Hogmanay

Here we are, another year gone, and in my case another year older since today has been my birthday. And a very good birthday it has been - lunch at Five March with David and Chanel was followed by the new Mary Poppins film at the Grosvenor. I thoroughly enjoyed it, with my one objection being that it is practically identical to the original. It would have been nice if it had branched out in some way.
I don’t have time to write a proper round up of the year because we received a last minute invitation yesterday to celebrate New Year with Steven and Hilary this evening and we will be setting off shortly. I was looking through my blog this morning and it certainly has been a fantastic year for travel; James and I have been on some great holidays and weekends away staring with skiing in gorgeous Arabba in January. All of our trips have been fun but one of the highlights had to be our Oregon and California holiday in the summer when we met up with Jamie and Aisling and Margaret. We saw such sights. Another highlight was our France and Belgium holiday in October to visit James’ Great Uncle Hugh’s grave at the centenary of the end of the First World War. We were very glad to share this experience with our dear friends Heather and Ewan, and also to visit memorials for two of Heather’s relatives and to lay a wreath for all three young men at the Menin Gate in Ypres. My two weekends staying with Ally and Cat in their London flat were absolutely wonderful too. They used their local knowledge to take me to really cool places in London such as rooftop bars and dining in Paradise Pods by the Thames and to visit the Supreme Court. They even insisted on giving up their bed for me! And we have had some great weekends in beautiful Boat of Garten with Alison and Hugh. I can still hardly believe that I climbed Ben Nevis in July, a proud and happy achievement. All of this was set against the backdrop of a long and gloriously hot summer.
I retired in June and so the second half of the year has been a big change for me - in a very good way! New adventures await us in 2019 with more changes in the offing. James and I are appreciative of all of our family and friends, we know how lucky we are to know such good people. The year has had many ups but of course also some downs, mainly regarding the health of friends and relatives. I always look on the New Year as an opportunity for a fresh start, and in 2019 I am hoping to improve my diet and fitness. James doesn’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions but has agreed with me that we both want to work on this. Roll on 2019!

The Mystery of the Missing Cook Book

Well, James has just solved a mystery that has been bamboozling me for nearly a week. He asked me for my Gammon in Red Wine recipe, one of the Anderson family favourites for New Year’s dinner. I was given this recipe many years ago by Grandma, who had found it on a recipe card in the Danish Food Centre back in the 1970s. The Danish Food Centre used to be a very trendy eating establishment in St Vincent Street, very modern and unusual in the days when most Glasgow restaurants were very traditional Scottish, or sometimes traditional Italian. There were Indian restaurants too, but James’ and my parents would never have tried anything so spicy, they preferred the relative familiarity of Chinese food. So the Danish Food Centre was a bit different, with open sandwiches and fresh, tasty ingredients. It’s long gone, I’m sad to say, I think it must have closed by the end of the 1980s.
However the tasty Gammon in Red Wine recipe lived on in Casa Anderson. I carefully copied the recipe into a little floral recipe book that I bought when I got married. This was in the days when, if I cooked something delicious, James would be so delighted that he would take a photo of it!
However, when I looked for it this week I couldn’t find it at all. I grew increasingly perturbed, because it had many of my favourite recipes in it, some given to me from friends and family so not easily replaceable. James and I hunted high and low with no luck.
Until this evening that is. James took a look inside a folder where I keep recipes, just in case I had inadvertently tucked the recipe book inside it. And he immediately noticed a page from the recipe book, carefully cut out and filed in the folder.  Further investigation produced the rest of the pages, including our beloved gammon recipe. Only at this point did I remember that some time in the past few years I decided to cut out the pages and discard the book, in order to put all of my recipes together in the folder. Although I was a bit annoyed with myself for forgetting that the recipe book itself no longer exists, I was delighted that all my recipes are safe.
In other news we went to Oran Mor this afternoon where we saw the fabulous “Doris, Dolly and the Dressing Room Divas” with Steven and Hilary.  Originally a hit at the Edinburgh fringe festival in 2016, this upbeat and fun trip into nostalgia was perfect for lovers of musicals like me and Hilary. I have a feeling that James and Steven were somewhat less entertained. Afterwards we wandered along Byres Road and had coffee and a chat in Nardini’s.

