Painless Extraction

I was back at the dentist with Grandma today. She was nervous but very brave. This is one of the great things about being retired; I am available for all of her appointments, which means that James and Forrest don’t have to take time off work. When I was going to medical appointments with my own Mum it was much more difficult to arrange them because they had to be outside school hours or during the holidays. The dentist and dental nurses were again very kind and gentle with Grandma and she was very relieved when it was over. As we left she said “That was the only completely painless extraction I have ever had.” which reminded me of Bob Hope in the 1948 film “The Paleface” where he played a travelling dentist known as Painless Potter. My two favourite parts of the film were the song Buttons and Bows, and also the bit where Painless Potter is tied to two bent down trees by angry Native Americans in order to rip him apart, but instead he is catapulted through the air to freedom. I haven’t seen it for decades and I bet that I would now be very aware of its political incorrectness, but in the 1970s that didn’t even occur to me and I remember enjoying watching it with my Dad.

Wet walk in the West End

Saturday involved much cooking and socialising. It was all good fun; we went to Michael’s 65th birthday party in the afternoon and then Forrest, Marjory and the kids came round for dinner in the evening. The weather was warm and sunny, luckily, because Michael’s party was in their garden and involved circus skills and a Punch and Judy show!
However on Sunday we had quite heavy rain, which was unfortunate because James and Ally had hoped to go hill-walking. But we were determined to get out for some sort of walk, so at James’ suggestion the three of us took a train to Anniesland and walked into the west end via the Kelvin Walkway. Although the rain continued the whole time, the riverside path was leafy and attractive and we had lunch in a café on Byres Road before heading into Kelvingrove Park and eventually taking the train home from Partick. It was a good walk.

Celebrating with Stravinsky

In February 2013 I went to see Stravinsky’s Firebird at the Royal Concert Hall with  James, Ally and Cat. It was a Christmas present to us from Ally. I blogged at the time about how much I enjoyed it, particularly the finale, which is full of rejoicing, and I resolved to play it on the day that I retired from teaching. I then promptly forgot all about this vow, until Cat reminded me of it last year, when I nearly retired but not quite because I went to teach literacy part time at Hollybrook.

Well, fast forward five and a half years and I really have retired now. The school holidays are over and all of Scotland’s schools have started their new term. So this morning, after my swim, while I pottered around happily doing some admin in my study, I kept my promise and played Stravinsky’s Firebird. It was fantastic and celebratory and very appropriate for the occasion.

Russian Classics at the Edinburgh Book Festival

Another annual tradition for me is the Edinburgh Book Festival and on Tuesday I met up with Janet at Charlotte Square. I love the atmosphere of the Book Festival, the tents around the square lend it a transient, summery feel and I have many happy memories of coming here with groups of pupils. There were school children there on Tuesday, all very well behaved and enjoying eating their sandwiches in the middle of the gardens in the sunshine. We had a look round the book shop and grabbed a coffee before going to see the very entertaining Viv Groskop taking about life tips from Russian literature. She was such a good speaker, very funny, and we both enjoyed it. I have read only a few Russian classics and I now feel inspired to read some more; she also related fascinating anecdotes about her years studying and living in Russia.
Janet and I then had a very French lunch in Di’Vin and chatted about our Russell family history, in particular our grandfather’s time in Salonica during the 1st World War, which Janet is currently researching. It was totally fascinating.

Evacuation

I was driving along Brownside Road today on my way to Jackie’s when I saw a veritable peloton of cyclists whizzing past me in the opposite direction. They were all wearing matching outfits and travelling at speed. I only mention this because I have never seen such a thing in our area before. 

Anyway, Jackie and I popped over to Silverburn Shopping Centre to do a few errands, and then have a bite to eat. As we were eating our tasty lunch in Wagamama, the fire alarm went off and we had to abandon our meals and go outside. We could hear the sirens of emergency vehicles approaching, so, assuming that it was all due to a faulty fire alarm and that it would take a while for the place to be checked over, we just went back to the car. We headed for Pollok estate where we had a very pleasant walk followed by a coffee in the garden of Pollok House. It wasn’t until later that we heard on the radio and television news (on the national news no less!) that the shopping centre had been evacuated because people were becoming ill due to fumes issuing forth from the air conditioning! It was thought that they were paint fumes. No one turned out to be seriously ill I’m glad to say.

