3 minutes to Brexit

We are home again after our lovely holiday in the north. On Tuesday evening we went out for a pleasant dinner in Forres with Alison and Hugh then headed home on Wednesday. Nairn must have an excellent micro-climate because as we headed south the weather deteriorated and by the time we were going over the Drumochter Summit the snow was falling steadily. However by the time we got to Perth it had turned to heavy rain. There was so much water on the road that I was quite worried that we would start sliding.
And the rain hasn’t let up much over the last few days! Since we came home we had our university courses and I went to the theatre last night with Heather to see God of Carnage, which was an entertaining play but kind of exhausting as the characters all bickered and fought with each other.
As I write this we are only minutes away from Brexit. We are leaving Europe after 47 years. After all the fighting since the vote three years ago everything had gone fairly quiet about it on the news recently, but tonight we are watching a BBC News Special. We leave at 11 p.m. because that’s midnight in Europe.

Nairn

We are spending a few days at Alison and Hugh’s newly built house in Nairn, which is truly fabulous. It’s very spacious, beautifully decorated in neutral tones, and extremely comfortable. It has underfloor heating and a huge kitchen / living / dining room with huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the garden and countryside beyond. Honestly there are not enough superlatives to describe it. Alison and Hugh have designed the house themselves and so everything is the way that they want it, from kitchen units to windows to door handles - everything. And it’s all so new. We are so pleased for them that they are now living in and loving their dream home.
We arrived here in Nairn on Sunday afternoon after a walk and lunch at Rothiemurchus with Cat, Ally, Christine and Gerry. Despite the bucketloads of whisky that James had consumed the previous evening he had slept very well and was fresh as a daisy. I however had a bit of a headache which seemed very unfair! I was soon revived by our brisk walk.
It was exciting to arrive at Nairn where we were greeted warmly by Alison and Hugh and given a tour of their amazing house. It was nice to be reacquainted with Hermes the cat who is now a rather elderly boy but very happy in his luxurious new abode. On Monday morning we went for a very pleasant walk from the village of Cawdor to Nairn, a distance of about 12 km. The weather was so mild and sunny that it was hard to believe that it is still January - although I heard via a message from Doreen that it was snowing in Glasgow! At the River Nairn we saw Dippers; cute little birds that were doing a little bobbing dance on the rocks. Alison cooked us another delicious dinner then Hugh fired up the wood burning stove and we had a cosy evening chatting.
This morning the weather was still bright and sunny although a bit frosty underfoot. After Alison and Hugh’s polytunnel was delivered - this is going to be large enough to have a cherry tree in it as well as raspberries and strawberries! - we went for a stroll around the perimeter of their extensive gardens. They have already done a lot of work and have planted a lot of trees. Then we walked into Nairn via the sandy beach, where, among other seabirds, we saw oystercatchers. We had coffee and cake in the OneOneTwo coffee shop before heading back to the house for a relaxing afternoon.

Brilliant Burns Night

We had such a great Burns Night this evening in the hostel at Newtonmore. Everyone had been walking in the area during the day so we all had quite an appetite. This was just as well because it was a very hearty Burns’ supper. We started with Bob’s famous Scotch Broth which was almost a meal in itself, then moved on to haggis, neeps and tatties with whisky sauce (provided by me but I got lots of help with the preparation and serving out). Finally Christine gave us a delicious lemon cheesecake and a cheeseboard. Wine and whisky flowed freely.
Although we didn’t followed the full format of a Burns’ Supper, Bob said the Selkirk Grace and Justin addressed the haggis complete with the appropriate dramatic gestures. After the main course I recited an adapted version of Tam O’Shanter which we used to use at one of my old schools. It involves audience participation and seemed to go down very well. Christine recited John Anderson my Jo very beautifully.
Replete, we cleared up and then relaxed. Many hands make light work as they say, and the dishes were quickly washed and put away. Gerry produced his guitar and we sang a selection of Burns’ songs using the song booklets that he had thoughtfully brought. I am a terrible singer but that didn’t hold me back and we all joined in and it was great fun. Justin and Willie also took turns of Gerry’s guitar and, branching out from our Burns theme, we sang House of the Rising Sun. By this time I was exhausted. Christine, Heidi and I had walked from Newtonmore to Kingussie today by a circuitous 11 km route via Loch Goykel. It was remarkably warm for the end of January and we saw some fantastic views of moor and mountains. As we passed the Loch we saw a remarkable bank of huge moss covered boulders among the trees, and many of the trees were covered in pale green lichen which looked as if they had been swathed in lace. It was an excellent walk but as 11 p.m. approached I was ready for my bed. So I said my good nights and headed across the road to the Glen Hotel. My dear husband joined me an hour later in what could be described as an extremely jolly state.