Free solo climbing

The holidays continue in a festive manner. It’s nice to have James at home, and it’s also pleasant to have a house full of young ones coming and going. Yesterday James and I went for a 10 km walk along the Fife Coastal Path from Kincardine to Torryburn. It was rainy in the west, but as Marjory says, “It’s always sunny in Fife even when it’s raining!” and by the time we started our walk it was indeed sunny with blue skies. At Kincardine we popped in to see Forrest in his shop; we said hello but he looked extremely busy so we didn’t linger. We skirted inland round the imposing landmark of Longannet Power Station before returning to the coast and continuing east. We found the village of Culross to be very pretty with old traditional buildings, and the final part of our walk was around the salt marshes of the Torry Bay Nature Reserve. We saw geese by the shore, as well as a buzzard and some curlews. It was an easy walk in glorious weather.
Later on we went to the GFT to see the documentary “Free Solo” with Ally, Cat and Davie. The cinema was packed. It was James’ idea to see it and I must admit that I thought it would be a bit boring. How wrong I was, it was fascinating. It’s about an amazing free climber called Alex Honnold as he prepares to attempt the first free solo ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Just in case any reader doesn’t know what that means, free climbers don’t use any ropes at all. It’s such an extreme and, sadly, usually very life shortening sport. I admire his skill but the fatal consequences for even the tiniest mistake seem too reckless for me. The side that he climbed was a sheer cliff and it was absolutely terrifying to watch even though we knew that he made it because we saw him being interviewed on the One Show last week! I don’t know how he does it; he was using the tiniest of cracks or dimples in the rock, and if he had lost his grip he would have fallen thousands of feet. Honnold is a very interesting and quite eccentric character; I’m pretty sure that he has ASD, in many ways very high functioning. I think that everyone in the cinema held their breath until he got to the top, and the whole audience applauded at the end.

And a Happy Christmas for Grandma

As is usual Christmas has been very traditional and family-centred at Casa Anderson, and I’m glad of it. At the centre of the family is of course Grandma, and I think that she enjoyed her 89th Christmas very much. We took her to Marjory and Forrest’s in the morning where we all had a pleasant and festive time. Then she had a wee nap at home before coming to us for Christmas dinner. The dinner went extremely well and we ate our fill - even Grandma, who usually has the appetite of a very small bird, ate quite a lot. She told us that when she was a little girl they had chicken for Christmas dinner rather than turkey. At 3 p.m. before our desserts, we watched the Queen give her annual speech, and then we played Trivial Pursuit, which was of course won by Ally. Although she dozed off a bit (resulting in a red wine spillage that looked like a murder scene worthy of Hercules Poirot) Grandma was very chatty and when we took her back home she said that she had enjoyed the day. She also mentioned that I am the best person at helping her into and out of her chair because I am the most gentle! I was well pleased with this compliment.
Boxing Day has been much quieter. Jamie FaceTimed us in the morning (his evening) and we had a good chat (he had been working on Christmas Day so had only phoned briefly). At 8 a.m. on Boxing Day morning, which should have been his day off, he was asked to fly in the helicopter to Queenstown to attend to wee twin premature babies. With assistance from Jamie they are now doing well. I am so proud of him. He was back in time to have a barbecue on the beach with his friends in the afternoon.
Davie was working on his dissertation all day, and Ally, James and I went for a walk along Troon Beach, which was surprisingly mild. Ally and James were running about on the sand throwing the frisbee to each other. We then had lunch in Scott’s which was delicious and we had a lovely view over the harbour with all the sailing ships.
After a relaxing afternoon, it was time for the highlight of Boxing Day; the leftovers! We all made ourselves a plate of turkey and all the trimmings and it tasted oh so good.

