Crepuscular Rays

Jamie left this evening to fly back to New Zealand, via Dubai. Needless to say I felt very sad to say goodbye to him. Earlier in the day, James and I made an impromptu journey to Dundee. It was Davie and Chanel’s last day in their flat in Rosefield Street and they still had way more than one carful of their belongings to be transported. We filled up our car with boxes and we then treated ourselves to coffee and scones at the Glendoick Outdoor Centre on the way home. James bought two scented rose bushes for the front garden. Meanwhile Jamie had been branching and lunching and coffeeing with a few friends. Later he and I went round to Grandma’s house to say goodbye to her. She told him that she didn’t want him to go because she would miss him. It was sad but also sweet that she feels that way about him.
Our second car journey of the day was to Edinburgh Airport to drop Jamie off. He managed to make the weight limit on his luggage - just! He was taking his ski boots and his new tent back to NZ so it was a close run thing. James, Jamie and I had tea in Wetherspoons before saying our farewells when it was time for Jamie to go through security.
When we got home I felt a bit down, but Ally, Davie and Chanel invited me for a lively game of outdoor table tennis, and the cats were very cute, and we saw crepuscular rays emanating from the setting sun, and we watched Glastonbury on television. All of this cheered me up but I still miss Jamie. 

Breakfast in the garden

It has been great having Jamie home for the past (nearly) two weeks and the time has flown by all too quickly. The weather has heated up to truly heatwave levels - 28 degrees yesterday - so we have been having breakfast in the garden in the sunshine every morning. Jamie has been catching up with friends but we have had plenty of time with him too, sitting on the bench at the top of the garden and chatting, and going for a walk in the west end.
Meanwhile over the last few days our soon-to-be-former Dundonians have been appearing and disappearing with carfuls of their belongings which they will be storing at our house for the time being. By yesterday three carfuls of stuff had arrived containing an alarmingly large volume of cardboard boxes which were carried upstairs or into the garage.
Last night we had a celebratory family barbecue attended by Forrest, Marjory, Jenny, Lucy, all of our boys, Chanel and Grandma. Unfortunately Neil was on a night out with some friends so was unable to join us, and Cat has gone back to London. We were celebrating David and Chanel’s graduations as well as Jamie’s visit and it was a happy and lively occasion. The weather was absolutely brilliant; in fact it was far too hot for me and I suffered a bit until the sun gradually lost the intensity of its heat as the evening progressed. James made an excellent job of the barbecue, and everyone ate their fill. Dessert was very simple - strawberries and ice cream, which went down very well. Grandma loved the heat, she is such a sun worshipper! And she really enjoyed having her grandchildren all around her. We all sat out in the garden until after 10 p.m. in the warm evening. 

Tim Tam Slam

It rained heavily all over Scotland in the early hours of Monday and continued on and off all day. In the Cairngorms our intrepid hill-walkers wisely decided that discretion is the better part of valour and walked out of the mountains to have lunch in Braemar. They arrived home in the afternoon with lots of laundry and some fantastic photos of their mountain adventures. Meanwhile, without the car in the morning, I was forced to take a bus to Kingsgate in order to meet Maria for coffee and do a wee bit of shopping. On boarding the bus home I was greeted enthusiastically by the chatty crowd of passengers, one of whom observed “What a day it is the day!” I presumed that she was referring to the rainy weather and politely agreed. The bus sped down the road alarmingly, lurching round the corners. When I got off the bus at Whitlawburn I must have looked completely bewildered because several of my fellow passengers insisted on giving me directions home even though I hadn’t asked for any. Somehow they had sensed that I was not a regular on the route.

Today we all went to Tiso where Jamie bought a lightweight tent, with which he was very pleased, and thence to the Climbing Wall in Paisley Road West. Jamie, Ally and Cat did a couple of hours climbing while James and I went for a pleasant walk in Bellahouston Park and sat outside the House for a Art Lover to enjoy a cool drink. We all then visited Grandma and she was loving the young ones’ chat, smiling around at them all.

