Goodbye 2020

2020 has been a strange year, dominated by the Covid 19 Pandemic. A year ago, we had absolutely no idea of what would happen, and it has been terrible, with many people dying of Coronavirus all over the world. 
Despite this there have been some good times in our wee household. I'm so glad that we visited Jamie in February, because who knows when we will be able to see him again? I miss him so much. 

I did some things in quarantine that I would never have found time for under normal circumstances. I did some journaling and drawing, and paper marbling, which I enjoyed.
I have never spent so much time at our local park as this year and I have come to appreciate it. I have explored all sorts of corners of our neighbourhood and I have ascended Dechmont Hill lots of times. 
I am proud of producing Grandma’s recipe book (with James) and giving a copy of it to all of her grandchildren. Using the recipe book, I made a Clootie Dumpling and a Black Bun for the first time ever. 
In July when we were allowed to go to Ullapool we furnished and kitted out the cottage, exploring the area and welcoming visitors. We made quince jelly which was a huge success. 
In the autumn we were locked down again and entertained visitors in the garden at our new fire pit. 
And we learned how to keep in touch with friends and family using Zoom. 
Special mention should be made of James’ many lockdown projects. He furnished and painted my Writing Shed. He carefully sanded and varnished an old blanket box from his Mum’s cellar which now looks great. He spent most of the year working in three gardens: our Cambuslang garden, our Ullapool garden and Grandma’s garden. He made two bird boxes for the Ullapool garden. 
He did lots of baking including the Christmas Cake which he fed with brandy and covered with marzipan and then iced. 
As well as all this, he did about 2 hours walking every day - adding up to an amazing 8.1 million steps. 
So we did our best, despite the awful pandemic news, and also provided an environment where Ally and Cat could work from home, and David could complete his MSc - and they all worked extremely hard and Davie passed his MSc with flying colours. I was very proud of them. We also welcomed Chanel to Casa Anderson as soon as she was allowed to travel north from Liverpool.

We welcomed the young folk for holidays in Ullapool in the summer when they were permitted; also Heather, Ewan, Jenn and Russ. This has been a good thing to be able to do for family and friends, because there has been no travel abroad permitted due to lockdown.
I struggled personally in the early summer, perhaps due to all the bad news about Covid and to missing Grandma. I came through with a lot of support from family and friends which I appreciated, especially from James and Jennifer, who were my absolute heroes. Also Heather, Philippa, Jackie, Cat, Chanel, Alison B, and Ally W; I'm a lucky girl to have such friends. The restrictions were lifted quite a bit over the summer but as the numbers of cases went up again the restrictions were increased again and now we are in Tier 4 everyone is pinning their hopes on the vaccines. These should be rolled out over the next few months. 
As for 2020, the best thing that we can do is remember the good bits, hope that the pandemic will soon be over, and look forward to 2021. 

Carpe Diem

We are now in that strange time between Christmas and New Year. All the stranger in 2020 of course! It’s usually a quiet time for us with maybe a few social outings, but nearly the whole of the UK went back into Tier 4 on Boxing Day so no cafés or pubs or restaurants are open. 

As the year draws to a close we have just heard that the Grandpa of one of Ally’s friends has died of Covid 19. And one of the head teachers that I used to work with, and whom I met several times enjoying his retirement at Play, Pie and a Pint, died suddenly of a heart attack late on Christmas Day. He was only ten years older than me and in good shape. We really should enjoy life while we can. 

Despite rather wet weather, James has still been going out for his daily walk and yesterday he surpassed his year’s target of 8 million steps, which is pretty amazing. That means that this year he has walked about 4000 miles, or over 6000 km. so that means that he could have walked to India, or indeed to the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am very proud of him. 

Today however the weather was cold but beautiful, with the palest of pale blue skies. This was excellent timing because we had arranged to meet Christine and Gerry at Whitelee wind farm for a walk - an area in which it is currently legal for both families to take exercise, less than 5 miles from our own council boundaries. Although it was cold there was no wind at all, so we could stroll along, pleasantly chatting. It has been snowing up there and there was a light, but not too slippy, layer of crunchy snow beneath our feet. I had brought a flask of hot juice and James had brought a hip flask filled with port and brandy, which we had with mince pies beside the Covenanters Memorial. I didn’t realise that there is a tiny Covenanters museum at the farm there; we must visit it next year when hopefully it will reopen. We had a lovely afternoon. Carpe diem. 

Christmas of 2020

Christmas Day was lovely. Ally and Davie (back home for his permitted one day of Christmas with family) came through to our room and opened their Santa stockings and it turned out that Santa had left a stocking for James and me too! Then we FaceTimed Jamie in New Zealand and were introduced to his new girlfriend, Kerry. She is lovely. 

Marjory, Forrest and family arrived round late morning and we exchanged gifts and chatted and had drinks and snacks. We had our Christmas dinner just after watching the Queen’s Speech at 3 p.m. and there was more than plenty! Then we all watched a Disney film called Coco (meh, not my cup of tea but nice to watch it together) and then Ally and Davie and I played a board game, Ticket to Ride, which was great fun. 

In other words, a traditional Anderson Christmas, for which I fell suitably grateful in this strange year of 2020 when so much has changed in our pandemic ridden world. 

Preparing for Christmas

James and I had a productive couple of hours this afternoon sorting and wrapping the last few presents and rewarded ourselves by watching the last episode of the first series of Engrenages. I like detective / police series but James usually isn’t so keen on them, however this is really well made and has good characters so he seems to be enjoying it so far. 
We had very sad news at the weekend when our friend, Gordon's wife Sue died. She was a truly lovely person and will be much missed. We had popped over with flowers for her and a wee hamper of tasty treats for the household just last week. I feel so sad for her family. 
Covid deaths continue to rise - there were 744 today which is the highest daily amount since the end of April, when numbers were beginning to decrease. Most of Europe has banned travel to and from the UK because of the new mutant strain of coronavirus, although this will hopefully be sorted out soon via testing for the virus. The same goes for all the lorry drivers blocked at the Channel ports, although sadly it will take days for them to be tested so a lot of them will miss Christmas with their families. And Nicola Sturgeon has banned travel between Scotland and England apart from for essential travel. 
I must finish with some better news. We had our traditional pre-Christmas Sunday lunch with Heather and Ewan, at new restaurant Ralph and Finns. The food was absolutely delicious, although due to current regulations there was no alcohol and due to restricted numbers (groups must not be more than six) we couldn’t meet up with our usual collection of offspring afterwards. Our Christmas lunch with our dear friends is always one of the highlights of the season for me, and at the end of this strange year, the lunch and the company on Sunday was just as lovely as ever, and in fact very important to me. 
Yesterday James iced and decorated the Christmas Cake that he made a few weeks ago. He also made dates stuffed with marzipan which are delicious. Cat and I watched Sleepless in Seattle, which she has never seen before and we both enjoyed it - the technology and hairstyles are rather dated but I think it’s still a great film. We also finished our latest “girls’ series”, which is called Dash and Lily, a feel-good Christmassy story which was very satisfying. We all played Monopoly in the lounge last night, with the Christmas tree all lit up at the window and the cats companionably lying around on the couches. The Christmas shopping was delivered at lunch time today and the cupboards are pleasantly full. I think that we are just about ready for Christmas. 

Covid - good news and bad news

The recent good news about Covid is that a vaccine has now been approved and is being given in order of priority, firstly to vulnerable and elderly people and frontline health care workers, and then by age from older to younger. I’m low down on the list and I’m fine with that. I am in good health and am happy for higher priority people to get the vaccine first. As a non scientist I am also a bit worried about getting the vaccine which has been developed and tested so very quickly. I remember all the problems that we had in the 1980s in the computer company I worked for, when we were under huge pressure to rush in newly developed software for new legislation - the notorious Community Charge or “Poll Tax.” The results were not good! 

Davie has reassured me that the vaccine has been tested properly, and I trust him, so I will get it when my turn comes. I suppose that if people refuse the vaccine then Covid will continue to spread, so I will overcome my worries for the greater good. And hope that I don’t grow fur or turn into a zombie - just joking! 

The bad news is that cases of and deaths from Covid are rising again - and this is before the five day easing of restrictions at Christmas. The governments (British and Scottish) are understandably reluctant to go back on their promise of small Christmas gatherings indoors, because it would be bad for morale and also I think a lot of people would just go ahead with their planned celebrations anyway. But on the other hand, if the number of deaths increases significantly because of the temporary easing of restrictions, this would also be really bad. So there’s a lot of uncertainty just now.

Update - late afternoon. Well I was right about the uncertainty. In Scotland the five day window of easing Covid restrictions has now been reduced to one day - Christmas Day. Then from Boxing Day we will move back into Tier 4 (South Lanarkshire was in Tier 4 at the beginning of the month but we have been in Tier 3 for the last couple of weeks) which means that the cafés, pubs, restaurants and non essential shops will have to close again. Where Jennifer lives, in Buckinghamshire, as well as in London and the south east of England, will be going into Tier 4 immediately, so no mixing of households at Christmas at all. It’s a real shame but what can we do? Keeping people safe has to be the most important thing. 