Happy Christmas Santa

Recently there has been controversy about the lyrics of the old Christmas song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” in the light of the #MeToo movement. Some people think that the man in the song is pressuring the woman too much and too creepily to stay with him. In response, others are outraged that a well-loved song, which has until now been seen as light-hearted, is being unfavourably reinterpreted in a modern context. Personally I have always liked the song and it never occurred to me that it was in any way intended to portray date rape, and I’m not going to change my mind now.
Meanwhile, according to some nonsensical survey, there is a desire for Santa Claus to become gender neutral as part of an attempt to politically correct Christmas. So this week I found myself browsing the news websites too see how poor old Santa is bearing up under the pressures of 2018.
It’s not encouraging. An angry (and disgusting) woman spat in the face of an elf in a shopping centre in Stockton-on-Tees because she did not have a booking so could not take her child into Santa’s grotto. In another example of a lack of Christmas spirit, an irate Santa Claus shouted and swore at children in St Ives during a fire evacuation while tearing off his hat and beard. He also shouted at them to “get the fuck out.” I suspect that this may have been a false Santa like the one in James’ favourite film Elf.
It’s even worse in the USA. In Texas, a man wearing a Santa costume, referred to by police as "Santa," and his wife – referred to by police as "Mrs. Claus" – were driving home when a man in a red car kept blocking them and then began shooting at Santa’s car. Although luckily Santa and his wife were not injured, their assailant must surely be on the naughty list!
Santa did get a bit of revenge though, when a giant inflatable Father Christmas broke free of its moorings and landed on a busy road in Cambridgeshire, causing what the BBC referred to as a “ho-ho-hold up!” And he has his supporters - well wishers rallied round Santa after he was given a ticket for parking in the wrong space in County Durham. People on Facebook even called for the attendant to get a lump of coal for Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone.

The Lying Bitch and the Wardrobe

Today we had our traditional Christmas lunch with Heather and Ewan at the excellent Italian Kitchen, followed by drinks at the Metropolitan. We were joined there by several of our progeny and girlfriends. We all chatted non stop and I couldn’t believe how the afternoon just went by in the blink of an eye. I really enjoy this celebration on the last Sunday before Christmas, and I love that whichever young family members are available usually turn up to join us. Merchant Square looked very pretty with its fairy lights and craft stalls. By about 7 pm the “older generation” (us!) decided to call it a day and we bade our farewells to the young folk and headed home.
In other festive activities, James and I popped into Oran Mor yesterday lunchtime on the spur of the moment, to see if we could obtain return tickets for their sold out pantomime “The Lying Bitch and the Wardrobe”. We were directed to wait at a nearby table, so we ordered food and drinks, and were delighted when we did manage to get two tickets. The pantomime was great fun and very Scottish, with lots of singing, dancing and jokes. There were only four actors but they did a great job, and it was only about an hour and a quarter long, which I liked - some pantomimes can go on too long I think. A clever device was used; the villain “Evilyin” had at her command an invisible army, which arrived with loud tramping noises to drag away anyone who broke her laws. The actors pointed out how this suited their small budget! It was hilarious to see Dame Beanie Bumpherton wrestling against invisible assailants while shouting “Let go of me you bastards!”
And then we went down to Dunlop yesterday evening where we were treated to a delicious dinner and convivial evening by Christine and Gerry; we all ended up playing the “National Trust Board Game” which was not only fun but full of interesting facts. The dream team of Gerry and James triumphed over the rest of us!
James is slumbering gently beside me as I write this. There is no sign of Ally, Cat, Davie or Chanel, who are presumably still out partying with Andrew!

Winter Solstice

Well here we are on the shortest day of the year. In fact we heard on the radio today that the exact time of the winter solstice would be at 10.23 p.m. We were not able to raise a toast to the solstice at that precise moment though, because we were at the GFT watching one of James’ favourite films, Elf. It is a feel-good Christmas film that we both (but especially James!) find very funny. Some of its scenes are priceless. James particularly enjoys Buddy’s excitement when he hears that Santa will be coming to the department store; “I KNOW him!” and I love it when Buddy sees a sign outside a café in New York advertising the “World’s Best Coffee” and he rushes inside to congratulate the bemused staff on their achievement! It was all good fun and I felt quite moved at the end.
In other news, I took Grandma Christmas shopping this week. She has delegated some of her shopping but was understandably keen to do some herself, and we had a very pleasant time together. All of our own Christmas shopping has been purchased, wrapped, and where required, posted. The turkey and trimmings have been ordered from the butcher and will be collected by Ally and Davie on Christmas Eve. A massive Sainsbury’s delivery of all the rest of the festive food will be delivered tomorrow morning. In other words, a very traditional Anderson Christmas, and I’m looking forward to it.