Juggling with a chainsaw

On Sunday James and I sallied forth to spend the day at the Edinburgh Fringe, one of our annual traditions. We had booked a variety of events, from plays to comedy and even a financial game show! It was all good fun and the highlight had to be Jack Docherty, who we used to watch many years ago on the comedy show Absolutely and nowadays on the very funny Scotsquad, on which he plays the police chief Miekelson. He was absolutely hilarious. It was also fun sitting in the open air pub in Bristo Square, the atmosphere was very relaxed and happy with entertainers doing the rounds. Rather alarmingly, one young man was juggling with a loudly buzzing chainsaw, a machete and an apple.
It was great to see Gordon and Sue on Saturday and I took the opportunity to ask them their opinion about my cycling fall last weekend. James has been very cynical about my account that I fell forwards over the handlebars, because he thinks that I can’t have been going fast enough to do so. But that’s exactly what happened and I was not best pleased that he doubted me. Gordon and Sue, very keen cyclists who have recently spent a holiday cycling in Canada, confirmed that it is perfectly possible to tip over the handlebars at a slow speed. I felt vindicated.

Vive le NHS!

Yesterday I ranted on a bit about a bad experience that I had with a dentist many years ago. I feel that I should add that I have also had many good experiences with the NHS. My own dentist is lovely and has helped me to take good care of my teeth. My opticians are brilliant and actually saved my sight when I had a detached retina a few years ago. I have visited the A&E department at Hairmyres many times on my own behalf and with other family members and even colleagues and pupils, and they have always sorted us out. Our GPs are great and I actually quite like their new triage system because it means that you can avoid having to make an appointment unless absolutely necessary. The nurses and doctors in Intensive Care at Hairmyres are actual angels. In the Ward for the elderly they are almost angels. A long time ago a really helpful admin lady arranged all of Mum’s cataract appointments for during my school holidays. And the few bad experiences that I have had (mostly back when I was taking care of my Mum) have been dealt with fairly quickly when I complained. There was one time in Hairmyres when a nurse said something really off about Mum and I just about exploded, and the ward sister came rushing in and apologised and sorted it out straight away. And the time that Mum was transferred to a different hospital without me being informed (they had left a message on my phone but it didn’t show on the screen so I didn’t pick it up), and when I came in at visiting time and saw her empty bed and thought that she was dead and I sort of collapsed, the nurses made me a cup of tea and took care of me. So did my kind and wonderful son David, who was with me that evening. Which of course reminds me that the midwives at Rutherglen Maternity hospital delivered my three healthy children.
So, nobody’s perfect (including in my own profession of teaching!) but I have many reasons to be very grateful to the NHS, which is 70 years old this year.

A successful visit to the dentist

Grandma needed some dental work today, and when I took her along to the health centre I was very impressed with the Community dentists, who treated her very well. They explained everything clearly to her and got her sorted out gently and efficiently. They are even going to do the next phase of the treatment at her home. What a contrast to the rather workshy dentist I had the misfortune to meet about ten years ago who used any excuse to get out of treating my Mum. I would persuade her to go to the dentist - because she was in pain - and arrange an appointment to fit in with my working hours, or during my holidays if possible. And then I would get her all ready and drive to the hospital and get her into the wheelchair and wheel her to the dental department. However when we arrived, and even though Mum was calm, the dentist would ask leading questions such as “Do you really want to go ahead with this treatment today?” to which my Mum (who had dementia but knew a way out when she heard one) would reply “Well, actually no thank you, I would rather go home!” An expression of sly triumph would cross the dentist’s face as she explained to me that she couldn’t possibly go ahead without my Mum’s permission. I presume that she just didn’t like treating older people who needed a lot of work done, and I’m sure that it was one of the less pleasant parts of her job, but it was still mean of her I think. So back to the car we would go with nothing achieved, and I remember one time being particularly annoyed because as we were stopped at the traffic lights nearby, we saw the workshy dentist and her assistant skipping across the road to a coffee shop, all smiles and laughter after getting rid of us! Oh well, that’s a long time ago and clearly things have improved a lot, I’m glad to say. Today Grandma’s dentist was absolutely wonderful and couldn’t have been more helpful.