A Wedding and Christmas on screen

This afternoon a surprise message came through on Hugh and Lucy’s Wedding WhatsApp group. Like many other young people this year, their wedding has had to be postponed due to Covid, in their case from July 2020 to July 2021. The message informed us that they had just got married today in Gretna Green! To quote Lucy’s message, “This year has been pretty rubbish so we thought we'd end it on a high!” I’m very pleased for them; they are still planning to have a big celebration in due course. 
Christmas is only a week away and this evening Cat and I chose another festive film, The Holiday, which we have watched many times before, but is always good. It has a really excellent cast of actors; Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black. It also stars Eli Wallach, who we watched in “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” with Davie and Chanel when they visited us in Ullapool. He was looking very fit at 90 and in fact lived for another eight years after making the film. 
Cat and I finished watching “The Bold Type” last week. I had read that the filming of the fourth series had been interrupted by the outbreak of Covid, so the series was shorter than intended and the last couple of episodes had to be changed about. Well they did a good job because I thought it was still excellent; I hope that they commission another series. Cat and I went straight on to watch the whole of the series “Emily in Paris” which has been great fun. It’s about the adventures of a young American woman who is sent to work in Paris, and has to get used to the different culture. Lily Collins is delightful as Emily but the real star is beautiful Paris. I would love to go back there after Covid. 

Tagine Tuesday

Tagine Tuesday was a rip-roaring success! I made lamb with apricot tagine (tofu and apricot for me and Cat) and it turned out to be very tasty. The only hitch was that I started cooking later than I had intended so we didn’t eat until about ten past eight! Nobody seemed to mind and we had pancakes with maple syrup and raspberries for our dessert. 
The reason that I was late to cook dinner was that I had spent the afternoon making the final adjustments to Grandma’s recipe book. I hope to put it in for printing tomorrow. James has designed the cover using examples of Grandma’s beautiful writing. We made Grandma’s Black Bun recipe at the weekend; it consists of a great deal of spiced fruit encased in pastry. I think that we will work our way through the recipe book and take photos of the results; I’m already thinking of an illustrated second edition!
We got a lovely gift yesterday from Christine and Gerry. It’s a personalised Advent gift basket. Each of the food items comes from a different part of Scotland, such as Dunlop cheese, Orkney oatcakes, Mull biscuits and Arran mustard. There is also an Ardnamurchan Calendar, wine for James and a Molton Brown Christmas bauble filled with bubble bath for me. It is such a thoughtful and kind present and makes me feel very festive. 

Culinary

Ally and Cat cooked us a delicious meal last week. It was a spicy Japanese ramen dish and the flavours were absolutely gorgeous. James and Ally’s version included chicken and Cat made a tofu version for her and me. The tofu was browned and then marinaded and it was really excellent.

This got me thinking that my cooking is in a bit of a rut. I cook most of the evening meals because Ally and Cat work long hours and James is busy with all sorts of projects around the house. The exception to this is of course Curry Sunday, James’ tuna pasta bake, and the many times that Cat has stepped in to make the evening meal if I have something else on. I am very happy to make dinner, but recently I feel as if I’m producing the same eight or nine boring meals again and again. 

So this evening I decided to make a Mexican meal. I had all the ingredients ready and roped James in for the prep so that the constituent parts would be ready at the same time. The meal was to be Fish Tacos. My first mistake was using hard taco shells instead of soft ones which would have suited the recipe better, and my second mistake was to cut a corner by buying fish already coated in panko breadcrumbs; I thought that this would be much more convenient than coating it myself, but the result had a less homemade feel. The overall result was a bit disappointing to me. 

However I will keep trying to add a bit more variety to our menus. I enjoy making tagines, which Ally suggested when I was talking about zhuzhing up my cooking. Roll on Tagine Tuesday! 

Getting festive

Today we have purchased our Christmas tree from local supplier “Elfie Trees” and it is now decorated and resplendent in the lounge. We went to buy it a bit early - in fact we hadn’t realised that they didn’t open until 10 a.m. - but the “elves” were already there and helped us to pick an excellent tree. It is quite large in both width and height - about 9 feet high - but does not rival the amazing 13 feet high tree that Alison and Hugh have in Nairn! 

In the afternoon James and Ally fitted the tree into its stand, brought it indoors, and James festooned it with lights, enthusiastically assisted by Cat. I came into my own as chief bauble positioner. We also added garlands of our ancient tinsel. I was told recently that tinsel is currently deeply unfashionable, but fashion rarely makes any difference to our traditions at Casa Anderson. Our tree has had the same decorations for thirty-five years, with my favourite ones made by the boys added to our collection when they were at nursery and primary school, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Yesterday we received a surprise gift from Jen and Russ. It is a giant cardboard cut out of Buddy the Elf from James’ favourite Christmas film - Elf of course! I wasn’t supposed to open it until Christmas Eve but I forgot and opened it straight away, and I’m glad that I did because we will display it around the house throughout the festive season. We love it! 

Delivering Christmas Cards

Another Tier 4 Lockdown weekend has just gone by. On Saturday afternoon James and I went out to hand deliver our Christmas cards in our local area. It was raining quite hard when we set off, but we decided just to go for it anyway, and we were rewarded with a dry spell in the middle of our journey. As usual James expertly sorted the cards by street and number, which resulted in a roughly circular route. On our way we met and chatted with Ian and Margaret, who were also carrying a bundle of Christmas cards to deliver, and we found Sheila and Kathryn making a Christmas tree in their garden using a length of copper pipe and strings of outdoor lights. I saw a photo of it later, all lit up, and it looked fantastic. The rain came on again as we approached home, so we were glad to get indoors for a warming cup of tea and one of Cat’s delicious cup cakes. 

Cat and I conspired to choose a film that we both fancied on Saturday evening; Holidate, a new romantic comedy. It started Emma Roberts and Luke Bracey as a couple who don’t want to feel pressured into having a proper date for holidays, so agree to be each other’s “holidate” as friends only. It was all very light-hearted and silly and it did have some genuinely funny moments. The plot didn’t bear close scrutiny and Ally’s hilarious sarcasm about it only added to the fun. James of course had fallen asleep within the first fifteen minutes! 

James and I also watched a six part mini series on HBO called “The Undoing” which has been much hyped recently. It starred Nicole Kidman who looked ethereally beautiful and Hugh Grant who looked rather old. The plot was very slow moving (which meant that Ally and Cat were able to easily catch up and watch the last couple of episodes with us) but it was quite a good story - although ultimately I found the denouement to be a bit disappointing. Donald Sutherland turned up as Nicole Kidman’s character’s father looking great at 85 years old, with amazing old man’s white eyebrows which were like birds’ wings. All good entertainment. 

James has been baking

The days are getting shorter and the weather is getting colder. I wrote all of my Christmas cards on Tuesday afternoon, while listening to a whole afternoon of Christmas music on Radio 2. I think this must have been because it was 1st December; I can’t believe that there will be 24 days of exclusively Christmas tunes. I took off my splint to write them because otherwise my writing would be too messy. Inevitably I still have a few changes of address to sort out but I’m 99% finished. Chanel and I have been keeping in touch with regular messages and phone calls and on Tuesday I got a really heartfelt and beautiful message from her, which actually made me cry. She is a lovely person.

Ally W came round with her lovely basset hound Nelly yesterday and we went for a walk around the park, pausing on either end of a park bench for coffee from my new Chilly bottle. It’s so light and thin compared to the bulky flasks that I used to carry to school with my soup in them, and yet it keeps the tea absolutely piping hot! Ally has been ill recently so it was lovely to see her.

Today we woke to a light dusting of what might almost be called snow. James went out early for his walk and said that our street was like a sheet of ice but the park was extremely well gritted. I had a very pleasant trip with Catherine to Rouken Glen Garden Centre this afternoon. It was all carefully socially distanced but I’m not quite sure how it justifies being open as an “essential service” just now. We got takeaway coffees from the Boathouse Café up by the pond and had a nice chat. 

James has been doing some excellent baking recently which is not good for my waistline. At the weekend he made shortbread; very thin and delicious which is the way I like it. It literally melts in the mouth. And yesterday he made his signature lemon madeira cake which we have all been enjoying. 

This evening we gathered cosily on the couch and watched a Rangers game in the television room, well the other three did, while I browsed around in my phone. Rangers won 3-2 so James and Ally were well pleased, and so was Cat, who has also become an enthusiastic Rangers fan! 

Chocolate Cookies

Our fire pit was in use again today, when Marjory, Forrest and Jenny came round to celebrate Marjory’s birthday with us. Again it provided sufficient warmth, and a cheerful focal point on a grey afternoon which was almost, but not quite, raining. We had birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday and chatted, and Cat made hot chocolate with marshmallows. 
We also scoffed the chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips which Cat had made. They were so delicious; absolutely the best that I have ever tasted. 
In the evening we watched The Crown, I finished my online Christmas shopping and I’m about to go to bed, although I’m loath to disturb Flora kitten, who is fast asleep on my lap. It has been a very pleasant day. 

The Fire Pit

Due to Covid restrictions we are only allowed to socialise with people outside, in a garden or a park. Only people from two households can meet, and must keep two metres apart. However, this is not very convenient at the end of November, since, even when it’s not raining, the temperature has recently dropped significantly. We had invited Tommy and Carol to pop round for a coffee on Friday, but on reflection we realised that this might be a bone-chilling experience for us all, under the grey and darkening sky. 