I became an Ice Breaker

This evening I went to see The Bodyguard at the Theatre Royal with Heather. It was very popular and the surrounding restaurants were packed with theatre-goers beforehand - we went to Ask Italian and I have never seen it so busy. Alexandra Burke played the rock star Rachel and she really was very good; her voice is magnificent. Benoit Marechal played the bodyguard and although his character didn’t need to sing or dance much he was a good actor with a nice touch of humour and I predict a major film breakthrough for him soon. At risk of judging by appearances, he is also very attractive. They were supported by an enthusiastic cast of singers and dancers. I have never seen the film so the story was all new to me, and it made me feel very nostalgic for the music of Whitney Houston, who was my age and became famous in the 1980s when we were in our early twenties. The mainly female audience loved the show, and there was much ribald laughter when the baddie appeared shirtless at one point; not quite producing the sinister effect that I’m sure the director was aiming for! I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
I heard an amusing anecdote today. Catherine had been at a Church house group recently and, by way of introduction, had mentioned to two people who didn’t know each other that they both knew me. This swiftly developed into an ice breaker:
“My name is ..... and I know Susan Anderson because I used to be her doctor”
“My name is ..... and I know Susan Anderson because I went to Uganda with her”
“My name is ..... and I know Susan Anderson because I’m in her book group and I went to London with her”
“My name is ..... and I know Susan Anderson because I used to job share with her” etc.
Eventually someone said “My name is ..... and I don’t know Susan Anderson!”
I thought that this was very funny!

Oh what fun we had

I’m wide awake in the middle of the night because we had a wee late night family emergency (it was to do with Grandma and she’s fine, but my adrenaline rush has not quite subsided!) We were at the Madness concert at the Hydro this evening with Alasdair and it was excellent, we were all on our feet dancing and singing. My absolute favourite Madness song is “Our House” but there are so many that I also like, for example “Wings of a Dove” and “Baggy Trousers.” The lyrics of the latter reflect wryly and kind of fondly on Suggs’s schooldays and it made me think of my teaching days; there were stressful times but also good times. It was certainly never dull!
I met two former pupils by chance today; one in the Post Office and one in a café. This is not an unusual occurrence, given that I live near all of my former schools, and I always find it a pleasant experience. One of them surprised me by apologising for the way he had behaved in my class and said “I’m sorry that I was such a nightmare!” Actually he wasn’t that badly behaved as I recall, and it was nice to see that he has grown into a handsome and pleasant young man. The other pupil has always been a delight; she rushed over to give me a hug, and again it was great to see her all grown up and happy. Both encounters made it all seem worthwhile!

Cookie Sugarsocks

We were rather disappointed on Saturday that we couldn’t make our traditional annual trip to Aberfoyle to purchase our Christmas tree. This was because of a truly appalling weather forecast, which included not only the possibility of heavy snow, but also “freezing rain”, which the BBC radio weather report assured us would turn into a sheet of ice as soon as it touched the ground. * We decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and decided to support a local business instead, the festively named “Elfie Trees”, which is a short walk from our house.
We found it easily enough because there were indeed a few elves hanging about the entrance, and in fact it was a really nice wee set up, with a Santa’s grotto and shop as well as a decent choice of Christmas trees. One of the elves looked rather familiar and turned out to be our lovely neighbour and trusty cat-sitter, Tina. We found out that her elf name is Cookie Sugarsocks, which is not something that we will let her forget in a hurry!
Ally, Davie and James soon got the tree set up in the lounge and we lit the fire and spent a very pleasant afternoon decorating it, listening to our good old Christmas music CD, and playing Trivial Pursuit (a blast from the past!) Then Marjory, Forrest, Jenny and Lucy came round for a Chinese meal later and we all watched the final of Strictly Come Dancing, which was great fun.
Sunday has been a lovely day. I wasn’t very enthusiastic when James decided that we needed a trip into town to finish off the Christmas shopping, but actually it went extremely smoothly. We were both in quite an inspired mood and were very happy with our purchases. We finished our trip with tea and scones in the café in John Lewis, at a wee table overlooking all the Christmas lights in Buchanan Galleries. Back home, both Cat and Chanel had arrived in Cambuslang and so there were a lively group of seven of us when Grandma came round for tea. Grandma was on good form, chatting away, and we all enjoyed Cat’s home made brownies with ice cream.

