Bittersweet

It has been a strange week. Although Jamie came home for the sad reason of Grandma’s funeral, it has still been lovely to have him at home. On Sunday we all went on the Hill-walking club’s annual mince pies outing to Aberfoyle; James was keen to get some fresh air and “blow the cobwebs away.” Well the weather was so wet and blustery that it nearly blew us away let alone any cobwebs! When putting on my boots I managed to pull a muscle in my back so painfully that it’s only just getting better now, six days later. Still, the atmosphere back at the warm and cosy Faerie Inn pub was rather jolly, especially when Santa arrived. There were some young children there this year, grandchildren of Heidi and of Jean and Tom, and they were extremely sweet.
During the week I had the opportunity to spend lots of time with Jamie, as did James, Ally and Davie. There were coffees and lunches and shopping trips into town. On Tuesday, an unfeasibly wet day, James, Jamie and I decided to visit the Hill House in Helensburgh, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Amazingly none of us had ever visited it before. I was very impressed. It’s a beautifully designed family home, commissioned by the family who ran the Blackie publishing company. Recently, to combat its terrible damp problems (archaeologist Neil Oliver has compared it to an aspirin in the process of dissolving) the house has been completely encased in an amazing mesh cage. This is designed to keep it more than 70% dry from rain, while allowing it to gradually dry out over several years. There are walkways over which you can walk and look down on the top of the house. I should add that it also has a delightful coffee shop where we had lunch and  I ate a delicious Empire biscuit.
While in Scotland, Jamie also met up with a few friends, voted in the General Election, and helped us to choose our Christmas tree. It was so great to see all of my three sons together in the evenings, chatting and laughing. But of course Grandma was never far from our thoughts. The boys talked about her and reminisced about things she used to say and do. So this week has been a bittersweet mix of happy and sad. Jamie set off back to New Zealand this evening. We will miss him but look forward to seeing him again when we visit him in February.