So on the spur of the moment on Thursday, we decided to invest in a fire pit. This consists of a large circular metal container, on short sturdy legs, with a mesh guard on top, in which you can burn logs. This provides both light and heat. An alternative would of course be to dig a hole in the garden to make a fire pit, but we’ll see how much we use this one before we think about anything more permanent. 

When Tommy and Carol arrived, James had already lit the fire and it looked very cheerful, and emanated a pleasing amount of heat. We drank coffee and ate biscuits, all wearing warm jackets and wool hats, with fleece rugs over our laps. There will definitely be days when it will be too cold or rainy to sit outside even with the fire pit, but it considerably extended the time that we felt comfortable sitting outside. We had a very pleasant chat, and Flora was very excited to see our visitors, because she likes to go round and watch them when they are in their garden. She miaowed loudly and rolled about on the rug inside the back room, no doubt wondering why we were sitting outside! We discussed how many new people have moved into the street recently; we all miss our mutual former neighbours (but still friends of course!) Alison and Hugh. 

When Tommy and Carol left, the daylight was beginning to get dimmer but it was still perfectly bright enough to see each other without any lights switched on. However, when we went indoors and switched on the lights in the back room, it instantly looked almost completely dark outside! Our eyes must have been gradually adjusting to the dwindling light. 

What to do in a rainy lockdown

The weather has continued to be dreich and we are in Tier 4 lockdown for the next three weeks, but we are not downhearted at Casa Anderson. I have been doing the kind of tasks that I usually put off because I have more exciting things to do. I have found and filed my Dad’s short stories and poetry; of course I re-read them all and they are absolutely excellent. I also collated a bundle of letters sent to my Mum by her Art School friend Heather, who emigrated to Australia, which are very interesting. The boys’ schoolwork and stories were already filed but there were a few stray items which are now in the correct places. It’s very satisfying.
There have been entertaining things to watch on television; we enjoyed watching The Queen’s Gambit with Ally and Cat, a miniseries about a chess champion that was really good. James and I are in the middle of watching Series 4 of The Crown. As usual it is fascinating, but we have now arrived in the 1980s, which I remember well, so I’m finding its inaccuracies rather irritating. To be fair, it is meant to be a drama rather than a history programme, but it still jars somewhat. And Cat and I are watching the latest series of The Bold Type, which is great fun. We have a great time discussing the plots. 
I have been doing quite a bit of reading, both on my Kindle and listening to audiobooks. The trouble with an audiobook book is that (for me anyway!) it’s very easy to lose concentration. I have just finished Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith (J. K. Rowling) and it was excellent but the audiobook was thirty hours long - a narrator speaks much slower than I read. This is fine if I’m driving or out for a long walk, but if I’m in the house I tend to start pottering about, and then I get engrossed in my pottering and end up having to rewind a bit of the book. 
I’m keeping in touch with people by Zoom and phone calls and messaging, and have a few walks with friends planned over the next couple of weeks. Meeting outdoors is still allowed as long as you stay within 5 miles of home. The cats don’t like the rain much, especially Flora, who stares mournfully out of the window. Tom keeps coming inside absolutely soaking wet and leaves a trail of muddy paw prints across the floor. 
I’m being more careful with my sore wrist. I kept using it too much and too carelessly, which made it hurt. For the last few days I have made more effort to use my other hand to do things, or to ask for help in carrying stuff, and I think it’s definitely less painful. 

The Only Way is Up

My wrist continued to be very sore over the next few days. James bought me a wrist support from Boots which helped. We stayed on in Ullapool until last Thursday, then headed south, meeting Alison and Hugh for another very pleasant lunch on our way. On Friday morning James dropped me off at Hairmyres A&E. There was no delay and they sent me through to the minor injuries clinic and thence to the X Ray department. I certainly know my way along that corridor, unfortunately, due to my several broken ankles! Sure enough my wrist is fractured - it’s the radius bone. I was given a splint which I have to wear for six weeks. The good news is that I can remove it when I take a shower. The bad news is that my wrist is still sore - I hope that it stops aching soon. 

When we arrived home on the Thursday evening Cat made a delicious meal for us which was lovely. And we had a relaxing (although rainy) weekend, we watched a couple of good films with Ally and Cat. 

On Tuesday Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement that we had been expecting. 11 Scottish councils, including South Lanarkshire, have been moved into Tier 4. So cafés and restaurants and non-essential shops will all close again from tomorrow, and travelling outside our council area (unless on urgent business) will be illegal. So we can’t go back to Ullapool for a while. It is hoped that these restrictions will be relaxed again in a few weeks. I miss Jamie and Davie and Chanel, I hate not being allowed to visit them. And Davie and Chanel can't visit each other either.

Oh dear oh dear. I feel that this has been rather a gloomy post! Did I mention that the weather has been terrible too? Oh well, as my Mum would say, I should be grateful because we are all warm and safe and have good health. 

Walk from Ullapool Lighthouse

After not making it all the way to the lighthouse in the dark on Sunday, I decided to give it another try in the daylight on Monday. Armed with my audiobook I walked to Rhue from the dump (James gave me a lift because he was disposing of various garden rubbish) so that I could do the walk in reverse and end up at the cottage. I walked down to the lighthouse and looked out at the summer isles, then set off back along the coast. I was very careful as I negotiated the natural obstacles on my way. Despite the walk being advertised in the local guidebook, several fences go right down to the edge of low cliffs without any gates or stiles, so it’s unavoidable to have to climb over them. I picked my way across big slabs of slippery rocks, walked across stepping stones, and followed the faint path through bushes and over rocks, all without incident. I enjoyed the views of loch and mountains as I walked along the coast. The last part of my walk was along the pebbly beach below the golf course, and, inexplicably, it was here that I tripped on a rock and crashed to the ground, landing heavily on my right wrist. I lay on the ground shouting in agony, but there was nobody around to hear me, so eventually I got up and made my way back to the cottage, cradling my arm and feeling mightily sorry for myself. 

I’m not sure how badly I have hurt it, because the pain comes and goes. Hopefully it’s just sprained. I don’t understand why I keep falling, it’s very annoying, often painful, and really quite frightening when it happens. 

Two walks

I met up with David in Dundee yesterday which was really lovely; we had lunch together and then went for a walk, chatting all the way. He is getting on very well at work and is very happy with his flat. He showed me lots of interesting buildings around the docks area and a really old frigate, and pointed out a plant from New Zealand that is growing out a crevice in the riverside wall; it’s amazing where things can grow. I listened to my audible book on the drive there and back from Ullapool, and all went smoothly, except that the sat nav took me northwards a very strange way, perhaps because of hold ups on the A9. It directed me via Coupar Angus and Dunkeld. I found myself driving along narrow country roads in thick mist in the dark. Eventually after about an hour I emerged onto the A9 just north of Perth; to my despair I had lost at least half an hour. Luckily I felt alert and the rest of the drive was fine. 
This morning I held the ladder for James while he cleared out the gutters on the cottage. Leaves and bits of moss kept falling on my head. It was Remembrance Sunday so like many others in this Covid year we stood in our doorway for the two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. After lunch it rained for a while, so I went out for a walk when it dried up later in the afternoon, while listening to my audiobook - it’s “Troubled Blood,” the latest Cormoran Strike book by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling) and it’s excellent so far. The golf course was deserted so I decided to just have a walk around it, and then I noticed the coastal path that heads towards the lighthouse. James has walked there with Russell and with Heather and Ewan, and so have David and Chanel, but I haven’t, so I decided to give it a go. It was a bit stoney underfoot but I enjoyed the loch views and saw the ferry going past all lit up in the twilight. The light became dimmer and dimmer, and I found myself climbing over big rocks and fences, and at one point wading through a stream. I had several scary slips and slides on the wet rocks, but worst of all, by about quarter to six it was completely dark and I couldn’t see the way ahead at all. There is a torch on my phone but my phone was nearly out of battery and anyway the torch couldn’t show me the route further ahead, it actually made the night seem darker outside the immediate area. I phoned James who was back at the cottage, and we both looked at OS maps on our phones. I was already at Rhue, not far from the lighthouse, and I was in fact not far below the road. James (my hero!) drove along to collect me while I literally crawled (and I do mean literally!) up the steep slope to the road and used my remaining torch battery to signal where I was to James. Phew. I was so glad to climb into the car and we immediately went to pick up a curry. I was so happy to take off my wet trail shoes and enjoy my curry in the warm cottage. 

Mistle thrush

When I was walking near Dechmont Farm on Tuesday, I heard a loud racket emanating from a couple of trees beside the road. It was so loud that I could hear it clearly even though I had my iPods in my ears, listening to an audiobook. I craned my neck and could see two speckled birds flying about among the branches, and managed to take a rather blurry photo of one of them. The mystery was solved a couple of days later when we met up with Alison and Hugh for a coffee on our way to Ullapool. Alison is very knowledgeable about birds and she had a look at the photo and a short clip I had filmed to capture the loud noise, and later messaged me to let me know that they were mistle thrushes. The loud rattling call that I heard is their alarm call, although I’m not taking the blame for alarming them because I heard the noise when I was still nowhere near them. 