* the weather didn’t turn out as bad as predicted. The snow fell much further north than us, and the road conditions weren’t too bad. However it would have been very dreich on our outing, so we were still happy with our decision.

Pablo the cellist

Pablo Ferrández was certainly the star of the show on Thursday afternoon when I went to listen to Dvorák’s Cello concerto at the City Halls. As Allie pointed out, it’s nice to see someone who really enjoys their job! While waiting for his part to begin, you could tell that Pablo was loving the music, as he listened intently while swaying appreciatively in his seat at the front. Then when he played his cello he looked so happy and was smiling with the principal violinist of the SSO as they interacted musically. Such was his energy that from time to time he had to mop his brow with a little towel that he had brought along for the purpose. Even his eyebrows were energetic! I liked the concerto very much and so did the rest of the audience, who applauded enthusiastically and would not let Pablo leave without playing a wee solo. He wasn’t involved in the second half of the concert, which was Sibelius’ Symphony no. 2 in D major, so he joined the audience  and looked just as enthusiastic as during his own performance. What a fantastic young musician.

David is home for Christmas

David is home from Dundee for Christmas and it’s great to see him. This evening James and I took him out for dinner and to the cinema. Our meal at the Piper’s Tryst was tasty and the film “The Old Man and his Gun,” the recently retired Robert Redford’s last film, was entertaining although a bit long-winded towards the end I thought. Also, at 82, Robert Redford was really too old to be playing a sixty year old. During our meal David regaled us with tales of his scientific exploits. He has recently had an exam, a viva, and a symposium as well as preparing the draft of his dissertation. I find it fascinating that I have given birth to a scientist considering how little I understand science myself. Among many other subjects, we also discussed the uncanny valley, a concept which was news to me but I thought very interesting. Apparently robots that don’t really look very human, or robots who look exactly like humans, are acceptable to people. However in the middle of these two sides, which is the uncanny valley, the robots that look almost like humans, but not quite, make people feel uneasy and repulsed. It raises all sorts of questions about why this is, and explains why films with eerie dolls or evil clowns or zombies are scary.
We also caught David up with all of our news and plans. Ally appeared home later from his Christmas office night out in a very jolly mood, carrying a large doner kebab. 

Unicorn sighting

Today, as I was driving into Pollok Park to go for a walk with Kathryn, I saw a unicorn floating overhead! To be more accurate it was a child’s balloon in the shape of a unicorn, but its glittery pinkness looked surreal against the grey sky. Our walk culminated with coffee and excellent scones in the cosy basement café in Pollok House. 
In the afternoon I took Grandma for an eye check up at Hairmyres. We are well used to our routine now; I park at the drop off point, take Grandma in to the clinic, and then nip out to move the car to the car park. The process is reversed after the appointment.
Meanwhile, in London, Theresa May was having a much more stressful day, and ultimately survived a vote of no confidence against her by her own party. I don’t envy her. Politicians (of all parties) get a very bad press, but to be fair to them they at least start out striving for what they believe in, and it seems like an incredibly tough path to choose. 

Mild for December

Christmas is coming closer and closer. There have been a few frosty mornings, but not many. On one of these I was involved in a rescue of an elderly lady who had slipped on the ice. While trying to help her I slipped on the ice myself and skinned my knee, which was a bit embarrassing! Luckily another passer-by arrived and between the two of us we were able to help her back into her home, thankfully she was only a bit bruised.

However today I was struck by how mild it was when I was out and about. I had an appointment at the New Victoria Hospital in the afternoon about my persistent cough and as I strolled across the car park the breeze seemed almost warm. Having been cleared by ENT and Respiratory clinics, I have been referred to a physiotherapist. He is really positive and is convinced that the problem has been caused many years ago by a virus which affected my intercostal muscles. Strangely enough, I do remember something like this happening in the 1990s, I should have a look through my old diaries. So I have exercises to do which stretch the muscles around my ribs, and I have to gargle with mouthwash and use Vic’s menthol rub and be careful with my posture. I feel cautiously optimistic; it would be so great finally to get rid of this cough. My next appointment is in January. 