Then we went for a tour of Drygate Brewery followed by dinner. We had a great time and the others all enjoyed trying out all the different beers. The food was good and the whole place had a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. When we got home I was taught by Jamie how to do a Tim Tam Slam. Tim Tams are similar to Penguin Biscuits (but better) and originated in Australia, although they are popular in New Zealand too. What you do is bite off diagonally opposite corners of the Tim Tam, then submerge one end in your mug of tea as if the biscuit were a straw. Then you suck your tea through the biscuit, which heats and melts the inside of it. When you feel the tea coming into your mouth it is time to eat the Tim Tam, which is by now literally “melt in the mouth.” It is mind-blowingly delicious! 

Sticky Sunday

Oh boy it has been very warm today. Not just warm, but very close and sticky. It was extremely pleasant when I was reading my book in my hammock in the shade of the pear trees, but I had other things to do as well as relaxing. My main task was to clear out the upstairs bathroom ready for it to be ripped out tomorrow, to make way for our new bathroom units. I’m a bit conflicted about this. I realise that our bathroom has become shabby over many years, but I have always liked it. It has lots of storage and I like its soft colours and Orkney themed tiles designed especially for us by Elspeth Gardner. (The tiles are going to be saved and stored for future use.) Oh well, it needs done.
When I was round at Grandma’s later on, it was actually hotter outside than inside the house, which is amazing because Grandma keeps her heated turned up to 83 degrees year round! We sat in the front garden and I did a wee bit of weeding. I have had a few messages and photos sent to me from the hill-walking contingent from the Cairngorms, who seem to be doing a terrifying amount of walking in the great weather. They are camping in areas too remote for a phone signal and can only send occasional messages from the summits of hills.
Back in my hammock in the early evening, it was still very warm. Tom and Flora companionably joined me by lying in the flowerbed nearby and we all listened to the birds singing in the trees. It was very peaceful. 

Tea and madeira cake with Grandma

On Saturday morning, James, Jamie, Ally and Cat set off to the Cairngorms for a three or possibly four day camping and hill-walking trip. I have stayed at home because I’m not fit enough to keep up with them - maybe I will be one day! I had a relaxing day with my kitties, in the garden in the beautiful weather. It really is summer now, and the trees are in their full magnificent foliage.
I went round to Grandma’s in the afternoon and took her out in the wheelchair to enjoy the sunshine. Unfortunately I found her on the floor again, she is falling a lot now. I couldn’t get her up by myself, but thank goodness for the Alert team who quickly came round, and luckily she wasn’t hurt. After our walk I brought her to our house where we had a cup of tea and some of James’ excellent madeira cake, and looked at Davie’s graduation photos. Grandma made the difficult decision not to come to Davie’s graduation at the beginning of the week. We would have taken her with us if she was well enough but she is increasingly frail and she realised herself that being out of her house for more than twelve hours would be too much for her. So we have planned a small family party - possibly a barbecue depending on weather - next Thursday, so that she can feel included in the celebrations. And in the mean time she enjoyed looking at the photos on the television screen. She thinks that I suited my brightly coloured dress with my yellow jacket, and told me that I should “wear colours more often!” What a nice thing to say! 

Our Son the Scientist!