The reason for our trip to Ullapool is to check on the cottage and make sure that it is ready for winter, because we may not be back for a while. Currently the Scottish Government is advising people not to travel around Scotland, and we have obeyed the guidance. However it’s possible that from next week it will become illegal to travel out of our local area, so we decided to visit the cottage this weekend. We brought our food from home and have not interacted at all with local residents.

We went for a walk today up Ullapool Hill and then extended our walk by descending down to Loch Achall and walking up the hill behind Glastulloch. Just below the farmhouse we passed television presenter Ben Fogle, who was filming an episode of a Channel Five series called “New Lives in the Wild.” He said a very pleasant hello to us as we passed. On the other side of the hill we crossed a rather tussocky and soggy area to a farm track which eventually took us past the dump to the coast road leading back down to the village. It was a really good 15 km walk and we were treated to a beautiful sunset as we approached the coast road. 

I had a delightful bath while James very kindly made our dinner. 

Election in America

The Presidential Election in America took place yesterday, 3rd November. The results have been very different from four years ago when we woke up the next morning to find out that Donald Trump already had a definite victory. This time the results are much, much closer, and this evening it is still not clear who is going to win. At the moment it looks like Joe Biden and the Democrats might just scrape through in first place, but it could still go either way. Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump is already preparing legal challenges and demanding recounts. 
England is just going into a four week lockdown to try to reduce rates of Covid infection. Scotland seems to be sticking to its five tier system so far, but there’s a general feeling that we might lockdown further soon. 
Meanwhile at Casa Anderson we are getting on with life as best we can, given the uncertain times that we are living in. We had brunch at House for an Art Lover with Heather and Ewan on Sunday and then a walk around Bellahouston Park. It was so lovely to see them. Cat and I have started to do a 30 day Yoga challenge throughout November. I’m also trying to do more walking and am enjoying listening to audiobooks while doing so. And I’m spending thirty minutes on the exercise bike per day. My legs are sore, particularly my dodgy knee, and I’m hoping that they’ll get stronger soon. I’m only four days into all this so we’ll see whether I manage to keep it up! 

A Blue Moon

Sean Connery died yesterday. The best James Bond. He was 90 and had been ill for some time but it was still sad to hear. Also yesterday there was a blue moon. Not actually blue, but according to one definition, the second full moon to fall in a month. This isn’t actually all that unusual; I looked it up and, strictly speaking, the proper definition of a blue moon is the third full moon in a season which has four full moons. However I was excited enough to go out and see it with the clouds scudding across it on the windy night, and I called James, Ally and Cat outside to look at it too. 

Hallowe’en was quiet because this year children are not allowed to go round the houses because of Covid. The four of us decided to watch a film and Ally suggested Lawrence of Arabia, one of James’ favourites. Cat hadn’t seen it before but was happy to watch it, and the rest of us were delighted to see it again. It’s so good, and we had a great evening. 

Clootie Dumpling

Today did not start well but it ended much better. I woke with a headache and felt quite nauseous. I took some paracetamol, put a cooling gel sheet on my forehead, and went back to sleep for a couple of hours. This did the trick and after a quick shower I felt brand new. Later on I decided to make a Clootie Dumpling using Grandma’s recipe, and assembled all of the ingredients before mixing them and putting them into a muslin cloth to boil for 4 hours. I’m glad to say that it turned out really well, it even had a nice skin on it, and James paid me the compliment of saying that it tasted just like Grandma’s. 

In the evening I watched a spooky film “You Should Have Left” which starred Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried. I watched it with Ally and Cat - James fell asleep within the first half hour so he sensibly took himself off to bed. Hmmm. Like many spooky films it seemed promising at first but the ending was a bit flat. 

In Covid news, Scotland has moved to a new 5 tier system of restrictions, rather confusingly numbered 0 to 4. *

Due to having the fastest growing number of cases in Scotland, South and North Lanarkshire were under threat this week of moving to the top level 4 which would mean almost complete lockdown again like in the spring, with non essential shops and services all closed, apart from the schools remaining open this time. We were already in level 3 which until this week meant that pubs and restaurants remained closed although under the new rules they are now allowed to open until 6 p.m. Yesterday however it was announced that we were allowed to remain in level 3 for the time being. All the councils in Scotland now have their own allocated level, for example Highland are currently level 1 and Dumfries & Galloway are level 2. It will be reviewed every week apart from the Lanarkshires which will be reviewed daily. There is much speculation on the media about the possibility of a month long national lockdown before Christmas. So that’s where we’re at just now.

* I saw on the internet a joke description of the 5 tier system based on the old “Oor Wullie” cartoon, with the levels in ascending order, “it’s aw braw”, “jings”, “crivvens”, “help ma boab” and finally level 4 “Get ben the hoose!” 

Grandma’s recipes

I have been working on a wee project over the last several weeks. I decided to sort out Grandma’s baking recipes, and compile them into a booklet which I will pass on to the whole family. This has been quite a task, because her recipes were written in several notebooks, along with some from her friends and some which she had cut out from newspapers and magazines. There was also a notebook with recipes in her mother’s handwriting. Grandma was a very good cook and especially an excellent baker. I remember at the show of presents before my wedding, one of her cousins saying “Jean always makes a good purvey.” 

I felt quite touched when James arrived home from her house one evening a couple of months ago, when he was clearing it with Forrest, and told me that Forrest had said that I should have Grandma’s recipe jotters.

It was then that I decided that I should compile the recipes for future generations of Grandma’s descendants. 

First of all I typed all the recipes into a word processing document, often assisted by James who is a faster typist than me. I decided to do this rather than scan the recipes, because although Grandma had rather beautiful writing, her books were well used and somewhat faded and marked. It also means that we can save the electronic copy of the recipe booklet. I have kept some of the best examples of her handwriting to use on the cover of the printed booklet. After typing up the recipes, I went through them all again and laboriously added metric quantities, because I thought that would make the recipes easier to use. This wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds because as well as ounces and half-pints the quantities included both cups and teacups and the oven temperatures were often described as “slow” or “quick” which I hadn’t come across before. I had to do a bit of research and draw up some tables of measurements before I could continue. Also, some of the recipes didn’t have full instructions, probably because, as experienced bakers, Grandma and her mother had no need for them, so for example, I had to look up the technicalities of how to tie up a clootie dumpling, and the amount of pastry needed for a black bun! 

I couldn’t find Grandma’s famous recipe for sherry trifle, however luckily James knows it by heart and I asked him to write it down for me. So that’s where I am now. I still have to finish the introduction and decide whether to print it at home or (more likely) arrange for it to be printed as a useful spiral bound notebook. 

When someone dies you feel that you can’t do anything for them any more, but I would like to think that Grandma would be pleased with this gift to her grandchildren. 

Reverse! Reverse!

At the Rutherglen end of Kings Park Avenue about ten days ago, I saw an incident unfolding as I waited at the traffic lights before turning right. There was a car across at the other side of Mill Street which had crashed into a pedestrian light so hard that the pole was bent right down. There was a police car and a police van in attendance, and what particularly caught my eye was a tight circle of about five police officers facing inwards. As I watched, they all bent and then stood up again, having lifted a man in the centre of their circle to his feet. His hands were already handcuffed behind his back, and as the lights changed and I drove off I saw him being marched smartly towards the police van. Naturally I mentioned this to James, Ally, Davie and Cat at dinner time but then thought no more of it.
However the next day Ally showed me a short video film and asked if it was of the same man that I had seen being arrested. I recognised him immediately by the clothes he was wearing. The video had been filmed before either the police or I arrived at the scene. A passer by must have filmed it right after the crash. The driver was leaning on the bonnet of the car, trying fruitlessly to push it backwards away from the traffic light, and he was shouting to his friend who was still inside the car, “Reverse! Reverse!”
The voice of the passer by can be heard off camera, advising him that “The wheel’s aff mate! The engine’s smashed! You’re f***ed!” while the driver (clearly under the influence of drink or drugs, which was presumably why he was arrested later) keeps exhorting his passenger again and again to “Reverse! Reverse!” 
Ally explained to me that the video clip had gone viral on the internet with the title “Glasgow Bampots reverse reverse” and apparently during its brief moment of fame it was then used on a football website in a spoof commentary about a Celtic match! 

Sunny in Dundee

Today we drove to Dundee to transport all of David’s stuff to his new flat, where he will be living very near to his new Science technician job at the University of Dundee, starting at the beginning of November. I will miss him but I am very pleased for him that he has a job in science, which he loves so much. We borrowed Ally’s car as well, and I drove that while James and Davie went through in our car. Davie’s flat is lovely; very spacious and in really good condition. It’s in a quiet street with hardly any traffic and it’s very near to the city centre, with lots of cafés and restaurants close by. The weather was much better than at home with a beautiful blue sky. 
When we set off back home I noticed a man walking along beside the river dressed in a Spider-Man costume which I thought was very funny. I drove along listening to my audiobook and enjoying the good weather, but somehow I managed to miss the turn off towards Glasgow at Perth. When I realised my mistake I followed signs to Stirling along the A91. It was a pleasant drive through many villages such as Yetts o’Muckhart and Dollar and Tillicoultry, but of course it was much slower than the motorway and I got home more than half an hour later than I should have been!
After dinner David suggested that we watch the new Borat film which was released today. He also made popcorn with his kernels which had now dried enough, and they were delicious with a little butter. The film was very funny and also very cringey. It lacked the novelty and therefore the sheer shock factor of the first film, but it addressed current events, such as Covid and Trump, and the actress who played his daughter was very good. It was an excellent evening. 