New Term

My hairdressers on Tuesday was full of wee boys getting their hair cut ready for the new school term which starts on Thursday. Apparently most young girls attend to their hair on an ongoing basis so there is not the same rush for them at the beginning of a new term. The South Lanarkshire teachers were back at work for their In Service days on Tuesday so I guess that was the first official day of my retirement. Since I finished work at the end of June I have mostly felt as if I was on holiday - especially as we have been actually away on holidays quite a lot of the time. But now my ex colleagues are back at work and it all seems very real. And exciting!

Cycling and walking at Boat of Garten

We have spent a lovely weekend at Boat of Garten with Alison and Hugh. Saturday was cycling and Sunday was walking. The other three are brilliant cyclists and by the time we had cycled only about three kilometres I was already lagging behind. Part of the reason for this (apart from my lack of fitness!) was that I was finding the day very warm and humid. So I told the others that I would cycle back to the house and meet them by car for scones at their destination of Inverdruie. I cycled round the corner with a light heart and almost immediately fell off my bike. I’m still not quite sure what happened; I think I perhaps touched the spokes of the wheel with my foot and then panicked and pulled on the front brake. The result of this was that the bike stopped dead but I kept going forward over the handle bars. I remember thinking “Uh oh!” as I fell. Luckily I was mostly fine although covered in unsightly grazes (chin, arm) and bruises (thigh, toe). A passing cyclist kindly assisted me over to the nearby Boat Hotel where the staff brought out coffee and a first aid kit. They were Lithuanian and so nice. The bike was damaged so I walked back to the house and then met the others as planned. Later we all went by car to retrieve the bike which gave us a good excuse for a few beers sitting outside the Boat Hotel in the warm afternoon. And as a bonus Hugh even repaired it for me!
Our Sunday walk was a very pleasant 12 km round trip from Boat of Garten to Carrbridge and back. This also involved coffee and yummy scones at the Carrbridge Kitchen. There really should be a coffee shop on every walk.

Two courts and a cathedral

My last day in London was Thursday and Ally and Cat both had a days holiday so off we went exploring. The weather was showery (for the first time for weeks in London!) and our first port of call was the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand. I find all the different types of law courts in London rather bewildering, however these particular courts are mainly for civil cases I think - criminal cases are heard at the Old Bailey just up the road. We didn’t have time to go on a tour so just had a wander around, and it was very interesting; it has a large hall and upstairs it has many court rooms, some of which had cases going on. We followed signs to the “Bear Garden” but unsurprisingly when we arrived there was neither bear nor garden. So we asked a friendly looking lawyer who was passing, and she explained that in the nineteenth century, Queen Victoria had looked down on the room from a balcony corridor and said that the lawyers were as noisy as fighting bears, and the name stuck!

Our next stop was a Triforium tour at St Paul’s, where Catherine joined us. According to Wikipedia, the definition of a triforium is: “a shallow arched gallery within the thickness of an inner wall, above the nave of a church or cathedral”

So it’s like a secret walkway around the top of the inside wall of the cathedral. It was absolutely fascinating. We had a lovely guide called Bill, who was quite quiet but extremely interesting and knowledgable when asked the right questions (which Catherine and Cat did very effectively). It is a treasure trove of dusty old artefacts such as statues, old pulpits, stones from the original mediaeval cathedral which burned down during the great fire of London in 1666, and paintings on which the mosaics on the ceiling were based. Bill knew all the history and anecdotes about the people involved, especially Sir Christopher Wren, who seems to have been an amazingly talented man. There is a giant model of St Paul’s which was used by the builders as a 3D model, apparently Prince Charles was allowed to play in it as a child and got so dirty that fresh clothes had to be sent for from the palace! There was so much more, but rather than list it all here, can I recommend that readers book the tour themselves, it really is worthwhile.