On Friday it was another early start, back up the road to Dundee, this time for David’s graduation. It was another bright, sunny morning and we had a coffe and pasteis de nata * in Henry’s before the ceremony. David was so happy and looked very handsome in his kilt. I was so glad that both Jamie and Alasdair were able to be there, and that Cat and Chanel were there too. The ceremony was warm and celebratory and he was tapped on the head with a Dundee bunnet and became a graduate! More sunshine and more photos ensued and then we went to the Bridgeview Station Restaurant for lunch. This led to our first and only disappointment of the day. I had booked a “graduation meal” and had assumed that we would be given the special graduation menu advertised on their website. However it turned out that the special menu was only for the evening. Needless to say I was not best pleased because this really had not been made clear either on their website or when I booked by phone. I didn’t make a fuss because I didn’t want to upset Davie but I have sent off a stiff email of complaint today. Chanel’s Dad (James) and Floriana joined us so there were nine of us. Everybody was very understanding about the menu mix up and we had a very pleasant and convivial lunch. Our last festivity of the day was the garden party outside the student union which was just lovely. It was enlivened by the weather switching a couple of times suddenly from warm sunshine to torrential rain, making us glad that we had James’ two giant golf umbrellas. But the sunshine predominated and prosecco and tiny sandwiches and strawberry tarts abounded. Jamie realised that he graduated as a doctor exactly five years ago on exactly the same day, 21st June. How the time has flown! By seven o’clock we were done in, so the Glasgow contingent said our goodbyes and I drove us home. I am so pleased for David, he had a great day.

* These pasteis de nata were particularly delightful because they had raspberries in the custard! 

Chanel's Graduation

We had an early start on Wednesday because we needed to be in Dundee by 9 a.m. for a very special occasion - Chanel’s Graduation. We met up with Chanel’s family in the square outside Caird Hall, which brought back happy memories of Jamie’s graduations. The queue was long but it moved smartly and soon we were watching the dignitaries come in to the Hall as we sang Gaudeamus Igitur. It was a lovely ceremony and a very happy occasion. Chanel was wearing a beautiful red dress under her gown and looked stunning. After the ceremony we took lots of photos outside in the sunshine and then had drinks in the V&A café before lunch. Unfortunately James wasn’t feeling 100%, he had woken with a headache, but he had a little nap in the car and felt better in time for lunch. Lunch was at the Malmaison and it was absolutely excellent. It was very nice to chat to Chanel’s mum and her cute wee brother Lincoln, and also to get to know Chanel’s Dad a bit better and to meet his girlfriend Floriana. We chatted until it was time for the graduation garden party, at which point James and I said our goodbyes and set off back to Glasgow, happy but rather exhausted. 

Summer nights

Just a wee quick blog post from bed to say that although it’s twenty-five past eleven at night, it’s not quite dark! The sun has set but there is still a band of orange low down in the sky, and the sky itself is still a fairly light blue with a few dark clouds. Amazing. And we’re not even at the longest day yet.
Jamie and I went for a delicious lunch today at Ollie’s in Nithsdale Road while James cut the garden hedges, and then we all went along to visit Grandma. The weather was sunny and warm, and then half an hour later there would be torrential rain bouncing off the ground. And then back to sunshine again. As Grandma said, it couldn’t seem to make its mind up! 

Father’s Day fun

Sunday was a very special day. Jamie arrived home from New Zealand for a visit which is for Davie’s graduation on Friday 21st June. Davie messaged him a couple of months ago to say that he would likely be graduating and would Jamie like to come to his graduation, and so Jamie has flown half way around the world for the occasion. I love how close my boys are! James, Ally, Davie and Chanel met him at the airport at lunchtime, and we went straight to the Hyndland Fox for a Father’s Day celebration lunch. How nice for James to have all three of his sons with him. They gave him a card and a t-shirt with pictures of cats on it - let’s just say that it’s very striking! After a tasty lunch we went for a pleasant and sunny walk in Kelvingrove Park and then up to the University where we strolled around the quadrangles. Back at home, Jamie and Davie went round to visit Grandma and then Ally instigated a lively game of table tennis in the garden. After dinner Davie and Chanel headed to Dundee where they will be making arrangements for their graduations. By this time Jamie looked completely exhausted. He had done a grand job of managing to stay awake until about 9.30 p.m. in order to adapt to British Time, but he suddenly couldn’t keep his eyes open and headed upstairs to bed, where he tells me that he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