Another Fall

Last week I was walking from my shed at the top of the garden back down to the house, when I suddenly slipped and fell. It’s that time of year when the leaves are lying on the ground and the paths are damp and mossy. It didn’t occur to me to be careful and I was taken by surprise when my left foot shot forward, bringing me down rather painfully onto the stone of the path. To make matters worse, my right knee (aka my “bad” knee) folded under me. Since breaking it in a motorbike accident forty years ago, it doesn’t quite bend fully. Well, it was forced to bend fully when I fell, and it was excruciating! I gingerly unfolded my leg but didn’t try to stand up straight away because I was terrified about how badly it might be hurt. Instead I burst into tears and sobbed for several minutes, which was actually quite de-stressing!
I then slowly got up and found that there was good news and bad news. The good news was that my leg could bear my weight normally, and the bad news was that my knee was sore and creaking and crunching, and a week later it’s still quite bad. I should be grateful to my knee for the forty years it has lasted since the accident, and I hope that it keeps going for a while yet. 

David’s 25th Birthday

Yesterday was David’s 25th birthday and despite the lockdown I think that he had a lovely day. He had lots of presents to open in the morning, including the coffeemaker from James and me, for his new flat. We had asked him to choose the type that he wanted, so we knew that he would like it. The cats gave him a selection of pods for it, and I have ordered him a box of his favourite mocha flavour.

He tried it out straight away and the coffee tasted lovely.

For his birthday dinner we ordered burgers from his favourite restaurant, TGI Friday, who are currently doing a takeaway service since they are not allowed to have sit in customers during the two week lockdown. The burgers were good but the chips were a bit cold and chewy due to their journey from the Fort at Easterhouse. Then Ally and Cat brought through a huge birthday cream cake which they had ordered from a shop which advertises on the B4U Bollywood music channel that they and David like to watch. He really appreciated the reference and found it very thoughtful of them. 

After dinner it was time to try the popcorn which David has patiently grown from a corn kernel over the summer. The plant grew in a pot in the back room until it was more than six feet tall, and then David selected the best corn cob, which he hung up to dry. He then carefully picked off the corn kernels. When he started popping a few of them, they did pop successfully but not to their full size, which indicated that they need to dry out a bit more. However we all tasted them and they were good, hopefully they will pop more fully later in the week.

And then we had a hilarious games evening - Maponimoes and then Who Am I? while Ally played all sorts of unusual Eastern European music for us. It was a good day. 

IKEA Meatballs

Last night I played a lively session of “Who am I?” with Davie, Ally and Cat, after consuming a hearty meal followed by delicious pancakes made by Cat. It was such a fun evening. 
Davie and I went over to Ikea today, where he purchased some items for his new flat in Dundee, and on Ally’s orders we got more Swedish meatballs and sauce. It was a nice Autumn day for a wee road trip and we had a good chat. Back home James picked the last of the redcurrants with which we will attempt to make some more jelly. Will our jelly luck continue? 

Tagine and photo project

Last night I made a chicken and quince tagine using the last three of our crop of quinces. I also made a quorn and quince tagine for Cat and me. Quorince could be its name perhaps! It seemed to go down well with the family so I was pleased that all of our quinces have been used in useful and tasty manner.

The five of us, organised by Ally, have been spending the last few evenings sifting through Grandma’s photos, which were brought over from her house over the summer and occupy four large boxes. Despite spending hours on it, we have but scratched the surface, and I’m not quite sure how to proceed. I have started putting them in A5 envelopes by year, discarding blurry photos, duplicates, and really bad photos e.g. with peoples’ heads cut off, of which there are many. The idea will be to put the good photos into albums for the enjoyment of Grandma's grandchildren and perhaps one day great-grandchildren. I am however a bit daunted by the sheer volume. 

Quince Jelly

We finished making our quince jelly this morning, by adding caster sugar to the juice strained from the cooked and mashed quinces, and boiling it up until it thickened. Quinces have lots of natural pectin so we didn’t need to add any during the process. We used James’ sugar thermometer to make sure that it got to the right temperature. I wasn’t sure if it would set properly; testing it on a cold plate seemed inconclusive, but once it was poured into the sterilised jam jars, and carefully sealed by David and James, it set beautifully as it cooled. It is the most gorgeous rose colour. 

After lunch I walked along to Burnside where Catherine and I had a very pleasant coffee at Café Gelato. When I walked home via Cathkin, I passed the removal vans which were at Grandma’s house, waiting for the transaction to be completed so that they could unload. Just as I arrived home James got a message from the lawyer to say that everything was in order and that the keys had been handed over. So that’s that. End of an era. 

Goodbye to No. 7

We have all been across at Grandma’s house today for the very last time. The new people will get the keys tomorrow morning. Ally, Davie and Cat walked around the empty rooms, which bring back so many memories, and also around the garden. I think that we all felt a bit sad to say goodbye. There were a few things to do; Forrest came round to pick up the last of his bits and pieces and we left a plant and a welcome card for the new family. It was a family house for the Andersons for many years with children and then the grandchildren running about; James and Forrest were only five and three years old when they moved there in 1967, so it’s nice that there will be young children living there again. 

Back at home, the quinces on our tree are ready. They are yellow and aromatic and beginning to split, so we picked them all. There are 1.6 kg of quinces in total, maybe about twenty of them. We are going to use most of them to make quince jelly, and keep a few to use in a tagine. Disaster struck when Ally sliced deeply into his finger while cutting them up, but Cat soon sorted him out with steri-strips and a bandage. Now the quinces are simmering away gently and the back room is filled with their aromatic scent. 

Versace

Although I miss Ullapool it’s kind of nice to be home too. Ally, Davie and Cat are lively and fun company and our dinner table chats can be hilarious. I miss Chanel, who is now doing her teaching probation in Manchester. Last night Davie and I finished watching a Netflix series called The Assassination of Gianni Versace (the spoiler is in the title!) Cat watched some of it with us even though she and Ally have seen it before. I remember it happening very clearly, in 1997, just a few weeks before the death of Princess Diana. But never having been a fashionista I didn’t understand what an iconic figure he was in the fashion world. The series was extremely detailed, going deeply into the background of the killer, Andrew Cunanan. It didn’t make excuses for his killing spree but tried to explain what might have happened in his life to lead to his actions. I say “might” because it’s a docu-drama rather than a documentary; much of it is speculation and it portrays many interactions and conversations that were not witnessed by anyone except the deceased killer and victim. In the last episode we saw the famous film clip of Princess Diana comforting Elton John at Versace’s memorial service, which I found very moving. 

Tightening the rules

Nicola Sturgeon announced today that, because hospital admissions are going up again, new Covid restrictions are to be implemented in Scotland, starting on Friday and then for the next two weeks. Pubs and restaurants are now going to be open only from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. however in the central belt (that’s us when we are in Glasgow rather than Ullapool) the restrictions are tighter. Pubs and restaurants are not to be open at all for the two week period. This doesn’t make a huge difference to us personally but will be very hard on the hospitality industry. I suppose the reason for this particular change is that too much mingling must have been happening inside and outside pubs, especially at closing time. There are a few other changes such as indoor sports being stopped again, but I’m actually quite relieved that it isn’t even worse.
In much less important news, James and I have finally finished watching the second season of Succession. I was a bit disappointed in the last episode, having expected a more dramatic ending. Strangely enough James, who didn’t warm to Succession at all, thought that it ended well. Although I think he was also just quite glad that it had ended! 

Rainy night in Ullapool

I’m tucked up in bed in Ullapool; we travelled up here today. It has been a rainy weekend and the rain is still pattering against the window now, but the forecast is better for tomorrow. We will be getting internet installed here on Tuesday. We hadn’t intended to, but the phone service is very variable here, and as well as WiFi for our laptops, it will be good to have Netflix etc on rainy days.

However it will still be quite a brief sojourn because James wants to be home on Thursday to sign documents for the handover of Grandma’s house. When we were at Grandma’s house on Friday, Tom followed us along the road and sneaked in through the open front door. Up the stairs he dashed, but came back down very quickly, meowing silently at us with big eyes. He must have got a shock to find out that there was no furniture in the house at all. First no Grandma, now everything else has disappeared too. He really did seem quite upset. 

In other news I have finally finished listening to the audiobook of “God is Not Great” by Christopher Hitchens and I look forward to discussing it with Ewan, who told me about it. Audiobooks seem to take me much longer than reading books. Maybe it’s because I don’t listen regularly, also I quite often have to rewind, because if I listen while I’m out walking I get distracted by the things I see. Anyway, I enjoyed the book and Hitchens made very good points, although I detected some bias, which is to be expected given the subject matter. For example, when he tackled the argument that secular tyrants have committed many atrocities over the years, not just religious tyrants, his response seemed to be that they get all of their ideas from previous religious bad behaviour. Hmm yes, but you could also argue that tyrants will be evil whether they use the excuse of religion or not, so religion is not necessarily the root cause. I found the book very thought-provoking and Hitchens does make a very clear and devastating case against religion. 