Living life

On Thursday I ended up doing quite a bit of driving. I attended a friend’s Dad’s funeral in the morning in Blantyre, then went straight over to the west end for my French class, then back to meet up with Jennifer in East Kilbride. While driving around I did a lot of thinking and felt quite philosophical. Sharon’s Dad had led a good life of family and friends and work. He was well loved and had a good retirement. Like with Heather’s Dad I very much felt that this was an excellent example of how to live life well. There’s an aspirational phrase that I have seen on social media and heard young people on the radio saying recently; “living my best life.” I noticed it because I like its positivity. Well on reflection it seems to me that many of the older generation had already worked this out.
This morning James and I packed up the car for our trip up north. We are spending a couple of nights at Newtonmore and then three nights at Alison and Hugh’s new house in Nairn. The journey went smoothly apart from a rather hair-raising incident on a single carriageway part of the A9. A stupid car driver overtook a horse box a couple of cars in front of us without leaving enough room to get back into his or her own lane because there was traffic coming the other way. As a result, a small car coming the other way had to brake very hard to avoid a head on crash, but the lorry behind her couldn’t slow down fast enough and crashed into the back of her. Neither driver was hurt but the car looked a mess at the back. The driver that had caused it drove on, probably without realising what they had done, and soon disappeared into the distance. I wish I had got a note of their registration because I would have grassed them up like a shot. What a dangerous idiot.
We had lunch at the Route 7 café in Aviemore and then went for a walk around Loch an Eilean, which was about 6 km. It was grey but dry and actually fairly warm considering that it’s still January. The loch looked very pretty with its wee island castle and there were quite a few people walking around it. And now we are at our hotel in Newtonmore and about to join the rest of the group for drinks and dinner.

Birthday present

It was James’ birthday on Wednesday and he had a pleasant day. We went to the Nuffield sports centre using the pass kindly given to me by Jackie, and had a swim and chatted in the jacuzzi before having a snack lunch in the café. Then later we headed into town by train to have a birthday dinner with Ally and Davie at the Ivy. James and I had actually planned to go to Wetherspoons in Cambuslang but when Ally heard of this his response was less than enthusiastic. He suggested the Ivy because it’s near his office so he could meet up straight from work. So that’s what we did and I have to admit that it did make James’ birthday feel very special. James and I got there first and ordered our drinks and then Ally and Davie arrived all tall and handsome and I felt so proud of them. We had a delicious and convivial meal and prudently ordered from the reasonably priced pre-theatre menu. However the sides and of course the drinks and coffees all added up so it ended up being a bit pricey after all.
Homewards we returned; unfortunately the train was somewhat delayed by a “trespasser on the tracks” at Bridgeton, but we were all chatting so the fifteen or so minutes flew by. When we passed Bridgeton we looked out of the train window to see if he or she was being restrained by the police, but there was no sign of any disturbance.
When we got home there was a parcel awaiting James. Unbeknownst to me, all three boys had clubbed together to buy James a personal locator beacon. This is an emergency device which he can activate if he ever needs to let Mountain Rescue know his position. How thoughtful and sweet! The boys want to take care of their old Dad!