A Play and some Planets

Our long drive home from Warwickshire on Friday was made even longer by roadworks on the M6 near Manchester. It meant that we didn’t get home until tea time, but we made the best of the journey by listening to a few episodes of a podcast about the Apollo 11 moon landing, called 13 Minutes to the Moon. It is fascinating and made the time fly by.
On Saturday morning I booked some events for the Edinburgh Book Festival in August. I logged in as soon as the tickets became available because there are some really exciting authors who I want to see this year, for example Thomas Keneally, who is a hero of mine. I was pleased to nab all of the tickets that I wanted. Then off I set to Oran Mor where I was meeting three of my lovely ex-colleagues, Elaine, Jenn and David, to see A Play, a Pie and a Pint. I arrived first so I bagged some excellent seats, and then who did I happen to meet but John, one of the former head teachers from the school that we all used to work at. When the others arrived we all had a good chat; he was so excited to see us that I wonder if he’s a bit lonely. The play was absolutely brilliant. Written by Denise Mina, it’s called Ida Tamson, and starred Elaine C. Smith. It has such a good story, and a great ending. The audience gave it a standing ovation. One of the other actors was Joy McAvoy, who is the sister of well-known actor James McAvoy, and he was watching it from the front row!
After the play we spoke briefly to Denise Mina, who is a second cousin of Jenn’s, and then the four of us spent a hilarious afternoon in Oran Mor’s bar. I had meant to go shopping before meeting James in town later, but I totally ran out of time and went straight to the Royal Concert Hall, where James and I went to see Holst’s The Planets. Oh boy it was fantastic. There was a large screen above the orchestra, on which film of each planet was projected as its music was playing. It was all great but for me Jupiter’s music stood out above the rest. Just amazing. 

Smelling the roses

Today we visited the Tudor mansion Coughton Court, at Alison’s suggestion. It has been owned by the Throckmorton family for 600 years and although it’s now owned by the National Trust, the current generation of the family still have an apartment in it. I loved the house and its history. The Throckmortons were a Catholic family who often found themselves on the wrong side of the royal family as the Tudors moved from Catholicism to Protestantism and back again. They were heavily involved in various plots against the monarchs Elizabeth 1 and James VI / I, culminating in the infamous Gunpowder Plot in 1605. The failure of this led to a depletion of their fortunes from which they never fully recovered. The house is quirky and full of original features, and it has lovely gardens. We weren’t able to explore the surrounding woodland and river walks because they are currently flooded by the recent torrential rain, but we spent time in the kitchen garden and walled gardens and they have loads of beautiful flowers in full bloom, including some amazing scented roses. What fascinated me was the variety of different scents from the roses; some very richly perfumed, some sweet, some citrussy. We were fairly lucky with the weather and when the rain came on we wisely retreated to the café for scones and coffee, before venturing back outside when it cleared up again.
Our next stop was Stratford on Avon, where we went for a stroll around its picturesque centre, marvelling at how some of the more precarious looking half timbered houses were managing to stay upright. As we walked back along the riverside the sun made a welcome appearance.
Back at the hotel we had another excellent dinner and evening of chat and laughter. 

Swimming with a duck

I enjoyed swimming in an outdoor pool again today, this time at the Ardencote Hotel near Warwick. This hotel is a favourite of ours, and I particularly enjoy the outdoor pool. However the leisure facilities have gone upmarket since last year, and the “destination spa” is now separate from the rest of the hotel and costs extra. While this is a shrewd and enterprising move by the hotel, it annoys me to have to pay for something that was previously included in the cost of the hotel stay. We managed to minimise this extra cost by changing our hotel package and by lunchtime I was swimming up and down happily, accompanied by a friendly duck who joined me in the water. The re-vamped spa rooms are very smart and we tried them all. My favourite is the Himalayan Salt Spa.
We are in Warwickshire to meet up with Alison and Hugh, who are also staying at the Ardencote for the next couple of days. They were already planning to be in the area so we decided to join them for a bit of relaxation and sight-seeing. We all met up in the bar before having a delicious dinner while catching up on all of our news. It has been a great evening and we are looking forward to spending the day together tomorrow despite the rather rainy weather. 