Turnberry Hotelier tests positive for coronavirus

This was the headline of the Ayr Advertiser today! It of course refers to President Donald Trump contracting Covid-19. I am no fan of Trump but I genuinely wish him well and hope that he makes a good recovery. He has been taken to hospital but his doctors say that he is getting on ok.
Meanwhile it was a rainy day in Glasgow, but I went for a walk anyway while listening to an audiobook, all the way up to Starbucks at Kingsgate where I had coffee and a blueberry muffin before heading home; a respectable distance of 10 km. Cat and I (and of course Flora) had a girls’ afternoon while Ally and Davie played computer games. We lit a lemon scented Carthusia candle, kept cosy under fleecy blankets, ate chocolate, and watched a French film. Flora of course didn’t eat chocolate and kept looking out sadly at the rain. Cat and I have notched up a good number of French films over the past few years, we both enjoy the language and the distinctive French atmosphere. Today we watched Truffaut’s homage to the film industry; La Nuit Americaine. I watched it many years ago but had forgotten many of the details, it was good to watch it again, although its didn't quite have the same magic for me as the first time that I watched it. 

Grandma’s Kitchen

James and I spent all day at Grandma’s today, doing a final clean before the new people get the keys on the 12th. I have to say that James had already done a huge amount of work in emptying and cleaning the house, but kitchens and bathrooms are my speciality so I brought my cleaning materials and got stuck in. The kitchen is at least 30 years old, so the new people will probably want to replace it very soon, if not straight away. This made me feel nostalgic; I remember when it was newly installed how excited and proud of it Grandma was. It was state of the art, with an eye level Neff cooker and grill which was very new in those days, and the brand new units and induction hob and sink all looked so smart. 

It now looks very old-fashioned, but still in good condition because Grandma always took good care of her house. I just wanted to give it a thorough spruce up, and James gave the oven a proper clean. By the time we were finished I was happy that it is ready for the handover. But I felt a bit sad; thirty years ago I never thought about this day coming. 

Six by Nico

Today James, Davie and I went for lunch to Six by Nico in Nithsdale Road. I have fancied trying one of these restaurants for a while and decided that it would be a great way for James and I to celebrate David’s MSc with him. I was also blatantly copying Ally and Cat who visited the west end Six by Nico recently, because they told us that the current menu is Sicilian and I couldn’t resist it. 

For those who don’t know, this popular (and now chain) restaurant has a six course tasting menu, with accompanying wines if desired, and it changes the theme of its menu every six weeks. Previous menus have included “New York”, “The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party”, and “Vietnamese Street Food.”

The Sicily menu certainly did not disappoint. I won’t list all of the courses but they were all delicious; small portions of beautifully prepared Sicilian food with every detail carefully thought out. For example our first course consisted of three tiny arancini, each one differently flavoured and exquisite. It is very difficult to choose a favourite course but if pressed I would have to say the saffron pappardelle with hazelnut ragu - it was perfect. The vegetarian menu (for me) tied in closely with the ingredients and flavours of the omnivores’ menu that was being enjoyed by Davie and James, which was good because we could discuss the tastes together. And Davie and James enjoyed tasting all the different wines.

The friendly staff explained the flavours of each course to us and also moved the meal along pleasantly but fairly smartly; we had a two hour time slot and by the time we left the next sitting of diners were gathering on the pavement outside. 

Feeling full, but not uncomfortably so, the three of us wandered through the autumnal sunshine around Maxwell Park. It was a truly lovely afternoon. 

Covid-19 Continues

So here we are on the last day of September. Yesterday I went for a walk with my friend Ally in Pollok Park and it was beautiful; the leaves were all the autumn colours and it was such a sunny and warm afternoon that I ended up taking off my fleece because it was too hot to wear more than a t-shirt. We sat on a bench in front of Pollok House and drank tea that Ally had brought in a flask, and ate biscuits. 

Today however is rainy and grey, and James and I have been doing useful errands; the car has been serviced, Ikea has been visited (for lamps for the Ullapool cottage), various birthday presents have been purchased. 

Covid-19 continues to rumble on. I don’t suppose it will really be finished until there is a vaccine and although many vaccine trials are going on around the world, we are told that it will be many months before one is ready. As we go into autumn the infection rates of Covid are rising again. We have already had the “rule of six” for a few weeks (no more than six people from two households should meet up indoors). In the last week in Scotland we have now been instructed not to visit other people in their houses at all, although people from two households can still meet up at a restaurant. The pubs and restaurants have just had a 10 p.m. curfew introduced. The government had recently been encouraging people to return to their workplaces but they have now said that people should stay at home where possible. England and Wales have slightly different rules, and areas with particularly high infection rates (currently the north east of England) have stricter rules. These “local lockdowns” seem to be the current way forward, which I find slightly confusing. There have also been problems with students returning to universities over the last couple of weeks; they have been told to turn up to their halls of residence (even though they had no lectures) but then clusters of Covid sprang up and the students were told to lock down completely - this was especially hard for first year students, many of whom are now isolated far from home. 

Meanwhile, many people are still following all the rules but some are having house parties and thus increasing the spread of the virus. Everyone is fed up with the virus and the restrictions, but unfortunately Covid-19 is not going away any time soon. 

A touch of hypothermia

I went swimming again on Sunday afternoon in the estuary. Becky also went for a swim and after she left I decided to stay in for a while. The water seemed colder than yesterday but I soon got used to it. I saw a big fish flip up and back into the water; I think it was a salmon. And I noticed that I was being observed from the bushes by a pretty wee cat who reminded me of Floof. The ferry went past and the ducks were paddling about near the pond. I did notice that although I no longer felt cold at all, my hands were very numb which made it difficult to swim. Then Becky appeared at the river bank. She had noticed that I hadn’t passed her house on my way home and had come to check on me. I looked at my watch and realised that I had been in the water for more than forty-five minutes! As soon as I came out I felt very shivery and could hardly put on my poncho with my numb hands. My legs and arms had developed strange hues of red and blue. Becky very kindly walked me home and told me to have a hot drink to heat myself from the inside. On the way up the path we spotted two little roe deer watching us from among the trees. After I had warmed up a bit I had a hot bath which felt great. I sent a message of thanks to Becky; I will be more careful about how long I spend in the water in future. 

Autumn cometh

What a difference a week makes. One afternoon last week I was lying in the shade in the garden because the sunshine was so warm, but now there is a distinct autumnal chill in the air. During the summer I always forget what properly cool weather feels like, and I now realise with foreboding that it’s going to get much colder as we move towards winter. We have spent the last week out and about, walking and cycling, for which activities the cooler weather has suited me well. 

We also went for a drive down to Gairloch, which was rather quiet due to Covid restrictions; the café we visited the last time we were there was “takeaway only” but luckily we got a pleasant welcome at the Myrtle Bank Hotel where we sat in the cosy conservatory for morning coffee and shortbread. We stopped at Inverewe Gardens on the way back. They have implemented a one way system in order to encourage social distancing and in addition to lots of interesting trees and plants, we saw a wee robin hopping about in the foliage and later a wee field mouse climbing on a plant. 

We have had a double dose of great news about Davie - he has passed his MSc with merit and has been offered a job in a lab for the next six months. He has done extremely well and we are very proud of him.

Update late afternoon: although Autumn is definitely on its way, this afternoon became warm enough that I went swimming in the estuary - the water was very calm, the ducks were swimming about, and the mountains looked beautiful. 

September Swimming

Jennifer and I went swimming in the sea at Achmelvich Beach a few days ago and it was great. As usual it was cold when we were getting in but well worth it to swim around in the turquoise waters. This experience was surpassed however, by our swim in the Ullapool River Estuary this morning. James and the young folk (who have arrived to meet up with Jenn and Russ before they go home) went to climb nearby Beinn Gobhlach which we can see across the water from the cottage. Russ went golfing, and Jenn and I headed to the mouth of the river. It was only an hour after high tide, which is particularly high this week. The estuary looked stunning in the sunshine and a large portion of the grass at the edge of the river was completely submerged. The duck pond had merged with the estuary and a flotilla of ducks came paddling up the river towards us. 

In we went bravely, and once we were swimming it was fine - noticeably less cold than the sea a few days ago. As we were swimming about, who did we see but Russell, waving at us from the golf course. A couple of the other Estuary swimmers turned up; the weather and the swimming was absolutely splendid. We felt perfectly warm as we made our way, swathed in towels, back to the cottage, but we realised that actually we were quite chilled, so I jumped into a warm shower and Jenn had a bath. 

After lunch, Jenn, Russ and I went for a very pleasant stroll around the village where Russ treated us to ice lollies, and now we are reclining in the garden in the warm sunshine. It’s our Mum’s birthday today; she would have been 89 and she has been in our thoughts. 