Storm in Buchanan Street

On Saturday I was on my way into town to meet Kari for lunch. I popped up to the Royal Concert Hall to collect some tickets and met a ten metre high figure making her way down Buchanan Street. Her name is Storm and she was representing the Coastal Connections festival (part of Celtic Connections). Made of recycled and natural materials which looked a bit like driftwood and seaweed, she was held up by a crane and operated by people hauling on ropes. Her arms, legs, head and bright blue eyes all moved and it was very effective. After a lovely lunch and good chat with Kari I did a wee bit of shopping in the sales and just as I was about to head home I got a phone call from James. He had walked all the way into town and was only a few yards away from where I was near St Enoch Station. It was such a nice surprise.
We spontaneously continued our recent cinema trend by going to see Jojo Rabbit at Cineworld. I am in two minds about it. I liked the characters and the story was interesting. The way that the little boy’s feelings changed towards his imaginary friend (a bizarre good-natured Hitler) was a good idea that showed the situation from a child’s perspective. However some of the facts were wrong and that annoys me in a film. Just one example - the Hitler Youth leaders wouldn’t have been slouching around and joking, they would have been far too frightened of being reported. James disagreed with me and said that it was just for comic effect. Another film that I felt this about was Inglourious Basterds; in my view it’s fine to dramatise history but it’s not fine to change it, no matter how much you wish it had been like that. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh; there were a lot of good things about it. The director (who also played Hitler) is Taiko Waititi, who we saw for the first time only a few days ago in a comedy-horror film called What We Do in the Shadows. He is from New Zealand and is extremely talented, I look forward to seeing what he directs next. We rounded off our evening with a delicious curry at Dakhin in Candleriggs.

1917

Home again home again jiggety jig as my Mum used to say. On Thursday my French class started again for the new term, this time in the St Andrews Building, in a very smart classroom. It was good to be back studying with my pleasant fellow-Francophiles. The building also has lots of good memories for me of Literacy training courses of yesteryear, with lovely classmates like Fiona and of course our favourite tutor, the amazing Ernie.
Today I met Jackie at her sports centre again and after coffee and a catch up we went to a class that was a mixture of yoga, pilates and stretching. Oh boy did we stretch! I must be about two inches taller after all that. The coach was rather strict and kept reminding us to pay attention or we wouldn’t benefit from the class! And then later James and I went to see the film 1917, directed by Sam Mendes and with an incredibly starry (and no doubt extremely expensive) cast, even though most of them - such as Andrew Scott, Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch - only had about three lines each. The film was excellent, shot as if in two long continuous takes. The two young men on their epic mission were played flawlessly by George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman (Tommen from Game of Thrones is all grown up!) It is a very fine film. Just as it finished, James looked at his watch and guess what time it was? Yes you’ve guessed it - 19.17.

Walking in London

Today was my last day in London, and I’m now on the train home, whizzing northwards through the darkness. Thrilled by the fact that it had stopped raining, I decided to go for a walk in a park and set off from Westminster via Buckingham Palace (again!) towards Hyde Park. Just as I passed, a couple of cars came driving out of the palace gates; the first of them was driven by a sombre looking Prince Andrew. No wonder he is sombre after all the bad press he has had lately. I walked through Hyde Park along the Princess Diana Memorial Walkway to Kensington Palace. I noticed that it has a café along beside the sunken garden, so in I popped for a bowl of soup and a cup of tea. Well, I was very impressed! The café is beautifully decorated with a leafy, trellisy garden theme and the soup was delicious. Even the toilets had a Royal theme - the signs for male and female - and even the baby on the baby change sign - had little crowns on them, which I thought was hilarious.

Reenergised, I made my way out of the park and towards Piccadilly where I wanted to go to Fortnum and Masons. I wandered into a bit of Bayswater and noticed that as well as the elegant large white-painted townhouses there were also quite a few wee cul-de-sacs with mews cottages, which looked very attractive. I eventually came to Oxford Street and all the shops. As I turned off down New Bond Street to Piccadilly the shops got posher and posher. I’m not really a great shopper but had decided to go to Fortnum and Masons because the next time that I’ll be in London I’ll be with James, and he has an even lower tolerance for shops than I do. I ended up enjoying my visit more than I thought I would; I wandered around the store at a snail’s pace that would have been very difficult for James to accept, and after purchasing a few tasty treats for much more than they were worth, I went into the café on the 1st floor for afternoon tea. I had caramelised banana pancakes with chocolate sauce and some “Countess Grey” flavour tea which was so lovely that I bought some to take home. And then it was time to go back to Euston Station and board this very long train for the five and a half hours journey back to Scotland. Lots of time to read my book! 