After the tour we found ourselves in need of sustenance, so instead of exploring the public areas of the Cathedral, we went to Madisons for cool drinks. The good news is that our entrance tickets are valid for a whole year, so hopefully I will get a chance to visit again. 

But the day was not yet over! Ally had also booked us a tour of the Supreme Court, near Westminster, which is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases, and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It also hears cases from Commonwealth countries which don’t have higher courts of appeal. It was amazing, and our guide (a young and recently qualified lawyer) was enthusiastic and excellent. I don’t even know how to start describing all the things that we learned, again I would urge readers to go there. I’m so glad that I visited it. It’s in recess just now but I would like to go and listen to a case some day. It also has a nice wee café where I indulged in a delicious piece of lemon, ginger and turmeric cake.

And so my time in London came to an end and I made my way back to Heathrow and then home without incident. 

Honest Iago

I arrived in a very sultry London on Tuesday evening and was rather proud of myself for navigating myself to Ally’s flat, although it did help that Cat met me at King’s Cross on her way home from work. Alasdair was at a work “do” so Cat and I popped into a nearby Carluccio’s for dinner while we waited fo him to arrive. The food was fine but the service was reminiscent of the television series “Fawlty Towers” - there were long delays, we were were given a breakfast menu by mistake, and the waiters could be seen remonstrating with each other in the background. At one point we asked for some focaccia and saw the waiter staring mournfully into a Tupperware box before coming back to tell us that the oven was broken. We then were given a complimentary basket of different breads which were very stale. However it was actually quite funny and our waiter was very good-natured and knocked money off the bill, so we ended up leaving him a tip. Ally arrived during the meal and consumed some seafood linguine before almost falling asleep at the table because he was so tired. Back at the flat, Ally and Cat again very kindly insisted that I have their bedroom. I opened the window wide to get as much cool night air as possible.

I had Wednesday to myself while Cat and Ally were at work. I strolled through the humid streets to the British Museum. Yes, it’s my third visit this year! I’m making the most of the membership that Jennifer gave me for my birthday. This time I decided not to linger quite so much as I still had a lot of ground to cover. So I paid my respects to most of the well known artefacts that I hadn’t yet seen, such as the gold armour from Sutton Hoo, the Portland Vase and the amazingly intricate Lewis chessmen. I enjoyed myself mightily. As a bonus, James was also in London on a business trip so he met me for lunch in the (delightfully air-conditioned) Members Room! 

I then made my way to the river and crossed over Waterloo Bridge, being rewarded with a welcome breeze as I walked along the South Bank. My destination was the Globe Theatre, where I met Ally, Cat, Catherine and Thea for dinner at the Swan Restaurant before going to see Othello. The meal was good although they were a bit slow to bring our bill considering that we were clearly going to the play. But we got to our seats in time and oh boy, what a brilliant production! Mark Rylance was fantastic as Iago, but the whole cast were great and they interacted with each other and the audience so well. I enjoyed the lively dance at the end which lifted everyone’s spirits after the tragic events of the play. 

As we crossed over the river after the play for the short walk back to Ally’s flat, the buildings of London were all lit up in the darkness; the city was so beautiful. Again I opened the bedroom window wide and lay on top of the duvet, however this time I was rather disconcerted to notice a shadowy figure standing at a window in a flat very nearby. I wasn’t sure if they were watching me but I quickly slipped under the duvet!

Dinner at Ray White’s place

I was on a wee trip to Buckinghamshire and London from Monday to Thursday this week and had a very jolly time. I arrived in Heathrow on Monday afternoon and jumped on a bus to Windsor. It was very, very hot; much hotter than Scotland has been this past couple of weeks. While our Scottish heatwave has gradually tailed off, it has just kept right on going in the south of England. As a result I did not go for my planned walk around the town; instead I found a pretty riverside pub where I sipped cool drinks and watched the world go by until Jennifer picked me up on her way home from work.