Stac Pollaidh and Canisp

Jennifer and I climbed Stac Pollaidh today. We deliberately took our time, stopping to rest whenever we felt like it, and as a result we got to the summit in excellent spirits. We chatted to several friendly people on the way. The views were tremendous even though it was a grey day. The last wee scramble up to the cairn was rather exposed but it was worth it and we felt a real sense of achievement. We decided to descend by circumnavigating the hill, and as we carefully picked our way down the very steep first part of the path I was quite scared of falling, so sat down on rocks several times on my way down to keep myself steady. As a result the seat of my trousers became a bit muddy and damp. Soon the path became more defined and we were able to stride along. I bent over, displaying my backside to my dear sister, and said to Jennifer, “Just how bad is my arse?” (referring to my muddy trousers). Jennifer replied in the same ladylike fashion, “You look as if you’ve cacked yourself!” Just then, something made us turn our heads to the left and we saw two of the friendly people that we had met earlier sitting just above the path eating their sandwiches. They had heard every word! Well, the four of us just laughed and laughed, it was hilarious! 
Meanwhile James and Russ were climbing Canisp, a few miles north of us. They had a good climb although the last 200 metres were encased in cloud. We all felt that we deserved our massive dinner later, which consisted of Lochinver pies and mash followed by Jennifer’s famous and delicious bread and butter pudding. 

Golf by the sea

The rain stopped just in time for Jennifer and Russell’s arrival yesterday, I’m glad to say. It has been lovely to show them the cottage and around Ullapool. Jennifer and I visited this area as children, and so did Russell on a tour of Scotland with his brothers and parents, but it’s the first time that either of them have been here for a long time. I shamelessly copied Cat’s recent fajitas menu for our first dinner but although it was delicious I made far too much food so today we had lots of leftovers to consume. Jennifer is an excellent cook and really knows her way around Mexican food. We prepared the meal together and she gave me some top tips such as heating the tortillas in a dry frying pan to make them taste perfect, and an amazing way of keeping guacamole completely fresh until the next day. 

Russell has brought his golf clubs and played his first round this morning. The golf club is very near the cottage and is in a beautiful setting beside the sea loch, surrounded by mountains. He enjoyed himself and took a great photo of one of the golf tees with the Calmac ferry going past in the background. In the afternoon Jenn and Russ went for an impressively long cycle along the length of Loch Achall and beyond. Another hearty dinner and convivial evening ensued. 

Brambles and Forest Bathing

It has been another rainy day in Ullapool so we decided to go for a walk in Lael Forest, reasoning that the trees would protect us from the wind and the rain. As it turned out, through good luck rather than good judgement, we managed to choose the driest couple of hours of the day for our walk. I quickly became overheated and soon divested myself of my waterproof trousers and jacket and stuffed them into my backpack. We climbed a short but steep set of steps to the forestry commission road, and before turning down to the forest paths, James suggested a short diversion to explore a higher area. Experience should have made me wiser, but I followed him like a little lamb and soon found myself edging along a path above a steep precipice, wading through bracken that was up to my waist, and creeping warily beneath a fallen tree that was only just being held up by another tree, against which it was making alarming creaking sounds. However there were compensations. James picked lots of brambles for me, and they were absolutely delicious - a blend of tart and sweet. We ate handfuls of them as we made our way back down to the paths which wind through the forest. Lovely.
I read somewhere recently that walking through a forest, spending calm and quiet time under the canopy of trees, is a form of nature therapy known as “forest bathing.” It apparently originated in Japan in the 1980s and is called shinrin yoku. However I would contend (and my sister Jennifer will concur) that my Mum and Dad actually invented it in the 1970s when we used to wander along paths through the forest in the Trossachs, often completely lost! 

Wind and rain in the north west

We have been back in Ullapool since yesterday, and as I write, the wind is howling around the cottage, and rain is battering against the windows. It has been wild weather all day although we managed to go for a walk around the village during a rare dry spell. We have taken the opportunity to do some useful tasks around the cottage; James has put some of our photos up on the walls, and we slightly trimmed the ordnance survey map that Davie gave us so that it fit the pinboard perfectly - it looks fantastic. 

In the evening we started watching the second series of Succession - despite pressing on with the second series I’m still not quite sure of how much I like it. Brian Cox is the best actor in it; no wonder that he has had such a long and successful career. He was the Rector of Dundee University from 2010 to 2016 when Jamie and Davie studied there and he attended every graduation (although he had finished his 2nd term by the end of Davie’s first year and the subsequent Rector was cyclist Mark Beaumont, who I once met when he visited the school where I was teaching.) 

Fajita Time

Christine and Gerry came round on Monday evening and Cat made tea for us all. She made a delicious meal of fajitas with lots of fillings including chicken, roast peppers and onions, guacamole, grated cheese and soured cream. We assembled our fajitas while catching up on news and chatting. Flora was heard shouting during the meal and then startled us by emerging from the sideboard cupboard, into which she had sneaked earlier when I was getting a tablecloth! Then Cat and Ally showed us their recent climbing photos which looked fantastic on the television screen. Scotland really is beautiful.
This evening I went to the bathroom after tea and just as I sat down Flora came jumping (it seemed like levitating) out of the laundry basket with a loud cry; I was so surprised that I nearly fell off the toilet! Cat and I had a girls’ night and watched several episodes of “The Bold Type” which I am now completely hooked on; I like the fashion, the stories and the language of these young New York people. 

Unfortunate lawnmower incident

It has been a pleasant and sociable few days. We had a convivial lunch in Wetherspoons with Hilary and Steven on Thursday, then popped over to Milngavie for a coffee with Gordon and Sue on Friday. Last night Forrest, Marjory and Neil came round to ours for a Chinese meal. It was great to see them, however for some reason the meal did not agree with me and my tummy has been unhappy all day today. 
Yesterday James went across to cut Grandma’s grass and when he came home he couldn’t find his glasses. After searching for them all round the house, he remembered that at one point while he was cutting the grass he had been hit in the face by a tree branch. He didn’t remember his glasses falling off, but we both went across the road to check. We searched under the tree and sure enough there were a few small pieces of glass on the grass beneath it, and, the conclusive evidence, a piece of one of the legs of James’ glasses! So when the branch had hit his face, his glasses had fallen off and then James had mowed over them with the lawnmower. Oh dear. 
Heather and Ewan came round for a coffee this afternoon and it was warm enough that we could sit outside in the garden. It was lovely to see them. Later Ally and Cat arrived home from their weekend in Fort William where they had climbed five Munros over the two days. 

Flora attempts a girls’ night

The weather has been very strange today; one minute it is warm with an almost completely blue sky, the next it is lashing with heavy rain! This has been going on all day. As well as reconnecting with the cats, we have been busy clearing out Grandma’s house which is a necessary but sad task. We have also been catching up with a few people whom we have not seen since before lockdown, in fact since before going to New Zealand, so that’s nearly seven months. On Tuesday evening I found out that Cat has never seen “Mamma Mia, Here we go again” - the second Mamma Mia film - so we all watched it and we thoroughly enjoyed it, although James fell asleep towards the end. Cat and I were in tears during the christening scene. I had forgotten what a good film it is; possibly better than the original. And then last night I persuaded Ally and Cat to play Bohnanza with me so that was great fun. Tonight we played Linkee and then Cat and I watched an episode of “The Bold Type” together; it’s a series about young women working in a magazine and I thought it was very interesting as well as entertaining, showing their experiences in today’s world. Since it had turned into a girls’ evening, Flora came through to join Cat and me and sat on the back of the couch. However she didn’t quite get it right because she faced away from the television! 

Rishi’s Dishes

Today was the last day of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme, designed to tempt the public back into restaurants as quarantine eases off. Concerned that the restaurant trade would suffer even more than it already has over the last few months, because many people are understandably wary of returning to indoor public spaces, Chancellor Rishi Sunak introduced this idea for the month of August. You could get up to £10 off per person per meal in participating restaurants, with the government footing the bill, from Mondays to Wednesdays. 
The scheme seems to have worked, and indeed some restaurants have reported that some overly entitled customers have become a bit stroppy if they feel that waiting times are too long. We have had several discounted meals at the Ceilidh Place in Ullapool, and one at Wetherspoons in Cambuslang. And today we had a discounted lunch at the Route 7 Café in Aviemore. We stopped off there because we were on our way home to Cambuslang. We have a lot to sort out in Grandma’s house, which has now been sold. It sold very quickly; there seems to be a property boom just now, perhaps due to people wanting to move to houses with good-sized gardens in case of possible future quarantines. This is predicted not to last, because unfortunately a lot of people’s jobs are currently under threat due to the economic situation. We also have a list of other useful tasks that we need to do, so it will be a busy week ahead. I felt so sad to leave Ullapool, and yet pleased to arrive home in Cambuslang, where we got a big welcome from Tom and Flora. They immediately took us through to the utility room to feed them, then abandoned us to go outside. However they did return later and I spent a cosy evening watching television with Flora sitting companionably on my knee, occasionally sticking her claws into my leg. 