Mince Pies in Arrochar

We had very welcome houseguests at the weekend. Since their move North, we have urged Alison and Hugh to stay with us, not just to visit us, but also when they have appointments or social events in the Glasgow area. We were delighted when they took us up on this when they were attending a family party on Saturday evening. While they were out, James and I went to see the film of Mortal Engines, a book which all of our boys enjoyed when they were younger. It has a good story and the special effects of the huge traction cities were excellent. At the end credits we realised that our Peter Jackson theme of this year was continuing, because he was the producer! 

On Sunday we all (including Ally) went on the Hill-Walking Club annual Mince Pies outing. We walked about eight kilometres from Inveruglas to Arrochar and then had our celebration in the delightful Village Inn. They provided mulled wine and mince pies, and then who should appear but a rather familiar looking Santa, who gave us all gifts. Alison and Hugh fitted right in with the hill-walking club regulars and it was a really happy and convivial occasion.

High maintenance Cleopatra

On Thursday evening I went to see NT Live’s Antony and Cleopatra with some of the girls from my Cambuslang book club, plus Heather who sportingly came along at the last minute when someone had to drop out. I had booked the tickets for the Odeon at Springfield Quay, and we all arrived in good time and settled into our comfy reclining seats. I really enjoyed it. Although I have a rudimentary knowledge of the story, I have neither read Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra nor seen it performed, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I found it exciting and fast paced, with an amazing revolving stage which whisked us from Egypt to Rome and back again. The actors were excellent, led by Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo in the title roles. When discussing it at the interval we all agreed that Cleopatra was very high maintenance! In fact both Antony and Cleopatra came across to me as very selfish, driven people, although their passion for each other seemed sincere. The ending involved a live snake which we were assured in the introduction would not be harmed in any way. Indeed, I noticed that after Cleopatra’s maidservant Charmian took her turn in being bitten by it, she managed to stagger behind the scenery long enough to return it safely to its handler before she finally keeled over! The play was long - three hours plus interval - but it held my attention and, being performed live in London, really felt almost like being at the theatre.

Wet but fun weekend

It has been a very wet weekend but I think that we have made the most of it. James convinced me that  the weather forecast had said that Saturday would be the driest of the two days, so in the morning we set off to walk from Cambuslang to Blantyre, a walk that we have done before but not for a while. That’s probably why I had forgotten the distance and was surprised that it was 12 km. The good news is that I took it in my stride (literally!) Perhaps my recent attempts at running are making me a little bit fitter? James’ promises of dry weather were ill-founded and it drizzled steadily the whole time.
When I got home I luxuriated in a warm bubble bath before we headed out for our Saturday evening fun; dinner and then a concert. Heather, Ewan, Ally and Cat were all going to the Midland concert at the Old Fruitmarket, and James and I were going to Australian Pink Floyd at the Hydro at the other end of town. After dropping the car off at our favourite secret parking spot near the Hydro we jumped  on a train to Argyle Street and walked for about ten minutes to the Italian Kitchen to meet the others for dinner. On our way James pointed out that it was at the furthest end of Merchant City from the station and that we would be cutting it fine for our concert. I was of course thrilled that the timing necessitated a luxurious taxi ride back to the Hydro rather than a train - regular readers will know that I always have doubts about public transport due to many bad experiences. The meal was delicious - I have been to the Italian Kitchen quite a few times but I don’t remember being quite so impressed with the food as I was on Saturday; my risotto with haddock was excellent. The company was also most pleasant and we had a convivial meal, with Ally and Cat wearing cowboy hats in preparation for their country music concert.  I would have quite liked to see Midland myself, however James had booked tickets to Aussie Pink Floyd ages ago and I have to admit that they were very good. The enthusiastic middle-aged audience were 90% male and seemed to be impressed by the authenticity of the performance, which apparently has the blessing of the members of the real Pink Floyd. There was an Australian twist to the video clips, and near the end we were treated to a giant inflatable kangaroo bouncing up and down on the stage!
Sunday was indeed a much wetter day than Saturday. James needed new climbing boots so we went to Tiso and had a tasty lunch before James spent an inordinately long time trying on two near identical pairs of boots and testing them by walking round Tiso’s rocky track in the middle of the shop. And then we lit the fire in the lounge and had a cosy afternoon and read our books and made a few travel plans for next year. So although it was a wet weekend, it was actually rather lovely.