Later Jennifer treated Ben and me to a delicious dinner (Russ and Josh are on holiday in Edinburgh this week). We went to a pub in Thame which is operated by famous chef Raymond Blanc (or Ray White as Jennifer calls him!) it was rather nice to have time with Ben without lots of other people around and we had a good chat. The food was absolutely gorgeous and we had our coffee sitting outside in the wee courtyard. Jennifer gave me not one but TWO fans to keep me cool while I slept - for which I was very grateful. 

On Tuesday Jennifer took me to our favourite spa, Nirvana. What can I say? I just love it there and the hot weather was a bonus; we spent most of our time at the outside pool, swimming, reading and chatting. It was a truly lovely day.

Antibiotics and Cycling

..... so the phone rang at 6.45 a.m. on Sunday morning and it was Grandma, upset and confused. And she didn’t have her hearing aids in so she couldn’t hear us asking her what was the matter. We quickly got dressed and rushed round to find her sitting downstairs. She had just had a really horrible nightmare and also was not feeling very well. We stayed with her until her carer arrived at 9 o’clock but went back over late morning and ended up calling the out of hours doctor. He diagnosed a chest infection and prescribed stronger antibiotics. She was very tired all day but managed to eat some of the mini fish supper that James got her later. It’s a shame that she’s got this chest infection because she has been doing ok recently. David came round to spend time with her too, he really is devoted to her and took care of her very well when we were on holiday. While we were at Grandma’s house we all watched the European Championship cycling on television. This was of particular interest because it was taking place in Glasgow so we enjoyed seeing all the familiar places in the west end and the city centre. Glasgow looked very beautiful in the sunshine, especially Park Circus.

More Summer Nights at the Bandstand

Friday evening found us back at the Kelvingrove Bandstand for another concert - this time OMD. It’s such a good venue, I much prefer small places like this, and the Friday night audience was even more lively than the one on Monday. I got there early to bag our seats because James had been in London for the day, and his flight back to Glasgow was running late. He took a taxi straight from the airport to Kelvin Way and I nipped up to the gate to give him the car keys. He then followed my directions to  where the car was parked, and got changed (Superman like!) in the car, where I had left his bag of clothes for the concert. All very convoluted but it worked. The concert was really great and the whole audience danced and sang throughout; I thought that it was just as good as the Pretenders whereas James thought it was even better, which provoked much debate on our way home.

David came home on Saturday to help James put everything back into the garage, now that it has its new roof. (I have made hundreds of cups of coffee for the workmen this week!) He was extremely helpful and as a reward we took him out for a delicious curry in Dakhin and then we went to the cinema to see the ridiculous but entertaining “Ant Man and the Wasp” which we all enjoyed. Paul Rudd and Michael Douglas were both very good.

As a result we were late home and didn’t get to bed until 1 a.m. This shouldn’t have mattered because we had no firm plans for Sunday morning so should have been able to have a leisurely start to the day. However, at 6.45 a.m. the phone rang ....

To be continued.

A break in the battle

It has been a pleasant and busy week. The warm weather continues even though the sky is grey. It has been mainly dry although when Heather and Ewan came round for dinner on Saturday it rained quite heavily - luckily we hadn’t planned a barbecue! Instead we had a chicken and fig tagine and then, as we often do at this time of year, we all looked at each other’s holiday photos. In the old days this was done by passing round prints; how times have changed as we can now display them on the tv screen. Heather and Ewan’s photos of Corsica and Italy were beautiful; they did some fantastic walking and I would love to go there. Our own photos (which we had made a considerable effort to edit down to a reasonable number!) made us feel very nostalgic for Oregon and California.
On Monday evening we went to see the Pretenders at Kelvingrove Bandstand. This is the first time that we have gone to one of the summer concerts there, and it had a great atmosphere. The threatened rain stayed away and the evening sun even came out. Chrissie Hynde (who was rocking a pair of over-the-knee skin tight black boots) was absolutely wonderful, what a voice she has! The music was great and when they played “Back on the Chain Gang” I was so happy - it’s one of my favourite songs of all time.