Swimming in the estuary again

James, Ally and Cat arrived back at the cottage this evening, tired but happy after their big two day walk in the Fisherfields. Ally showed me his photos and they are amazing.  I have also had a good weekend, pottering about, walking around the village, reading and even a wee bit of writing. Yesterday I met our neighbour Natasha for the first time, and invited her for coffee this morning. She and her family have a croft nearby, and she brought me fresh eggs, home made sausages, and even a peat to burn in our fire! We had a lovely chat and she gave me all sorts of useful information about the area.
High tide was at 6.30 p.m. this evening and I went down to the estuary for a swim. It was fantastic; the water was deep and smooth, and the mountains were all lit up by the sun. The water wasn’t too cold once I got in and I swam about for half an hour, feeling very happy. When I returned to the cottage Janes, Ally and Cat had just arrived and were having showers. I had already prepared a hearty tea of haggis, neeps and tatties, with apple crumble to follow. James had a headache which he thought was due to being dehydrated so he took himself off to bed after tea, and the rest of us weren’t too late to bed either. It has been a good weekend. 

Boat Trip around Isle Martin

The last few days have flown by. Davie and Chanel really made the most of their time in the North West Highlands; on Thursday they walked from Oldshoremore in to Sandwood Bay and on their return they took us for a drink at the Argyll Hotel and treated us to fish suppers. We all then watched the last in the trilogy of Spaghetti westerns that we have enjoyed this week; “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” 
On Friday morning we all went for a boat trip from the pier around Isle Martin and back. It was great fun and the boat skimmed along very fast. When we started it was raining lightly and due to the speed of the boat the raindrops were driving into my eyes! Luckily the rain stopped after about five minutes and we were even treated to a rainbow! We saw cormorants, shags, gannets and rock doves flying overhead, and the boat captain pointed out that we could see the island of Harris in the distance, peeping out from behind the Summer Isles. We saw quite a few common (or harbour) seals on the rocks, and also some grey seals with their longer snouts, which were more wary of our boat. There was a sea eagle on a tree on a cliff, but although the others saw it I couldn’t quite spot it against the foliage. I did see the great skua (or bonxie) which circled our boat several times when we were near Isle Martin. Back at the pier we could see lots of lion’s mane jellyfish bobbing up and down just below the surface of the water. 
We popped into the Ceilidh Place for a warming breakfast before David and Chanel set off southwards. A couple of hours later our next visitors Ally and Cat arrived, and today they went on a two day camping trip with James to the Fisherfields.

Rock pools and Stars

It has been a splendid day here in Ullapool. The weather started out rather cloudy and then got sunnier and sunnier. In the morning Davie and Chanel decided to walk to Ullapool lighthouse, which is at Rhue, about a 5 km walk from the cottage along the side of Loch Broom. I offered to give them a lift back to the cottage afterwards, so I drove along to Rhue and went for a short walk along round the point towards Ardmair, before meeting Davie and Chanel at the lighthouse. It’s a very attractive area with fantastic views of the summer isles and across the loch. There are paths through the heather and big slabs of sandstone and lots of rock pools. The lighthouse itself is painted white and looks smart. I would definitely like to return here to explore further. 
After lunch the young ones went to visit Corrieshalloch Gorge and then Knockan Crag, and thoroughly enjoyed both places, while James and I walked along to Tea by the Sea and enjoyed tea and cake. By late afternoon I was reading in my hammock, and then we all had the pies that we bought in Lochinver yesterday for our tea, with mashed potatoes, peas and gravy. Davie, Chanel and I then played Bohnanza, which I have played once before earlier this year, although I needed to relearn the rules, which seem complicated at first but are fine once you get into the way of it. It was great fun and in the end Davie triumphed. Finally, at James’ suggestion we went outside to look at the stars which were very bright; the Milky Way arched above the house and we could see lots of constellations. A good end to a good day. 

A castle, some pies and a celebrity

We had a lovely trip to Lochinver today with Davie and Chanel. We stopped at Ardvreck Castle on the way and walked around it; it was very beautiful in the sunshine. Then we arrived in Lochinver which was quite busy with people fishing in the river and a small crowd milling about, waiting for the pie shop to open at 12. We had a tasty lunch at the An Cala café then strolled around the harbour chatting and looking at the fishing boats. On our way back along the road we passed the Peet Restaurant. Earlier on I had mentioned to Chanel that it is owned by the actress Ruth Jones and her husband. And just as we passed, they came out of the side door towards us! I alerted Chanel by whispering to her while stopping on the pretext of pointing out a place where James and I once saw a boy feeding fish to a seal (which is true) and she confirmed that it was definitely Ruth Jones. James and David looked very puzzled about why we had suddenly stopped walking, so we quickly explained. I’m sure that she saw us looking round at her but we didn’t approach her which she probably appreciated!
After buying pies for tomorrow night’s tea (of course!) we headed for Achmelvich Beach where Chanel and I went for a paddle. Rainclouds were rolling in but the water in the bay was still a beautiful turquoise colour. We rounded off our day with dinner at the Ceilidh Place, and watched the classic Clint Eastwood film “For a Few Dollars More” back at the cottage. A couple of nights ago we watched the first in the trilogy; “A Fistful of Dollars” and despite having watched the third one “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” several times, I’m pretty certain that I have never watched the first two - certainly not from start to finish. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them, they are excellent. 

Hello again sunshine

The sunshine has returned and David and Chanel set off early to climb Stac Pollaidh *. What a beautiful day for it! James and I had a more leisurely start and went for a wee run in the car to Corrieshalloch Gorge. I had forgotten quite what an amazing gorge it is; the waterfall beside the suspension bridge plunges dramatically to the deep and narrow ravine hundreds of feet below. We strolled round the path and took photos of Lochbroom in the distance with bright rowan trees in the foreground. Then we had lunch at the friendly Lael tearoom and craft shop where we also bought an attractive beech framed mirror for our bedroom. 
Back at the cottage, the sunshine and gentle breeze had driven away the midges, so I am in my hammock reading a Dandy Gilver mystery while James is cutting the grass. It’s delightful. 

* David and Chanel had a great day and went swimming in the sea at Achnahaird Beach after they climbed Stac Pollaidh. In the evening we all had a tasty curry. 

Cycling and midges

David and Chanel have arrived for a visit in between Davie submitting his MSc and Chanel starting her teaching job. It’s the first time that Chanel has visited Ullapool and it has been fun showing her the sights. The weather is more mixed this week but it hasn’t kept us in; in fact we have been very lucky with our excursions so far. For example, yesterday we went for a walk up Ullapool Hill (I made it to the top with much encouragement from Chanel), and extended the walk by descending via Braes of Ullapool, and then stopping for a well deserved libation at the Seaforth Bar. The weather was fine and dry all the way, and it only started raining after we were back at the cottage. 
Then today we cycled up to and along Loch Achall, and again the weather stayed fine for us the whole way. There was however one drawback to the warm, cloudy, windless weather - midges! Oh boy they were fierce! This week we have definitely noticed more midges than before, but today we were were cycling through huge clouds of them, especially near the loch. When we got back to the cottage we all had showers to make sure that there were none still lingering in our hair! 
David and Chanel gave us a fantastic and thoughtful house-warming present; an Ordnance Survey Map centred on our cottage. We are going to put it on a cork board on the kitchen wall. David even had it personalised with the name “Rowan Tree Cottage” and the distance to our home (240 km) and to Dunedin in NZ (19000 km)! 

The sunshine continues ...

Monday the 17th was Alison & Hugh’s last day with us. We went to Achnahaird beach, another beautiful beach, which is surrounded by a ring of mountains. This time Alison and I went for a paddle instead of swimming, while Hugh helped James to fly his kite on the beach. Hugh treated us to a takeaway lunch at a wee café in Achiltibuie, and we ate it sitting on a bench at the shore while James pointed out all the different mountains to us. Back at the cottage we said our farewells; it has been a great weekend.

And over the last couple of days the sunshine has continued. James has been gardening, and taking more bags of gorse twigs and branches to the dump. This morning I asked him to drop me off there and I walked down the hill back to the cottage, taking in the amazing views. We have been sitting outside reading and relaxing all afternoon. 

Swimming at Achmelvich Beach

On Sunday the 16th, Alison suggested a walk to Stoer Point, near Clachtoll. Off we set towards Lochinver, then turned off and drove around behind Achmelvich. The road became very narrow and twisty with many passing places, which Alison navigated both bravely and expertly. We parked the car at Stoer Head Lighthouse which was very pretty in the sunshine. Alison and James walked along to the end of the peninsula to see the Old Man of Stoer, and Hugh and I walked part of the route - yet again I overheated quickly, but I enjoyed myself by paddling in a wee lochan and walking barefoot through a bog, both of which were very cooling for my feet! 
We all met up to eat our sandwiches back at the car, and then Hugh drove us to Achmelvich Beach. It’s a beautiful beach which we know well, and I have never seen it so busy as Sunday - I suppose it would be busy on a hot, sunny Sunday in August. Suspiciously though, the only people in the sea were wearing wetsuits. This did not deter Alison and I, who changed into our swimming costumes and headed for the water. I was impressed that Alison plunged straight in; it took me a few minutes to ease myself into the water because it was very cold! My skin was stinging! But it was great to be swimming in the sea again, I love it. Later we collected our pre-ordered pies from the Lochinver Larder and returned to the cottage to sit outside in the sunshine until dinner time.