A bit of Chekhov

Another day in London today - my hotel is in Westminster so I spent the morning walking around the area, past Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament and along the river. I wonder why I like London so much? It’s so different from the sea and mountains that I love in the north west of Scotland. But I do like the sense of history that London gives me, and the feeling of being in the beating heart of such a large city. There’s so much to do and see. I deliberately went for a wander rather than planning my route and soon found myself at the Tate Britain. I went in to visit the pre-Raphaelites and then realised that there are lots of Turner paintings (I had forgotten that they were there!) so I have certainly seen plenty of Turners over the last few days. After strolling around perusing the paintings I decided to visited the cafeteria downstairs. But then I noticed the Rex Whistler restaurant across the corridor - tablecloths, silver cutlery and ambient music it seemed like my kind of place! Soon I was settled in with my Kindle beside me, enjoying a delicious light lunch. In the afternoon I walked and walked, making my way to St James’ Park, Buckingham Palace, the Mall, Piccadilly, and Leicester Square on my way to meet Cat for dinner the nearby at Koha Restaurant. The service was very friendly and the waiter was talking about skiing in the Cairngorms. The food was very good too. This evening’s play was Uncle Vanya starring Toby Jones at the Harold Pinter Theatre. I have never seen a Chekhov play before and it felt very Russian as you would expect! A warring family, stuck in unsatisfying lives on a declining estate in the Russian countryside; it was not without humour but ultimately very downbeat. I do love an evening at the theatre!

Cyrano at the Playhouse

I am tucked up in bed in my small but cute Premier Inn Hub room at Westminster, very near St James’ Park. It has been quite a day! I took the 9.40 a.m. train from Glasgow Central to London Euston; the journey took four and a half hours and it was an absolute pleasure. I read my book, watched the countryside rolling past the train window, and chatted with a very pleasant couple from Melbourne in Australia who were nearing the end of a three week holiday in the UK.
I walked from Euston Station to attractive Marylebone High Street, where I met Jennifer in Daunt Books. What a great bookshop! It’s quirky and old-fashioned and I love that the travel section has fiction about each country in the same section as the travel guides and maps. After a thorough browse we rewarded ourselves with smoothies in a nearby café before Jennifer navigated us to J Sheekey where we were meeting Cat for dinner. The food was truly delicious and the three of us had a good chat. And then it was time to go to see Cyrano de Bergerac at the Playhouse Theatre, starring James McAvoy. For the first ten minutes I wasn’t quite sure of it, it seemed very stark. But soon I settled into it and the cast were superb. The ending is so sad though. At the interval Jennifer headed to the bar at such amazing speed that by the time Cat and I arrived she had not only organised our drinks but had bagged a comfy couch for us to sit at - very impressive! At the end of the evening we all headed to the underground - following Cat’s expert directions I arrived at the hotel very quickly.

Dark Side of the Moon

We had a family day in Edinburgh on Saturday. We knew that it was going to be a rainy day so we planned indoor activities. First we went to an exhibition on Parasitology at the Museum of Scotland; we knew that it was really aimed at children and beginners so was certainly not the level at which Davie is studying, but it was good fun and we got to design our own parasites! Then we went to see the “Turners in January” exhibition at the National Gallery. I think I like Turner better as I get older, I like the intricacy of some of his work. Then James and Ally went to a nearby model shop which I think was the highlight of Ally’s day! David and I went for a stroll through the darkening streets and had a drink. When Ally arrived with James to meet us at the Witchery where we were having dinner he was carrying a model plane that he had just purchased, and declared that it was not just the best model shop but in fact the best shop that he had ever visited! Dinner was delicious in the beautiful setting of the Garden Room, and then we popped into the whisky bar next door where with much discussion the boys tried and compared different varieties. Finally came the pièce de resistance, which we had kept secret from James - we trotted down the Royal Mile to the planetarium at Dynamic Earth where we listened to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon while watching an amazing psychedelic film. It was fantastic and we all loved it.

Exercise Bike

I purchased an exercise bike for the whole family recently but so far I’m the only one who has used it. It’s really compact and neat, so can sit between the couch and the wall when not in use; David very kindly constructed it for me. I’m loving it so far. The best thing about it is that you can watch television while using it. Over the last few mornings I have cycled away while watched a three part series on archeology called Archeology: A Secret History presented by Richard Miles, that I recorded ages ago. It was brilliant; really interesting, just the right level for me and I feel that I now understand much more about the fascinating history of archeology. As it happens I have been reading a series of detective books by Elly Griffiths (recommended to me by Bob) about a forensic archeologist. Although fiction, a lot of the issues in the books, such as people putting a political spin on archeology, or conflicts between science and religion, have been mirrored by the television series. It’s very serendipitous!
This evening James and I went to see the film of Cats. It has had horrendous reviews but we both wanted to see it. Cats is one of James’ favourite musicals, and for my part I was intrigued by the idea of seeing Judi Dench and other top actors covered in fur! We enjoyed it and I think that the critics have been a bit harsh because although it has had a few bits added, it’s still very like the musical, which has always been very popular. David on the other hand, was completely bemused. It turns out that he has never seen the musical and had not known what to expect. He whispered to me, “What are we watching?” and seemed relieved when it was over!