Sunny Weekend

The weather continued to be warm and sunny over the weekend. After taking Grandma to the shops in the wheelchair on Saturday, we stayed in her front garden for a while and chatted while I did a bit of weeding (practising my new found skill!) While she sat outside in the warm sunshine a few neighbours passed by and stopped to chat with her which was great. In the evening Marjory, Forrest, Neil and Lucy came round for dinner with James, me and Ally, and we had a lovely evening.
On Sunday James decided that it was high time to take our bikes out for their first excursion of the year. I haven’t been back on my bike since I fell off it last summer, so I was a bit nervous. I thought that I had a reprieve when James found out that he had a flat tire, but he soon got it pumped up and we set off. We cycled in to Glasgow Green where we had coffee sitting outside the People’s Palace. I was tired and a bit moany which annoyed James, but we soon reconciled and cycled home in high spirits - the return journey was 22 km. We strolled down to Wetherspoons in the evening for a celebratory dinner. 

New Cumnock Swimming Pool

I saw the Tamar Manoukian swimming pool at New Cumnock mentioned on the television news when it first opened a couple of years ago and I have been meaning to visit it for a while, because it is an open air pool, which is something that I very much enjoy. So on Friday morning I set off on the 54 minute drive to New Cumnock, leaving James at home where he wanted to play with his new pickaxe in the garden. I was not disappointed. The staff were really friendly and showed me around. It’s a full 25 metre pool and is very smart. The pool is heated and there is underfloor heating in the changing rooms, as well as a wee café for poolside snacks and drinks. I was so happy swimming up and down while looking at the clouds scudding across the sky and feeling a gentle breeze on my face.
It has been refurbished by the Dumfries House Trust which is a project of Prince Charles, with various wealthy donors including the eponymous Tamar Manoukian, about whom I couldn’t find much on the internet. They really have made a lovely job of it, and I just wish that it was a bit nearer Cambuslang. The alternative is the Gourock Outdoor Pool, which takes about 45 minutes drive to get there. It has great sea views and is salt water, but not so beautifully designed as the one in New Cumnock. I think I will try to visit both during this summer. 

Disturbed Night

We had a thrice disturbed night on Thursday, which is quite unusual because our road is fairly quiet. We were first woken by some neighbours who were talking loudly in the street in the early hours; I think that they were setting off on holiday but they were certainly much noisier than necessary. Then, still in the very early hours, we heard a terrible clattering in the downstairs hall. James rushed downstairs to find that Flora had squeezed into the tiny space behind the wine rack, perhaps remembering that a mouse had once hidden from her there, and had managed to tip a couple of bottles out of the rack and onto the floor. Luckily they hadn’t broken but what a racket! Finally at about 5 a.m. a bird came flying into the bedroom, closely pursued by Tom cat. It crashed into the window and Tom grabbed it in his mouth and ran off in the direction of the stairs. James chased him but by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs the poor bird dropped lifeless from Tom’s jaws. We were exhausted for the rest of the day. 

The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil

On Wednesday James and I went to Perth where I had booked tickets to The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil, a play that I have wanted to see for a very long time - decades actually! I remember seeing it advertised by the 7:84 Theatre Company at various times during the 1970s and 80s but I never got round to seeing it. It tells the story of Scotland from the highland clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries, through the exploitation of the highland estates for shooting in the 19th century, through to the mismanagement of the oil industry in the 1970s. It was written in 1973 so doesn’t go any further, although the actors did make some references to present day Scotland. I thought that it might be a bit earnest and serious, but although it told a story that was very grim at times, it was actually a very entertaining and energetic performance that included much singing and dancing. Although I was well aware that it told the story from a particular viewpoint, I found it very moving and inspiring. I was so glad to have seen it. At the end the entire audience stood up to give it a standing ovation. Well, not quite the whole audience - someone who shall remain nameless stayed in his seat.
Since the trip to Perth takes an hour we had decided to go for a walk before going to the theatre. The weather was not inspiring but we were quite lucky and it stayed dry for our walk. James chose Kinnoull Hill, and we walked up from the river. We strolled through pleasant woodland and emerged on the edge of the cliff which overlooks the road from Perth to Dundee, and which has great views over the River Tay. As we stood at Kinnoull Tower, which is on a rocky outcrop just along from the summit, clearly visible from the road far below, I reflected that I have driven past it about a thousand times on my way to Dundee but this was the first time I have ever stood at the top. 

