and a half ago and are now in Dunedin visiting Jamie and Aisling and having a grand time.

Davie and Chanel set off to Australia on Tuesday (they will be meeting us in New Zealand at the end of July). David sent me an amusing text from Rutherglen in Victoria, Australia, saying "Hey, just passing Rutherglen. Want anything from Tesco?", referring of course to the town near us! 

More close to home, I have spent the last two days on a Duke of Edinburgh expedition in the Pentlands. It stayed dry for the whole time, much to my surprise and gratification, because rain had definitely been forecast. The expedition went very well and the pupils all passed their Bronze assessments. I felt a particular sense of responsibility because I planned and organised the routes, as the only member of the team at my current school who has taken expeditions there before. So I was keen for it to go smoothly and indeed it did, and the leaders and pupils all seemed to enjoy the beauty of the area. Back home, James and I sat outside in the garden in the evening sunshine with our furry boy Tom keeping us company.