Walking in the rain

I was back at Yoga this morning and very much enjoyed it. There were some excellent stretches which felt really good. Unfortunately during a side angle pose, as we all stretched one arm up into the air, one of the ladies toppled over sideways. Not only did she topple over, but in doing so she took out the lady next to her. It’s lucky that we didn’t all go down like dominoes! Neither lady was hurt I’m glad to say!
I’m very proud of all of my three sons but a special mention this week must go to Davie. He has worked so hard on his latest essay for his MSc. Fuelled by endless cups of tea and supervised by Floof the cat who lay nearby dozing on his bed, he worked and worked and finally submitted it yesterday, three minutes before the deadline. That’s my boy - he always gets things done. The weather has been appalling over the last couple of days but that hasn’t kept us indoors; yesterday we girded ourselves in our trusty waterproofs and set off to Burnside for our regular morning coffee. It was actually very pleasant even in the rain.

Farewell to the Festive Season

This afternoon we took all of the lights and decorations down from the Christmas tree and carefully packed them away. We took down the Christmas cards from the walls and put away the ornaments. Finally James carried the tree outside, leaving a trail of pine needles behind him. The festive season is officially over. I have mixed feelings about this. It has been a quiet and reflective Christmas and New Year without Grandma. However we have our brilliant boys to keep us cheerful and we had the very welcome presence of Chanel over Christmas and then Cat too from Hogmanay onwards. So we had some really heart-warming and happy family times, playing board games and watching films and eating and chatting together.
Last night we had a delicious dinner and a great evening at Heather and Ewan’s. Ewan made an extremely tasty steak pie upon which he had written (in pastry) “Happy 2020.” I love it!

Not a bleak day

It has been a while since we walked round Strathbleak Park, as I affectionately call Strathclyde Park. It certainly was at its bleakest today with almost no foliage around its periphery, but it was a sunny and showery morning and we had a good chat on the way round. Back home we had a farewell lunch with Chanel before she set off back to Liverpool to prepare for the new school term. Next we popped over to Ikea to look at sofa beds for the But an’ Ben, and we ended up buying a wee rocking chair for me! And then we went into town with Davie and met Ally and Cat for an after work curry in Dhabba - yummy. We even spotted Greg Hemphill having a curry with his wife Julie Wilson Nimmo aka Miss Hoolie from Balamory. I do enjoy a bit of celebrity spotting! It has been a good wee day.

Hallelujah

James and I went to see Handel’s Messiah today at the Royal Concert Hall, performed by the RSNO plus chorus. It was fantastic and uplifting and felt very appropriate for the start of the new year. At the end of the second part (out of three) came the famous “Hallelujah Chorus” and everyone in the audience rose to their feet. I investigated the reason for this later and apparently King George II stood up during that part of the performance when he saw it. Whenever the king stood up, everyone in his presence had to stand too, and so the tradition was born. However this is an apocryphal tale, and even if it’s true, it is not known whether the king stood up in awe of the music or if he was simply stretching his legs. Whatever the reason, it’s a fine tradition to celebrate truly wonderful music.

Hello 2020

We have had a very pleasant start to the New Year. We had a leisurely breakfast followed by a morning walk around the neighbourhood. There were many empty or half empty drinks bottles lying around the streets after last night’s celebrations. There were tonic wines - Buckfast of course, and Eldorado (self-proclaimed as “Scotland’s Own”) and a cloudy pink concoction which was called MD 20/20 Electric Melon. I also noticed some men’s underpants slung over a fence. How insalubrious.
James lit the fire and we spent the afternoon in the lounge; Ally, Cat, Davie and Chanel were playing board games and James and I read our books and James prepared a delicious NewYear’s repast of gammon joint with cherries. There was much merriment at dinner which continued into the evening as we played the Name Game with post it notes stuck to our foreheads with the names of celebrities or animals. We had such a laugh - it was a nice atmosphere with which to start the new decade.