Lawn mower repair woman

This morning was nice and sunny so James decided to cut the grass. I was sitting outside on the bench reading my book when I heard sounds of frustration from James. The lawn mower kept stalling. He was footering about with it trying to see what was the matter. I did a quick search on the internet: “Most likely reason for a petrol lawn mower to stall.” As I scrolled down the search results the consistently most likely reason was using old petrol. It turned out that James was using new petrol bought only two weeks ago, but he had not completely drained away the old petrol first, thinking that it would be well diluted by the new stuff. So James proceeded to empty all of the petrol out of the lawn mower, refilled it with new petrol, and voila! The lawn mower worked perfectly! James says that repairing lawn mowers could perhaps be my new career.
In the afternoon we visited Grandma and she reminded us that she has lots of rhubarb in her garden that we could use. James harvested it straight away and when we got home he stewed it and then made rhubarb syrup. There was a huge amount of rhubarb but after it was cooked and strained there were only two bottles of syrup! It will be delicious diluted with soda water. 

Belshazzar’s Feast

The weather is still very unsettled but that didn’t stop us from going for a breezy walk on Troon Beach on Saturday morning, followed by a slap up brunch in the Venice Café. On Saturday evening James and I went to the Royal Concert Hall to see Belshazzar’s Feast, recommended to me by my friend Fiona who sings in the RSNO Chorus. It is a big choral piece and we enjoyed it. Belshazzar surely got his comeuppance when he saw the writing on the wall! I hadn’t realised that it was written by the composer William Walton, whose beautiful gardens we visited on the island of Ischia a couple of years ago. Ischia is so beautiful and we would love to go back.

Davie and Chanel called in briefly yesterday on their way to Liverpool, it was great to see them. In the evening we were on our way to Gordon and Sue’s for dinner and to see their recently refurbished home, when we called in at the nearby Waitrose to get flowers. While James waited in the car, I noticed some rather attractive hanging baskets at a reasonable price, and promptly purchased one. James’ face was a picture when I appeared back at the car laden with foliage! We had a lovely evening and met Sue’s daughter and her boyfriend; their house is looking beautiful.  

Well done Davie and Chanel

And all of a sudden it’s June! James and I went for a walk along the beach at Troon today, and although it was cloudy, it was really warm. It felt like summer.
We had a curry with Heather and Ewan last night at the excellent Rasoi, and very much enjoyed both the curry and the company. We got a message during the meal that Chanel had received her exam results and now has a B.Sc. Honours in Forensic Anthropology. Her and Davie’s results were not expected until Wednesday so as well as being delighted for her we wondered if David’s results might be early too. We didn’t have to wait long. While we were having coffee back at Heather and Ewan’s after the meal, the phone rang, and it was Davie to say that he has been awarded a 2:1 Honours degree in Biochemistry. We were absolutely thrilled, and Heather and Ewan said some extremely kind things about Davie. David has always been a very intelligent boy but he has never found his educational experiences easy. This started very early, in Primary 1, and although we tried to find out why school was so difficult for him, via many meetings with teachers and educational psychologists, we never found a straightforward answer. He has dyslexia but that doesn’t completely explain how hard it has been for him. Perhaps Davie just doesn’t fit into the system; needless to his very loyal Gran (my Mum) had every faith in him and compared him to Einstein and Richard Branson, who also didn’t do well at school! She loved him so much.
David has tried and worked and tried and tried again. He developed his love of science, was nurtured by some good teachers and tutors along the way, and now he has showed that he does have the ability. Gran was right! I am so proud of him. And I hope that this result gives him the confidence that he deserves to achieve whatever he wants in life. Because whatever he chooses to do, it will be amazing.